Author Archives:

Counter Culture

Posted by Heather in Counter Culture and tagged with , , ,

Have I mentioned that my daughter and I are on a gluten-free trial diet? It’s been two weeks so far. We’ve managed to collect a few good recipes for things like muffins, waffles, and cookies.

When my youngest sister arrived back in town this week after a two month absence, we decided a celebration breakfast was in order: gluten-free buckwheat waffles with peaches, blueberries and whipped cream, and bacon on the side. The waffles were every bit as good as they look! (And if you don’t have to go gluten-free, you might still enjoy these waffles by making them with all-purpose flour instead of the gluten-free baking mix.)

GLUTEN-FREE BUCKWHEAT WAFFLES
(glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com)
Print this recipe

1 cup gluten-free pastry flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill flour mix)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. xanthum gum (if your flour mix doesn’t already have it included)
1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated
pinch of cream of tartar
2 cups milk
5 Tbsp. butter, melted

Mix flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda, xanthum gum and sugar in a large bowl.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff in a separate bowl. You will know when they are ready when the eggs stick to the bottom of the bowl when tilted. At this point, stop beating the eggs immediately — you don’t want the egg whites to be dry.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour 1/4 of the fluffy egg whites into the batter and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula, then fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter as well. You can stop folding when only a tiny amount of the egg whites is still distinguishable.

Pour 1/2 to 1 cup of the batter into a heated, greased waffle iron and cook until amount of steam coming out of the iron is decreased significantly. Repeat until batter is used. Serve waffles right off the iron or put them in a 250F oven to keep them warm.

Serves 6.

Off the Shelf: Farm to Fork

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , ,

Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh by Emeril Lagasse is everything we promote on this blog: fresh, seasonal, delicious. However, after much perusing, I feel it is aimed at the cook with plenty of time and money on her hands, and I am not that.

Gorgeous photos entice you at ever turn as Emeril goes through the herb garden; milk, eggs, and cheese; leafy greens; the three sisters: corn, beans and squash; nightshades (tomatoes and eggplant); berries, figs, and melons; the orchard; cole crops: broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower; thistles, stalks, and pods; roots, shoots, tubers, and bulbs; winter fruits; from the mill; fresh off the dock; out on the range; and home economics: preserving the harvest.

As you can see, this is a very thorough book, and there are a few recipes that are simple enough to tempt the home cook, such as: basil-macerated peaches, roasted butternut squash soup, spiced zucchini bread, apricot clafouti, and roasted brussel sprouts. Otherwise, we’re looking at things like: Corn, tomato, and lobster salad, lemon-scented orecchiette pasta with fava beans and fresh tarragon, tomato, zucchini, and leek galette with roasted garlic goat cheese, spiced blackberry soup with caramelized peaches and candied almonds, and wild mushroom ragout over creamy polenta.

I tried the Provencal-Style Stuffed Zucchini, and although the recipe looked a little intimidating, the result was not difficult and tasted amazing: so much so that we enjoyed the leftovers just as much. I highly recommend it. I also tried the apricot clafouti which turned out well and was enjoyed by all.

I would recommend this book as an inspiration to get ideas from and then create your own meals. It is worth checking out of the library.

PROVENCAL-STYLE STUFFED ZUCCHINI
(Farm to Fork)
Print this recipe

2 cups (about 2 oz.) diced French baguette or other crusty bread, preferably day-old (1/2-inch dice)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more if needed
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more if needed
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 small zucchini (each about 7 inches long and 1  1/4 to 1  1/2 inches wide)
4 ounces fresh lean mild pork sausage
3/4 cup minced onions
1 cup finely chopped peeled and seeded tomatoes (about 2 medium tomatoes)

Pulse the diced bread in a food processor until you have an even mix of fine and coarse crumbs. Add 1/4 cup of Parmesan, the parsley leaves, 1  1/2 tsp. of the minced garlic, 1/4 tsp. of the salt, and 1/4 tsp. of the pepper, and process until evenly mixed. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of the breadcrumb mixture for the filling.

Mix 1  1/2 Tbsp. of the exra-virgin olive oil into the remaining breadcrumbs, transfer the mixture to a small container, and set it aside.

Lay the zucchini on a flat work surface, and using a sharp knife, slice off the top quarter of each squash lengthwise. Next, slice a sliver off te bottom of each squash to help keep it stable. Using a small melon baller or spoon, remove the inner flesh from the zucchini to form a small boat shape, leaving a shell that is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut the zucchini pulp into 1/4-inch dice, and reserve it separately. Lightly salt the inside of the zucchini shells with the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Set them, h0llow side down, on paper towels to drain while you prepare the filling.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add the sausage and saute until it is golden, using a spoon to break it into small pieces, about 6 minutes. Add the onions and cook until they are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining 1  1/2 tsp. garlic, and cook, stirring until the moisture has evaporated and the filling comes together, 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the reserved 2 Tbsp. breadcrumb mixture, and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Rub the outside of the zucchini with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Turn the zucchini hollow side up, and lightly pat the insides with paper towels. Using a tablespoon or other small spoon, fill the zucchini with the warm filling. Top with reserved breadcrumbs. Lay the zucchini in a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.

6 to 8 servings.

Market Fresh: Raspberries

Posted by Heather in Market Fresh and tagged with , , ,

Picking raspberries is a yearly tradition in our family. We love to go out into the country and hide among the raspberry canes, popping berries into our mouths as we pick buckets full to freeze for the winter.

We freeze our raspberries on cookie sheets and then, once frozen, transfer them to freezer bags. They do lose some of their sweetness once they are frozen, but we still enjoy them in pies, crisps, muffins, and smoothies throughout the year.

I decided to try a savory dish with raspberries and found this recipe for grilled raspberry chicken. Unfortunately, that evening my grill decided not to start, so we had to bake the chicken instead. It still tasted terrific, the mustard and raspberry making a winning combination with the chicken. However, I’m sure it would be even better grilled.

As the recipe suggested, I topped the chicken with a few frozen (but thawed) raspberries. I think I preferred the chicken on its own with the cooking juices/sauce rather than with the whole raspberries.

I’ve also included a recipe for raspberry pie because fruit pies are my very favorite.

GRILLED RASPBERRY GLAZED CHICKEN
(eatbetteramerica.com)
Print this recipe

1/2 cup raspberry jam (I used Smucker’s seedless Spreadable Fruit)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1  3/4 lb)
1   1/2 cups fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries (thawed and drained)

Heat gas or charcoal grill in. In a small bowl, mix jam and mustard.

Carefully brush grill rack with canola oil or vegetable oil. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 20-25 minutes, brushing occasionally with jam mixture and turning once, until juices in chicken run clear. Discard remaining jam mixture.

Serve chicken topped with raspberries.

Note: You can also bake the chicken at 350 for 40-50 minutes with the glaze on top of the chicken.

Serves 6.

RASPBERRY PIE
(The Cooks Next Door)
Print this recipe

pastry for a two-crust pie

8 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix together cornstarch and sugar. Add lemon juice and sugar mixture to raspberries. Pour into a pastry-lined pie plate and top with pastry crust that has vent holes cut into it. Bake at 375F for 60-90 minutes (timing depends on fresh or frozen berries) until center of pie is bubbling. Allow to cool (pie will thicken as it cools).

Serves 8.

Other ideas for raspberries include using them to top a pavlova, serving them with an easy pannacotta, and stirring them into gluten-free muffins.

Off The Shelf: Cooking with Flowers and Lavender

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Summer is a great time to think about cooking with lavender and other flowers. This week we have two books to get you started in the right direction. (And, if you don’t have lavender growing in your own garden, you can find it in the spice section of any good supermarket, or health food store.)

The Lavender Cookbook by Sharon Shipley has 182 pages full of recipes that ALL use lavender! After the basics (such as lavender rubs, sugar, syrup and butter), there are four chapters devoted to the four seasons with recipes such as: Lavender Scones, Lavender Chicken Breasts, Lavender Lemon Buttered Chicken, Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie with Lavender, California Lavender Pasta Salad, Lavender Lemon Cookies, Hot Lavender Cranberry Punch, Baked Spicy Pork Chops with Lavender and Apple, Lavender Blueberry Banana Bread, and Lavender Roasted Beets.

Not only can you cook with lavender, but you can use a myriad of other flowers to accent and decorate your cooking. This book, with plenty of photos, helps you identify safe flowers you can eat and gives you ideas on how to use flowers such as: yarrow, hollyhocks, borage, chicory, fuchsia, sunflower, day lily, honeysuckle, phlox, rose, red clover, and nasturtium.

I decided to try a green salad with sliced peaches and laced with nasturtium flowers and ‘Alaska’ nasturtium leaves. For the dressing I used a lavender vinaigrette out of the lavender cookbook. The dressing was a nice complement to the salad, and the taste of lavender was not “in your face” as it could have been. Lavender-Honey ice-cream from David Lebovitz was incredible.

LAVENDER VINAIGRETTE
(The Lavender Cookbook)
Print this recipe

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used half canola, half olive oil)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. dried culinary ‘Provence’ lavender buds, finely ground in a spice grinder (I just chopped them with a knife)

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, and lavender.

Makes about 2/3 cup.

LAVENDER-HONEY ICE CREAM
(The Perfect Scoop)
Print this recipe

1/2 cup good-flavored honey
1/4 cup dried or fresh lavender flowers
1  1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar (I left this out as it is quite sweet with just the honey)
pinch of salt
1  1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the lavender in a small saucepan. Once warm, remove from the heat and set aside to steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. Pour the lavender-infused honey into the cream through the strainer, pressing on the lavender flowers to extract as much flavor as possible, then discard the lavender and set the strainer back over the cream.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. [If the custard curdles -- simply whizz in your blender.] Add the remaining 2 teaspoons  lavender flowers (I left these out) and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, before churning, strain the mixture, again pressing on the lavender flowers to extract their flavor. Discard the flowers, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.

Counter Culture

Posted by Heather in Counter Culture and tagged with , ,

I finally made it to our local farmer’s market last week! Our CSA has made trips to the farmer’s market not entirely necessary.

There were so many beautiful things to choose from: peaches, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, huge melons, fresh corn, and even a few early acorn squash.

We have a fresh pasta stand as well. Fresh pasta is so superior to dried that it should almost be classified as a different food. If you haven’t tried it, you must treat yourself! Someday, I’d love to try making some myself.

The baked goods always look so enticing:

I love the creative goodies that appeal to the children.

The highlight of the whole market was the free grilled corn, donated by all the vendors.

I bought some corn and tried it the next day — absolutely delicious. In fact, I think I prefer this to boiled corn. If the corn is very fresh, you don’t need to soak it overnight. Lay the corn (husk and all) on a hot grill and cook 5 minutes on either side.

The peaches look so amazing. I bought a big box of seconds for $5 and we ate and ate and ate for half the week, including 2 peach pies.

Another thing we tried on the grill this week was grilled eggplant rolls. We grilled slices of eggplant brushed with olive oil and then filled with a feta and mint filling. Very good!

And that resulted in this delicious salad of leftovers for lunch the next day:

I thought I’d put my menu from last week down, just so you can see what we really eat:

Monday: leftover steak that was tough, turned into Chinese Beef over brown rice

Tuesday: this pasta dish of squash, bacon and pasta

Wednesday: lentil soup from the freezer (busy day!)

Thursday: caprese salad, sautéed potatoes, kale chips, and sweet corn

Friday: homemade pizza with sautéed eggplant and sausage (the pig I ordered arrived this week and my freezer is full of sausage, hams, roasts, and bacon!)

School starts on Monday! Life will continue to be busy — just in a different way! There’s still plenty of summer food left. If you haven’t visited your local farmer’s market, why not give it a try!

Off The Shelf: The Perfect Scoop

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , ,

After my recent ice-cream maker purchase a friend recommended David Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop. I’ve found it chock full of great ideas. The book covers ice-creams, sorbets and sherbets, granitas, sauces and toppings, and mix-ins. Check out some of the flavors, which range from traditional to way-out:

Vanilla, Chocolate-Raspberry, Coffee Frozen Yogurt, Cinnamon Ice Cream, Green Tea Ice Cream, Fresh Ginger Ice Cream, Date, Rum and Pecan Ice Cream, Orange Popsicle Ice Cream, Oatmeal-Raisin Ice Cream, Goat Cheese Ice Cream, Cheesecake Ice Cream, Lavender-Honey Ice Cream, Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Maple-Glazed Pecans, Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt, Pear-Caramel Ice Cream, Olive Oil Ice Cream, Avocado Ice Cream, Fresh Mint Ice Cream;

Mango Sorbet, Cantaloupe Sorbet, Lime Sorbet, Lemon Sherbet, Chocolate-Tangerine Sorbet, Apricot Sorbet, Blackberry Sorbet, Strawberry-Rhubarb Sorbet, Pineapple Sorbet;

Espresso Granita, Plum Granita, Nectarine Granita, Strawberry Granita, Grape Granita, Mojito Granita, Pink Grapefruit Granita, and Kiwifruit Granita.

The books ends with more sauces and toppings than you can imagine. It is the “perfect handbook” for anyone wanting to make gourmet ice-creams at home.

I chose to try the Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream. It was incredibly smooth and delicious. The sour-cream added a delightful sour note to balance the sweetness of the sweetened berries. It was most enjoyable just churned, rather than hardened in the freezer. I highly recommend it!

STRAWBERRY-SOUR CREAM ICE CREAM
(The Perfect Scoop)
Print this recipe

1 pound (450g) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp. vodka or Kirsch (alcohol helps keep ice-cream from freezing too hard; it is optional)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still slightly chunky.

Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1  1/4 quarts.

This post contains affiliate links.

Counter Culture

Posted by Heather in Counter Culture and tagged with , , , ,

Summer is a beautiful time in the kitchen. There are so many fresh, colorful, delicious foods to set on the table. Here is a pictorial tour of what’s been happening on my counters:

Fried Squash Blossoms: these are a once-a-year treat! Stuffed with ricotta, garlic and herbs, and then fried in a mesa flour batter, they are an amazing appetizer. One hint: pick your flowers early in the day before they close up! Otherwise they are just too hard to stuff.

Grilled Pizza: I did go ahead and try Bobby Flay’s recipe. We all loved it. The grilled pizzas did take a lot longer than I hoped. First we had to cook enough flatbread for 8 people, then we had to put on the toppings and get them all back on the grill.

Once I resigned myself to this being an “event” rather than just a quick dinner, things went a lot better. It’s an ideal meal to make with company on your back patio with a beautiful evening to enjoy.

Kale Chips: You may have noticed that Kale Chips are all the rage on the internet this year. When a large bunch of kale arrived in our CSA produce recently I decided to join the crowd. Surprise, surprise! The kale chips were absolutely amazing and I’ll be making those again! (Here is a recipe to try.)

Jam: One day a friend came over and we made jam: peach, peach-ginger, strawberry-rhubarb, and mint jelly. The sheet that comes inside the pectin boxes has just about any basic recipe on it and we followed that for most of what we did. For the peach-ginger jam, I added chopped crystallized ginger to the peach recipe. (In case you are wondering what’s wrong with the mint jelly — the jar pictured was the leftovers in the pot, including the scum.)

I finally harvested some rainbow swiss chard from my garden!

It seems once a summer we sit down to an all yellow meal!

I hope you all are also enjoying the delicious produce of summer!

Market Fresh: Tomatoes

Posted by Heather in Market Fresh and tagged with , , , ,

‘Tis the season for tomatoes! These days you can have your tomato in a rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown. If you haven’t tried some of these fascinating varieties, now is the time!

My very favorite way to eat tomatoes is in Caprese Salad. I love the flavors and textures of the tomato, mozzarella and basil all mingling together.

CAPRESE SALAD
(The Cooks Next Door)
Print this recipe

tomatoes
mozzarella (authentically it should be buffalo mozzarella)
basil
salt & pepper
olive oil

Layer slices of tomatoes and mozzarella on a plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over all. Tear basil leaves and sprinkle over top.

The most common way I fix tomatoes for the family is to slice them on a plate and pour heavy cream over top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and it is finished! Adding chopped herbs makes it even better. If I don’t have any heavy cream I use mayonnaise thinned with a little bit of milk.

Roasted tomatoes are a nice side to have on your plate with something like fish or chicken. They are even delicious for breakfast along side eggs and bacon!

GARLIC-ROASTED TOMATOES
(Everyday Food Magazine)
Print this recipe

4 large beefsteak tomatoes (about 3 pounds), cored and halved crosswise
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into 8 thin slices
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
coarse salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Place tomato halves, cut side up, on a large rimmed baking sheet. Dividing evenly, top with butter and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Bake tomatoes until tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

Serves 8.

Off The Shelf: Rustic Fruit Desserts

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , , ,

Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson is a scrumptious book filled with crumbles, buckles, cobblers, pandowdies and more. It’s the kind of book I want on my shelf. And, it’s the kind of book I would cook from as often as my conscience would allow. I think I might just have to put it at the top of my wish list.

The book is arranged by seasons. Take a look at some of the contents: Apple and Rhubarb Pandowdy, Sour Cherry Cobbler, Rhubarb Cream Cheese Pie with Fresh Strawberries, Upside-Down Sweet Cherry Cake, Double-Crusted Pluot Crisp, Apricot Raspberry Cobbler, Stone Fruit Slump, Caramel Peach Grunt, Maple Apple Dumpling, Huckleberry Buckle, Pumpkin Custard with Cookie Crumb Crust, Pear Cobbler with Shingled Hazelnut Biscuits, Cranberry Buckle, Apple Cobbler with Cheddar Cheese Biscuit, Caramelized Pear Bread Pudding, and Deep-Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb.

I chose to try the Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuit. The sweet berries, combined with a not-so-sweet but rather soft and creamy biscuits, were delightful. I even gave in and served the leftovers to my kids for breakfast. Yum!

BLUEBERRY COBBLER WITH CORNMEAL BISCUIT
(Rustic Fruit Desserts)

1 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature, for dish

Fruit filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 fine sea salt
3 dry pints (6 1/2 cups or 2 pounds) blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

Biscuit:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup cold heavy cream
4 tsp. turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

To make the fruit filling, rub the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the blueberries and toss to combine, then gently stir in the lemon juice. Spoon the fruit mixture into the prepared pan, being sure to scrape the bowl well.

To make the biscuit, whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and toss until evenly coated. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the size of peas. Pour in the cream and stir just until the mixture comes together.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and pat each piece into a 3-inch biscuit. Evenly distribute the biscuits atop the fruit filling, then sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the turbinado sugar on each biscuit.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and the filling is bubbling in the middle. Serve warm.

Storage: This cobbler is best if eaten the day it is made. Covered with a tea towel, any leftovers will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 8.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Market Fresh: Blueberries

Posted by Heather in Market Fresh and tagged with , , , ,

How I love blueberries! They are one of the chief delights of summer, a time when we can enjoy them fresh rather than frozen. 

Some years we’ve been able to go and pick our own. Most years I buy them on sale and freeze them in quart bags, ready to pop into muffins, pancakes, cobblers, and occasionally a blueberry pie (one of my very favorites!). Blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup and butter soaking in is a golden memory of childhood summers at Grandma’s house.

I do like to enjoy blueberries fresh: eaten straight from the bush, bucket, or plastic shell; dropped into a fruit salad with seasonal melons, sprinkled on morning cereal or oatmeal, and enjoyed for dessert with whipped cream. But, blueberries do gain a different level of delicious-ness when cooked, so be sure to buy enough berries for many different dishes.

I was intrigued to find this recipe for Blueberry Salsa and felt compelled to try it. The result: terrific! The sweetness of the blueberries, mixed with cilantro, lemon juice and red peppers, melded nicely with the salty tortilla chips.

BLUEBERRY SALSA
(Southern Living, Summer 2010)
Print this recipe

2  cups  chopped fresh blueberries
1  cup  whole fresh blueberries
1/4  cup  fresh lemon juice
3  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro
2  seeded and minced jalapeño peppers
1/3  cup  diced red bell pepper
1/4  cup  chopped onion
1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt

Coarsely chop 2 cups fresh blueberries. Stir together chopped fresh blueberries, 1 cup whole blueberries, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, 2 seeded and minced jalapeño peppers, 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper, 1/4 cup chopped onion, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in a large bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Makes 3 cups.

    BLUEBERRY SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE AND PECANS
    (The Cooks Next Door)
    Print this recipe

    10-12 oz. mixed greens and spinach (or just one of these)
    1 pint fresh blueberries
    3/4 cup toasted pecans
    3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

    Dressing (adapted from Country Living):
    3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
    2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
    1 clove garlic, crushed
    1/4 cup canola oil
    1/4 cup olive oil

    Make Dressing: combine lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, add the oils one at a time in a steady stream. Remove garlic and serve (or store refrigerated up to 1 week).

    Make salad: toss together the greens and blueberries. Just before serving add the pecans and blue cheese. Toss with dressing and serve.

    These amounts feed 8-12 but can easily be halved.