Tag: cucumber

Shrimp and Strawberry Summer Rolls

Well Dined | Shrimp and Strawberry Summer Rolls

Shrimp and Strawberry?  Do you think I sound crazy right now?  Trust, young padawans, and learn the ways of combining sweet and savory.  Rice noodles, pickled veg (and mango!), basil, mint, scallions, shrimp, and strawberries are combined in a rice wrapper for the ultimate summer freshness.  Served with a delicious peanut sauce for dipping – get in my face!

Well Dined | Shrimp and Strawberry Summer Rolls

I had seen a blog photo ages ago that I loved on this site, but I was scared to try it because I had never made summer rolls before and it seemed finicky.  Then I was over at a friend’s house for dinner and that is what we made!  It was a bit tricky, but not as scary as I had imagined.  She was a pro, so I asked her to help me make my shrimp and strawberry rolls.  Then I looked at the recipe for the photo I loved, and wasn’t a big fan of the ingredients.  I wanted noodles instead of cabbage, and mango instead of bell pepper.  So I switched some things around.

Well Dined | Shrimp and Strawberry Summer Rolls

Then we got to work!  She was skeptical of my flavor combo, but ended up loving it.  You can see the progression here from back to front where I put the ingredients on in the wrong order so the pretty parts didn’t show, then exploded one, then finally got some decent rolls.  The good news is – it doesn’t matter if you don’t get the best looking rolls, they still taste amazing! (more…)

Tabbouleh

Well Dined | Tabbouleh

It’s time for another vegetarian lunch with Smells Like Brownies!  I’ve never really liked tabbouleh.  Maybe because it’s usually cold, or there’s too much parsley, or there’s raw red onion, or it just isn’t that filling – I don’t know why.  As it turns out, Melissa doesn’t like it either!  So when she suggested we try to conquer it, I was skeptical.  But making something yourself means that you get to adjust it until it is the way you like it.

Well Dined | Tabbouleh

Upping the bulgur, balancing the parsley with mint, and using scallions instead of onion certainly helped this dish out.  But what really sent it into yummy land was serving it warm, stuffed inside pitas, with a generous amount of feta.  We managed to turn something we both disliked into something we both loved!  It may not be traditional, but it sure is delicious.

Well Dined | Cucumber Feta Pitas

I bought extra pita pockets and feta to go with my leftover tabbouleh, but ended up with too much!  Melissa had given me some of her CSA cucumbers (since she was drowning in them), so I threw together a quick cucumber salad with feta, mint from my garden, olive oil, and champagne vinegar.

Well Dined | Cucumber Feta Pitas

Because everything is more fun in a pita pocket!  (Except for peanut butter and jelly – I just found out the hard way that that doesn’t work.)

Tabbouleh Pitas with Feta
adapted from Mad Hungry
serves 6

1 cup dry bulgur wheat
2 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)
1 bunch scallions, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups minced fresh curly parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp coarse sea salt, or to taste
6 pita pocket rounds
8 oz feta, crumbled

Rinse the bulgur.  Cook in the water over medium heat for 12–15 minutes, or until soft and chewy.  Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic.  Drain of any excess water and transfer to a large bowl.
Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, parsley, and mint.  Toss together.
Whisk together the lemon zest, juice, olive oil, and salt in a small bowl.  Stir the dressing into the salad to fully combine.
Serve stuffed inside pitas, layered with feta to taste.

Cucumber Pitas
serves 1

1 cucumber, chopped
4 oz feta, crumbled
1 tbsp chopped mint
salt and pepper to taste
splash of olive oil
splash of champagne or rice wine vinegar
pitas

Mix ingredients together, serve with pitas.

Juicing

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About a month ago I got really excited about juicing after watching a documentary called “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.”  The man in the film goes on a 2 month long juice fast, which I was definitely not prepared to do.  I wasn’t even prepared to do the more standard 7-10 day juice fast.  But I did like the idea of using juices to consume large quantities of raw vegetables in a more palatable manner.  So I bought a ton of veggies and went to work.

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I started with a recipe from the doc’s website and added a little to it, using carrots, bell pepper, apple, ginger, golden beet, fennel, and mango.

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Gorgeous color!  I used too much ginger, though, it had quite a kick. (more…)

Grilled Halloumi & Quinoa Salad

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Halloumi is a salty, dense Greek cheese that is super amazing when grilled.  My friend Melissa, from Smells Like Brownies, is a big fan so she was pretty excited when I showed her this recipe.  Hearty quinoa mixed with lettuce and veggies and topped with warm cheese – delish!

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We didn’t end up having the cucumbers the original recipe called for, so we used tomatoes instead and they were great.  I do really like cucumbers, though, so I would say to use both.  The more veg, the better, right?  The dressing includes red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, mint, and scallion – yum!

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We also discovered (by oiling one side and not the other of an electric grill) that the cheese gets better grill marks when the grill is not oiled.  Don’t worry, though, it won’t stick!

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This is a very satisfying (and light!) vegetarian lunch that is sure to make even meat eaters happy. (more…)