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Sweet bites of oranges are tossed with crisp lettuce and parsley and then topped with caramelized almonds to create the most refreshing salad I have ever tasted. I am almost sad to be telling you about this fantastic salad so late in the citrus season. The odds are good that I will be making this salad several times a week, until the very last of the clementines disappear from our stores.

I can not thank my sister enough for telling me about this salad and then passing on the recipe. She told me about it earlier this week and I have made this salad every single day since then, including twice on Thursday. Nope, I'm not joking at all.

I like my twist on the simple vinaigrette so much; I gave it a full post of its own yesterday. I can see using it for any number of salads in the future. Light, sweet, tangy and with just enough oil to coat the salad without weighing it down. I posted the recipe separately (here) as a double batch, just so I would have some left in the refrigerator for future salads.

Orange Parsley Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
recipe adapted from my sister, Jenny, and her friend, Letta
(printable recipe)

1 head of green or red leaf lettuce, or 1/2 head of each, roughly chopped bite-size
1/2 bunch of Italian parsley, leaves only, about 2/3 cup, chopped small (about 1/3 cup chopped)
6 clementine or mandarin oranges, peeled, sectioned and then chopped in half
1/3 cup sliced almonds (caramelized or not*)
1/4 cup light flavored olive oil
2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a small jar and shake to combine. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, parsley and oranges. Drizzle with just enough dressing to lightly coat the lettuce. (I only used about 1/2 of the dressing for the whole salad.) Toss with tongs or large spoons and them top with the almonds. Serve immediately. Store any remaining dressing in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

* I've made this both with and without caramelizing the almonds. The salad is awesome both ways. If you have an extra minute, the effort is worth it. For an every day salad though, I just toss in the sliced almonds.

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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and Salad Dressing

Do you know what often makes the difference between an everyday salad and the fancier salads that we are willing to pay for in restaurants? A couple of minutes in the skillet and a spoonful of sugar. That is all that is required to transform a handful of plain sliced almonds into a slightly sweet and crunchy topping perfect for any salad!

It never fails to make me grin when I serve a salad and the first question I hear is, "where did you get these nuts?" These almonds taste better than any salad toppings you can buy in a store and they cost a whole lot less as well. Just a few minutes is all it takes to make your salad extra special.

I like to keep a container of these nuts ready to go in the panty. They will keep nicely for at least a couple weeks. (Probably longer, but mine never last that long!)

Kitchen Tips: How To Caramelize Almonds
(printable recipe)

1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon sugar *

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. When it is just starting to foam, add the almonds and stir to coat them with butter. When the almonds are hot and slightly toasty, sprinkle with the sugar and stir constantly as it melts onto them. This should only take a few minutes.

After the sugar has caramelized and the nuts have turned slightly brown, remove from the heat and immediately pour the almonds out on a piece of parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Using two forks (because the almonds will be very hot!) separate them to prevent them from clumping as they cool. Once cool, store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

* You can use 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, but I like them a bit less sweet for myself.



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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

This dressing is light, sweet and tangy with just enough oil to coat a salad without leaving it soggy. This vinaigrette is part one of the my new favorite salad recipe. I highly recommend that you shake up a batch and have it ready to go.

The dressing is so good on it's own, I've doubled the original recipe and given it its own post. (This way I could make a bigger batch and keep it on hand in the refrigerator.) I'll be sharing the new salad recipe tomorrow, just four ingredients and it is unforgettably delicious!

White Balsamic Vinaigrette
(printable recipe)

1/2 cup light flavored olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar *
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small jar and shake to combine. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month. Enjoy!

* If you are avoiding white sugar, yes, you can make this with honey. However, it will have a completely different flavor. The honey version works well, but the one with sugar is my personal favorite.

These are buttery, sweet, minty candies that melt in your mouth like no store-bought candy you have ever tasted. I used to love after dinner mints, but I haven't had one in years. The last ones I tried were dry to the point of being crunchy and the taste was so toothpaste-like I decided not to buy them again. These are nothing like that!

I'll go ahead and tell you that these innocent looking mints are absurdly addictive. I found myself walking through the kitchen several times today, just to taste one more, and then one more. Don't be intimidated by the idea that this is candy making. These mints took far less time to make than I expected. (seriously, it was well under an hour from start to finish!) If you can roll play-dough, you can make these mints!

Homemade Old Fashioned Butter Mints & Chocolate Butter Mints
recipe slightly adapted from Averie Cooks
Yield: about 200 mints or approximately 3 cups worth
(printable recipe)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (or this homemade substitute for condensed milk)
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar *
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract **
Optional: 1/4 cup cocoa powder * (reduce the powdered sugar by the amount of cocoa used)

In a mixing bowl, combine the soft butter and salt. Beat for a moment to combine. Add the condensed milk and beat again to combine. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, beating to combine thoroughly. (If you are making the chocolate version, whisk the cocoa powder into the powdered sugar first. You can skip this step, but it will take a little longer to combine the cocoa powder into the finished dough.) Add the peppermint, taste and adjust as needed. The dough will be mostly crumbs, but should stick together when squeezed into a ball. It should not be sticky at all. ***

Remove the dough from the mixer and pull off golf ball size sections. (At this point, you can also wrap the dough tightly and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll them out.) Roll each ball out into a long skinny strip about 1/2" in diameter. Slice the strips into tiny mint-size pieces. I used a pizza cutter to easily roll back and forth and slice them quickly.

Alternative method (for the impatient): Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4" thick. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice the dough into 1/2" (or smaller) squares. They might not be as cute or as authentic looking, but it will only take a couple minutes to cut out all of the mints.

Spread the soft pieces across a baking sheet and allow them to sit at room temperature overnight. You could speed up the process and put them in the refrigerator uncovered. Mine were fine on the counter though. When they have hardened enough to store, transfer the mints to an airtight container. Enjoy!

* If you are making chocolate mints, reduce the powdered sugar by the amount of cocoa powder in the recipe. (After adding the powdered sugar to my recipe, I split the dough in half and added two tablespoons of cocoa powder to half of the dough. This resulted in a slightly more dry chocolate dough that was a bit more difficult to work with.)

** Be very careful when adding the peppermint extract to the dough. Peppermint is a significantly stronger extract than vanilla extract. Too much peppermint extract will ruin the flavor of the candies and cause them to taste like toothpaste. I filled a 1/2 teaspoon and only added about 1/4 teaspoon initially and then added another 1/8 teaspoon and finally the last 1/8 teaspoon to the mixture after tasting it each time.

*** If your mints are sticky, simply add additional powdered sugar, until you have the desired texture. It shouldn't take more than a a tablespoon or two extra sugar to achieve the right consistency. The humidity and temperature in the kitchen can affect them that way.



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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Creating your own homemade Easter egg dyes from everyday kitchen ingredients seems to be the thing to do this year. A couple years ago, I saw Toni's post about making her own Easter Egg Dyes and I have wanted to try it ever since. The blogging world is loaded with post after post full of beautifully colored eggs. This year, I couldn't resist finally trying it myself.

Would you believe that a head of purple cabbage resulted in these bright blue eggs? When my boys saw the basket of bright blue eggs, they were giddy with excitement over the thought that Easter is just a few more days away.

Natural Blue Homemade Easter Egg Dye
method by Le Creuset
( printable recipe)

12 eggs
1/4 head of red or purple cabbage, broken apart
1 tablespoon plain vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups water

Add the eggs to the bottom of a large pot and then add all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or a pair of tongs, remove the eggs to a large bowl. Pour the liquid from the pot over the eggs (discarding the cabbage leaves) and then refrigerate overnight. I left mine in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.

Do not panic if your eggs still look white when you transfer them from the pot to the bowl. Mine were still white and I had no idea if this was going to work at all, but it did in the end. The purple liquid actually turns blue overnight and the eggs do as well. When they are as dark as you like, remove them from the dye and blot dry with a cloth or paper towel. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Enjoy!





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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Braised Spring Radishes

We eat hard-boiled eggs on a regular basis around here and I've been using this method to boil eggs for as long as I can remember. It never even occurred to me to share it, until I was playing around with natural egg dyes this week and then dealing with the resulting less than perfectly boiled eggs. That was when I realized that this method really is the best method I've ever found for hard-boiling eggs.

Regardless of whether or not you plan to dye eggs this weekend, I highly recommend you boil some eggs. That way you can dive into some Chipotle and Lime Deviled Egg Dip or a heaping plate of Bacon and Egg Garden Salad; both of which I can not recommend highly enough.

A couple of tips: The older the eggs, the more easily they will peel. There is an old adage that fresh eggs are for frying and old eggs are for boiling. If I am planning to hard-boil eggs, I try to buy the eggs a couple weeks before we will need them.

Perfectly Simple Hard Boiled Eggs
printable method)

Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Cover with a lid and bring to a full boil. Leave the lid on the pot and remove from the heat. Keep the eggs covered with the lid for 12-14 minutes. Uncover and place the pan full of eggs under cold running water. Run cold water over the eggs until the eggs are cool.

Peel the eggs as soon as they are cool, to avoid having the membrane stick to the shell. Tap the eggs with a spoon or on the counter to crack them all over and then start peeling at the wider base of the egg, using your fingers or a spoon. I've found that peeling them under barely running water often helps as well. Enjoy!



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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Braised Spring Radishes

For as long as I can remember, I've been making coconut candies at Christmas time. I drizzle them with chocolate and the most common thing I hear is that they taste just like Almond Joy candy bars, but better. While I was pondering a sweet to make for Easter, I remembered these coconut treats and decided to see if I could add an almond and make them even closer to the original.

I initially made them in tiny cupcake liners and then found myself getting all crafty and forming others into egg shapes around the almonds. (Yeah, I know, WHAT was I thinking? I am not that food blogger!) It was a messy process, but really not that time consuming in the end. If you decide to try the egg-shaped Almond Joy idea, chill the coconut mixture for 10-15 minutes before squeezing it into shape around the almonds. Then chill the coconut wrapped almonds in the freezer for an hour, before dipping them in the chocolate.

* Just a note: I made half of these with coconut oil mixed into the chocolate and the other half without. I preferred the thinner chocolate coating created by the coconut oil. However, it does make for a messier candy, because the shell melts more quickly in your hands.



Homemade Almond Joys with Dark Chocolate
Yield: 36 1" candy cups or 18 egg-shaped candies
(printable recipe)

1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk *
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
18-36 roasted almonds
2 cups dark chocolate chips, or the chocolate of your choice
Optional: 2 tablespoons coconut oil
36 tiny cupcake liners, about 1" in size

Stir together the coconut, condensed milk and vanilla. It should be sticky and hold it's shape when pressed together. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of water, or in the microwave at half power for about 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of chocolate into the bottom of each cup. Add 1 teaspoon of the coconut mixture. Press on the coconut slightly to make the chocolate slide up the sides of the liner. Top the coconut with an almond and then pour a teaspoon of chocolate on top. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for a couple of months. Enjoy!

* I found this homemade substitute for condensed milk and considered trying it myself, but I ran out of time. The ingredients for condensed milk should be listed on the can as only milk and sugar, so I was fine with using that in this recipe. Here is a dairy-free coconut version to try as well.





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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Coconut Milk Banana Smoothie Ice Cream

Last week, I stumbled across a dish that combined Brussels sprouts with pasta and potatoes. I couldn't get that combination out of my head. As I started playing with the idea of using Brussels sprouts in a main dish, I wanted something a little heartier than the bacon that I typically pair with Brussels sprouts. I used some spicy sausage in place of the bacon and I LOVED the combination of flavors in this meal.

One of my boys pointed out that the very best bites were the ones with a potato chunk, a sprout, sausage and cheese all together; I couldn't agree more. I tasted this before taking a picture and then I couldn't stop sneaking bites as I was attempting to photograph it. I lasted through about 30 seconds worth of clicks and then we dove into this meal.

Roasted Potatoes with Brussels Sprouts and Sausage
recipe inspired by Nigella via Mango & Tomato
Yield: 8 servings
(printable recipe)

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into 3/4" - 1" pieces
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half
1 lb hot sausage, feel free to substitute 1/2 lb of bacon
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, diced into 1/2" chunks
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or about 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, adjust to taste
butter or oil, for greasing the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spread the potatoes across a large baking sheet, lined with a silpat mat or greased with oil. Drizzle the potatoes with a couple tablespoons of oil and toss thoroughly to coat. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. I used at least a teaspoon of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes.

Once the potatoes have started roasting, trim and halve the Brussels sprouts. Spread them across a large baking sheet and drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss well to coat. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Place them in the oven with the potatoes and roast for 30 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and tender.

Cook and crumble the sausage in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain any grease and discard. Grease a large baking dish (I used a 10x12 lasagna pan) and combine the roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts and sausage. Stir gently to combine. Sprinkle with thyme and stir in the cubes of cheese as evenly throughout the dish as possible. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.

Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake until the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. (Stir if desired, right before serving.) Enjoy!





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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Homemade Barbecue Sauce