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Category: Recipes

Watermelon Mint and Feta Salad

 

Hooray for watermelon season!

I made this watermelon mint and feta salad for a potluck this weekend and wanted to share the recipe with you. Fresh, light, and easy to throw together this will be your new favorite summer salad.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re lucky to have sweet and juicy Hermiston watermelons. I found a small seedless one at Chuck’s Produce.

We have a crazy amount of mint growing like weeds in the back yard so I’m on the lookout for summer recipes that include mint. This weekend as part of my Sunday meal prep, I made a big batch of green soup and thew in two big handfuls of parsley and mint.

Watermelon Mint and Feta Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
  • 4 Tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 cups of seedless watermelon cut into bite sized cubes
  • 4 oz feta crumbled
  • 2 Tbsp fresh mint finely chopped

Directions:

  1. Pour vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper into a jar with a lid.
  2. Secure the lid tightly and shake to combine.
  3. Place watermelon, feta and mint in a large bowl.
  4. Pour dressing over fruit mixture and stir gently.
  5. Serve immediately. 

Recipe – Quick Pickled Strawberries with White Balsamic

Here’s an easy quick pickled berry recipe you can throw together in minutes. It will last a week or so in the fridge, but I’m guessing you’ll eat them up quick!

While we do have strawberries in our yard, we’re getting just about a handful a day (and we have a cute lil brown bunny who also likes our strawberries) so to make this recipe I picked up a couple pints of berries at the Vancouver Farmer’s Market.

In an effort to tamp down my allergy symptoms this month, I’ve been sampling different local honey from Sithean Acres (also at the market) and used their fireweed honey in this recipe.

I recently found Navidi’s, a shop in nearby Camas that sells hundreds of types of olive oils and vinegars. I used their pineapple white balsamic in this recipe and it was delicious!

Quick Pickled Strawberries with White Balsamic

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of strawberries, trimmed and washed.
  • 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar.
  • 1/2 cup water.
  • 1 Tbsp honey.
  • Pinch of salt and pepper.

Directions:

  1. Place berries in a jar.
  2. Mix vinegar, water, honey, salt and pepper and pour over berries.
  3. Give the jar a gentle shake.
  4. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
  5. Enjoy!

I ate my strawberries right out of the jar, also put them on a salad (including this meal of salmon and grits). You could also spread goat cheese on a slice of toast and top with strawberries.

Enjoy!

~Anne

Creamy Broccoli And Potato Soup with a Light Roux

One of my ladies shared this delicious broccoli soup recipe (thanks Kathleen). It’s nice and light, and since were heading into a season of heavy foods, I wanted to share this with you.

While you do make a light roux, it’s just enough flour to thicken the soup. Most of the body of the soup comes from the potatoes. As with most soups its fairly forgiving so feel free to experiment with the proportions of potatoes to broccoli, add cheese, or use a milk substitute.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¾ lbs broccoli
  • 3 onions (1 ½ lbs)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2 ½ Tbs. butter
  • 3 russet potatoes (approx. 1 lb)
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 3 cups water
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 ½ Tbs. flour
  • 2 cups hot milk
  • 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
  • generous pinch of cayenne

Directions:

  1. Trim the broccoli, peel the stems and chop them coarsely, and break the heads into small florets. You should have about 6 cups of broccoli pieces.
  2. Coarsely chop the onions.
  3. Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large non stick pan, and sauté the onions until golden.
  4. Peel and dice the potatoes and chop the celery. Place them in a soup pot with the water and vegetable broth, and about ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli pieces and the sautéed onions and simmer another 8-10 minutes, until everything is tender. If you like, you can reserve a cup or two of the broccoli florets to steam separately and use as a garnish, or to stir into the soup at the end for greater texture.
  5. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the lemon juice, and then puree the soup in batches in a blender (I use an immersion blender). Don’t over process: the texture should be somewhat rough.
  6. Melt the remaining 1½ tablespoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet and stir in the flour. Cook this roux for a few minutes, stirring, until it has a pale-gold color. Whisk in the hot milk, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring or whisking until it thickens. Whisk in the mustard and the cayenne, and mix the white sauce into the soup.
  7. Bring the soup back to a simmer, taste, and correct the seasoning with more salt, mustard, or cayenne if needed.

Corn, Peach, And Tomato Salad With Feta

I know y’all are all getting your sweaters out, and making pumpkin spice everything, but please let me enjoy my last few weeks of summer! Its going to be in the 80’s, maybe even 90 this week, so I’m going to get one more paddle board day in on Sunday, and I will be wearing shorts til October!

I found some delicious corn, heirloom tomatoes, and local peaches at the market this week and put together this quick and easy summer salad. You basically chop all your ingredients, make a quick dressing of lemon juice and olive oil, and that’s it!

Try it and let me know what you think.

Corn, Peach and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

  • 4 ears of corn, kernels removed
  • 2 small tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 peaches, chopped
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • Handful of fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
  • Juice from one lemon
  • 2 Tbsp Olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Make dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust seasonings if needed (I really like lemon, so start with half, then add more if you like).

2. Add corn, tomatoes, peaches, feta and basil to the dressing. Toss to combine.

3. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Anne McCranie is a Portland, Oregon based Personal Trainer and Licensed Massage Therapist. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your medical professional for specific dietary advice.

Low Sodium Ranch Dressing

My friend Katherine Green has just released 30 Minute Low Sodium Cookbook, and I’ve been having so much fun trying out different recipes.

During the recent heat wave, we’ve been eating a dinner salad at least once a week. Typically this is some combination of chicken, pasta, and whatever veggies are in the fridge. This week I dressed our big salad with Katherine’s low sodium ranch dressing.

Ranch gets a bad rap. This is not the gloppy, store bought, full of unpronounceable ingredients, ranch. For this recipe you simply add a few spices to yogurt and sour cream. Light, easy and delicious.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Low Sodium Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup low fat sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons milk (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, parsley, dill, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper until smooth. If using the milk, pour in 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until the dressing reaches your desired consistency.

2. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Variation tip: For a spicy ranch, add 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and up to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

PER SERVING (2 tablespoons): calories: 30; Total fat: 1 g; Saturated fat: 1g; Sodium: 17 mg; Carbohydrates: 2g; Fiber: less than 1g; Protein: 3g; Calcium: 40 mg; Potassium: 63mg.

My hope is this recipe inspires you to try something new. This is not meant as specific dietary advice. YOU are in charge of deciding what is best for you as far as a healthy diet, and taking good care of you. The link above is not an affiliate link, I do not benefit financially if you click through to purchase Katherine’s cookbook. I am hoping that you will join me in supporting a local author.