Tag Archives: Photography

Fresh Veggie + Cabbage Slaw

I’ve made you some slaw!

And I’ve got a couple of things to say about it.

1. This would be a great side dish (or topping!) for these veggie burgers. Great combo + so delicious!

2. I’ve done quite a few strange things since I’ve started this blog, but I’ve got to say that photographing a large pile of raw chopped cabbage at 9 a.m. has got to be the strangest. 🙂

3. I’m calling this slaw (and any other slaw I may someday make) just slaw instead of coleslaw. What does coleslaw even mean? The only thing I think of when I think of coleslaw is what I was served in my elementary school cafeteria. Trying not to compare the two.

4. This recipe is brought to you by Cabo Fish Taco. Cabo Fish Taco is an amazing restaurant that Greg and I discovered a couple of summers ago in Charlotte, NC after seeing it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (love that show!). We went once and luckily have made it back a couple of times since and each time was just as good as the last. We always get the BBQ mahi fish tacos that taste like a plate full of fresh. The tacos come topped with this amazing slaw and the recipe is available on food network! The recipe is for the entire taco, and for this post, I just made the slaw. The only changes I made were adding more veggies and less mayo.

5. As I mentioned above, I never really liked slaw (coleslaw). But this is different. This tastes so fresh and light! And so flavorful. If you haven’t had a great past with coleslaw, you should definitely try this!

6. Mayo. Another thing I’ve had a rough past with. I’ve never liked it. And if it is in something I’m eating, I try to forget about it. Like this dip. The dip is soo good, and I wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe. So, if I can forget there is mayo in it, it’s all okay. Does anyone else do this? But now, I’ve discovered something that I can come close to saying I sort of like! This. Has anyone else tried this and/or had this experience?

7. This slaw is so good. It’s a summer recipe. Light, fresh, bright, delicious. It has a lovely kick with the chili powder and cayenne but is balanced with the cilantro and all of the cool, refreshing fresh veggies. It also isn’t overly creamy like traditional coleslaw, especially if you leave out some of the mayo. I hope you get to try it and love it too!

Find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Week in Photos

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Happy Saturday everyone!

Enjoy, five things that made my week special.

{This skillet. Because it was sweetly given to me as a gift, and I could not love it more. Taking suggestions on seasoning it! Let me know in the comments.}

{These decorations. Because they were so nice and it was such a nice time celebrating Greg’s niece being one.}

{This peanut butter egg. Homemade and delicious, could not be better.}

{This ring. Because I’m going through a ring phase right now. I’ve been wearing it every day this week.}

{This book. Because I decided this week that I would read it for a second time.}

Homemade Balsamic + Dijon Dressing

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What is your favorite salad dressing?

Do you like something creamy or oil-based?

I would say that for me, a lot of times, my favorite salads are undressed.

The first time I made this roasted beet salad for Greg and I, he wanted to know what kind of dressing we were having. Oops. I just thought that everyone liked undressed salads? That thought was definitely off. He liked the salad anyway. 🙂

For the past couple of years, I’ve struggled with salad dressings.* I grew up loving ranch, but now, I can’t really stand the thought of drenching beautiful, clean vegetables in creamy ranch dressing. It just doesn’t seem right. Ranch on french fries, yes. Why not? But ranch on lettuce, I’m not loving lately.

Then I have the problem of buying salad dressing. I feel like there are sooo many options and I just get tired of reading all of the different flavors. So I buy one, use it once and then two years later I find it in the fridge and wonder if it’s still good. Does anyone else have this problem?

And one more. The ingredient list on salad dressings. If I’ve never heard of half of the ingredients, I’m not overly excited about eating it. Or dressing my lettuce with it.

So, I guess that’s why I’ve gravitated toward undressed salads. Load lettuce up with sweet, juicy fruits and you won’t even miss the dressing. But now. Now, I’ve played around with this homemade dressing and I am so excited!

Salad dressing problems, no more!

I love this dressing. You can’t go wrong with balsamic vinegar. And the Dijon** is just so good. It not only adds flavor but also a touch of creaminess. This is definitely a wet-oil-based dressing but the Dijon adds just the right touch of creaminess to make the dressing sort of stick to the lettuce. I love the flavors of balsamic + Dijon together, and the honey adds just the right amount of sweetness to balance the bite from the vinegar. I added 1.5 tablespoons but add as much as you need according to your taste.

Delicious, easy and only five ingredients! This is my new favorite dressing. 🙂

*I feel bad calling this a struggle, but you know what I mean. 🙂
**Every time I typed dijon, it was correcting it to Dijon with a capital D. I googled it and the d gets capitalized on Dijon because it is referring to the region in which the dressing originated — Dijon, France. Who knew!

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1.5 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1.5 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/3 c. olive oil

Add all ingredients to a jar or bowl. Shake/stir very well to combine. The dressing should be well blended. If separation occurs after sitting in the refrigerator, shake/stir before eating.

Enjoy!

Roasted Mushroom, Potato and Carrot Salad + Homemade Garlic Croutons

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I think you are going to love this!

A healthy salad! That is delicious!

I’m telling you, I am in love with this salad.

I mentioned the other day that I am ready for light summer food and this is just that.

Roasted mushrooms are unbelievable. If you have never roasted mushrooms, you need to. And if you have, I hope this is a friendly reminder of how to-die-for they are.

I feel like I am kind of at a weird in-between stage with fruits and veggies. I’m sort of done with winter produce and ready for summer foods but it’s just not time yet. But, I feel like it is always a good time for potatoes. And carrots. And I’ve discovered that cubed fingerling potatoes roast up so nicely. And carrots too! Why is everything better roasted?

And, these croutons. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with croutons. They are yummy and a nice crunchy addition to salad, but have you ever looked at the ingredient list on store-bought croutons? If you haven’t and you have any desire to eat minimally processed foods, don’t look and don’t buy. Make these instead.

I’ve had problems with homemade croutons in the past. They seemed confusing and have turned out either too soft or hard as rocks. These turned out perfectly. The garlic flavor is subtle but delicious. These were slightly soft but had a nice crunch. And so super simple. They take no time at all. I feel like I will start to make a big batch of these to keep on hand.

The whole thing together is amazing. Everything works together so perfectly. The veggies, greens and croutons. There is nothing I love better than a plate full of veggies that tastes delicious and is satisfying!

And, come back tomorrow to see what I dressed my salad with. It. is. amazing!

This is what I used to make probably four servings
Ingredients
8 oz. mushrooms (I used baby portobello)
3 large carrots
10 oz. fingerling potatoes
Fresh ground black pepper
Greens, I used spring mix lettuce, probably about 6 cups
4 pieces of grainy/seedy bread
Olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced

Method

Preheat oven to 375*.

Cube the carrots and the potatoes and cut the mushrooms in half. I left the stems on. All veggies should be about the same size. Add veggies to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, about 1-2 tablespoons, just enough to coat the veggies. Toss to coat well and season with pepper. Transfer veggies to a baking sheet and roast until soft and nicely browned. I roasted for 25 minutes.

While veggies are roasting, cube the bread slices. Add them to a bowl. Add about 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is soft. Pour the oil and garlic over the bread cubes and toss to combine well. You can add the bread cubes to the same pan as the veggies or get a new one, but they will need about 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just crispy.

Assemble the salad by placing the greens in individual bowls or one big bowl. Top with the roasted veggies and garlic croutons. Drizzle on dressing and toss to combine everything well.

Tomorrow I’ll share my dressing recipe!

Enjoy!

DC Day Two: Sights

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To view my first two posts about my trip to DC, click here and here.

I hope you guys don’t get tired of me posting photos from DC. I can’t believe that it has been almost a month since I was there. As I was sorting through my photos, I see that I have at least two posts worth of photos yet to share.

Today I’m sharing photos from day number two. We woke up early as a group and ventured out into the city after a breakfast at our hotel. We stayed in beautiful part of Alexandria, VA.

In the city, we knew we wanted to visit the Holocaust Museum. We went there early to get tickets and while we waited for our time, Greg and I visited the Freer Gallery of Art . I didn’t take any photos inside, but if you’re ever in DC, it is definitely worth checking out.

The Holocaust Museum is an interesting experience. I would encourage everyone to see it once, but in my opinion, one time is enough. This was at least my third time there and I would be okay with not going again. The museum is extremely powerful and extremely disturbing. It’s a lot to take in. It’s well done.

We ate lunch at the cutest little place that we just sort of stumbled into, but I’m going to share our eats from day two in another post. Get ready!

The rest of our day was spent walking all over the city. We really covered some ground. We visited the White House, and then walked to the Washington Monument, war memorials, and Lincoln Memorial, taking photos all along the way. DC really is a beautiful place and I could not get enough of the views. It’s best to go when the weather is comfortable to be outside so that you can walk everywhere and just take everything in.

From there we walked to Georgetown, but that’s getting its own post as well!

So, without further ado, here is DC Day Two: Sights:

{Where we stayed.}