POMEGRANATE VINAIGERETTE DRESSING
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 table spoons raw sesame tahini
Dash garlic powder
Dash onion powder

Seed the pomegranate and juice the seeds. Add juice and all other ingredients to blender and blend well. Delicious over cabbage salad.

HOT SHOTZ
2 Lemons ,skin removed, white pith intact
1   1 1/2 inch piece ginger root
1 hot pepper, or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 cups water           

Chop the lemons and put into blender. Peel ginger and likewise chop and place in blender with your preferred hot pepper. Blend well. This is a great way to start the day. Drink 2 ounces first thing in the morning to really clear the throat and get the blood moving. Keep remainder , covered in the refrigerator.

Yes, Soloflecks, I had my doubts about that salad, too, but the salty in the cheese and the sweet of the watermelon and onion--well, you just have to taste it to believe it.:)

- Bragg brand apple cider vinegar
- Olive oil
- fresh squeezed lime juice and pulp
- crushed garlic
- cayenne papper

Very tasty!  When I make this dressing as opposed to using store bought, I end up snarfing up the salad.  It's just so incredibly tasty, full of flavor.   Measure the ingredients according to taste.   Or use the cider vinegar and olive oil as the base and swap out the seasonings if you don't care for spicy red pepper garlic and lime.   

I saw on the Bragg website that they actually sell a pre-made salad dressing using their vinegar and oil, which is probably good too.  I just always find that mass -produced products go easy on the flavor and spice, to appease the masses who are usually into bland food. 

Relating to this, when it comes to salads I noticed that adding avocado slices makes a salad much better.  All that fat-less vegetation gets tedious after awhile, and the avocados give it the creamy fat element to offset it.  That and sliced hard boiled eggs.

One miniature, or "personal-size" watermelon, cut into bite-size cubes
One small to medium-size red onion, sliced thin
About a bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
3/4 of a block of feta cheese, crumbled
Freshly ground black pepper--way more than you think you need

Mix well in a large bowl. The cheese will break down a bit while mixing. I find the flavors will blend and intensify if you leave it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

You can also substitute for or add fresh mint to the parsley.

This is a great accompaniment for grilled lamb, if you're into that.

For all you non-vegetarians, here is something else I came up with:

My current favorite smoothie recipe is this Banana Berry concoction.  The ingredients include:

- some ice cubes;
- 4-5 tablespoons of yogurt - I use Horizon brand organic plain, but use whatever works for you http://www.horizonorganic.com/ (Make sure to have the sound on your computer up when you load the site.    )
- Naked Juice brand juice, "Berry Blast" or "Strawberry Banana" flavors;  http://www.nakedjuice.com/  a few tablespoons I guess, or as much as you want, to taste
- 1 banana
- Some mixed berries - I buy bags of Whole Foods' 365 brand of frozen organic mixed berries or raspberries; Again, as much as you want, to taste, or even buy fresh berries instead of frozen if you want to and can;
- A few tablespoons of ground flax seed (or less, if you don't want that much!) - I use Spectrum brand cold pressed organic.  Good stuff!   http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=60
- Spirulina powder

First I blend together the ice, yogurt and juice.   Then I add in the banana, berries, flax and spirulina.

Basically it's a Banana Berry smoothie with added benefits of flax and spirulina.  It's all green and weird looking but tastes YUM!    You don't have to even use spirulina, that's just something healthful I like to do.  Substitute whatever supplements you want to use.  Again, it's a good way to get a bunch of separate things all in one shot, and in a really tasty way to boot. 

Some even use catuaba 
http://www.rain-tree.com/ethnic.htm#catuaba

Energy Smoothie

1 banana
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp milled flax seed (optional)

Liquefy in blender and drink for a long-lasting energy boost.

This creates a sense of well-being and alertness as a cup of coffee might but without the jitters, headaches, or sugar crash. The most energizing drink I have ever tried. Contains potassium, magnesium, calcium, manganese, B-vitamins, protein, omega-3s, probiotics, three kinds of sugars, and some iron.

Okay, recipe time!
Kick ass Kombucha....recipe courtesy of my dear friend John Carlton Riggs.
Must have Kombucha culture, of course, and a big, wide mouth 2gal. Glass jug/jar
Bring 1gal of clean water to almost boiling
Add 1lb of raw, unfiltered honey (helps to heat the jar in hot tap water to make it liquidy)
Add 1lb of organic powdered sugar
Stir until all is dissolved
Then, remove mixture from heat
Add approx. 2C of:
Fresh poke berries
Dried saw palmetto berries
Dried alfalfa C/S (cut and sifted)
Dried peppermint leaves
Add a couple quarts of fresh fruit/berries (plums, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.)
1lb of apple sauce
Cover and allow this to steep until the mix is room temp
Pour off into your big glass jug
Then with clean hands, crush the poke berries and fresh fruit until nice and pulpy
By now, you should have a gorgeous fuscia to purple colored liquid...and quite sticky!
Add one more gal. Of clean water
When it is definitely cool to the skin, add your culture and starter (apple cider vinegar will work)
A cup or two is all that is needed to get the acidity going
Set the Kombucha in a nice, warm, dark place covered with a cotton cloth and plate on top
Monitor everyday for fruit flies and/or mold
The mold should not happen unless your culture is infected
It helps to have rinsed the culture in cool, clean water before adding to prevent it
If mold does happen, carefully remove the culture and rinse it
Skim off any mold and about an inch of liquid from the top
Then, add your clean culture back to the jug
Optimally, you should never have to disturb the Kombucha as it will upset the new culture forming during this two week process of fermentation
A milky white film may develop after a day or two, but that may be the powdered sugar recrystallizing on the top. If you're brave, taste it. If it's sweet, then it's the sugar. If it's mold, you should actually be able to smell it without tasting it.
Anyway, let it do it's thing for about two weeks, depending on the atmospheric temp. If it's warm it will ferment faster. Slower if it's cool.
It should be nice and bubbly and almost vinegar....tart, but not overly acidic like vinegar.
If it's done, pull your culture and place it aside to start another batch
Strain off your liquid and refrigerate. This will stop the fermentation.
Compost your solid matter
Then start another batch so that by the time you are done drinking the first one you will have more.....and so on.

This stuff will make you healthy, healthy, healthy. And tastes so damned good.....yummm! All you need is around 3 or 4oz. a day. Share it with your friends!

I'm going to keep track of the ingredients and all, write a recipe for the dish, and I'll post it later.

Lovey, you're welcome in my home for din din, breakfast, lunch, snack anytime...wouldn't that be great fun?

If ever you get down Tampa way, you are obligated, per my wishes , to stop by!

I have a question for vegetarians who cook with grains. I got some tomatos that are called Ambrosia Tomatos, they're not as big as regular salad tomatos, but they're not as small as cherry tomatos. I was thinking they'd be perfect to stuff, bake, and serve as a vegetarian appetizer. Since I wanted to try something different from the standard brown rice stuffing, I thought to buy Taboule, and that I would hydrate it and mix it with some chopped brocolli, carrots, onion, garlic, herbs...you know, yummy flavorful ingredients, and then stuff them with that and bake them.

Since I've never really worked with Taboule before I thought to google for a Taboule stuffing recipe, so I'd know how Taboule works. The thing is that all the recipes I saw, after looking at more than ten of them, were only guides to making Taboule Salad. There was nothing about baking/cooking with it.

Given that it cost $2 for a little over 1/4 lb. I don't want to cook it if it's going to turn mushy when baked...I don't want to waste it and my time. I'll just go ahead and use brown rice for the stuffing, and use the Taboule for a salad, which I've had before and is very yummy as well.

So, I don't neccessarily need a recipe, but I would like to know if any of you have ever cooked with Taboule like I want to, and if it will hold up.

Whaddya think?