Cilantro Lime Dressing: Perfect for Summer Salads

It’s not often that I think: “I’m craving a salad.”

However, it’s been hot as heck out in Southern California, with temperatures in the high 90s and humidity that’s not supposed to happen here. My hair has been perpetually pinned to my head to keep the curls from taking over the world, and our air conditioner simply decided that life wasn’t worth living anymore.

On top of that, Matt’s decided to eat healthier. It’s something to see. A man who’s never eaten greens willingly is now grabbing fistfuls of spinach to snack on.

In light of all this, I’ve decided to share my favorite salad dressing recipe. It’s one I found for chopped Mexican salads, and has been a hit at all potlucks/dinners we’ve been invited to. It’s super easy to make, and super flavorful. 

At the end, I’ll show you what I add to mine in order to make a refreshing entrée salad.

Cilantro Lime Dressing

Ignore the apricot. It's just making a guest appearance

Ingredients: 

1 bunch of cilantro, washed 

1/2 cup of lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil -- I used an oil infused with blood orange, for extra citrusy flavor

2-3 tablespoons of honey, to taste

a dash of salt and pepper

• Start by cleaning out your cilantro. Mine was already starting to wilt. I was worried about using this cilantro in salsas and such, but slightly wilty cilantro is just fine when you're about to mince it into oblivion. Once it's cleaned, toss it into your processor, bullet or blender. Give it a pulse. 

• Add your lime juice to the cilantro, then pulse again.

Your dressing will be hyper green. This is acceptable.

• Add the olive oil and let everything blend together. Finally, add your honey a tablespoon at a time, tasting with each addition. Season with salt and pepper, then one final blend to mix.

That's it. You take this, add it to everything, seriously. We had a friend over who put it on his chicken, even.

In order to make the best salad this summer, I've been putting cotija cheese, pinto beens, chicken, corn, bell peppers, and jalapeño peppers into my spinach, tossing it, and smothering it with my meal. Regardless of what you do, I'm sure this dressing will be a repeat at your place.

Super Simple Cast Iron Flat Bread

This week has been crazily busy for us. We have been trying to adjust to the summer schedule, which includes my driving an hour and a half every morning and afternoon, on top of preparing for summer school students. Matt still has his nightly schedule, and has to deal with odd hours. Needless to say, it's been exhausting, and I still need to feed us.

This weekend, I really didn't feel like cooking at all, but still wanted to eat something delicious. When I was single, I'd go to a gastropub called the Flying Pig nearby that makes a wonderful grilled flatbread with tons of toppings, including prosciutto, salami, ricotta, tomato sauce, and garlic confit.

Matt had never had anything like the sort (surprise), so I wanted to create a home version. I found a great flatbread recipe online to be my base. I don't have a grill on hand, so I decided to use the next best thing: a cast iron grill. 

Once the dough is ready to cook, it really isn't too much longer before you're wolfing down a great, but simple to make, meal. Bon appetit!

Super Simple Cast Iron Flat Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 7 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream (feel free to use greek yogurt)
• Vegetable oil (for cooking)

Instructions

• Dissolve yeast in 3 cups warm water in a large bowl. 

• Add the all-purpose flour to the bowl one cup at a time, and mix with your fingertips until a shaggy dough forms. 

• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle the two tablespoons of salt over the dough, then add sour cream. 

• Knead in the salt and sour cream until it is incorporated. You will know when the dough is well mixed because the dough will pull away from sides of bowl and holds together in a loose, wet ball. To mix the dough without it sticking to your hands, make sure they are nice and moist. 

• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Knead dough an additional 4–5 times to remove the bubbles. If you have prepared the dough before you need it, it can keep in the fridge for for up to 2 days. The dough will develop in flavor and continue to rise slowly in refrigerator.
• If you are planning to use the dough immediately, let the dough stand at room temperature until doubled in volume, which will take anywhere from 3–4 hours. To make the cooking process easier, chill for one hour before cooking.

• Divide your dough into 8 equal portions. Press out the dough with your hands until it is 1/4-inch-thick. It doesn't have to be perfectly round.
• Preheat a dry cast iron or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Place the flatbread in the hot pan and spread it out as much as you can. Allow it to cook for one minute, or until small air bubbles appear. 

• Flip over and cook for another minute, and then finish by flipping over one last time for another minute. During the third minute the bread may puff up, and small charred spots will form on the surface. Those parts taste the best.

Remove to cool slightly. Once all are finished, the flatbread is ready to eat. If you’re like me, you’ll want to eat the bread with that mixture of garlic confit, arugula, spicy tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and prosciutto combo I was talking about at the beginning. Enjoy! 

Amazing Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Pork and Shrimp

I know it’s the middle of winter, but as a lucky Southern California native, it’s always beautiful outside. With that, there’s no such thing as ‘summer foods’ or ‘winter foods.’ Today was beautiful, and I had the hankering for something cool, filling, and refreshing. I’d spent a lot of the weekend making fatty

foods, so I needed something to help me reboot my tummy.

I came to the conclusion that some fresh spring rolls with a homemade peanut sauce were in order. These seem daunting, but once you get the hang of cooking a spring roll, you can start eating within the hour. If you’re like me, it’ll be near impossible to not eat all of your ingredients while you cook.

I took a recipe from a very popular blog, White on Rice Couple, and made a few tweaks to add some extra pow to the meal.

Vietnamese spring rolls

Serves 3-4

Ingredients: