Healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipes

I'm back home for a few days, and what an amazing weekend I had in California where I ate at a couple of my favorite restaurants, hung out with some of my favorite bloggers, and attended BlogHer14.  At the conference I had a chance to re-connect with so many friends I've made from blogging and also hear from some incredibly inspiring women as well.  As I shared on Twitter, the biggest take-away for me from the BlogHer14 conference was that 10 years of women sharing our lives online has empowered all of us.  (If you want to see more about why I'm such a BlogHer fan, watch this video.) 

As I mentioned in my last post, this week I'm leaving on a cruise to Alaska (!), but I wanted to leave a few new recipes for people to try while I'm gone.  I worked on this Cucumber Ribbon Salad with Peppers, Radishes, and Thai Dressing for weeks to get the dressing just right, and I'm sharing it as my Meatless Monday pick for this week even though you'll have to use Vegan fish sauce if you want it to be completely vegetarian.  This recipe could be adapted to use ingredients you have on hand, and we made it a few different ways, but in this final version we loved the colors from the Sweet Mini-Peppers and radishes.  Peanuts are also definitely optional, (and the salad is Paleo without them) but they added a nice crunch.

(To continue on with A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, this perfectly brilliant combination of flavors in a side salad by Ottolenghi. Any time you're doing Phase One and cooking for guests, this interesting salad combination is sure to impress!)

Yotam Ottolenghi is a brilliantly creative London food personality who's famous for his simple-but-profound flavor combinations.   I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered Ottolenghi: The Cookbook a few years ago, but I was captivated by his food.  Then after waiting months while it was on back-order, I recently got his second book, Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi.   Within minutes of opening the book, I knew I wanted to make this salad.