Salad, Anyone?

The same night as the donut making magic, Lauren whipped up the most delicious dinner salad. My eyes are seriously larger than my stomach, so whenever I'm offered a salad as an entree I think I'll still be hungry after. I never am. I insist on thinking I need to eat like a football player, I must get that from my Dad. Anywho, this salad, as usual, totally filled me up and and was gorgeous to look at. Such a great option if you're having some girlfriends over for dinner. It's light enough to be served as an appetizer or along with your dinner as well.

You'll need:

Mixed greens
Salmon - pre cooked and thinly slived
1 avacado
1 lemon
1 tomato
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 basil bunch for garnish

Helpful hint: Keeping your fresh herbs in a jar with a bit of water prolongs their shelf life! Use things like recycled glass candle holders.

Dressing:

(she kinda made this up as she went along so I'll do my best to remember)

1 bunch of basil
1 bunch of parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup cannellini (white) beans
Salt & pepper to taste

She basically dumped it all into a food processor, add or take away olive oil for desired consistency.

Toss dressing with mixed greens in large bowl.

Slice tomatoes and avacado (don't dice them).



Arrange salad on large dinnder plate, topping it with the sliced salmon last.

Garnish salad with desired amount of basil and chopped almonds. Squeeze juice of lemon over top each salad, and you have yourself a beautiful AND delicious salad!



PS: Toast pita and dip it in the dressing for a pre-dinner snack! Yum!

Lemon Zing(er)

These tasty little gems are the perfect treat for after dinner, especially if you're having a couple of friends over. I assume you could make it in one dish, but what's the fun in that? You will need:

2 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

Finely shredded zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup low-fat (1%) milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 2/3 cups (12 oz.) blueberries, divided

Powdered sugar
 
Heat your oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg YOLKS and granulated sugar. *make sure to hang on to your egg whites*

(You might see that I'm using more of things in photos- I was making 8 and the recipe calls for 6). After mixing yolks and sugar, whisk in flour, lemon zest/juice and milk until blended.

Zesting can be a real bitch! (sorry Mom)
 
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until egg whites are stiff and hold still. If you're one of the lucky ones that has a mixer this will be an easy task for you. I, on the other hand, had to ask Ryan to help because my muscles aren't big enough to beat egg whites that much. Yikes.
Fold whites into mixture until blended. Add half blueberries.
 

 
Spoon batter into ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking pan (not sheet) and pour enough hot tap water in baking pan so that the water comes up 1" onto ramekins.

Bake until cake layers are set and top is golden. 30-35 minutes. Remove from water and let cool atleast 30 minutes before serving. Serve with extra berries on top and dusted powdered sugar. Tip- if you want the pudding part on the bottom to be a bit stiffer cook them closer to the 35 minute range. I took mine out at 30 and wish I left them in just a tad longer.