Slithering Salad (Spicy Cucumber Salad)

One of the bright sides to all this 'Stay at Home' time here in California, besides helping curb the infection rate of the COVID-19 virus, is that being at home with nowhere to go has got me tinkering in the kitchen again. No more obligations to distract me from playing around with my Halloween ideas. Last year, I missed blogging my Summer of Halloween recipes so this year, I'm determined to get an early start. Armed with lots of time on my hands and lots of ideas, here's a super simple idea that comes together quick and easy. 

An idea inspired by the cucumber salads served at Japanese restaurants and Sushi places. Cool, crisp cucumbers drizzled in a light soy sesame dressing...it's one of my favorite sides to have with sushi. I spiralized the cucumbers, kicked up the dressing with garlic chili sauce for heat, and added fun plating that turned a simple salad of cucumbers into a dramatic, delicious and festive Halloween recipe.  Stay safe my friends. 

(🎃221 days until Halloween...in case you're wondering🎃)

Slithering Salad (Spicy Cucumber Salad)

Serves 4-6

Spicy Dressing
2 1/2 T rice wine vinegar
1-2 T garlic chili sauce (to taste)
1 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 T honey
1 t. fresh ginger, finely grated

3 English cucumbers
2 juniper berries or whole allspice berries (snake eyes)
Black sesame seeds (garnish)

Prepare dressing. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. 

Spiralize the cucumbers:
Use straight cucumbers to get the best results.  

Select the head and tail cucumbers for your snake. Choose a cucumber that has a tapered narrow end to be the tail of your snake, and choose a cucumber that has a long piece of vine attached to it to make the best snake head with his tongue hanging out. The third cucumber will be to lengthen your snake and bridge between the head and tail sections. 

Head cucumber: On the non-vine end of the cucumber, thread a bamboo skewer through the center of the cucumber lengthwise leaving enough of the skewer exposed so you can pull it out later. I left about an inch and a half. This photo below shows a much longer section of the skewer as it was an in progress pic, but the amount of skewer exposed will depend on how big your cucumbers are to begin with.  

Place your threaded cucumber down on the cutting board, and with your knife at about a 45 degree angle, slowly rotate the cucumber as you cut down to the skewer, creating a continuous spiral around the skewer that holds everything in place. 

Adjust as you go. Your cuts will not be even all the way around due to the variation of the cucumbers and how centered your skewer is inside, but don't worry too much about it. Once the cuts are done, the variations of the spirals will hardly be noticeable. 

Continue cutting the spirals until you are about 4 inches from the tip of your snakes tongue. You don't want to cut spirals all the way into his head. Remove the bamboo skewer to release your snake coils. 

Snake eyes: Use the end of a skewer to poke eye holes in the cucumber on opposite sides of the head and then press juniper berries into the eye holes.  If you can't find juniper berries, substitute with whole allspice berries. Trim the tongue if needed.

Once you finish with your "snake head", repeat the spiraling with the tail cucumber. For the tail portion, thread the skewer starting at the tapered narrow end and begin spiraling at the narrow tail end until you reach the the end of the threaded bamboo skewer and trim off any excess unspiraled cucumber. Remove the skewer carefully releasing the coils and set aside. Repeat spiraling with the third cucumber and trim both round ends off the cucumber.  The picture below shows the untrimmed ends of the head and tail sections of spiralized cucumbers.

Arrange snake sections on a serving platter and drizzle with spicy dressing, garnish with black sesame seeds. Slice and serve immediately. 

More Halloween recipes to try:

Witchy Finger Food (Blistered Shishito Peppers)

Easy Halloween Kabobs 

Roasted Zombie Brain

Apple, Fennel, and Onion Slaw

I've been blog cooking Thanksgiving dishes all week and I must say...I'm stuffed! I've gained 5 pounds this week alone and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I've had to make most of my the recipes twice to tweak it here or there until the flavors are just right. So the day I started this salad was a welcome reprieve from the "Chilaquiles Corn Bread Stuffing, Creamed Corn Casserole, Pumpkin Challah bread, Corn and Squash Casserole, and Pumpkin Pasta Manicotti Eating Extravaganza" of this last week. It's simple, light and loaded with deliciousness. This recipe is so good, I surprised myself. 😋 Besides it's awesome flavor, it's a make-ahead salad so it's super easy and convenient to make and bring to Thanksgiving potlucks or family get-together any time of year. 
Shred up some crunchy green cabbage, slice up some paper-thin red onions, shave up a bulb of fennel, cut up some super sweet crisp apples like Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, or Rockit™ apples toss with a sweet Maple Dijon Vinaigrette and refrigerate overnight! Let the flavors mingle and get to know each other and come morning, you have the perfect blend of fresh and bright, crunchy and sweet Apple, Fennel and Onion Slaw! Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple, Fennel, and Onion Slaw

 Serves 10-12


1 head of cabbage, finely shredded
1 small bulb fennel, cored and thinly shaved
1/4 red onion, thinly shaved
3-4 sweet crisp apples, cut into matchsticks (I used Rockit™ Apples)
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sliced almonds


Maple Dijon Dressing
1 small shallots, finely minced
3 T Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2  t.  salt
1/4 t. pepper

Prepare dressing first. Combine all ingredients, adding the oil slowly while whisking to emulsify the vinaigrette and set aside. 
Next, prepare the vegetables and apples. Finely shred cabbage, rinse and spin dry and place in a large bowl.Thinly slice about 1/4 cup of red onions and add to cabbage. 

Cut apples into matchsticks and place in another bowl and squeeze with lemon to prevent browning, let apples sit in lemon juice while preparing the fennel. 

Cut fennel in half and remove the core and then finely shave thin slices of fennel placing the shaved fennel in a small bowl with about 2 T of dressing. Stir to coat fennel with dressing to prevent browning, then add it to the bowl with cabbage and onions. 

Now add the apples and almonds to the bowl. Add about half the Maple Dijon dressing using tongs to turn and coat the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Reserve the remaining dressing. The next day, remove slaw from the fridge. Note that the cabbage has softened a bit and some of that water has now collected at the bottom of your bowl. Carefully drain some of that liquid that collected overnight and then toss with more of the reserved dressing and enjoy! Top with more almonds if desired.

More recipes to try:

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Pancetta

Kale Salad with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

Sauteed Collard Greens

Alien Pods (Fig and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Glaze)

Here's one more Halloween recipe before I switch my focus to fall comfort food and holiday cooking. I'll keep it short and sweet with these gorgeous figs.  Fresh figs, herbed goat cheese, mixed salad greens, pumpkin seeds all topped with a balsamic reduction. Not just for Halloween, this salad can be an elegant addition to any meal. Check out the easy recipe below.Enjoy!

Alien Pods (Fig and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Glaze)

Serves 8-10

8-10 fresh figs
2 oz. herbed goat cheese
1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 1/4 cup
1 T butter 
1 T honey
3 cups mixed greens
1/2 cup salted pumpkin seeds 

In a small sauce pan, heat 1 cup vinegar over medium heat and reduce thickened to ~1/4 cup. Add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 T honey and set aside.

Use a 1/4 teaspoon as a makeshift melon-baller to portion out the goat cheese and roll into a small balls. Refrigerate to firm up the cheese if needed.

Trim stems and cut an X down the stem side about 3/4 of the way through the fig. Add goat cheese ball inside cut fig. Place figs on a bed of mixed greens and then sprinkle balsamic glaze over figs and lettuce. Top with pumpkin seeds and serve. 

Fun variation: Serve individual salads in red cabbage bowls like this...

Other Halloween recipes to try:

'Beet'ing Hearts Salad with Blood Red Dressing

Death Cap Kabobs

Vampire Slayer Soup

Kale Salad with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

It's been a while since I've posted a salad recipe. What better time to share salad recipes than in summer, right? If you don't know, I looove salad and most of the time, I make the same basic salad every week so my kids will eat it too. Maybe I'll adjust the ingredients a bit depending on what I have on hand, but its essentially the same. Rather, I save my experimental ingredient salads, like this one, when it's just my husband and I. No need to hear the unnecessary cries from my kiddos...Ewww, what's that? For me, salad is comfort food. I feel like there's something missing from my diet if I don't have salad for lunch every day. So I was happy to see this Kale Salad with Walnuts and Pecorino on Instagram from Smitten Kitchen. It looked so yummy, that I was inspired to give it a go. I know some may be grimacing because, lets be honest...its kale and kale is hard to like. I like kale, but I've also had kale I didn't like. For me, if I'm eating raw kale in a salad, it has to be chopped small, rubbed and paired with something sweet, preferably fruit or a sweet dressing or both. So, I decided to make a small adjustment by making the dressing with orange juice and honey rather than just lemon juice as called for in the original recipe and it was absolutely delicious! My personal litmus test is whether my husband likes it, since he is not a fan of kale. I gave him a small bite of my salad...and then another...and then he wanted his own bowl. 😁That's a win in my book! Enjoy! 

Kale Salad with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

Slightly adapted recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4

1/2 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T water
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 small clove of garlic finely minced or grated
pinch of kosher salt
2T olive oil (first addition)
1 bunch of kale (I used curly kale), rubbed and washed
1/3 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
2 T olive oil, (second addition)
juice of whole orange
1 T honey
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Walnuts: Heat oven to 350. Toast walnuts on baking sheet for 10 minutes, turning once. Let cool and then chop. 

Prepare Raisins: Place raisins in a small bowl and add vinegar and water. Let soak in liquid for 30 minutes or so. (Oops, the original recipe calls for heating the raisins in a saucepan to re-hydrate with vinegar, I missed that step and just let them soak while I prepped everything else)

Prepare Crumbs: Toast breadcrumbs, garlic, olive oil in a skillet until golden brown. Salt to taste. Set aside.

Prepare Kale: Remove tough stems from kale and rip curly leaves into small bite sized pieces. Rub torn kale between your hands to soften leaves. Rinse and spin leaves and transfer kale to a large bowl.

Prepare Salad:
Add pecorino cheese, raisins (without the vinegar mixture), walnuts, olive oil, orange juice, and honey and toss until coated. Taste and add salt and pepper and adjust with left over vinegar, honey or orange juice. Let salad sit for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. Toss with Breadcrumbs before serving. Enjoy!

More Kale recipes:

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa

Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter

Jeepers Creepers... (Blueberry Stuffed Lychee Fruit)

...where'd you get those Peepers? 
  
Here's my second installment of taking back the holidays...the Valentine's Day holiday that is...Halloween style! 
The eyes are said to be 'the windows to the soul' and what better way to show your love and commitment by serving this gruesomely sweet fruit garnish of lychees and blueberries with your favorite cocktail. Doesn't it just scream, "I've only got eyes for you!" Watch the flash of uncertainty cross his face when you serve this on Valentine's Day. 💓

These Peepers are made with Lychee fruit and blueberries dripping with bloody gelatin for a realistic look. If you're intimidated by the look of them and if you've never tasted lychees, I understand if you have reservations. My kids wouldn't even try the lychees before the gory wardrobe change, despite my pleas of , "You'll like it! Trust me!" Lychees taste like a cross between pear and guava with a texture that's smooth, sweet and tropical. Add the blueberries and raspberry jello and it's truly divine. A perfect complement to your favorite tropical drink or a sweet side to martinis.

Jeepers Creepers...

(Blueberry Stuffed Lychee Fruit)
Makes ~20 peepers

1- 20oz. can of Lychee Fruit in Syrup, 1/4 c. reserved
20+ blueberries
1 small package raspberry gelatin
1 cup water

Heat 1 cup of water and dissolve gelatin, remove from heat and set aside. Drain Lychees and reserve 1/4 cup of syrup. Add 1/4 cup lychee syrup to cooling Jello. Let cool and begin to thicken but don't allow it to fully set.
Stuff lychees with blueberries and place in a shallow dish. I used a Rubbermaid deviled egg carrier and it worked like a charm. Once the Jello has thickened, use a turkey baster to portion jello mixture over the blueberries. Refrigerate until firm for about an hour. This can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pierce lychees with toothpick and garnish your favorite cocktail.

Here's the cocktail recipe I used in this blog. Feel free to add 1 oz. of vodka to bump it up a notch. 😀

Makes 1 drink
1 oz. Malibu Caribbean Rum with Pineapple Liqueur
1 oz. Pineapple Orange Guava Juice
1 oz. Cranberry Blueberry Juice

Here's another idea using these peepers...If you are feeding a crowd for Halloween Valentine's Day, Triple the batch, pile them high and serve them as this gruesome "Eye of the Beholder Fruit Salad!" 💕💕

Other recipes to try:

Fangtini

Squirmy Wormy Shots

Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Thanksgiving is all about the sides for me. From garlicky mashed potatoes and gravy, cheesy corn casseroles, savory dressings and bread puddings, to green bean casseroles. All those comforting, rib-sticking side dishes are what I look forward to the most for Thanksgiving. However, I find I still long for fresh veggies on Thanksgiving. This recipe for Autumn Slaw is a delicious way to add a little green to all that comforting, sleep inducing, tryptophan-laced Thanksgiving meal. 

Wait, wait, wait, I know what your thinking...You hate Kale. I know. Kale is a tough sell for my husband too. And my mom, and probably my brother and sister-in-law...and forget about my kids...None of them are friends with Kale. Don't be afraid, here are a few secrets to make kale taste good. 
First, if using it raw in a salad, it needs to be rubbed between your hands and massaged. Gather up a big handful of Kale and rub it back and forth and roll it into a ball and break up all that fibrous toughness. Work in batches rubbing all the leaves, wash and spin and now you're ready to rock your salad.
Next, I think it's best when paired with something sweet, like fruit. Kale can be a bit bitter, so pairing it with fruit or a sweet salad dressing helps balance some it's harsher qualities. One more secret, is to cook it. Braising, roasting or sauteing this green makes it uber delicious. Savory onions, garlic and sweet balsamic butter really makes this wild cabbage sing in my Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter recipe below.
Anyway back to my kale-hating family, namely my hubby...I had little faith that my husband would touch this salad but to my amazement, he loved this salad and even had two servings. He even ate it for leftovers the next day too. Can you believe it? I love this Autumn Slaw and my husband liked it so I'm going to attempt to bring to Thanksgiving this year and see if the rest of my family will like it too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Serves 8-10
Maple Mustard Dressing
1 small shallot, finely minced (~1 Tbsp)
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard 
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup canola oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the shallots mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Slowly add the canola oil while whisking continuously to emulsify the dressing. Set aside.

Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp real maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter

In a skillet, add pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter and heat over medium heat until sugar is melted and nuts are coated. About 5 minutes. Turn out on a parchment paper to cool. Set aside.

Salad ingredients
3 large bunches of curly kale, chopped and rubbed 
3 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (I used purple carrots)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups finely shredded red cabbage 
1 cup candied pumpkin seeds 

The secret to using Kale is to use only the curly parts of the leaves and remove all the fibrous stems. I tear it right from the stems, rather than cutting it. Kale is best when massaged, or rubbed between your hands, like what you do when your hands get cold and you rub them together to heat them up.  Working in batches, grab a handful and rub it back and forth and roll it into a ball in your hands. Then, place the rubbed kale in a salad spinner. It seems like a weird thing to do but it really helps soften the fibrous leaves. Once you rub all the kale, rinse and spin in a salad spinner. 

I used purple carrots for this salad because I like the two toned color of them. When cut into matchsticks they look like flames. Neat-o!

Add Kale, carrots and cranberries to a bowl and coat with about half the dressing. Do not add the red cabbage at this time, you'll add the cabbage right before serving to prevent the color from bleeding and turning everything purple.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. This will help soften the kale further and plump up the dried cranberries just a little. The kale will shrink as the dressing wilts it a bit. Right before serving, add the red cabbage and toss, only adding additional dressing if needed. Top with lots of crunchy candied pumpkin seeds and enjoy! 

Other recipes to try:

Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter

Spiced Couscous and Carrot Salad

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon Mustard Dressing