Entertaining Ideas

July Recipe of the Month: Kale & Blueberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Kale & Blueberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Kale & Blueberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

This delicious and healthy salad is the perfect summer recipe. Prepare this salad for a family cookout or neighborhood potluck as a tasty side that won’t leave guests feeling weighed down in the heat.

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

-         5 cups loose cleaned kale cut

-         ½ Cups Blueberries

-         ½ Cups Shredded Carrots

-         ½ Cups Purple grapes cut in half

-         ¼ Cups Raisins

-         ¼ Cups Roasted sunflower kernels


Dressing:

-         ¼ cup Vidalia Onion, diced

-         1 cloves of garlic

-         2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

-         ¼ Cups Lemon Juice

-         ½ Cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-         ¼  Teaspoons Celery Seed

-         ¼  Teaspoons Poppy Seeds

-         ¼ cups Honey (for a vegan version substitute maple or agave syrup)

-         Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1.    In A large bowl, blend all the greens and fruits. Reserve the kernels until the last step.

2.    Combine dressing ingredients and blend until well mixed.

3.    Add dressing to salad just as you are serving. Finish with the kernels.

A Voyager Academy Charter School student enjoying his first experience with a kale salad.

A Voyager Academy Charter School student enjoying his first experience with a kale salad.

Bride's Breakfast Croquembouche

When Zacki was at Peace Jr. College in Raleigh, there was always a consistent smell that wafted over the campus. The addictive aroma was from a next door Krispy Kreme donut store and it called her name. In those slim days, she never gained weight, but saw her dentist more often.

Krispy Kreme is a North Carolina based company founded in the 1930’s. Founder Rudolph Rudolf purchased a secret recipe for yeast-raised doughnuts from a New Orleans-French chef and opened a doughnut shop in Paducah, Kentucky. Rudolph soon moved to Winston-Salem, NC, (some say Camel cigarettes attracted him to the city) where he opened the first Krispy Kreme on July 13, 1937.

ZCC had a request to make a donut hole croquembouche for a bride's breakfast in May. This was the first croquembouche Zacki had made since working on Martha Stewart's Christmas book croquembouche using filled puff pastry. Zacki started this project by purchasing a Christmas tree styrofoam shape from a craft store, then purchasing 75 fresh "holes" (minus 2 for sampling!). Geranium leaves decorated the base using wooden toothpicks.

Croquembouche base in progress.

Croquembouche base in progress.

Donut holes were then added and it was wrapped with layers of cling wrap for transportation.

Croquembouche with Krispy Kreme Donut holes attached.

Croquembouche with Krispy Kreme Donut holes attached.

Once on the lovely table created by the hostess, the gaps were filled in with fresh mint and white roses.

Croquembouche on Bride’s Breakfast table.

Croquembouche on Bride’s Breakfast table.

Cake-holes could be used for a dessert version of this beautiful addition to a buffet table.