Cannellini Beans with Bacon and Spinach If your looking for a quick lunch idea or you need an uncomplicated side dish to serve alongside your grilled chicken breasts tonight, give this recipe a try. Cannellini beans with bacon and spinach is so good you might …
Avocado, Tomato,… Grape, Orzo Salad This salad is not only delicious, it’s a breeze to put together. Why? Because avocado tomato grape orzo salad is made with a boxed gourmet salad mix and a handful of fresh ingredients such as: avocado, cherry tomatoes and green …
The name just sounds healthy doesn’t it? One look at this salad and it screams, Eat Me, I’m good for you! Bacon Blueberry Avocado Spinach Salad has it all. A delicious blend of flavors that will make you want to make this salad again and again. For this salad we used a smoked gouda cheese, mainly because that’s what we had on hand but feta cheese would also work nicely in this salad.
This delicious salad has one of my favorites, avocado. Though avocados are high in unsaturated fat, half of an 8-ounce avocado contains only 138 calories. In addition, avocados contain a fair amount of vitamin C, thiamine and riboflavin. Almost 80% of today’s avocado crop comes from California. The two most widely marketed avocado varieties are the almost black Hass and the green Fuerte.
Round and smooth skinned, these blue-black berries are juicy and sweet. There are two main types of blueberries. High-bush variety and low-bush variety, which thrive in Canada and the northern United States. Cultivated blueberries comprise the majority of those that reach the market. Choose blueberries that are firm, uniform in size and indigo blue with a silvery frost.
Discard shriveled or moldy berries. So not wash berries until ready to use. Store preferably in a single layer, in a moisture-proof container. Blueberries can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Use blueberries in baked goods, jams, pies, pancakes, salads or serve as simple as possible. My favorite way to enjoy fresh blueberries, besides this super salad, is in a bowl with a generous drizzle of cold, heavy whipping cream. The best!
Spinach [SPIHN-ihch] Popeye’s addiction to this ‘power-packed’ vegetable comes from the fact that it’s a rich source of iron as well as vitamins A and C. Spinach has dark green leaves that, depending on the variety, may be curled or smooth. Fresh spinach is available year-round. Choose leaves that are crisp and dark green with a nice fresh fragrance. Avoid those that are limp, damp or discolored.
Refrigerate spinach in a plastic bag for up to 3 days. Spinach, which is usually very gritty, must be thoroughly rinsed before using. For convenience, purchase bagged spinach that’s already pre-washed. Over the last several years, due to its beneficial nutritional values and the fact it’s super low in calories, fresh spinach has made a huge comeback. Fresh spinach has become nearly as popular as bagged lettuce!
Spinach is also available frozen and canned. Spinach can be used fresh in salads or cooked, usually by boiling or sautéing. It can be served as a vegetable or as part of a dish. Many dishes that use spinach as an integral ingredient are appended with the phrase À La Florentine. Frozen spinach is used in a wide variety of dishes and dips. Look through our Recipe Box to find recipes using this lefty green good for you vegetable.
