Posts Tagged ‘Sunflower Foods’





Yummy Salad

Friday, September 23rd, 2011





>Image and video hosting by TinyPic



Blue Cheese Pecan Salad


Here in Oklahoma, we are EX-CITED! We have a new Sunflower Foods store in downtown Oklahoma City. And Whole Foods will be opening next month. The only thing that could make it better would be for a threesome finished out by Trader Joe’s which appears to be in the works!! See? Okies do have taste. Yes, they do.


Well, Wednesday I ventured into the wild crowd that packed our newly opened grocery and took advantage of a sale of sales. Organic plums for 77¢ – organic celery for 99¢ – organic 2% milk for $3.99 – 5 pounds of Gulf Shrimp for $18.00 – and the list goes on. But, oh my, they had an olive bar!! Give me a plate and call me Greek. I love olives. All olives. And all the things that go with olives like pickled garlic and marinated mozarella! Oh yeah. So I loaded up on olives and the works and left that store with visions of a salad deluxe and boiled shrimp.


Blue Cheese Pecan Salad

1 1/2 cups lettuce, greens and spinach per person
1/3 cup olives of your choice per person
2 Marinated Mozarella Cheeses per person
2 slices bacon per person + 1 tsp brown sugar per slice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tblsp butter
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese per person
tomato slices
Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing or Greek Vinaigrette


Printable Recipe



I got home, chopped lettuce and put it into large bowls, one for me and one for Mr. Fix-It and set those aside. I used iceberg lettuce and some fresh spinach, but you can use any greens at all. That’s what I had on hand for this week.


Image and video hosting by TinyPic



Next, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter and added 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I stirred that around on medium heat until a thick liquid was formed. This can take a little while and just when you get frustrated – poof – it all melts!


Image and video hosting by TinyPic



I added 1/2 cup of whole pecans and stirred those until they were coated. You don’t want to cook the sauce too long or it will scorch and get too hard.


Image and video hosting by TinyPic



I poured the nuts onto a nonstick tray to cool. Once cooled, I tossed them into the food processor and pulsed until they were chopped into large pieces.


Image and video hosting by TinyPic



Meanwhile, I really did it and sprinkled brown sugar onto strips of bacon. I cooked those in the microwave, but if you want to cook them in a pan, you can start them frying and then sprinkle them with the brown sugar. It gives a crisp, sweet taste to the bacon for salads.


Image and video hosting by TinyPic



Finally, I piled different olives onto the center of the lettuce and spinach, put two pieces of the marinated mozarella on the edge of the bowl alongside two slices of tomato, piled about 1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese over the whole thing and then sprinkled the pecans and crumbled bacon over that. With Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing or Greek Vinaigrette, it is awesome!! I boiled some of the shrimp, made some drawn butter and called it supper!! Mmmm. Mmmm.



Happy Cooking!



Image and video hosting by TinyPic

MB
Please join us on FaceBook!!


Join in the conversation by leaving a comment below!


Image and video hosting by TinyPic
THUMBTACK.COM

for the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company