Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! I'm so excited. This is my first time posting as a regular contributor (as opposed to my sub status in Pomodori e Vino. So, if you read our intro, you know the deal. We've chosen 52 ingredients and based upon the ingredient combinations in the Flavor Bible, we'll each week be creating (and making) seven different recipes for that ingredient. As you may know, this week's ingredient is Plums.

Now here's my first confession (and I fear there will probably be many more over the next 51 weeks), I didn't make this dish this week. I made it a few weeks ago when I still had summer plums in my fridge and I had some arugula about to go. Cindy told me the first week would be plums, and before I had a chance to buy the book (I own it now), what ingredients would go with plums and immediately a salad popped into my head.

Ingredients for the salad

From there, it all just fell together.

Plum, Prosciutto and Arugula Salad with Hazelnut Honey Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 plum, sliced thin (and seriously, make this in season when plums are good - mine was slightly firm which I think made for easier slicing)
• 4 ounces prosciutto (sliced thin)
• a whole lot of baby arugula (I bought one of those big plastic containers with it pre-washed)
• 1 oz chopped hazel nuts
• 4t hazelnut oil
• 4t lemon juice
• 4 t honey
• dash of kosher salt

Directions

Plum, Prosciutto and Arugula Salad

That's it.

I know, kind of easy and a bit of a cop out ... maybe. But really, when you have good, fresh ingredients, you really don't (shouldn't) work to hard with them.

Oh, and one more confession (see, told you there would be more), I'm member of Weight Watchers, trying to lose a bunch of weight. One of the things I like about this challenge is I create the recipe, so I can curtail it to my dietary needs and this recipe came in at 6 Points Plus per serving. Which reminds me, this is a lightly dressed salad, you may want to consider making more dressing but keep the proportions of the dressing ingredients the same.

Today I chose to make an Apple, Fennel, & Walnut Salad with Camembert Souffle. If you've started following our blog, you know that we need to pick 3 ingredients that are listed as complementary. My complementary ingredients for apples were LEMON JUICE, Camembert cheese, fennel, honey, mustard, olive oil, black pepper, sherry, and WALNUTS. Wow, I didn't realize I used so many complementary ingredients until I was typing this up just now.

I thought that this salad paired really well with the Camembert Souffle. The tart Granny Smith apples are tamed by the honey in the Vinegrette, and the earthiness of the toasted walnuts really makes a difference. The souffle is a lighter version, using low-fat milk and more egg whites than yolks. It made a very nice lunch when paired with a nice glass of Viogner.

I can't wait to read about what you were inspired to make, so be sure and leave a comment with a link to your blog showing us a recipe that you created with Apples.

This week's ingredient is Brussel Sprouts. I love roasted brussel sprouts. I had a little trouble deciding what to make this week, because I couldn't seem to come up with an unique recipe. I don't know if what I came up with is unique or not. Probably not, since hardly anything is, but I've never had it and I loved it and it will be added to my list to make many times for future meals.

I made this recipe the last week of September because when I was at the Farmer's Market, I found some great-looking brussel sprouts still on the stalk. They were tender, flavorful, and I wish I had purchased a lot more.

The complimentary ingredients I used this week were BACON, GOAT CHEESE, Dijon mustard, olive oil, black pepper, sea salt, and shallots.

I really liked this combination of flavors. You get that bitter hint of the brussel sprouts, but the sweetness from roasting them. Then the sweetness of the cranberries counterbalances the tang of the goat cheese and the fatty goodness of the bacon. And it's all tied together by the Dijon mustard and shallot vinaigrette.

If you've not liked brussel sprouts in the past, give this recipe a try. It might just change your mind.

Roasted Brussel Sprout and Goat Cheese Salad
Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs brussel sprouts, cleaned and sliced in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 to 4 slices bacon, diced
1 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or could use dried tart cherries)
Vinaigrette (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. Place brussel sprout halves in large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toss, and place, cut side down, on large baking sheet.
3. Roast until tender and browned, turning once, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool.
4. While brussel sprouts are roasting, cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Place on paper towels to drain. Also make vinaigrette (see recipe below).
5. Just before serving, place brussel sprouts, bacon pieces, dried cranberries and goat cheese in a large bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over, and gently toss. Serve.

Vinaigrette
1 small shallot, peeled and finely minced
1/8 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix shallot, salt, and vingegar in a small bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes for the shallots to soften in flavor. Whisk in the mustard, then slowly whisk in the olive oil.

For my pear dish I really wanted to make something savoury. I automatically turned to blue cheese since in my mind it is one of the perfect foils for pears. Happily the Flavor Bible agreed! In this recipe I used the following 'flavours' suggested by Page and Dornenburg: Gorgonzola cheese, cinnamon, honey, canola oil, prosciutto, salads - greens, walnuts.

I wanted a combination of flavours and textures in this salad - crisp/salty prosciutto, the creamy gorgonzola cheese, crisp greens, crunchy walnuts, a sweet pear based dressing, and the roasted pear. We had this for dinner last night and I must say it was pretty amazing - mind you, what could go wrong with this combination of ingredients? *smile*

Roasted Pear Salad with Gorgonzola and Prosciutto

Salad
4 thin slices prosciutto
1 large, ripe pear, cut in half and cored
4 T gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup shelled walnuts
4 cups salad greens

Dressing
1/4 cup pear juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp grainy mustard
1 T honey
2 T white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp finely chopped shallot
2 T canola oil

Freshly grated pepper

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the prosciutto on a baking sheet and bake until crisp - about 5 minutes. Gently lay on paper towels. Set aside.

Lower the heat to 350 degrees.

Place the pears, skin side down, in a baking dish. Mound the gorgonzola cheese in the cavity created when the core was removed. Bake for 15 minutes (or until tender). (note: you may find that some of the cheese has run out of the cavity - just spoon it back in)

Toast the walnuts.

Mix the dressing ingredients together. Check for taste - I didn't add any salt but you may wish to do so.

Arrange the salad greens on 2 plates. Carefully layer the crisp prosciutto on top of the greens. Place the bake pear on top of the prosciutto. Sprinkle with the toasted walnuts. Drizzle with dressing. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated pepper.

I am not a huge cabbage fan, so I needed to find a way to "disguise" it, or at least mix it with ingredients and flavors I like. This is what I came up with:

Cabbage-Apple-Gorgonzola Slaw

1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup mayo
2 oz. crumbled gorgonzola
a "splash" of red wine vinegar
a "splash" of apple juice

I made our sandwiches with semolina bread, sliced roast pork, fontina, and the slaw, then grilled them in a panini grill. The remaining slaw, we ate on the side.

Okay who picked cabbage? This is like Brussels Sprouts to me ... how many ways can you prepare cabbage? At first I thought maybe something exotic like chicken and cabbage dumplings with a hot-sweet sauce but then I realized the holidays (and yes, I can say holidays because we celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas in this household), are a mere two weeks away and I have a ton of stuff to do! So again, I opted for the easy way out and you won't believe how easy this is.

Have you ever heard of health salad? I'm not sure if it's an east coast thing a NY thing (read Jewish) or if health salad has pervaded the entire country but for those not in the know, let me explain. It's a whole bunch of vegetables, mixed together, with a sweet, tangy sauce usually served in lieu of coleslaw (no mayo, it lasts longer at picnics). There are probably as many different recipes for health salad as there are delicatessens yet it's one of those things, that while I enjoy it out, I've never made at home ... until now.

Now I've seen health salad made with big chunks of vegetables and I've seen it finely shredded, personally, I prefer the small cut or shred to the big chunks. Luckily, when I was at the market, I saw pre-shredded red cabbage along with a bag of shredded broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and more cabbage - which made easy work of this salad.

Most health salads I've seen also includes cucumbers but I find that cucumbers tend to go quickly and/or get soggy, so I didn't include them in my version. I also like things a bit spicy, so decided to include a bit of crushed red pepper in my dressing. Lastly, lately, I've had this ... fascination ... with fennel. Never having eaten it raw, I decided to incorporate a bit of that into the salad to see how it goes. Anyway, here's the recipe...

Oops, forgot the crushed red pepper in the previous shot - here it is

Ingredients

1/2 RED ONION sliced (I may add a little more next time, if the onion is mild
1/4C fennel, thinly sliced
1 bag of shredded red cabbage
1 bag of shredded veggies like the rainbow salad I bought (including carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage)
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (I used yellow but you could use any color)
1/4t salt
1/4t fresh ground black pepper
3.5T cider vinegar
1.5T olive oil
1.5T sugar
large pinch of crushed red pepper (or to your taste)

Directions

Mix all the veggies together in a large bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients together with a whisk until blended, making a dressing. Toss the dressing with the veggies. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

Easy peasy man! Feel free to increase/decrease the dressing as you see fit.

For my Weight Watcher peeps, this came in at 1 points plus for a 4 oz serving. Feel free to count 1/2 a healthy oil when you eat this.

On an earlier post, I mentioned that there are only two things Brad will NOT eat. One of them is beets! I also want nothing to do with them, so I decided to keep this week's experiment simple.

I bought a bunch of red beets and a bunch of golden, or yellow beets. I cleaned them, wrapped them in foil, and roasted them for 1 hour at 350.

Brad peeled the little suckers, and I sliced them, trying not to gag or get too much beet juice on myself.

On the plate I began with some mixed greens in an orange vinaigrette, then stacked both colors of beets, sliced orange, and shaved fennel.

I made a goat cheese fritter by taking a coin of goat cheese, dipping it in bean egg, and dipping it in a mixture of bread crumbs, panko and fresh thyme, and quickly sauteing it in olive oil.

Brad ate the goat cheese fritter, and the rest of the plate went down the drain! My friend who LOVES roasted beets was out of town. I probably should have walked to a couple of neighbors, begging someone to take my offering, but it was after 8 p.m., and the rest of our dinner was ready!

This was another example of cooking for the camera, not the taste buds! It LOOKED good, but I can promise I will not make roasted beets again for the two of us who clearly do not appreciate their goodness.

The challenge with being last in the week is that your Flavour combinations are likely all gone by the time it comes to post. At least I can be assured with Deborah's beet liqueur post from last Sunday I'm safe of a replication there! Cindy combined beets and goat cheese in a tart. Jan roasted beets with a citrus vinaigrette. Palma made an amazing looking salad with roasted beets, some citrus, and goat cheese on the side. Sandi had some citrus roasted beets with some goat cheese. Kim had those delicious looking thinkly sliced roasted beet chips.

Then comes Jerry's day.

SIGH

I made a salad. I used roasted beets. There's goat cheese. Citrus. Walnuts. Thyme. Olive Oil. Walnut Oil. A hint of mustard. Most of which has been done already.

That aside, this was a great salad. I whipped it up yesterday afternoon when I got back from a short work trip to Ottawa. I roasted the beets in advance and left them on the trays at room temperature. Once the beets were done I put the walnuts in the still warm oven to toast them. By the time they were done I had measured out everything from the vinaigrette (well, except for the chopped toasted walnuts - they went in next). Nothing left to do, I curled up on the coach with a blanket, two cats, my book, with a fire burning in the fireplace off in the distance. Of course I turned one page before I nodded off.

Paul woke me up when he got home from work and once I was ungroggy (if that isn't a word I claim it to describe that slow process of truly waking from a deep and satisfying nap) I whipped up the salad. I debated throwing all the ingredients in a bowl and just serving it that way but decided to make a composed salad.

Roasted Beet Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

1 pound small or medium red or-yellow beets, scrubbed but-not peeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive-oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon finely chopped orange zest
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
2-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1-1/2 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled into small pieces
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped into small but not fine pieces
1/4 cup pomegranate arils
4 cups mixed greens

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Cover two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Slice off the tops and bottoms of the beets and then slice the beets into thin rounds. Toss the slices well with the first measure of olive oil, salt, and thyme and spread them in one layer, with a little space between each, on the two baking sheets. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, swapping the pans to opposite racks halfway through.

Measure walnut oil, second measure of olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, orange zest, lemon zest, finely chopped walnuts, second measure of thyme leaves, dry mustard, second measure of salt, and pepper into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Screw on the lid and shake the contents vigorously.

Arrange equal portions of the roasted beet slices in one layer on four salad plates. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of the vinaigrette over the beets. Sprinkle the goat cheese over each plate of beets. Sprinkle all but 1 tablespoon of the walnuts over each of the four plates as well. Place the mixed greens in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over the greens and toss lightly. Arrange 1/ of the greens in a mound centered on top of the beets Sprinkle the pomegranate arils and remaining walnuts over each salad and serve right away.

Y'all can probably guess that I am not a huge fan of lentils. Lentil soup . . . that is just a way to use a leftover ham hock.
So . . . my mission was to find a new way to serve lentils, using the Flavor Bible.I wanted to include fresh flavors, and add a little spice. Citrus, Kalamata olives, and garlic seemed like a good place to start. They say that Green lentils are more flavorful (maybe that has been my problem in the past).
Lentils with Mediterranean Flavors
1 tablespoon extra-virgin OLIVE OIL, plus 3 tablespoons
1 CARROT
1 small ONION
2 GARLIC cloves,
1 1/4 cups dried green lentils
4 cups CHICKEN STOCK
1 BAY LEAF
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 cup pitted kalamata OLIVES
1/2 cup fresh Italian PARSLEY
1/2 cup baby SPINACH
1/2 cup cherry TOMATOES
1 tablespoon chopped fresh THYME leaves
3 SCALLIONS
2 Tbs LEMON zest
Salt and freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan. Add the diced carrot, onion, and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils. Add 2 1/2 cups of broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer gently until the lentils are just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Transfer the lentils to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, cook the rice with bay leaves and remaining broth until it is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Fluff the rice with a large fork. Transfer to the bowl with the lentils. Add the chopped olives, parsley, thyme, and lemon zest. Toss the rice mixture with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil to coat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
It makes a fresh and flavorful base for grilled Salmon.
It was even better the next day as a salad!
Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

This delicious salad can serve as a full lunch, especially if you put it over some greens. The garbanzos (aka chic peas or ceci) are full of protein. Luckily I found some beautiful blood oranges to use but it's not necessary. Any eating (as opposed to juicing) oranges would work fine.

Garbanzo Bean and Farro Salad serves 8

1 Cup farro
1 28 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 bulb fannel sliced thin (about 1 cup)
1 orange peeled, sliced thin and cut into 6ths (about 1 cup)

Dressing:
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice
1Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
finely grated zest of 1 orange (about 1 teaspoon)

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Cook the farro in salted water for about 30 minutes. Drain well.

While it is cooking, make the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Add the dressing and the rinsed garbanzo beans to the warm farro with the fnnel and oranges. Let it marinate at room temperature until almost cool. Just before serving add the mint.

Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Our ingredient this week is lobster. I thought I would make some type of lobster salad, but then I had to decide what kind.

Lobsters are really expensive. I like lobster, but I probably like shrimp as well, and when you have a freezer full of shrimp it is hard to justify spending a lot of money on lobster. I planned on buying whole live lobster, but on Valentine's Day my local grocer had lobster tails on sale for $5.00 each. I bought two. I realized as I was making the recipe later why they were so inexpensive-they were tiny. My recipe today uses 2 small lobster tails. They gave me a little less than 3/4 cup of meat, and that was packed very loosely in the measuring cup. You could easily double, triple, or quadruple this recipe, and I think shrimp would be just as good as lobster.

Tropical Lobster Salad Makes 2 small servings

3/4 lb cooked lobster tail, cut into small pieces (My lobster tails had been frozen. I boiled them for about 5 minutes.)
1/4 cup fresh pineapple, cut in small dice
1/4 cup mango, cut in small dice
1/8 cup tomato, cut in small dice
1/2 avocado, cut into small dice
1/2 hot red chili pepper, cut in very small dice
1 tablespoon finely minced onion
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2-1 teaspoon lime zest
Sea Salt

1. In small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, and lime zest.
2. In med bowl, mix together lobster, pineapple, mango, avocado, tomato, onion, and chili pepper.
3. Mix the mayonnaise mixture into the lobster mixture. Chill, then serve.

Make this salad and serve it over spring greens for a lovely light supper.
At my fish market you can order the lobster and have them steam it for you. By the time I picked it up in the afternoon, it was way on its way to a nice chill down. I did, however, steam, peel and chill the shrimp myself. You would need to allow time for both to be properly chilled before you start. Here is what I got:

To get the grapefruit prepped I just cut one in half and dug out the sections with a special grapefruit spoon (one with a serrated edge).

Lobster and Shrimp Salad
serves 2 for a main course

1 1.5 pound lobster, steamed, chilled, meat removed and chopped into small chunks
1/2 pound "extra-large" shrimp steamed, peeled and chilled and cut into about 4 pieces each
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 pink grapefruit, sections removed
1 Tablespoon finely diced red pepper
1 Tablespoon finely diced celery
1 Teaspoon minced shallot

Dressing:
Whisk together the following:

1/4 cup grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Toss the salad ingredients with about 1/4 cup of the dressing. You can save the rest or use it for the greens.

Y'all have seen that the 'flavor' of the week is Pineapple. When they are fresh, a pineapple is sweet and juicy. Luckily, we can find them almost year 'round. I usually use my sniffer when choosing the one I want. The good one's smell like ~ Pineapple!
I'm excited to see what everyone else is doing with their pineapple . . . in truth ~ I am a little short on inspiration.
I made a simple pineapple salsa. Grilling the pineapple brings out the sweetness and dries it a bit. Perfect for this dish.
All the recommended flavors have been Capitalized.
Grilled Pineapple Salsa
1 cup fresh pineapple
1/2 RED PEPPER
2 small CUCUMBER
1/2 cup chopped CILANTRO
1/2 cup chopped PARSLEY
1/4 cup SWEET ONION
1 tablespoons finely chopped JALAPENO PEPPER, stemmed and seeded
Juice of 1 large LIME
2 Tbs Lemon yogurt
Salt, to taste
Slice the pinapple into managable quarters. Place on a hot grill and roast for 1 minute on each side. Dice pineapple, red pepper, and herbs. Mince garlic and onion. Combine all ingredients and stir in yogurt to desired consistency. I usually serve this over grilled salmon or with Bar-B-Q
I simply ate mine on top of a avocado!
Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

Our Flavors recipe this week is shrimp. For those of you who know me, you know that my husband and I have a boat, which we take out of Whittier in Prince William Sound. We are very fortunate that one of the things we are able to do is set out shrimp pots. Once you find good spots, we get an abundance of shrimp. Large, sweet spot shrimp. We eat it boiled, in stir fries and curries, in soups and stews, lots of different ways. Today I decided to make a Thai Shrimp Salad. I started off by making some quick pickled carrots, cucumbers, & onions. I needed to use the cucumbers before they went bad, and this was a great way to fix them.

Here's what I did for the pickled vegetables: Thinly slice the cucumbers and place in a bowl. Peel the carrots and cut into sticks and add those to the bowl. Peel an onion, cut it in half, and thinly slice it. You can use as little or as many vegetables as you would like. Then cover the vegetables with seasoned rice wine vinegar and place in refrigerator. Let them soak until they're as stong as you would like, then drain. I soaked mine a couple of hours.

Thai Shrimp Salad 4 Servings
Dressing:
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1-2 teaspoons chili sauce
Pinch of sugar

Salad:
1 pkg (2 oz) bean thread noodles
1 lb shrimp
1 cup sliced red pepper
6 cups lettuce, shredded
1 cups cabbage, shredded
As many pickled vegetables as you would like
Cilantro if desired

1. Make the dressing by whisking all of the dressing ingredients together.
2. Boil the shrimp in water until done, just a few minutes (they will float when done). Cool and peel.
3. Cook the bean thread noodles according to package directions and drain. I then took kitchen scizzors to mine and cut them into smaller pieces to make them easier to eat.
4. Place noodles, shrimp, red peppers, lettuce, cabbage, and pickled vegetables in large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss to coat. If desired, top wtih chopped peanuts and chopped cilantro.

4 Servings
Per Serving"
297 calories
9.1 g fat
25.1 g carb
3.9 g fiber
7.2 g sugar
28.1 g protein

Y'all know by now that the flavor of the week is Tuna. I first thought about some beautiful Ginger Tuna steaks . . . when I looked at the price, I decided to go with frozen tuna. When I took the frozen tuna out of the bag. . . I decided a tuna salad was in order.
I still wanted to include the strong citrus flavors and Ginger. As usual, I have included the flavors that are recommended by the flavor bible.
Citrus Tuna Salad with Ginger and Pecans
2 large fresh tuna steaks
2 Tbs OLIVE OIL
2 LEMONS
2 Tbs minced GINGER
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mandrin ORANGES
1/4 cup pecans
2 Tbs CILANTRO
Put olive oil in a skillet, place tuna steaks in a hot pan. Cover with minced ginger. Sprinkle the zest and lemon juice evenly over the tuna. Cook over high heat, flipping once. The tuna should flake easily with a fork when it is cooked through. Allow to cool.
In a small bowl, combine chopped cilantro, and chopped pecans (I used praline pecans from Trader Joes) Add the cooled tuna, stirring with a fork to break it up. Add the yogurt to desired consistency and stir to combine. Finally add the mandrin oranges and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

I love fried calamari. I've made it several times. But I couldn't find any fresh squid at all so I opted for frozen tubes. After I got home and read the fine print on the package--they were from China! Well, I did the whole recipe using them which made it very easy, not having to clean squid and all that mess.
BUT they had absolutely zero flavor, no taste at all. Oh well live and learn! I still think the recipe would work well with a decent product to start.

Southwestern Squid Salad—serves 2 (or 4 for a first course)

Dip/dressing

1 bunch cilantro
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons whole almonds
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
zest of 1 lime (grated on microplane)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 dash of Siracha

With the motor running, drop the garlic into the food processor.
Open it and add the cilantro, almonds, vinegar, salt, lime juice and zest. Process until fairly smooth. Add the oil in a steady stream with the motor on. Set aside at room temperature.

Make a salad—whatever you like but be sure to include tomatoes and avocado pieces. Toss the salad with just a bit of oil and vinegar.

Squid:

1 pound of squid

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Oil for frying (I used half olive oil and half canola)

Cut the squid tubes into rings.

Mix together the flour with all the seasonings.
Dredge the squid in the flour, shaking it in a strainer to remove the excess. Fry it in the hot oil (about 350°-- you can try throwing the first piece of squid in and make sure it sizzles) for just a few minutes each side. It will turn golden brown. You need to fry it in batches depending of the size of your pan. I used a 10” cast iron pan and did 3 batches.

Remove it to a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with salt.

Put the squid on top of the salad and drizzle the cilantro dressing over it all.

Serve with corn tortillas on the side of the plate.

I had a flash of "genius" when making my regular chicken salad. I wonder what it would taste like with some blue cheese added? I took a little out of the big bowl, added a few crumbles and LOVED it! (I love ANYTHING with blue cheese!) Brad had a taste, and pronounced it delicious, so I added the rest of the cheese to the large bowl of chicken salad.

Meat from 1 large rotisserie chicken, or 4 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1/2 red onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large bunch red seedless grapes, washed and stemmed
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. cashews
4 oz. crumbled Maytag blue cheese
1/2 c. mayo
salt and pepper to taste

Toss and chill until serving.