Fresh Summer Chopped Salad with Homemade Seedy Crackers

Sometimes I hate flying.

Here are some of my thoughts from my flight yesterday.

1) Why yes, I was hoping to pay $3.50 for greek yogurt since I can’t bring in my own.

2) I have to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t want to disrupt everyone in my row. Twice. So I will sit here.

3) Dude sitting beside me, don’t worry about covering your cough. I was hoping to get sick anyway.

4) Wow, what a cute 5-year old you have! They would be even cuter if they would stop screaming. It’s just, I only slept about 4 hours last night and I was really hoping to get a bit of a nap. But it’s okay, I prefer to feel like I am in a horror movie.

5) No thank you, I don’t want a $7 snack pack. I already spent my rent on the breakfast I bought in the terminal.

But it’s not all bad. When I finally landed, I was in gorgeous San Diego. The breeze softly blowing my hair; the temperature comfortably 20 degrees lower than in Arizona; the ocean a deep blue in the distance.

Soon I had forgotten about my flight and was floating through a massive Trader Joes (like, the biggest I’ve ever visited) and then Whole Foods collecting the ingredients to make dinner.

Being in San Diego brings me back to this salad. It is overflowing with ripe avocado, grilled corn and chicken, sweet berries, tangy feta cheese, and a sweet, slightly tart vinaigrette.

Oh, and I made some homemade crackers. They were the bomb-diggidy.

Make this. Eat this. Enjoy the last days of summer.

Fresh Summer Chopped Salad

This salad pays homage to the last days of summer. It is full of everything wonderful and delicious. Oh yeah, and it’s gorgeous (just look at all those colors).

Ingredients

For the salad

• 2 1/1 cups romaine, chopped
• 2 ears fresh corn, shucked
• 2/3 cup blueberries
• 2/3 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 1 grilled chicken breast, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
• 1/3 cup cilantro, stems removed and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the dressing

• 2 limes, juiced
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Method

1. Lightly coat corn cobs with olive oil. Grill corn cobs over an open flame (I used the burner on the stove) or on a grill. Once the kernels appear lightly charred, remove from heat. Place the corn cob flat on a cutting board. With downward motion toward cutting board, cut of the entire length of one side. Continue this, rotating the cob around. Once most of the corn has been removed, take the back of your knife and run it down the length of the corn to remove the remaining bits of corn. **Alternatively, the corn can be served fresh cut off the cob**

2. In a large bowl, mix together lettuce, corn, chicken, avocado, blueberries, strawberries, and feta. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then toss thoroughly.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, olive oil and vinegar. Pour over salad, then toss once more. Serve with Homemade Seedy Crackers (or other chip/cracker), recipe below.

Recipe lightly adapted from How Sweet Eats

Homemade Seedy Crackers

These Crackers come from the Daring Bakers July Challenge. They are wonderfully crunchy, overflowing with seeds and flavor. Before baking, I sprinkled them with a bit of dried minced garlic and pressed it down with the rolling pin. Next time I will experiment with more topping flavors: caraway, minced onion, rosemary. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) whole wheat four
• 1 cup (240 ml) 140 gm/5 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) (50 gm) (1¾ oz)poppy seeds
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) (40 gm) (1¼ oz) sesame seeds
• 1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (9 gm) table salt
• 1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (8 gm) baking powder
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
• ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (195 ml) (6½ fl oz) water

Method

1. Mix the flours, seeds, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the oil and stir until combined. Add the water until the dough comes together.

2. Kneed the dough 5 or 6 times and allow to rest, covered, on the counter for 15 minutes. You can also chill the dough at this point and come back later.

3. Preheat the oven to hot 450°F/230°C/gas mark 8.4. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, either use a rolling pin to reach a desired thickness (thick or thin) or roll out in your pasta rollers. If you use pasta rollers, ensure the dough is well-floured so as not to stick. Place strips of dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment.

5. If the crackers are thick, bake for 7 minutes, flip them over and bake for 7 minutes more. Then cut or break into crackers shapes while still warm. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until crispy (although for some of my crackers needed less than 5 minutes). If not crispy enough when cooled, crackers can be returned to the oven. Store in an airtight container and eat within 2 weeks.

Recipe from Dana McFarlane on Daring Bakers

Related Recipes

Cabbage Salad with Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette, Roasted Almonds and Cara-Cara Oranges

Caesar Salad

Summer Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

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Caraway-Rye Corn Muffins

I feel like muffins are one of those terribly neglected foods in my life.

I mean, I like muffins. But, I would never want a muffin instead of a brownie or a cookie or a pie.

And if breakfast came around and I had to choose, I’d probably go for pancakes or a bagel.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve never encountered a muffin like this.

So when I saw this recipe, I knew that I wanted to break out of my dessert comfort zone and venture into the unknown muffin world. Sounds a bit ominous, right?

With my love of rye and cornbread, this muffin really piqued my interests. It’s a bit cornbready, a bit rye-e, and a whole-lotta delicious.

Warm Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Today is a very special day.

No, it’s not just because I’m giving you the recipe for this amazing coffee cake. Although, this cake is very special.

Today is special because of a birthday.

Today is my grandma’s birthday (She is 35 this year). While I wish I could be spending the day with her soaking up the sun in southern California, I’m in New York state dreaming about coffee cake in her honor.

My grandma and poppy (that’s my grandpa, not my grandma’s favorite bagel) used to treat themselves to a large slab of coffee cake almost weekly. I remember how she used to rave about this amazing coffee cake with big crumbs and a tender, sweet cake that they would get from the market.

Every. single. time. she told me about it, the inner depths of my stomach began to rumble. I mean, who doesn’t like a huge sugar rush of sugar, flour, and butter at 7:00 AM with their morning coffee?

Coffee cake soon made it to my Wish List and I finally made it a few weeks ago. Though this recipe isn’t what you’d eat if you’re planning on hitting the beach in your new itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka-dot bikini, it is definitely much lighter than most coffee cakes without sacrificing taste or texture. Talk about win-win.

It has a wonderful apple flavor with a hint of cinnamon. I also made it with whole-wheat flour instead of all purpose, cut out 6 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, and subbed in vanilla yogurt for sour cream.

What’s your favorite morning breakfast treat?

Warm Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the topping:

• 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 7/8 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

For the filling:

• 2 cups minced apple
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (or a but more if you really like it)
• pinch of salt

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 and 1/4 cups almond milk (cow’s milk works too)

Method

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-in. baking pan and set aside (if using stoneware, you don’t have to grease).

2. To make topping: whisk together sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the butter and applesauce and stir until thoroughly combined and mixture resembles moist, course meal. Set aside.

3. To make the filling: Combine apple, cinnamon, sugar, flour, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

4. To make the cake: in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, applesauce, and both sugars together until well-combined, about 2-4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs and beat until throughly mixed, about three minutes (The original recipe calls for each egg to be added separately, but I messed up. I still came out perfectly though). Scrape your bowl.

5. In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another small bowl whisk together yogurt and milk. It may be a bit lumpy, that’s okay.

6. On low speed add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter. As it incorporates, add half of the milk mixture. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remainder of the milk mixture. Mix until barely incorporated and add remaining flour. Use a spatula to make sure that all the remaining ingredients are incorporated.

7. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. It’ll be less than 3 cups. Spread batter across the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the filling on top of the batter. Dollop the remaining batter across the top of the filling and use a spatula to spread the batter. If you want to make it swirly, you can use a butter knife and make a few gentle swirls. Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake until golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes. Use a skewer or toothpick to test for doneness. It will come out clean when the cake is done. Remove from oven and allow to rest 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.

Inspired from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Whole Wheat Challah Bread {Daring Bakers}

I ran a 5k yesterday. It was absolutely perfect: 60-ish degrees (although my “ish” could vary quite a bit), a lovely course, lots of people cheering.

I didn’t place, I didn’t PR (personal record) either. But, I ran hard and I had such an amazing time running through my hometown’s downtown (say that 10 times fast).

I think I’ve forgotten how pretty and lush Tennessee can be. I was in awe of the flowers and trees. Since I’ve been home I feel like one of those awkward tourists who want to take pictures of every novel thing they see. Perhaps that’s what living in the desert for two years does to a person.

The novelty and beauty of home kind of reminds me of homemade bread. I feel that I often forget how delicious it is. For convenience, I purchase artisan breads (like ciabatta, challah, focaccia) from the grocery store. But when I make it at home, I can taste the difference (maybe it’s all of the extra blood, sweat, and tears that I carefully knead in…)

Fortunately for me and my homemade bread-loving appetite, this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was Challah Bread. Challah is an delicious lightly sweetened egg bread. It is a very important part of Jewish traditions like the Sabbath and other holidays. I won’t go into the history here, but the background and process of making the bread is very interesting, especially for a woman in a Jewish household.

The challenge offered up three different challah recipe. I wasn’t feeling too adventurous so I just stuck to baking one, the Ruth’s “Go-To” Whole Wheat Challah.

It was easy to make and very delicious. The texture was a bit more dense than challah made with white flour, but it didn’t feel heavy. The recipe was not hard to follow, but like any yeast bread, it takes time and patience. There are three rises for this challah which help the flavor of the yeast to really develop and shine through.

I definitely would want to make this recipe again or try one of the others that were posted for the challenge.

Feeling Yeasty and wanting more?

Focaccia Bread

Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Ruth’s “Go-To” Whole Wheat Challah

Ingredients

• 2 (.25 oz.) packages (4. teaspoons) (22. ml) (15 gm) (. oz) dry yeast
• 1 cup (240 ml) warm water (100°F/38°C)
• . cup (120 ml) (100 gm) (3. oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
• . cup (one stick) (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) margarine or unsalted butter – room temperature (I used butter)
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) (15 gm) (. oz) salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) whole wheat flour
• 2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose flour
• . cup (120 ml) (50 gm) (1. oz) rolled oats (Old Fashioned work just fine!)
• Additional flour for kneading (. to 1 cup) (120 to 240 ml) (70 to 140 gm) (2. to 5 oz)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water for glaze
• Optional Seasonings for top of challah (I made my challahs with sesame, “everything” seasoning, and rosemary and salt)

Method

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Allow to stand about 5 minutes until creamy/foamy.

2. With paddle attachment beat 3 eggs, sugar, margarine (or butter), whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and oats into the yeast mixture. Or, if mixing by hand (ok, spoon), combine eggs and margarine/butter with yeast mixture until well mixed. Add flours and oats and mix until it becomes difficult to mix.

3. Once combined, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding flour as/if needed. If kneading by hand, this should take about 10-12 minutes.

4. Form dough into a round, compact ball. Turn in oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen/tea towel. Let rise in warm area (I put it in the oven with the light on) until doubled, approx. 2 hours.

5. Once dough has doubled, punch down. Recover with towel, allow to rise again for an hour, but even 30 minutes will be fine if you’re in a hurry.

6. Punch the dough down again, divide in two (I divided mine into three small loaves).

7. Shape each half as desired (3, 4 or 6 strand braid, rolls, etc.). Place shaped loaves onto parchment covered baking trays. Cover with the towel and allow to rise another hour.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

9. Brush loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with vanilla sugar/sesame seeds/poppy seeds/other topping here if desired). The leftmost loaf is everything seasoning with dried garlic, dried onion, caraway, salt, and sesame. The middle is rosemary and salt, and the last loaf is sesame.

10. Bake 30 to 40 min. until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

11. Transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool before serving.

 This month’s Daring Bakers recipe comes from Ruth at The Crafts of Mommyhood