Orange, Olive & Red Onion Salad

S. Alad, meet Blog universe. Blog universe - meet my favourite salad. The combination sounds strange I'll admit (I  mean come on  - oranges and olives? You're kidding, right?), but man oh man do they work well together. I could seriously inhale eat this salad day in and day out. By the truckload bowlful. The chocolate peanut butter cups in the fridge are even looking worried that this salad will dethrone them as The One and Only in my heart & tummy. I'll be honest, it's a very real risk.

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Tri-Colore Pepper and Lentil Salad

(Update: I'm submitting this salad to Weekend Herb Blogging #211 hosted by Lynne from Cafe LynnyLu)


When you're feeling all blah about life (which is common for most people around this time of the year), what better way to cheer you up than by injecting some colour into your life? And how could you possibly resist a salad that is both colourful and super-healthy? Bellpeppers are known for their exceptionally high vitamin C content, even though oranges normally steal their thunder. Yes people, a bell pepper has twice the amount of vitamin C that an orange has. How's that for stealing thunder!

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Jamie's Simply Dressed Greens

Except these aren't green! According to Jamie Oliver this is the how Italians serve their veggies - simply cooked/steamed and then drizzled with a garlicy vinaigrette. And let me tell you, I could eat an entire bowlful of veggies like this - the dressing is just enough to subtly flavour the vegetables without being overpowering. 

I defy anyone not to like vegetables when served this way (seriously, don't you get annoyed by people who say they don't like ANY veggies? Surely you must like SOME, right? It's not like they all taste the same!) And this would be good with almost any vegetable - zucchini is lovely as well (cut them diagonally for visual interest), even broccoli shines like a star upon receiving this treatment.  

I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging #200, hosted by Cook Almost Anything

Jamie's Simply Dressed Greens

Adapted from Jamie's Italy 

This is not really a recipe, as it will depend on your tastes, but the basic premise is this:

1. Simply steam your veggies, or cook in a liiiiiitle bit of water (keyword here is little - we don't want to drown out all the nutrients).

2. Make a dressing using 3 parts of olive oil to 1 part lemon juice. Add a 1/2 tsp of minced garlic - increase if you are a garlic slut like me, or if you have a particularly large amount of veggies - but remember the garlic won't be cooked, so it's flavour will remain quite intense. Lastly add a handful of chopped up herbs - again, you can use almost anything you like of the soft leafy varieties (I wouldn't recommend the woody ones) - so experiment with parsley, fennel, dill or whatever else strikes your fancy.

3. As soon as the veggies are done (they should be crisp-tender and not mush), drain them (if necessary) and immediately toss with the dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve warm or lukewarm.