Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Time for another salad. It's cracked wheat salad with nectarines this time around. This is a very refreshing salad. Since peaches are in season now, I see no problem with using peaches instead of nectarines.

Really? Irish oatmeal in a salad?? I thought that seemed very odd but I have to say it made a little bit of a change from using other grains in a salad. Irish oats (or steel-cut oats) have that little bit of nutty taste so they really added some flavor to the salad. The original recipe called this Waldorf Salad with Steel-Cut Oats, I'm thinking this is pushing it a bit. According to the web of knowledge (wikipedia), Waldorf Salad is usually made with apple, walnuts, celery, and has a mayonnaise dressing. So I'm thinking nice try but in my mind this has about as much in common with Waldorf Salad as a pasta salad. The original recipe only had 2 (walnuts and apple) of the 4 above mentioned ingredients. But it was good nonetheless. Irish Oatmeal Salad (Adapted from Cooking Light circa 2011) 1 c steel-cut oats 1-1 1/2 c water pinch of kosher salt 2/3 c walnuts (I used sliced almonds) 1T honey 3 T  olive oil 2 T white balsamic vinegar salt/pepper 1 1/2 c red lettuce...

This is another great summer salad.  The only bad part is that you are cooking the grains for nearly an hour and boy does that heat up your kitchen! I found this in my recipe file - another one patiently waiting to be tried (I'm sure some of those recipes are not too patiently waiting - some have been in there a long time). I'm not even sure where I got this one from. I photocopied it so I guess I borrowed the book from someone. I have a few other recipes that look similar. If you know the book, please let me know so that I can give credit. It is a spiral-bound book - if that helps at all? Three-Grain Salad (Adapted from some recipe book??) 5 1/2 c water 1 c wheat berries 1/3 c brown rice 1/2 c hulled or pearl barley 1/3 c dried cranberries 1/4 c diced carrot 1/4 c diced celery (peeled before diced) 1 medium apple, unpeeled chopped parsley, chopped Dressing 1/3 c sugar 1/3 c olive oil 1/3 c white balsamic vinegar 2 t Worcestershire sauce 2 T shallots 2...

Well it's definitely hot. It's so hot you don't feel like eating (shocking I know) but that's what salads are for. This one just requires boiling 1 cup of water - not so bad. Plus it's healthy it has Cracked Baby Cracked* Wheat in it.  Cracked Wheat and Nectarine Salad ( adapted from Cooking Light ) 1 c uncooked bulgar (cracked wheat) 1 c boiling water 1 1/2 c thinly sliced nectarines (about 3) 1/2 c sliced green onions (or minced shallot) 1/4 c fresh parsley 3 T olive oil 3 T white balsamic vinegar 1/4 c pistachios (rough chop) salt/pepper Combine bulgar and 1 cup of boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap or tight sealing lid and let stand 30-40 minutes.  Stir in nectarines and remaining ingredients.  Toss well. Sprinkle nuts on top. If I'm using this as a main summer meal, I add some crumbled goat cheese. I didn't have the green onions so I used shallots instead. Chives would be a nice substitute too (but we didn't plant chives ...