{neatly} Chopped Salad with Homemade Fruit Vinaigrette Dressing

I don't know about you, but it seems like everywhere I turn these days I see salads.  Now, don't misunderstand me and think that I'm complaining because I'm not.  I love salads.  I could probably just live on salads I love them SO much.  But what's with this whole "chopped" salad thing as of late?  It seems so random, and messy...and gross...so here's my Neatly Chopped Salad version of the popular chopped salads and I am throwing in a new dressing I came up with and adore!  (both are customizable too which is fantastic!)  So, enjoy!  :)

(Oh, and for the irony of life...now that I have the new fancy camera I'd wanted for so long I can't seem to ever have it handy when I'm prepping food...I suppose I'm also still in the paranoid phase....(of fear or getting it messy) but this time I also didn't have my phone around to snap pics till the very end...so sorry for the lack of prep pics!)

Neatly Chopped Salad
This salad serves 4 as an entree salad or about 8 as a side salad.
2 c. Cabbage (red or green), finely chopped
2 c. Romaine Lettuce, finely chopped
1 c. Broccoli, finely chopped
1 Cucumber, finely diced
2 Carrots, shredded
1/2 c. Craisins
1/2 c. Walnuts, roughly chopped
2 T. sugar
Cooked Chicken, optional

Fruit Vinaigrette Dressing 
3 T.  Strawberry, Peach or Apricot Jam
1 T.  Water
3 T.  Apple Cider Vinegar
2 T.  Canola Oil

1.  Make your vinaigrette by whisking all the ingredients for it together and refrigerating until you are ready to serve the salad.  (At least 1 hour for it to chill.)
2. In a large bowl place cabbage, romaine, broccoli, cucumbers and carrots.  Using a two spoons gently mix the salad until it is well combined.  Cover and refrigerate.
3.  Place the walnuts and sugar in a greased skillet over medium heat stirring frequently until the sugar starts to carmelize on the nuts.  Remove from heat and place on a plate.  Sprinkle 1 additional teaspoon of sugar over the hot nuts.  Let cool.
4.  When ready to serve, toss the salad with dressing, and top with craisins and candied walnuts. (also top with chicken if you are using it!) Enjoy!

Pic doesn't do it justice.  This is quite an amazing salad.  I've had it three times in the last two days, it's that good!

Mini Caprese Salad

So I had wanted to make a regular version of Caprese salad but the cat (or possibly some other animal) in our neighbor ate our first ripe heirloom tomato....so bring on the plethora of cherry tomatoes from our garden and you have Mini Caprese!  :)

All you need is some cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.  You can also add EVOO, and some dry herbs or a dash of Italian dressing.  I just went without those this time.  With the fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden they perfectly flavored the mozz to make it a refreshing summer salad!

Brussel Sprouts (and three ways to fix them!)

It's turns out...that my hubby and I both hadn't ever (at least as far as we could remember) had brussel sprouts before.  So, when I was talking to my Mom a few months ago and she told me that she had recently bought and fixed some of them....I was intrigued and had to go out and buy some.  And after buying them about 10 times more, I can bet you can guess that we both liked them!  :)  So, here are a few ways to cook these little tiny adorable cabbages!  :)

(This post is referring to fresh brussel sprouts because they are the best--however frozen aren't too bad either.  So if you are using frozen thaw slightly in the microwave before chopping and sauteing, k?)

Start by giving them a gentle wash.  A colander works well.  :)

 Then trim the little stemmies off.  Like so.  (I <3 the mini cabbages. SO cute!)

 Now you can either slice them like this for either a cabbage-like salad or a shredded stir fry.

 Here's what a pile of shredded ones looks like...

 From here either do A or B but probably not both. :) 

A.  Put the shredded brussel sprouts (raw) in a bowl and add salt, pepper, vinegar and miracle whip until desired flavor for a cole slaw salad.  I loved this....my hubby not so much...  :)

B.  Gently saute the shredded sprouts in olive oil until just getting greener (trust me, their color perks up) and slightly browned.  Don't over cook or else you (or I) won't like it.  Sprinkle with salt and peppa and serve.  Also delish! :)  You could also just add the raw shredded sprouts to any stir fry. 

Sauted shredded sprouts. 

 Here's option C.  This is probably our very favorite!  You can make it Italian style, stir fry style, Asian pasta salad style.....or any style you like!  :)  Yum!  Just trim the stems and then quarter the sprouts.  

 Saute in some olive oil or veg. oil until more green and slightly golden.  Again, don't over cook...It's better to have them on the crunchy side than the overcooked side.  I hear overcooking them is what has given these little cuties a bad rap.  :(  Sad day.  They are SO good, and good for you!  :)

 Take them off the heat and serve with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese or any way you like! :)

Yum!  Enjoy!!!!!!!!  :)