Fresh Basil and Sweet Corn Couscous Green Salad

 One of my new favorite salads!

Loaded Fresh Basil and Sweet Corn Couscous Green Salad

recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS

Fresh Basil Dressing:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup mayonnaise (see note)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped shallot or green onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch black pepper

Salad:

1 box (5.8 ounces) roasted garlic and olive oil couscous (see note)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

12-15 cups chopped romaine lettuce (see note)

6-8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled or chopped

1 cup dried cranberries or cherries

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (thaw frozen corn before using)

1/2 cup freshly grated or peeled Parmesan cheese (see note)

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

INSTRUCTIONS 

For the dressing: combine all the ingredients in a blender together and process until smooth. Refrigerate until needed. Dressing can be made several days in advance (flavor gets better with time).

For the salad: make the couscous by bringing the chicken broth and olive oil to a simmer in a saucepan on the stovetop. Stir in the couscous and the seasoning packet (if using the roasted garlic variety). Cover the saucepan and let sit for 5-7 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool to room temperature before using.

In a large serving bowl, add the romaine lettuce, cooled couscous, cranberries, bacon, cheese, corn, and pine nuts.

Drizzle with dressing and toss to combine (or serve dressing on the side).

NOTES

Mayo: the mayo helps bind the dressing so it doesn't separate (and so it isn't too thin). I often use the full 1/2 cup mayo but sometimes I use 1/4 cup mayo + 1/4 cup sour cream.

Couscous: If you can't find or don't want to use roasted garlic couscous from a box, you can use bulk or bagged Moroccan (small) couscous without any seasonings. Use about 3/4 cup. Bring 1 1/4 cup chicken broth to a simmer, add the couscous + 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous and let cool completely before using.

Romaine: you'll need about 3-4 romaine hearts (like the ones at Costco) or 1-2 large heads of romaine.

Parmesan: I like to use a vegetable peeler and peel off shreds of Parmesan but it can also be freshly grated (use the large holes of a box grater).

Pine Nuts: You can buy toasted pine nuts from Trader Joe's.

Copycat Magleby's Chocolate Cake

You all know how much I love a big slice of Magleby's chocolate cake...well for Mother's Day this year I helped my youngest make this copycat recipe (can't take any chances on messing up dessert, amiright?). This is a legit chocolate cake and I will be making it again, hence the post on the blog.

Copycat Magleby's Chocolate Cake adapted from The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup salted butter

1 cup water

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup white sugar

2 cups flour, sifted spooned

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups salted butter, 3 sticks, softened

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

5 & 1/4 cups powder sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans with butter, then coat with flour. Then trace the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper, cut out the circles, and put them in the bottom of the pan.*

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in the water and cocoa and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for about 30 seconds. Remove pot from heat and let sit aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the white sugar, flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

In another medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. Slowly sprinkle baking soda and baking powder over the top while you whisk. Beat until there are no lumps. The mixture may foam, and that's ok!

Stir in the vanilla and 1 cup brown sugar.

When the chocolate mixture in the pot has cooled enough to handle, stir it into the flour mixture. Then add the egg mixture. Each time mix only until combined.

Lastly, fold in the sour cream. DON'T over mix!!

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans (I use a scale). Drop the cakes on the counter from a few inches above to get out some of the air bubbles.

Bake for about 34-40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven when a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen edges with a knife and invert onto a cooling wrack. Let cakes cool completely.

Wrap the cakes securely in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or 2. (This is only so that it's easy to frost the cake. If you are in a hurry and presentation isn't an issue, frost as soon as they are cool!)

Make the frosting:

Cream the butter well. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar in increments, adding the cream in between. Beat well after each addition. Add the salt and vanilla.

Smear a bit of frosting on the bottom of a cake plate. Place 1 frozen cake on top, then cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting (I like to use an offset spatula).

Place the other cake on top, then frost the outside and edges. If you don't want your cake plate to get frosting all over it, line it with strips of parchment paper that you can pull out when the cake is completely frosted.

AMAZING SPINACH SALAD WITH SWEET-SPICY NUTS, APPLES, FETA AND BACON by Mels Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
• Black pepper to taste

Sweet Spicy Nuts:

• 2 tablespoons water
• ½ cup granulated or brown sugar
• Pinch cayenne pepper, more to taste if you want
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Salad:

• 16 ounces baby spinach or spring greens, or a combination
• ½ small red onion, slivered (see note about tempering the onion flavor)
• 6 to 8 slices bacon, regular or thick cut, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup feta cheese crumbles, more or less to taste
• 1 cup dried cranberries or cherries, more or less to taste
• 1 to 2 honey crisp apples, cored and sliced thin

INSTRUCTIONS 

• For the dressing, blend all the ingredients until smooth or combine in a jar and shake until well-combined. Refrigerate until needed (or up to several days)
• For the nuts,

  add the water, sugar, salt and cayenne pepper to a skillet set over medium heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute until the sugar is dissolved. Add the nuts and stir to coat. Cook for another 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring slowly but constantly. Spread the nuts evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet and let cool. Break into pieces.
• To assemble the salad, toss all the salad ingredients together along with the cooled nuts. Toss salad with the dressing OR serve the dressing alongside.

Onions: to temper the strong flavor of the onions a bit, soak the onion slices covered in cold water with a bit of baking soda (I use about 1/2 teaspoon soda). Let them sit for 15-20 minutes then rinse and drain well.

Make-Ahead: all the components can be measured out/prepped ahead of time and stored separately (I like to soak the apples in a bit of lemon juice in water to help prevent browning). Toss together right before serving.

Santa Rosa Chicken and Wild Rice Salad by Mels Kitchen Cafe

 

INGREDIENTS

Salad:

• 3/4 cup (170 g) wild rice blend (see note)
• 2-3 cups cooked diced or shredded chicken, rotisserie chicken is a great option (see note)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup chopped sugar snap peas, chopped, blanched asparagus works great as a sub
• 1-2 avocados, peeled and diced
• 1 head butter lettuce, chopped (optional)

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil, like vegetable, canola, avocado
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Cook the rice according to package directions. Scoop the cooked rice into a large serving bowl and let cool to room temperature (alternately, the rice can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed).
• Add the chicken, bell pepper, peas (or asparagus, if using), and avocado.
• For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a jar or blender and shake/process until well-combined. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
• Pour about 2/3 of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add more dressing to taste or for desired consistency, if needed.
• Serve immediately or refrigerate the salad for 1-2 hours (you may want to save a bit of the dressing and toss the salad with it before serving if it has been refrigerated).
• Give the salad a good toss before serving.
• The chicken and rice salad can be served: a) on its own, b) over a bed of chopped butter lettuce, or c) tossed WITH the butter lettuce. Yum!

NOTES

Rice: the rice blend used in this salad is very adaptable! I've used a boxed wild rice blend before, as well as the brown rice medley from Trader Joe's. Another time I made it, I used a rice/quinoa blend I found at Costco (not sure it even had wild rice in the ingredients, but it was still tasty). 

Chicken: this pesto marinated chicken is great in this recipe. 

Make-Ahead: this recipe includes the time needed for cooking the rice; however, you can get ahead of the game if you make the rice before you need it, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad. The dressing can also be made ahead of time (several days!). 

Seasoning: if all you have is seasoned rice vinegar, I'd omit the salt and sugar and then add those ingredients to taste, if needed, at the end.