"Simple" Garden Salad with Sweet and Tangy Vinaigrette

Admittedly, I often put way too much on my plate. Literally and figuratively.

Too many obligations, too many dishes, too many ingredients, too much food on my plate.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. This over active mind needs to stay busy.

After all, idle handles are the devils work.

If that’s true how come I still do naughty things?

Seriously people. Mind out of the gutter. I meant like have one too many drinks or not right thank you notes when I should. (Lish you think I would have learned from you after all these years.)

Well, even I try and keep it simple now and then. Like last Friday after a long work week when Uncle Steve was out visiting. I made this simple but crazy flavorful salad in an attempt to not spend hours in the kitchen.

Of course we still ate at 9:30pm because I felt the need to make three other dishes and was disrupted my youngest brother and a posse of ravenous twenty year old water polo players.

But this one is simple. I swear. Oh, and it’s massive. Get ready to either feed an army or half the ingredients.

You will need…

For the Salad:
2 heads romaine lettuce shredded
2 cups arugula
1/2 cup baby tomatoes
3 green onions sliced
1 avocado diced (I add this right before I serve it so it does not brown)
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup sliced almonds
3 pieces of celery chopped
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese

For the Dressing:
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 tablespoons orange juice
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Get ready for a really long list of direction.

After all the ingredients are prepped, put them in a large salad bowl. Save the avocado for last so that it doesn’t brown.





Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.


Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.


See, I can totally do simple.

Love and Beer Floats
Angela

Bacon/Prosciutto Wrapped Dates with Blue/Goat Cheese

Last night, Lish and I had a couple of our close friends from college over for a small white elephant gift exchange. Guests were instructed to bring a bottle of wine, a small white elephant gift, an appetizer and their party pants.


I decided to go with my staple, tuna tartar. Eric, as usual, was way more creative. He opted for blue cheese dates wrapped in bacon.

Drool.

Of course I couldn’t just let it be that simple, so I decided we must also make dates stuffed with goat cheese, thyme and prosciutto.

Mine might have sounded fancier, but his were better.

I’m going to go ahead and blame the fact that we over baked mine.

Regardless, both were delicious.

For the bacon wrapped, blue cheese dates you will need:
1pound of pitted dates
10 pieces of your favorite bacon (the thinner the better)
4 oz your favorite blue cheese
Toothpicks

For the prosciutto wrapped, goat cheese dates with thyme you will need:
1 pound pitted dates
10 pieces of prosciutto
4 oz herb goat cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme leaves
Toothpicks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, slice all of the dates in half. If you can get away with not cutting them all the way through, that would be best. Some of them will slice all the way through and that is fine.


Cut small pieces of your desired cheese and stuff them in side of the dates and then close the dates as if they have never been cut.



If you are making the goat cheese dates, sprinkle a pinch of thyme in with the goat cheese.


Take small slices of your desired meat and wrap the dates once, securing them with a toothpick.



Place the dates on a baking sheet or rack (I opted for a rack so I wouldn’t have to flip them). Either will work fine.


Bake in the oven for 35 minutes for bacon dates and 20 minutes for prosciutto dates. If you are cooking them on a baking sheet, turn them over half way through their cook time.

Serve hot Hot HOT.



People will be super impressed by their fancy name and delicious taste.

I’d like to leave you with this gem. Morgan and Katie with their white elephant winnings.


Love and Beer Floats
Angela