The Creekside Cook

Dressings and Vinaigrettes

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Basil Pesto

Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Freezing· Garden Fresh· Nuts· Pasta· Quick Meals· Sauces, Dips and Spreads· The Basics

Classic Pesto or Basil Pesto? This could be called "Classic Pesto". I'm pretty sure Basil Pesto is the classic combination of ingredients to make this bright and delicious addition to your repertoire of sauces.  If your garden is anything like mine, basil is abundant this time of year.  I pinch off my basil plants throughout the summer, using the leaves in salads and veggies and pasta dishes. It's prime basil time right now So now, I have some beautiful, compact plants with lots of bright ... Read More about Basil Pesto

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Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette

Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Garden Fresh· Grilling & Barbeque· Salads· Sauces, Dips and Spreads· The Basics· Vegetarian

  You will love the flavor in this Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette! As I've mentioned in a few recent posts, we've not had the best gardening summer.  Regardless, we have plenty of veggies making their way into the house still. It makes for busy days, getting everything preserved for the winter, so that nothing goes to waste. This Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette is the result of a few extra tomatoes lying on the kitchen counter at dinner time. It just makes sense - a vinaigrette is mainly an ... Read More about Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette

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Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad

Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Garden Fresh· Recipes· Salads· Side Dishes· Vegetables

Salads don't have to be cold This Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad proves that point very nicely.  Full of garden fresh veggies, topped with a lively vinaigrette - it's good eats, summer-style.  Our favorite kind of food! If you don't have a garden of your own, just about every Farmer's Market in the country will have all of these veggies right now, so getting ahold of the ingredients won't be too difficult. Great for picnics This would be great to take to a cookout or picnic this weekend ... Read More about Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad

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Garlic Scape Chimichurri Sauce

Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Freezing· Garden Fresh· Grilling & Barbeque· Recipes· Sauces, Dips and Spreads

The best topping for any steak! We grow a LOT of garlic.  We eat a lot of it and sell some, plus it's good for the chickens. That does give us a LOT of Garlic Scapes to deal with though. Garlic scapes are the flower of a garlic plant, and leaving them in place robs the garlic bulb of growth. The plant will put more energy into maturing a flower, which will eventually fling seeds around - nature's way of growing more garlic. Our way is to separate the cloves and plant them, but nature takes a ... Read More about Garlic Scape Chimichurri Sauce

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Chive Lemon Vinaigrette

Citrus· Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Garden Fresh· Gardening How-to· Recipes

Chive Lemon Vinaigrette is a reboot post, brought up from the archives for a new season.  It's a bright fresh addition to springtime menus and if your garden is like mine, this is prime time for chives.  I hope you enjoy it! Chives are a most agreeable herb to grow. This Chive Lemon Vinaigrette is only one reason you should grow them, and it's a very compelling reason indeed. Plant chives once - enjoy years of delicious flavor and a pretty plant in the bargain. My current plants ... Read More about Chive Lemon Vinaigrette

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Chive Bacon Ranch Dressing

Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Garden Fresh· Recipes· Salads· Sauces, Dips and Spreads· Vegetables

And Preparing for a New Part of Our Lives Things are really going to be changing here at Creekside at the end of the summer. After working since he was 14 years old, Larry is finally going to retire. Well, he's retiring from carpentry at least. As you will see, we have some big plans ahead - some things that we are really looking forward to. Retirement is not going to be what I would have thought it would be if you had asked me 20 years ago. Then I would have said that we would likely not ... Read More about Chive Bacon Ranch Dressing

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Creamy Feta Cheese Salad Dressing

Condiments· Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Recipes· Salads· Sauces, Dips and Spreads

We eat a lot of salad all year, but this time of year it seems especially good. Not because we have our own homegrown veggies yet, but we know they are coming, so all salads have some anticipation added, which seems to make them taste even better. Obviously, we don't have a whole lot of local produce this time of year. There is some around, and I think the nearest big Farmer's Market in Ithaca opened this past weekend, but the local stuff available is hard to grow in these colder months, so it's ... Read More about Creamy Feta Cheese Salad Dressing

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Grilled Romaine Salad

Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Garden Fresh· Grilling & Barbeque· Recipes· Salads· Side Dishes· Vegetables

Grilled Romaine? I have to admit that I didn't think up grilled salads all on my own. There are many versions out there, some more complicated, and many using different ingredients. I like to keep this to the most basic elements - fresh, crisp romaine, a flavorful vinaigrette and some salty cheese. Perhaps you haven't yet run across this idea yet, in which case, you might be thinking that I have lost my mind, but rest assured - grilling lettuce is not crazy! When you begin with a nice crispy ... Read More about Grilled Romaine Salad

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Caramelized Broccoli with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Dressings and Vinaigrettes· Recipes· Side Dishes· Vegetables

This is one of those dishes that hardly deserve the name "recipe", because it is so simple to throw together, and so easy to vary according to your personal taste. Maybe I should just call it a method that can be applied to any number of fresh veggies. This post is really giving you two methods in one, because the vinaigrette is great on salads as well as cooked vegetables. I plan to drizzle it over the pork chops we'll be having with this broccoli, to kind of tie the meal together. If ... Read More about Caramelized Broccoli with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

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