Cranberry Waldorf Slaw with Poppy Seed Dressing

CRUNCH. That’s what you get with this salad. Cabbage adds far more body and crunch and to salads than most greens, but this recipe doesn’t stop there. Crisp apples are cut into match sticks, sweet and bright. Celery and fresh fennel add their own types of crunch to the bowl (is celery the crunchiest vegetable of them all, or what?). And, walnuts. Also crunchy, but with a nutty, rich side that contracts well with the raw vegetables. In fact, the only two ingredients in this salad that aren’t crunch are dried cranberries—which add a nice contrast and keep the fall parade going—and the salad dressing, which brings everything together.

Potluck-ready or delicious as a side to your favorite sandwich. The other win? This salad keeps really well, so you can each fresh veggies effortlessly all week, if you want.

Cranberry Waldorf Slaw with Poppy Seed Dressing

Published September 21, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

1/2 head of green cabbage, shaved thin

1 bulb of fennel, green parts removed, and sliced thin

2-3 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

1 apple, cored and sliced into matchsticks

Poppy Seed dressing, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine sliced vegetables in a large salad bowl.
2. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing to taste, and toss. Serve.
3. Note: This salad keeps well as left overs — if you anticipate having leftovers, only dress the amount you’re going to eat now. Store the slaw in an airtight container. Dress leftovers when ready to eat, and toss.

Arugula, Peach & Piquillo Pepper Salad with Goat Cheese

This time of year, just walking by the peaches at the market is enough to get my mouth watering, their sweet scent wafting yards away. Their flesh is tender -- almost too tender, you can't pack them away- and their juice is sweeter than pie. My favorite peaches are those grown on the Western Slope of Colorado. Palisade Peaches are worth every penny and the wait all summer for their peak season. 

Have you heard the saying "what grows together goes together?" This salad is further proof it's true: peppers are also a late-summer crop, and in this salad piquillo peppers are a perfect "pop" of flavor. Piquillo peppers are a little bit sweet but with a smokey, spicy edge. They match the brightness of peaches, with out overshadowing them. 

The combination of peaches and sweet peppers is pretty much begging for a bed of arugula. Arugula is a tad bitter, which balances out the other sweet ingredients. It keeps this salad from getting too sweet. It's delicate and leafy.

The final touch is goat cheese, which adds a streak of richness that makes this salad oh so satisfying. It's soft enough that it just barely begins to melt away as you pour the dressing in, emulsifying and cream-ify-ing the entire thing. It also cuts through the pepperiness of the arugula, and is the ingredient in this salad that brings it all together. 

Arugula, Peach & Piquillo Pepper Salad with Goat Cheese

Published August 24, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 pound baby arugula

2 ripe peaches, sliced thin

1/2 cup roasted piquillo peppers, diced (find these with the olives & pickles in the store)

1/3 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced

Creamy Balsamic Dressing (try this recipe)

Directions:

1. In a large salad, bowl, combine arugula, sliced peaches, peppers, and onion. Sprinkle goat cheese over top.
2. Just before serving, drizzle with balsamic dressing to taste.

Cilantro Lime Sweet Potatoes

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Sweet potatoes. There are so many ways to make them delicious -- close to a blank canvas, but so much better, due to their naturally sweet earth flavor. Puréed, waffled, caramelized or as a hash... it's all amazing.

Ever since I went to a potluck and someone brought a southwestern roasted potato salad from a local deli, I've been a bit obsessed with adding chili, paprika, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime to my sweet potatoes. It's good warm or cold, which means I can eat RIGHT NOW if I'm starving, or as a cool side dish the next day. The southwestern flavors also scream summer to me, and even though sweet potatoes aren't necessarily a summer crop, the added peppers and cilantro are.

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Between this and my recent paleo ice cream experiments, I'm set for hot days. It's supposed to be close to 90°F here for Independence Day, so you can bet I'll be eating ample amount of both of those things to cool off! I'll actually be spending the long weekend rock climbing in northern Wyoming, so in order to do that I need to spend the next few hours figuring out how to make both of those items out of our tent... (Mission Accepted!). 

Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July (if you celebrate it)! 

Cilantro Lime Sweet Potatoes

Published May 17, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 15-20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 medium sweet potatoe
• 1 red bell peppers
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chile powder
• Dash of ground cayenne
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Optional, for serving: avocado and a fried egg

Directions:

1. Mince the garlic and slice the onion and wash and cube the potato. Dice the bell peppers and remove seeds.
2. In a 10-inch skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, onions, pepper and sweet potatoes. Stir and cover pan, reducing heat to medium-low.
3. After 5 minutes, stir the potatoes again. Add the spices and salt. Allow to cook for 10-12 more minutes, until sweet potatoes are cooked through and browned on the outside. Squeeze the lime juice into the pan. Toss the potatoes to coat. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro leaves.
4. Serve how with a fried egg and avocado or as a dinner side.