Lisa's Cross-Cultural Salsa with Tomato, Avocado, Lime, and Feta (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

Bookmark this recipe so you can make Cross-Cultural Salsa to serve over everything when fresh tomato season arrives!

I have a faithful reader named Lisa who's such a creative cook that she'd probably make a great food blogger, but since she doesn't have a blog she sends me her fantastic recipe ideas and lets me post them on Kalyn's Kitchen.  (Thanks Lisa!)  Lisa is the one who shared her "dumb" salad recipe that I renamed Not-so-Dumb Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Onions, Avocado, and Balsamic Vinegar.  That recipe has been wildly popular on the blog and I promise you that Lisa's Cross-Cultural Salsa is just as good.  I ate it over grilled fish when I tested the recipe, but I'd love this over sauteed or grilled chicken breasts or pork chops, or as a topping for tacos or burritos.  And of course if it's a hot summer night and you're sitting out on the deck, you could certainly eat it with toasted pita bread or chips! 

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Kalyn's Picks: 20 Favorite Healthy Salads and Side Dishes for Outdoor Eating

Here are 20 Favorite Healthy Salads and Side Dishes for Outdoor Eating!

Are you the kind of cook who always makes your favorite recipe for a summer get-together, or do you like to try new things when you're taking something to a party?  For me, the answer is "It depends." Probably my father's favorite Shrimp and Macaroni Salad is the thing I've taken most often to Denny family get-togethers for quite a few years, but when I have new favorites on the blog I do like to try those out on the family as well.  If you're looking for a taste-tested salad or side dish to try out for the holiday weekend, here are twenty current favorites of mine.  And after I post this I'm going to take a few days off to spend time with my family, including taking some adorable kids to see Real Salt Lake play soccer tonight.  Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

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Recipe for World's Easiest Grilled Vegetables (How to Cook Vegetables on the Grill)

These easy grilled vegetables are something I make all during grilling season!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  These easy grilled vegetables are something I make at least once a week during grilling season!)

I regularly get comments from people who tell me they are learning to cook from my blog.  Feedback like that is partly what's motivating me to share this simple not-really-even-a-recipe way that I cook grilled vegetables all during the grilling season.  Whenever I'm cooking grilled chicken, meat, or fish, there will usually be one of these grill pans full of vegetables cooking alongside it.  Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of grilling season for many people in the U.S. so I'm sure there will be vegetables on the grill at my house over the weekend!

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Recipe for Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Spicy Slaw and Avocado

A beef roast is cooked in the slow cooker with Mexican flavors until it easily shreds apart and then it's made into tacos with whole wheat tortillas, spicy slaw, and avocado.

It only makes sense that with my new slow cooker blog, I'm paying more attention to how people use their slow cookers year round.  I'm finding lots of slow cooker recipes like these shredded beef tacos, which would taste just as good in the dead of winter as they did on a warm night last week. But one happy thing about cooking something like this when it's starting to get hot outside is that the slow cooker doesn't heat up the house for those hours that the meat is getting tender.  I love the spicy slaw that comes with fish tacos, so I couldn't resist adding some of that to my tacos, along with a little avocado, and two of these tacos made a perfect dinner for me.

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Turkey Cutlets with Dijon Sauce Recipe

A super-quick and easy recipe and if you have picky kids, just give them a piece without the sauce!

(Updated May 2012 with greatly-improved photos and step-by-step instructions.)  I've been getting so much satisfaction from the process of updating my very earliest recipes with new photos.  Not only does it give me a chance to cook some of my favorite recipes again, but I know that the new photos might entice someone to try a recipe that they probably wouldn't have been inspired to cook otherwise.  If you scroll down to the end of the step-by-step photos on this post, you'll see why I was especially happy to get new photos for this delicious recipe of quickly-sauteed turkey cutlets with Dijon sauce.  That first photo was from September 2005, when I'd barely entered the digital camera age with a little point-and-shoot camera, and in those days I had plenty of passion for cooking, but very little skill in photographing the food!

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Baby Kale Greek Salad Recipe

All the flavors of Greek salad, plus baby kale!

Yes, the infatuation with Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Kales  is still going strong around here, and last week my local Fresh Market store had the baby kale mix on sale, so there's been a lot of baby kale on the menu.  Of course that's perfectly fine with me since I love this baby kale, especially for salads.  Not only is the flavor milder, the baby kale mix such a nice combination of flavors and shapes.  I like the crunch that kale gives to this version of Greek salad and I loved the way all these flavors worked together.

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The Garden is Planted! (2012 Garden Update #3)

It's hard to get your garden planted when you're off driving around the West, but the garden is finally planted!

When I'm on a trip, I work hard before I leave so that recipes can still appear on the blog, so readers might not realize that I've been off on a long road trip to visit my brother, visit a nephew and his family, see my friend Cheryl, and most of all to speak at Camp Blogaway (which I highly recommend, especially for relatively new bloggers.)  The weather in Utah got warm very early this year, so I did plant most of my garden before I left.  Since I've been back I managed to finish the planting and had good intentions of getting the garden nicely weeded before I took photos for the blog, but the rain gods made short work of that plan.  The garden loved the rain though, so here's what I'm growing in my garden this year, weeds and all!  Above is an early morning shot of the garden space just as the sun is peeking over the trees that are on the east side in my neighbor's yard.

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Grilled Chicken Recipe with Tarragon-Mustard Marinade

Chicken breasts are marinated in a flavorful mustard-tarragon marinade and then grilled.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  Right now the tarragon in my garden is in overdrive, and this favorite grilled chicken from 2007 sounds great for dinner!)

Recently I realized it had been a while since I've had a new grilled chicken recipe. It was one of those thoughts that just flitted through my mind, not seeming to lead anywhere, and then a few days later I thought of grilling and tarragon in the same moment and this recipe was born.  If you haven't tried the distinctive flavor of tarragon, give this a try!

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Recipe for Baby Kale, Mozzarella, and Egg Bake (and Ten More Ideas for Starting Your Day with Kale!)

I loved this combination so much I made it several times in a row for a heat-and-eat breakfast!

A couple of months ago I came up with a recipe for Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake, which turned out to be one of my personal favorite breakfasts.  Then I discovered the fantastic Earthbound Farm Mixed Baby Kales at the store near my house, so of course I had to try the recipe using kale.  I loved that version as well, and at first I just thought about adding a note to the spinach recipe saying that I liked it with kale.  But I really wanted all my fellow kale fans to find this recipe, and knowing how the internet works, I decided this version deserves a recipe post of its own.  How much did I love this cheesy egg bake with baby kale?  When I tested the recipe I ate this for breakfast three weeks in a row before I finally switched to something else!

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Three Crabs Fish Sauce

Thanks to my friend Lydia for introducing me to this premium brand of fish sauce! 

I'm not an expert on Asian ingredients, so years ago when I ran across a post touting Three Crabs Fish Sauce on a blog called The Perfect Pantry, I was more than happy to listen to Lydia's fish sauce recommendations.  Shortly after that my step-sister Karyn asked me what I wanted from San Francisco and I requested a bottle of Three Crabs Fish Sauce.  Then I discovered I could buy it at several Asian markets in Salt Lake,  and now it's the only brand of fish sauce I buy.  The fun side note to this fish sauce success story is that I also became good friends with Lydia from The Perfect Pantry and now we e-mail often to discuss all things blogging.

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Spicy Stir-Fried Broccoli Stems Recipe

This recipe is for everyone who likes to nibble the broccoli stems when they're cutting up the broccoli!

Broccoli stems are one of those under-appreciated vegetable parts that don't get much respect, yet when I'm cutting up stalks of broccoli, they're my favorite part to nibble on.  After I realized how much I liked them, a few years ago I started to save the stems in the vegetable crisper.  I've mostly used my broccoli stem bounty in salads, but this idea for cooking the stems with a spicy sauce is something I came up with when I had a whole pound of stems saved up.  I cooked them in a wok, but a large frying pan will work, and if you've never eaten the broccoli stems, this recipe just might turn you into a fan.

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Mother's Day 2012 and Missing My Mom

A Mother's Day Message for every day of the year.

When you're a kid you never imagine growing up and having your mother (and father) be gone.  When that time comes it brings a pain that takes a long time to settle into the dull everyday ache of missing someone who was a big part of your life.  My mother died in 1998, and every Mother's Day since then I have given thanks for how blessed I was to have her for a mother.  I hope she's proud of what fine adults all her children have grown into and how much we love each other, and on this day and every day my heart is always full when I think of her.

(The Mother's Day graphic was created by my brother Rand as part of this shareable Facebook campaign for Manduka Yoga.)

 

Spicy Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Red Pepper, Parsley, and Mint

This spicy grilled eggplant is a favorite of my brother Rand, who does the fun headers for Kalyn's Kitchen

 
(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  I'm on the road driving home from Los Angeles, where I've been visiting my brother Rand and attending Camp Blogaway.  This Spicy Grilled Eggplant is Rand's very favorite recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen, and I'm glad I have my eggplant planted this year so I can make it later in the summer.  Meanwhile, if you have eggplant from the supermarket or Farmer's Market, I highly recommend this recipe.)

If you saw my last garden update, then you know I'm growing eggplant this year, and my first one was ready to harvest recently. I've grilled eggplant before, but I'm certainly not what you'd call an expert at cooking it, so I consulted a couple of cookbooks and settled on a recipe from Williams Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook, one of my favorite cookbooks, which I return to every summer for more grilling recipes. I followed their recommendation for salting the eggplant to remove some of the water before grilling. I sliced my eggplant about 1/2 inch thick, but next time I might slice it even thicker.

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Easy Thai-Flavored Raw Broccoli Salad Recipe with Red Onion, Mint, and Peanuts

This Thai-Flavored Raw Broccoli Salad was an experiment that was a happy success!

When I made Thai-Style Spicy Cabbage Slaw with my nephew Jake, we were both absolutely captivated by the spicy Thai flavors in the dressing.  I started thinking about what else might taste good with that combination of lime, fish sauce, sweetener, and red pepper flakes, and next time Jake showed up to cook I proposed trying it on a broccoli salad.  For our first try we blanched the broccoli, which was definitely not a good idea.  But we persevered and ended up with this amazing raw broccoli salad with red onion, mint, and peanuts and the spicy Thai dressing.  If you're wondering about mint and broccoli together, so did we, but the whole combination really worked.  If you like Thai flavors and raw broccoli you must try this salad. 

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Easy Recipe for Cucumber Salad with Balsamic Dressing

This Easy and Slightly Unusual Cucumber Salad is one of my Favorites!

(This favorite cucumber recipe was first posted in 2006 and updated with step-by-step instructions and better photos in May 2012.  I'm still on vacation but luckily I have my cucumbers planted at home so it won't be long before I can make this salad with fresh garden cucumbers.)

I think people who haven't had a garden where the amount of produce suddenly spins out of control can't fully appreciate what a dilemma it is to search for new ways to use up tomatoes, squash, and of course, cucumbers. It seems like every summer I add at least one or two new recipes to my collection for these garden veggies. Recently I came upon this recipe for cucumbers on a site called RecipeZaar. It looks similar to some other recipes for cucumbers that I've posted, but the flavor is very different.

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Recipe for Heart of Palm Salad with Tomato, Avocado, and Lime (with or without Cilantro)

I've been infatuated with this Heart of Palm Salad with Tomato, Avocado, Cilantro, and Lime.

I love combining beloved ingredients in slightly different ways, and this Heart of Palm Salad with Tomato, Avocado, Cilantro, and Lime was the happy result when I arranged a marriage between my favorite Vegan Heart of Palm and Avocado Salad and Colorful Tomato Salad with Hearts of Palm.  This offspring salad had all the good qualities of the parents, plus some new qualities of its own!

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Saturday Snapshots: Enriching the Soil Before Planting in My Raised Garden Beds (2012 Garden Update #2)

Raised garden beds need organic material added to the soil every few years.

I got off to an early start on the garden this year, trimming my perennial herbs much earlier than I usually do.  Then a combination of me being sick and lots of rainy days in Utah conspired to put the garden on hold until this week.  Raised garden beds are wonderful because they don't require lots of maintenance, but your raised beds will produce healthier plants if you enrich the soil with organic material at least every few years.  You can buy bags of organic compost at a garden store, but many cities that collect yard waste also grind it up and create compost that's sold by the truckload.  I don't have a truck, but I am lucky enough to have a great family, and this year my brother-in-law Clayton offered to bring me a load of compost and till it into the soil for me.  (Thanks Clayton!)

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Recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, and Sriracha

If you love sugar snap peas like I do, you have to try these Spicy Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  I'm crazy about sugar snap peas, and this easy stir-fry is one of my favorite ways to use them in a cooked dish.)

Recently I talked about my profound affection for sugar snap peas, and I decided it might be fun to experiment with them as the starring ingredient in a stir-fried vegetable side dish.  Not that I hadn't stir-fried sugar snap peas before, but never like this with them sliced diagonally to reveal the tiny peas inside.  I have no idea where I got the idea of slicing the peas for a stir-fry, but I loved the results.  The pods cooked more quickly, and a few tiny peas spilled out, adding visual interest and a lot of sweet pea flavor to the finished dish.

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Recipe for Middle Eastern Spicy Ground Beef with Baharat Seasoning, Mint, and Cilantro

Middle Eastern Spicy Ground Beef with Baharat, Mint, and Cilantro; I loved this with some fat-free Greek yogurt on top.

When I posted the recipe for Effie's Easy and Amazing Cottage Cheese Salad with Za'atar, I shared how a reader from Israel named Effie had sent me a lovely box of middle eastern spices.  One of the things in the box was Baharat Seasoning, and this Spicy Middle Eastern Ground Beef was the first recipe I tried using it.  I found a lot of recipes and online sources to get the Baharat Seasoning (which I'll share after the recipe) so don't be discouraged from trying this if you don't have it in your spice rack.  I really liked this dish, which I ate over whole wheat couscous and with a generous dollop of fat-free Greek yogurt on top.  Thanks again Effie for introducing me to something new!

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South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for April 2012 (Low-Glycemic Recipes)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe for April 2012 is Ground Beef Gyro Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Tzatziki and Tomatoes.

It's May, which means the arrival of summer can't be far away now.  This year I'm urging summer on a little by heading out on a road trip to California, where I'll be speaking at Camp Blogaway, hanging out at my brother Rand's house, hopefully meeting up with some food blogging friends, and having a birthday dinner with the cutest twins in the world.  I've been working for a few weeks to get posts written in advance so I could have an actual vacation without too much time spent working, and I'm looking forward to getting away.  But before I get on the road, here's the monthly round-up of Phase One recipes I've posted this week or found on other food blogs.  Happy eating everyone!

(You can use the label Low-Glycemic Recipe Round-Ups to see all the posts like this one.)

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