I made two salad type dishes lately that I’d like to write about. The first one, Panzanella with Artichokes and Olives, was the best thing that I’ve made in a long time.
I decreased the olive oil by 1 tbsp and decreased the mustard by 1 tbsp as well, but other than that followed the recipe. The bread sopped up the dressing and even though it sounds like it’d be too soggy, it was great. This was one of the first times I’ve actually bought fresh mozzarella and it made a huge difference.
We ate this up in less than 24 hours. Definitely going on the “recipes that I have made that I would make again” pinboard. Today, I made another salad-type dish, Chickpea, Cucumber, Avocado and Tomato Salad.
I put the egg on top for protein; the recipe didn’t call for it.
This was sort of like tabbouleh but without any bulgur wheat. While it wasn’t bad, it was sort of overpowered by the lemon juice. The recipe called for half a tsp of sugar, which I didn’t use, so I wonder if that would have cut the acidity at all. Probably. This is why I should follow recipes instead of randomly adding or taking out ingredients. Although it totally worked in the panzanella salad. While I’ll eat this over the next couple days, it’s definitely not something that I think I’m going to find myself craving. I also had some triscuts. That sad little salad wasn’t my entire dinner.
So, I had something else today that I didn’t make, but definitely could have.
Pumpkin greek yogurt. I got excited when I saw this at Trader Joe’s but honestly, it tasted just like if you mixed some pumpkin puree with some plain or vanilla yogurt. Nothing special, really.
And now, to end the most boring post that I’ve done in a while, I give you Murphy and his “baby.” He will tear apart any other stuffed animal within minutes. Not Scooby though, he loves that thing. Sorry for the blurry picture; he was moving.
Awwww. That photo of Murphy just melts my heart. Honey used to have a stuffed animal and she would carry it everywhere. She also destroys all other toys, but she was super gentle with this one for whatever reason. I think Olive destroyed it when we got her…Olive has yet to meet a toy she likes enough to not destroy. Everything is food to her.
Aw. I wanted that pumpkin yogurt to be as awesome as it sounds.
That second salad looks just like something you’d get at Lebanese Taverna, right down to the plate.
Yum. I need to go there next time I visit.
That salad look soooo good! they both do, actually. I LOVE fresh mozzarella. makes a huge difference. and Murphy is so darn cute!! (PS I got excited at that pumpkin yogurt but if it wasn’t even that good, that’s a bummer!)
It wasn’t bad, but it just tasted like something I’ve made a million times at home.
My guys go nuts over fresh mozzarella! Any time we have appetizer night, it’s son the menu. Both salads look delicious. I’m with you on lemon juice though, I can’t have it over power the dish. I would add some quinoa to that salad to cut the acidity down. That’s my favorite way to eat tabouleh now anyway since I can’t have wheat.
Murphy is so darn cute! My cat carries his baby around too. Cracks me up every time!
I love panzanella! I had one at Old Ebbit last month that was stellar. Those look like great recipes!
I haven’t had a panzanella salad in forever, but love the bread to soak up the sauce. I’ll have to add this to my list, love to put my own spin on those types of things. And YAY for the murphy pic.
Murphy!!!!
I love panzanella salad. I love to cut up bread and put it in my salad, period!
And I agree with your pumpkin yogurt assessment. It’s okay- but I probably won’t buy it again.
I Heart Murphy!!! So cute!
Good to know about the TJ’s pumpkin yogurt, I won’t waste a trip!
I swear Murphy is the cutest Golden ever to live!
It’s true!
I don’t like olives or artichokes