Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts recipe

Witten by sandy on May 31, 2010 in First Courses, Light and Healthy, Southwest Pantry, Uncategorized, Vegetarian Dishes


I’m not usually a “salad for dinner” kind of girl.  But when summer hits full boil here in Phoenix, salad recipes are all I can think about. Salads are quick, easy and there are no rules to follow;  you just throw in what ever sounds good at the time.  This Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts is not only what sounds good this time, but it’s all I have this time.

Apparently, I didn’t do that great of a job shopping before I went into the hospital for knee surgery.  I found a strange collection of ingredients in the fridge when I got home: left over pizza, dried out chicken nuggets and really smelly chinese food.  All signs that my family survived any way they could… by eating take-out.  The big bag of salad greens I purchased is still sitting there, looking a little sad.  I must have been under the influence of pre-surgery medication when I bought it.   I had these images of my  husband sitting around, munching on salad and marveling at its crisp, summery, freshness while I was in the hospital eating reconstituted beef bullion and rubberized pork chops.

However, there is a big patch of really fresh strawberries in the fridge that wasn’t there before.  He probably picked them up at the grocery store on one of his “emergency runs” for ice cream (the evidence is in the trash can).  So, I mixed the strawberries and bag of greens with creamy goat cheese from the fridge (every Southwest cook has goat cheese in the fridge) and candied walnuts from the pantry for a fresh summery salad that made me feel so happy to be home.

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Sweet Potatoes are a Terrific match for Latin Tostones Recipe

Witten by sandy on March 29, 2010 in First Courses, Party Food and Snacks, Uncategorized, Vegetarian Dishes

I saw some great looking sweet potatoes shaped like bananas in the produce section yesterday and thought they were so cute…  I bought them.  The sweet potatoes really were too cute to puree and didn’t look like they wanted to be baked.  They cried out “Tostones! ” instead.

Tostones are a tasty little  latin snack food that are traditionally made with fried plantains and topped with anything from chorizo to fruit salsas. Because the tostones are starchy and slightly sweet, they get crispy on the outside but stay very soft and fluffy on the inside.  Hmmm… starchy? slightly sweet? It sounds like sweet potatoes will fit right in and make  terrific tostones.

You can serve sweet potato tostones as an hors d’ hoeuvre, first course or side dish.  They can even be served alone.  But, since I  love the flavors of cranberries, pecans and feta cheese with my sweet potatoes, I put them together  in a salad with baby arugula to top my tostones with.  The tart cranberries and acidic vinaigrette are a great match with the crispy, fried sweet potatoes.

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A Classic Southwest Breakfast or Anytime Recipe: Huevos Rancheros Rapidos (Ranch Style Eggs in a Hurry)

Witten by Donna on November 11, 2009 in Main Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros Recipe

You just can’t have a southwest food blog without, at some point in time, having a recipe for Huevos Rancheros. It is THE classic southwest breakfast food, and one of the finest breakfast-for-dinner dishes out there. It is also a perfect “desperation dinner” that you can throw together in just a few minutes.

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