It’s wonderful!!! This evening I enjoyed mine over a cabbage salad with pistachios and raspberries. Yummm!!!!

Tomorrow I’m gonna make a tuna salad with this dressing. I’m hardly waiting! It would ... [read more]]]>

It’s wonderful!!! This evening I enjoyed mine over a cabbage salad with pistachios and raspberries. Yummm!!!!

Tomorrow I’m gonna make a tuna salad with this dressing. I’m hardly waiting! It would also be good over a cold pasta salad or in a chicken salad. Give it a try sometime and see what you think! I think it’s awesome!

Raspberry Mango Salad Dressing

Slightly Adapted from: Earthbound Farm

You can use whatever kind of bread you like though. English muffins also work well as do kaiser rolls ... [read more]]]> Bosnian pita bread (lepinje) this morning, and as soon as the bread was done, we sliced two of the warm pitas in half and quickly made the filling for tuna melts.

You can use whatever kind of bread you like though. English muffins also work well as do kaiser rolls or buns.

Tuna melts take very little time to make, and while warm tuna salad and melted cheese may not sound all that appetizing, it’s actually quite tasty.

Tuna melts are particularly nice for breakfast or lunch during the cold, winter months. They warm you up inside, give you a lot of energy, but don’t make you feel heavy.

We used a spicy salad dressing and some harissa sauce to give it a little heat, but if you don’t like hot and spicy foods, just leave out the harissa and use a plain mayo.

Tuna Melts

Yield: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 can tuna fish, drained
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 6 large cherry tomatoes, diced
• 2-3 tbsp. salad dressing/mayonnaise (we used The Ojai Cook’s Latin Lemonaise)
• 2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large slices Swiss cheese
• 2 flat breads, buns, and/or baguettes (I used two warm Bosnian pita breads that just came out of the oven. )
• Optional: harissa sauce

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Line a medium-sized baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Drain the can of tuna and place the tuna in a small bowl.
• Wash and dice the cherry tomatoes.
• Wash and slice the green onions.
• Add the tomatoes and onions to the tuna.
• Grate the Parmesan cheese and add it to the tuna as well.
• Stir in the salad dressing or mayonnaise, as well as harissa sauce if you have any on hand.
• Cut the bread in half, placing both the bottoms on the foil-lined baking sheet.
• Place a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the bread.
• Spread half of the tuna mixture on one of the bread bottoms and half on the other one.
• Sprinkle 1 tbsp. of Parmesan cheese on top of each sandwich.
• Place the tops of the bread on top of each sandwich.
• Bake uncovered for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
• Serve warm.

Hummus is my favorite way to eat chickpeas; it’s also Kemal’s favorite chickpea dish as well. While you can serve it as an appetizer, we enjoy it as a meal. We like to spread it on bread, sometimes with some goat cheese. It makes for a light lunch…one that will give you a lot of ... [read more]]]> Hummus is my favorite way to eat chickpeas; it’s also Kemal’s favorite chickpea dish as well. While you can serve it as an appetizer, we enjoy it as a meal. We like to spread it on bread, sometimes with some goat cheese. It makes for a light lunch…one that will give you a lot of energy yet not make you drowsy or tired later.

We also enjoy hummus on our salads. I think it tastes a lot better than adding cold chickpeas to my salad, and it’s a much healthier alternative to using salad dressing. Or if you really like your salad dressing, use only about 1/3 the amount you normally would, substituting hummus instead of using so much dressing. Ranch and roasted pepper hummus make for an interesting mix on your veggie salads.

Jalepeno and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

• dried chickpeas, approximately 2 cups (you can substitute with canned chickpeas)
• water
• 2 jalepenos
• 1 large red pepper
• 2 lemons
• 7 garlic cloves
• 5 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. cumin
• sea salt to taste
• parsley to garnish

Instructions:

• I used dried chickpeas to make my hummus, and to cook them, I just put them in a Crockpot, covered them with water, and cooked on high for about 7 hours. I never cook on high heat with my Crockpot unless I’m at home and awake. Caution: When you cook on high heat, the water level will evaporate much faster, and you need to watch your beans to see if you need to add more water. If you’re cooking them while you’re sleeping or away from the house, always cook on low heat.
• Meanwhile, grease a baking dish with about 1 tsp. olive oil.
• Wash the outside of the peppers.
• Peel the garlic.
• Put the whole peppers and the garlic cloves in a bowl, tossing them in about 2 tsp. olive oil.
• Bake them on 350 degrees (uncovered) until they’re soft.
• Remove from the oven and let them cool.
• Juice both of your lemons, setting aside the freshly squeezed juice in the refrigerator for later use.
• After your chickpeas are soft (just poke them with a fork to tell if they’re done), transfer them while they’re still warm to your blender. I added the liquid that was left in the Crockpot, but there wasn’t a lot of it. If you’re using canned chickpeas to make your hummus, just add the water from the can.
• Add the peppers, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, 4 tbsp olive oil, and salt to the blender with the chickpeas.
• Puree the for several minutes until you have a smooth and creamy hummus.
• Transfer the hummus to a bowl.
• Taste it to see if you have enough salt. If not, add a little more.
• Refrigerate uncovered to let it chill.
• Serve cold. You can add a teaspoon or so of olive oil to the top of the hummus and then garnish with fresh parsley if you like. Adding the olive oil to the top is optional though.
• You can serve it with olives if you like, and how you eat it up to you. It’s great spread on bread, and it also makes a great chip or cracker dip.