Month: January 2018

Carrot Scallion Coriander Salad

Have you seen the beautiful colorful carrots in the market lately? I have been seeing bags of full-sized colorful carrots for a while now in grocery stores. But, just recently I have seen bags of colorful baby carrots too. So, recently I picked up a few bags of those colorful babies and wanted to figure out a way to showcase their bright colors in a crisp carrot salad.

In case you were wondering, the colorful carrots while a bit bling-y taste just like orange carrots but the range of colors are best showcased in raw carrots. Cooking or roasting the carrots will mute their vibrancy a little. Fortunately, no cooking is necessary for this recipe. All you need to do is a little slicing and chopping.

You know that I am a mandoline slicer evangelist. I use this kitchen tool ALL THE TIME! For example, here are a few recipes which are a breeze to make when you use a mandolin: Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad, Maple Walnut Crostini and Spicy Cucumber Salad with Peanuts.

How to Make Carrot Scallion Coriander Salad

But, back to this deliciously crisp and colorful carrot scallion salad. You can make the dressing ahead of time if you like. I toasted raw walnut pieces for a few a few minutes in a small pan on the stove top. Toasting the nuts brings out the flavor so don’t skip this step. I used my mandoline to slice the radishes and carrots. Instead of slicing the carrots into rounds, I held the carrots on the side and sliced them into ribbons. Don’t you think they look pretty?

Once your veggies are sliced, place them on a platter. You can also make four individual plates of salad if you prefer. Next drizzle the dressing evenly over the veggies and then top with walnuts. If you are a walnut fan you could substitute a different nut. I think pistachios would be very nice too.

Good Woman Playlist

By Diane Hartford

On January 16, 2018

In Lifestyle

Good Woman Spotify Playlist Graphic

Here at Hello Fun Seekers we take music seriously. But, the playlist we share today is more serious than most of what we have shared on this site.

Today’s playlist is dedicated to all the women who have stood up and told the truth about what happened to them. Truths that they have kept to themselves for a long time.

I want to commend my friend Courtney for compiling this playlist called Good Woman. She honors the rage and hope we feel as more instances of sexual misconduct come forward. To women, we hear you, we believe you, and we are here for you.

If you haven’t heard, this week, former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar is in court listening to impact testimony during criminal sentencing. One hundred women who he abused over the last two decades are expected to testify. The CNN article following today’s proceedings can be found here.

Here are Courtney’s words and songs.

“…He didn’t account for the fact that the scared little girls would become brave, fearless women who would turn the tables and see him rot in jail.” Jacob Denhollander via Twitter (husband of gymnast Rachael Denhollander)

This playlist is a good one when you are feeling that combination of rage and pride and hope and more rage when you hear woman after woman coming forward to tell their stories of abuse by men in positions of power and the structures that kept them silent, and empowered their abusers for so long.

My current source of rage/pride/hope/rage centers around the biggest crime currently in sports history. Over 150 women and girls including Olympic and world champion athletes are coming forward with stories of decades long abuse that has been hidden and enabled within USA gymnastics and Michigan State University.

The Songs

The playlist starts out with the classic “Endangered Species” by Dianne Reeves, followed up by empowering anthems by Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj, Sia, Janelle Monae, and Erykah Badu.

In addition to the anthems, there are songs that celebrate being tender, vulnerable, and sometimes broken like “Better Son/Daughter” by Rilo Kiley, “Tenderhearted” by Sara Watkins, “Jenny Lynn” by Katie Herzig, and “Good Woman” by Cat Power. These traits are often mistaken for weakness, but without which, there can be no real strength.

The playlist concludes with Brandi Carlile’s new song “The Joke” in which she tells us she’s seen how this ends, and the joke’s on them, and Kesha’s “Praying” which was inspired by her experience being abused by her producer at Sony.

This playlist helps me to remember there are far more heroes than villains in this story: Aly and Lynn Raisman, Rachael Denhollander, Maggie Nichols, McKayla Maroney, Lindsey Lemke, Kaylee Lorincz, Marcia Frederick, Gabby Douglas, Sarah Jantzi, etc.

It also reminds me of how grateful I am for all of the strong women in my life.

#timesup

Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad

Sometimes the simplest food is the best food. I certainly think that this is the case with this Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad. I am an advocate for menu planning and grocery lists. But, sometimes you have to go to the market and buy what looks fresh and amazing. This was the case last weekend when I spied the most beautiful golden beets. The beets were small and their greens were incredibly lush and vibrant. I knew I had to build a salad recipe where the beets were the star.

So, the first thing that I did when I got home was removed the beet greens, ran them through the salad spinner, then separated the stems from the leaves. I sautéed the stems with onion and garlic until tender, added the thinly sliced leaves until wilted, and finished the greens with red pepper flakes, and a splash of red wine vinegar. I enjoyed the greens with some mashed potatoes. So good!

But, enough about the beet greens, let’s get to the Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad. Trim both ends of the beets and peel to remove skin. I always use care when peeling the beets because I want to keep the round shape and avoid angular edges.

I like to use Persian cucumbers for this salad. They are small, sweet, and tender. If you can’t find Persian cucumbers you can substitute English (aka hothouse) cucumbers. If you must use regular cucumbers be sure to peel them and consider removing the seeds.

Thinly sliced radishes add a little heat and peppery crunch to the salad. If you hate radishes, then feel free to omit them from the dish. But, I like the contrast of flavor and color.

This Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad comes together so quickly if you use a mandoline. I use these mandoline from OXO several times per week. I ordered here from Amazon (affiliate link) It slices vegetables so thin that it is ridiculous. Most humans couldn’t achieve that thin slice with a knife.

Here are few other beet recipes that you may enjoy:

Chili Lime Salmon Tacos

It doesn’t need to be a Tuesday for me put tacos on the menus. Every single day is a perfect day for tacos in my book. Currently, I am crushing so hard on these Chili Lime Salmon Tacos.

Did you hear the news? US News & World Reports released their 2018 assessment of diets. Any guesses on what diet came in first? The Mediterranean diet tied for first among a panel of nutritionists, dietary consultants and physicians specializing in diabetes, heart health and weight loss. Tied for first with the Mediterranean diet is the DASH diet which is a diet recommended by many doctors to help control blood pressure.

Curious to hear what diets didn’t fare as well? Spoiler alert: Keto and Whole 30 both brought up the rear end of the analysis. So for the love of all things holy, please stop focusing on these diets. In what universe could it possibly make sense that a steak is health food and lentils are bad? It just doesn’t make any sense. For once and all, can we agree that whole grain carbs are not the enemy? Seriously, they are not.

How to Make Chili Lime Salmon Tacos

Alright, stepping off my soapbox now and moving on from the ranting to the recipe for these Chili Lime Salmon Tacos. All you the salmon needs a little seasoning in the form of salt, pepper, and chili powder and a few minutes on the either the grill or skillet. Watch the fish closely while it is on the heat. You don’t want to overcook it.

The fish will change color moving from the bottom which is in contact with the heat moving upward. Once it gets about one-third of the way up the fillet flip it over to the other side. The second side will cook quickly so remove from the heat when the cook line starts moving up. The fish will continue to cook even after it is removed from the heat.

Let the salmon rest while you cut up the veggies and make the spicy cilantro sauce. Once your other ingredients are prepped just break the fillets up into bite-sized chunks and assemble your tacos.

Other salmon recipes you may want to check out: