Chef Salad w/ Honey Mustard Dressing

Boy am I glad it's Friday!  I don't really have big plans for the weekend (possibly the KY State Fair?), but the usual - relaxing. 

Andy is going to be out tonight for a bachelor party, so that leaves me to fend for myself tonight for dinner.  I work late, so I might just throw together some CSA vegetables and see what I come up with!

Salads are always my go-to lunch during the week, but every now and then you'll see them appear for dinner.  I made this a while back, but it's still been in the back of my mind because it was one of the best and most filling salads I've ever had.  The easy honey mustard dressing really makes this something special!

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon chopped dill

Salad:

Romaine Lettuce
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and julienned
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
3 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
sliced turkey, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped

I love the "Mason Jar" method when making salad dressings.  What is that?  Well, basically, throw in all of the ingredients for the dressing into a Mason Jar.  Shake until mixed.  Pour on top of salad.  Easy?  Hell yeah it is.

To assemble the salad, wash the lettuce and shake dry.  Divide among plates and top with apple, eggs, bacon, cheese, turkey, and carrots.  Drizzle on dressing. 

And bam!  Lunch or dinner is ready in no time. 

I don't usually like honey mustard as anything other than a dipping sauce for chicken, but on top of this salad... it was amazing.

What's your favorite salad & dressing combo?

Have a great weekend guys!

Apple, Fennel, & Red Onion Marmalade

Happy Friday guys!  There's two exciting things I've got to share with you all - number one being that I made Foodbuzz's Top 9 for the Andes Mint Cupcakes!  Apparently you guys thought they were just as good as we did!  So thanks to all of you!

And exciting thing number two - we're finally doing our engagement pictures tomorrow afternoon!  After a couple months of getting pushed back (due to horrible weather and busy schedules), we're finally getting them done!  So we'll be heading out to Central Park in downtown Louisville for a little picnic engagement session.  And possibly a food fight, hehe.  I'm excited and I can't wait to share them with you all!

Anyway, I purchased a case of mason jars a few months ago and never ended up using them for anything but drinks.  So I thought it was about time I did some sort of food concoction with them.  Marmalade seemed easy enough, so I decided to try my hand at it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Emerald + Ella's recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and julienned
1 tea fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
black pepper, to taste

In a medium skillet under medium high heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmering.

Add onions, fennel, apples, rosemary, and salt.  Saute for about 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables and apple start softening.

Stir in brown sugar, vinegar, and black pepper, to taste.  Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until onions start to carmelize.

Cool slightly and spoon into Mason jars for storage.  Serve with crackers and cream cheese for a tasty snack!

I can't wait to use this marmalade in other things too - possibly a savory and sweet pizza in the works?  Yeah, most definitely!

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and I will definitely let you know how our engagement pictures turned out on Monday!