Here is another interesting version of spring inspired salad. Instead of spreading out pieces all over the plate or making a mix, you can assemble them into mini-tower. You family and friends at the table will be pleasantly surprised by this. Who said all healthy things can't be beautiful as well?
Tomato Salad with Mozzarella & Avocado
Salmon Tartare with Sesame Crackers in Blue Ice
Salmon is such a versatile fish and makes an expensive but impressive dish to prepare for family and friends. You can, of course, buy ready-made sashimi from local Japanese restaurant, but I think making salmon tartare yourself is what makes this dish special. You can serve it on a plate using a pastry ring, or serve in glasses on ice for more sophisticated look. I colored regular ice with blue food coloring for "blue ocean" effect.
Chocolate Orange Cannoli Cupcakes & Cacao Nibs
I created this recipe when thinking how I could convert one of my favorite desserts, cannoli, into a Chocolate Orange Cannoli Cupcakes. Incredibly easy to make, decadently chocolatey, not too sweet, with beautifully light texture and moist within. A great combination of textures and flavors. These cupcakes have an Italian flavor and wow factor for a dinner party dessert. Deliciously naughty.
Arugula and Sweet Violet Salad
This salad idea is for you if you are keen gardener with a vegetable plot or if your flower beds are a riot of color in spring. The ingredients could be something your might have grown as part of your favorite pastime. Any harvest can be served at the table to the amusement of your friends invited to a truly garden-grown lunch.
Pear Arugula Salad with Walnuts & Blue Cheese
This Pear Arugula Salad is elegant and unusual recipe for dinner party salads or sophisticated lunch appetizer that will appeal to the eye as well as the palate. Luxury creation from simple ingredients is presented to maximum visual effect and quarantined to impress and please your quests.
New Zealand Almond and Fig Bread
This loaf has a wonderful flavor, and it use yeast and sponge. It is simple to do, but it takes some time. The odor of this stuff baking will bring the kids in from the yard - I promise. Excellent when toasted and served with soft cheeses and chicken liver pâté.
Summer Beet Soup - Chilled Borscht
Summer beet soup is a simplified version of borscht and is prepared in a fraction of the time. Serve with a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley. This is a healthy and refreshing vegetarian soup, which is just as good served either hot or chilled.
Irish Cream Coffee Cupcakes & Marshmallow Top
Cupcakes disappoint me every time I try them anywhere. Dry cake, fat sugary top are very frustrating. I have decided to make an ultimate cupcake, just as it must be. This recipe is a touch of perfection. Coffee flavor saturated cake with a hint of Irish cream taste and insanely delicious top. One ideally compliments the other and after the first cupcake you unintentionally reach out for the next. Perfect with tea or coffee outdoors on the warm spring evening... Or in any other way you feel to enjoy your deserved indulgence!
Still Life with Strawberries and Yellow Flowers - Spring Collection
Have a beautiful weekend, my dear readers!
"Heated spring air
In tiny waves of an inch or two -
Above wintery grass."
Matsuo Basho's Haiku
Strawberry Smoothie Popsicles
This frozen refreshment is perfect for hot days. You don't even need to have an ice cream maker to make it. Also, a healthy snack for kids.
Chocolate Coconut Madeleines with Strawberries
The first bright red strawberries that appear in your garden signal the onset of summer and the opening of berry season. They are the first act, followed by raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and more- and, in the middle of the summer they all appear on stage together. Save this recipe for beginning of strawberry season and many sweet and delicious mid-afternoon tea gatherings.
Grape Focaccia With Rosemary
This amazingly light bread has a thin crisp top crust with a fine layer of of aromatic rosemary and sweet grapes. Its delicately flavored moist, tender crumb; its top is golden and sparkling with crystals of salt and sugar. Serve with good cheese, like Gorgonzola or Roquefort, it makes a perfect cheese-and-fruit course. Or snack on a warm slice with espresso in the afternoon, a glass of wine in the evening.
Watermelon Salad with Radish and Sage
Watermelons in great variety are one of the most refreshing of fruits. Serve them well chilled, in combination with other fruits and vegetables, for example - radishes. And why not? Use other herbs if you like - fresh dill, cilantro. Everyone seems to have different tastes about the proper seasoning.
Shiitake Mushroom Quiche with Gluten-Free Crust
Shiitake Mushroom Quiche with Herbed Gluten-Free Crust recipe is ideal for brunches, lunches, light afternoon meals or picnics. Shiitake mushrooms give a special and wonderful flavor. The wine and sage are counterpointed by the earthy mushrooms in this preparation. This quiche is adequate for six people as a starter or for four as a luncheon main course. Best served with a salads like tomato, cucumber and radishes or steamed fresh asparagus.
