Roasted Squash & Beet Fall Salad

salad

One thing I love about Fall, is comfort food and my roasted squash and beet salad is an all time fav. Even Scott, who doesn’t like goat cheese, gobbled this salad up. We served it with stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (I guess I’ll need to do that recipe next). Other than the time roasting the squash and beets, this salad can be whipped up in a matter of minutes.

Be sure to use Vermont Creamery Clover Blossom Honey goat cheese – it will make a big difference. Scott and I don’t like our goat cheese to be too “goaty” or tangy rather. This cheese is very smooth, a tad sweet and really pairs well with the other salad ingredients.

Enjoy!

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Roasted Squash & Beet Fall Salad Yum
This salad is full of flavor, slightly nutty and sweet. Compliment it with stuffed portabella mushrooms for a complete meal. Be sure to only use Vermont Creamery Honey goat cheese.
salad
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Passive Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
Balsamic Dressing
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Passive Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
Balsamic Dressing
salad
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut beets in half. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes on a foil lined cookie sheet.
  2. Dice & peel butternut squash into 1" pieces. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and add squash to the cookie sheet with beets. If you substitute butternut for another squash - check the cooking time. Roast walnuts in a skillet for about 5 minutes until toasted.
  3. Once beets and squash are tender, remove from oven to cool. Slice beets when cool. Mix greens, onion, squash, beets and goat cheese with dressing. Top with walnuts.
Balsamic dressing
  1. Blend all ingredients until thoroughly blended.
    salad
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Grilled Corn & Asparagus Salad

sous vide

If you love corn and asparagus, you will love this salad! Last weekend, we invited our friend Randy over for dinner on the new boat. He brought his home dry-aged steaks, along with his sous vide cooker and this was a fantastic meal! It would be hard to have this cooker on the boat, as we are limited to space and storage. So it was a treat that he brought his from home.

about our second boat

When I’m cooking on a boat, space is so limited.  While our new boat has a much bigger galley, space is still tight. This is why I try to make recipes that are easy to prepare.  In addition, it’s usually very warm when we’re boating, so the last thing we want to eat, is something too filling.

This grilled corn and asparagus salad is super easy and it goes with almost any kind of protein. Plus it’s a pretty dish to present at dinner. It’s also not limited to the ingredients listed. You could add zucchini, mozzarella cheese, avocado – you name it.  All would be delicious in this recipe!

So enjoy!

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Grilled Corn & Asparagus Salad Yum
This salad is perfect for a hot summer day! It goes great with any protein - beef, chicken, pork and even salmon. Enjoy!
sous vide
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 10 min
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 10 min
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
sous vide
Instructions
  1. Toss corn and asparagus in olive oil. Pre-heat grill to high heat. Grill corn on bbq until slightly charred (about 7 minutes). Set aside. Grill asparagus for about 2-3 minutes, until slightly tender and charred (but not overcooked).
  2. Using a large bowl, stand ears of corn vertically in the bowl and slice off corn kernels. Cut asparagus into 1" pieces. Add remaining vegetables, feta and oregano.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add to the salad and toss ingredients gently. Refrigerate for about 1 hour and serve.
Recipe Notes

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Creamy Cauliflower Casserole

creamy cauliflower casserole recipe

Creamy Cauliflower Casserole – Keto Friendly!

As I mentioned in my last recipe post, Scott and I have been trying to eat less carbs and this creamy cauliflower casserole is now his new favorite side dish! What’s funny about this, is that when Scott and I met seventeen years ago, he hated cauliflower! I remember the South Beach Diet had replaced mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower and he couldn’t choke it down.

Of course, “everything cauliflower” is now the rage these days, which works for me, because I love it! Next week I’m making a few recipes that use “cauliflower rice” and instead of making it myself, I’m going to buy it pre-made. I will let you know how it works.

We have been trying a few “Keto” recipes that are on Pinterest. Of course, being a cook, I end up changing the recipes to our own tastes. Since it’s been so hot this summer, I have been avoiding cooking anything in the oven. Finally this past week, it cooled off and it was the perfect night to bake a casserole. Everyone loves “twice baked potatoes”, so I decided to try and mimic that with cauliflower.

I also used a secret ingredient to add to the “bacon” flavor I love in twice baked potatoes. It’s a Chardonnay Oak Smoked French Sea Salt that I bought when we were in Gig Harbor from “For the Love of Spice” Store. If you haven’t been there yet – this is another reason to go!

creamy cauliflower casserole

The dish turned out great – BUT it is super rich! I made the mistake of serving it with creamy garlic  chicken and it was over the top in comfort food. Actually I think the dish would have been great on its’ own by just adding cooked chicken to it.  Since our boat does not have an oven, this dish could also be “baked” on the stove top or in a table top oven like ours. We use our Xpress Redi Set Go Cooker all of the time!

Let us know what your favorite low carb recipes are – we’d love to hear from you. Enjoy and happy cooking!  Ally

#BoatingJourney #GalleyRecipes


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Creamy Cauliflower Casserole
Yum

This creamy cauliflower casserole is a great alternative to twice baked potatoes! Even kids will love it!

creamy cauliflower casserole recipe

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings
people


Ingredients

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword galley recipes

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings
people


Ingredients

creamy cauliflower casserole recipe


Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Place cauliflower in a steamer basket with a cup of water, cover and cook for about 3 minutes when it begins to boil. You don't want to "cook" the cauliflower, you simply want it to begin to sweat and soften slightly. Immediately remove from heat and remove lid to let it cool down.

  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add prociutto, onions, mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until slightly caramelized. Add butter to melt.
    creamy cauliflower casserole

  3. In a separate bowl, mix whipping cream, sour cream and shredded cheese. Add mushroom and onion mixture. Gently add cauliflower and mix until blended well. Spray a 9" x 9" baking dish with cooking spray and pour in cauliflower mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes until golden brown. If you like it crispy on top, you can broil it for about 2 minutes - just be sure to watch it closely.
    creamy cauliflower casserole recipe


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Lemon Couscous Salad

summer chicken salad

Lemon Couscous Salad with Chicken for Summer!

With warm sunny weather, no one likes to spend time cooking. That’s why I love this easy couscous salad! I make a big batch of it and have it for lunch at work or take it on the boat.

In this recipe, I use a lemon flavored packaged couscous by Casbah, but you can easily make it from scratch too. The one thing I love about this couscous, is you don’t need to add any kind of dressing. The couscous is so flavorful, that it does great on it’s own. This way the veggies don’t get soggy too!

lemon chicken salad

With our busy schedules, this is just easier for us. I also use pre-cooked chicken when I am in a hurry.

This will last about three to four days in the refrigerator. I’m not a big fan of eating cooked chicken after that. You can certainly add or swap out your favorite veggies too.  If you have a favorite version, please share with us.

We’re headed down to Kingston on our boat next weekend, so this will be a great salad for entertaining. It packs well and the veggies don’t get soggy. Be sure to use very fresh cucumbers and bell peppers. Be sure to check out the rest of our tasty recipes on our recipe page! Enjoy!

 

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Lemon Couscous with Chicken Salad Yum
This couscous salad is very fresh and perfect for a hot summer day. You can make a full meal out of it, just add some crunchy bread and your favorite dry rose'. What I really love about this recipe, is you don't need a salad dressing! Enjoy!
Instructions
  1. Cook couscous according to instructions. Remove from heat and let cool. Be sure to stir occasionally while cooling.
  2. When completely cooled, mix in veggies, chicken and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for one hour before serving. Store up to 4 days in the fridge.
    summer chicken salad
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Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers & Bell Peppers

Quinoa Salad with spinach, bell peppers & cucumber

Quinoa salad perfect for summer time!

Now that the weather has warmed up, I love to make a quinoa salad as both our side dish & veggie. When we’re cooking on the boat, we try to grill our protein and have our side dish all prepared for ease of prep & cleanup. Quinoa is very versatile and you can add any ingredients you like. Add a protein for a full meal.

If you haven’t cooked quinoa much, you want to make sure you rinse it first, otherwise it can taste bitter. Quinoa comes from the Andes and surprisingly it is not a grain.  What we are actually eating is the seed of the plant. It is in the goosefoot family, which also produces edibles such as chard and spinach.  Although we treat it like a grain, it is actually not at all.

These salads are so tasty, because the quinoa absorbs the dressing so well. The key to maximizing the flavor is to let the quinoa cool slightly and then add the dressing. Then mix in your veggies. You want to make sure that the quinoa is cooled off enough, that it doesn’t make the veggies soggy.

This past week, we had a friend over to our new apartment for dinner. She is on the FODMAP diet and this salad was perfect for her. As a result, she can’t eat any garlic, onions or cheese.  It was delicious, but if aren’t limited to ingredients, it’s best with minced garlic in the dressing, chopped red onion and crumbled feta cheese mixed in.

Be sure to check out the rest of our tasty recipes on our blog at www.boatingjourney.com/recipes

 

Enjoy! Ally

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Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers & Bell Peppers Yum
This a delicious recipe for summer time that pairs great with most proteins. Be sure to make it at least one hour before serving so it marinates in the dressing.
Quinoa Salad with spinach, bell peppers & cucumber
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Quinoa Salad with spinach, bell peppers & cucumber
Instructions
  1. Rinse the quinoa. Bring quinoa and 2 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a very low simmer and cover. Cook for about 13 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove lid and remove from heat. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes. Add lemon vinaigrette dressing (see recipe below), tossing gently. Add remaining vegetables.
    Chopped cucumber, bell peppers
Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
  1. Whisk all the ingredients until blended well. Taste and adjust salt / pepper if needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
    Quinoa Salad with spinach, bell peppers & cucumber
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Red Potatoes with Spinach

Red Potatoes with Spinach, Onions & Mushrooms

Red potatoes with spinach is the perfect side dish. When prepping dinner in a small galley, it’s difficult to make two sides with your protein.  I love to combine a starch with a veggie to make just one side dish.

boat galley stovetop microwave

My favorite combo is red potatoes with onions, mushrooms and spinach. You can also use baby kale.  Since the spinach or kale just need to be wilted slightly, I add this to the dish at the very end.

If you don’t have an oven on your boat, you can easily make this in a skillet or in a foil packet on your grill.  Scott and I grill a lot on our boat during the summer, which helps keep the cleanup in the galley to a minimum.

The last time I made this, we had leftovers. The next morning, I sautéed the potatoes in a pan with eggs to make a breakfast skillet.

Enjoy!

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Red Potatoes with Spinach Yum
This side dish is so easy and you can use the leftovers with eggs the next morning. It's a fan favorite and a great way to combine your veggies and starch!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35-40 minutes
Servings
people
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35-40 minutes
Servings
people
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees. Line a baking dish with non-stick foil. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and mushrooms with olive oil and spices. Bake on the middle rack and stir the ingredients after 20 minutes. Bake for another 15 minutes (or until the potatoes are tender). Add the spinach and mix well. Bake for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
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Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad

corn salad galley recipe

Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad Recipe

This past week, the weather in the PNW finally started to warm up and that’s when we love to barbecue! One of my favorite side dishes is my corn, tomato & avocado salad. It’s easy to prepare, even on a boat. A crowd favorite for sure!

This salad is so versatile, that you can really add any of your favorite veggies or beans. Often, I’ll add black beans and chicken to make it a complete meal.  I use fresh corn, but you can also use frozen corn. Simply microwave it for about one minute. Try to find an avocado that is not too ripe, as you don’t want it to be mushy.

The best way to cut up an avocado, is to slice it in half. Then CAREFULLY stab the seed with a knife, turn it sideways and the seed should pop out. Then using a large spoon, scoop out the avocado and cut it up.

I use a simple lime dressing for this corn, tomato and avocado salad. Be sure to let it marinate in the dressing for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

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Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad Yum
This is a very easy salad to make and everyone loves it. The citrus in the lime dressing will prevent the avocado from turning brown. This salad is best when you use all fresh vegetables and lime juice.
corn salad galley recipe
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Lime Dressing
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Lime Dressing
corn salad galley recipe
Instructions
  1. Hold the ears of corn upright in a large bowl. Using a sharp knife, saw off the kernels into the bowl. Add the remaining diced vegetables.
  2. Juice the entire lime into a small bowl and add remaining dressing ingredients. Whisk to blend well and taste. If you want it zestier or spicy, simply adjust to your taste preference.
  3. Add the dressing to the salad, mixing carefully so you don't mush the avocado. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
    corn salad galley recipe
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Caribbean Slaw

Caribbean Pork Roast

Caribbean Slaw Recipe

This Caribbean slaw recipe uses a Kale Beet salad blend from Mann’s.  You can keep it as simple as the blend or add some of your own favorite ingredients like jalapeno, radishes or jicama. In this recipe, I kept it simple. When you are out boating, you don’t typically have the space nor the time to prep a lot of meals in the galley. That’s why I love these pre-made salad blends when we stay on the boat.

Scott and I love the Caribbean Islands and we plan on retiring there some day. We fell in love with the culture during our honeymoon to Antigua in 2003. Since I love to cook and entertain, Caribbean cuisine is at the top of my list (along with Italian food).

Food Pairings

This slaw recipe goes with almost anything “Caribbean”. It would go great with jerk pork chops, grilled salmon and Caribbean pork roast. Because the slaw has honey in it, it tones down spicy dishes that you pair with it.  It’s also very flavorful and refreshing on a hot summer day! Enjoy.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to our blog for more tasty recipes! Scott and Ally

#BoatingJourney

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Caribbean Slaw Yum
This Caribbean slaw goes great with all of my tropical recipes, especially anything spicy. The dressing is very flavorful and the Kale & Beet blend is very nutritious. You can't go wrong with this recipe!
Caribbean Pork Roast
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Caribbean
Prep Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Caribbean
Prep Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Caribbean Pork Roast
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add the slaw blend to the dressing and blend well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
    Caribbean slaw tropical recipe
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Super Greens Salad with Roasted Beets, Walnuts & Blue Cheese

winter salad healthy

Super Greens Salad – It’s healthy too!

When it comes to salads, I’m always looking for unique ingredients. I’m not one for just greens and dressing – too boring for me.  Since I love roasted beets, roasted walnuts and blue cheese, why not put them all in a salad?! Voila! This is delicious.  You could use a store bought vinaigrette, but this recipe is so easy, why not make your own.  Since there are just a few ingredients, you can easily make this on your boat.  Recently I made this salad to pair with my Roasted Butternut Squash Raviolis and it was a great pairing!

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Super Greens Salad with Roasted Beets, Walnuts & Blue Cheese Yum
While this salad is very simple, it has a ton of flavor and is elegant enough to serve at any dinner party. Easy to prepare on boat and it will surely be everyone's favorite!
winter salad healthy
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Vinaigrette Dressing
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Vinaigrette Dressing
winter salad healthy
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk vinaigrette dressing ingredients until blended. Carefully toss salad ingredients in a large bowl with vinaigrette and serve immediately.
    winter salad healthy
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Blue Cheese Garden Salad

summer salad steak

Blue Cheese Garden Salad – Have it as a side or a meal

We love to grill steaks on the boat and keep dinner simple. One of our favorite salads is my Blue Cheese Garden Salad. Honestly, you could simply add grilled steak to it for a full meal.

To keep things easier, I will buy a Fresh Express lettuce or salad kit and add my own ingredients so we don’t have to do a lot of prep work. This is a great summertime salad for entertaining on your boat.

 

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Blue Cheese Garden Salad Yum
The tanginess of the blue cheese pairs great with grilled steak. Make it as a side dish or simply add grilled steak to make a full meal.
summer salad steak
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
summer salad steak
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately with grilled steak and crunchy bread.
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