Super Simple Blueberry Carrot Salad

To celebrate getting back into the habit of blogging after a whirlwind month that included moving, I am giving you a salad that is both super simple and very delicious. I dare you to not love this salad. Its a healthful easy to make salad for the lettuce phobic or just someone tired of the same old romaine routine. Technically it doesnt even need a recipe just a combination of six ingredients you probably have in your kitchen on a regular basis.

Aside from the amazing minimalism of it this is a beautiful salad. The contrast between the blueberries and carrot in color is reveled only by the juxtaposition of the crunchy and then sweet soft berries. It was outstanding with a lean steak and a microbrewed local beer. This was the perfect meal to christen my kitchen with and I fully plan on preparing many more of the salads from this article in the New York Times. My life needs more simple, light, no fuss dishes and the dwindling days of summer seems like the right time to work my way through 101 salads.

Blueberry and Carrot Salad

2 carrots, ribboned or grated
1 handful fresh blue berries
1/2 handful sunflower seeds
equal parts olive oil and lemon juice
lots of black pepper

Grate or ribbon carrots into a bowl. Toss on blueberries and sunflower seeds.

Whisk oil, lemon juice and pepper together. Pour over carrot mixture. Toss to coat.

From a recipe suggestion by Mark Bittman in the New York Times The Minimalist column.

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Jordanian Beef Stew

This recipe defies all laws of the cooking universe as I knew them before making this meal.  Its practically magic.  There are only two spices and a handful of ingredients.  The meat cooks for an hour in plain old bland water.  There is no effort involved.  And yet this is the most delicious thing Ive eaten all year.  I dont know quite why or how its possible but Im not complaining instead I plan in making this again and again and again.

Basically this is Beef Burgundy without all the esoteric cooking instructions or all the extra fat.  Except this beef stew is from a Jordanian recipe and is twice as delicious.  I didnt even bother serving it over rice or with yogurt like the original recipe called for because that would have just distracted from the flavors of the beef which didnt need anything added to it to make it tasty. 

Dont let the long cooking time deter you from wanting to make this.  Once you chop everything the food needs no attention so you wont notice how long the beef has been cooking.  Start it in the morning some day you have off and poke at it periodically, when its done let it cool and youll have something great to eat that night or later in the week.  Personally I love food that cooks itself while Im off watching a movie or playing with the dog.  This is the best kind of recipe if you ask me.

Jordanian Beef Stew
1 pound beef, cut into bite sized pieces
1 pound green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons cumin

Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper, place in a large skillet, and pour water over the beef until just cover. Place lid on skillet and simmer over a medium low heat for about 30 minutes or until meat is brown.

Remove 1 cup of the broth from the beef and reserve it in the bowl of your food processor.

Put the cut up green beans in with the beef and cook until tender.

Add tomatoes and garlic to the food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Once beans are done pour off a bit of water from the simmering beef so that there is enough to mostly cover the beef but there is enough room in skillet to add the tomato mixture. 

Add pureed tomato mixture, coriander and cumin to skillet.  Salt and pepper generously.  Allow to simmer uncovered for another hour or until beef is fork tender.  Will taste even better a couple days after cooking when its had time to marinate in the refrigerator.

Original recipe from Food52 Blog.

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