March 4, 2010
By admin in Lunch/Snack Salad, Mexican-Inspired, Vegetarian
In a hurry. Gotta eat your greens. Grab this! It’s insanely easy, it’s tasty, and it’s portable. Win/win/win.
Tostada Salad “Sandwich”
If I hadn’t been in such a hurry I probably would have added some spices like cumin, oregano and mild chili powder.
Ingredients:
- 2 tostada crisps
- About 1/2 cup refried beans
- A handful of mixed salad greens
- 1 small Roma tomato, sliced
- Slices of avocado
- Spread the refried beans on both tostada crisps.
- Place greens on both sides, pressing them gently into the beans to keep them in place, then arrange tomato and avocado over the greens.
- Close up “sandwich” and enjoy, or wrap to go.
March 4, 2010
By Anne in Asian-Inspired, Lunch/Snack Salad, Pasta, Uses Leftovers, Vegetarian
This is a double leftover salad. I really liked it except for that squash! Texture and size of the pieces were too odd with the pleasing crunch of the rest of the salad. It was a fun idea, though, and pleasing to execute: scooping acorn squash out with a melon baller. I wonder what other salads I could do with that. Hey, I feel the start of a new blog coming: 100 Dishes to Make With an Acorn Squash Ball.
Garden Salad with Chow Mein and Squash
Ingredients:
- Cold leftover chow mein noodles
- Acorn squash, scooped out with melon baller (though I don’t recommend this; just documenting honestly)
- Frisee
- Radishes
- Small amount of canola oil (peanut or sesame would be great, but maybe not with that squash, which I still don’t recommend)
- Small amount of rice wine vinegar
- Black sesame seeds
Toss everything but the black sesame seeds together, then sprinkle seeds over the top. Remove squash, then enjoy the rest. Eat squash for dessert.
March 2, 2010
By Anne in Asian-Inspired, Main Course Salad, Uses Leftovers
The alternate name for this specimen is The Chinese Takeout Grumpy-With-A-Head-Cold Salad
Kung Pao Salad
No dressing needed but the sauce from the Kung Pao.
Ingredients:
- Leftover Kung Pao chicken (warm or cold)
- Frisée
- Radishes, sliced
- Red onion, sliced
- Crunchy apples, sliced
Enjoy with a cup of hot & sour soup–and lots of water or tea.
Wish I had fresh grated ginger, too.
Benefits to a grumpy person with a cold: easy; spicy; crunchy, no dairy
March 1, 2010
By Anne in Pasta, Uses Leftovers
I was in serious danger of making something gross when I was pulling out ingredients for this salad. We had a ton of tiny leftovers. Do you ever get a fridge full of these? The four bites left of something that you can’t bring yourself to throw away–then regret having later as they fill your fridge to the gills?
One of my favorite pizzas in Italy was the Quattro Stagioni (”Four Seasons”). It’s the ultimate commitmentphobe’s pizza! Four separate flavors in one pizza, with each segment of the pizza representing a season.
Tiny leftovers lend themselves to quattro stagioni–or quattro something, anyway. What’s the Italian word for scraps?
Quattro Something Salad
Ingredients:
- Mixed greens
- Macaroni and cheese
- Artichoke hearts
- Grape tomatoes
- Tuna salad
- Radishes
Directions:
- In a bowl filled with greens, arrange the toppings in four quarters.
- Garnish with radishes.
- Be surprised at how good it is.
February 28, 2010
By Anne in Fruit, Mexican-Inspired, Raw, Vegetarian
My husband scares me sometimes. Last night we were both doing our own thing in companionable silence. Out of the blue I asked, “What’s that white thing called…?”
And he said, “Jicama?” Uh, yes. Actually, that’s exactly what I was thinking about. How does he do that?
Anyway, my friend Ammi invited me over for a delicious dinner of tortilla soup, so I offered to bring a salad. She said that cilantro was already in the soup and that she didn’t love big heaping amounts of cilantro. I also know that she has a sweet tooth, so she would be okay with a sweeter salad, something I enjoy as well. I set about putting together a salad that would fit the bill. That’s really fun–being given a certain set of criteria and creating a salad from that.
At the dinner table, Ammi and I thrilled at the combination of her delicious soup and the salad. They were perfect together, providing counterbalance in both flavors and textures.
Jicama, Orange, & Mango Salad
I was making this up as I went along, so the measurements may be a bit fuzzy.
Ingredients”
- 1 medium jicama, peeled and julienned
- 1 or 2 oranges, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 large mango, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1/2 or 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- A few tablespoons of finely chopped red onion
- 1 T rice wine vinegar
- juice of 1/2 orange
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- cumin, to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
- salt, to taste (about 1/4 tsp)
- cayenne or piment d’Espelette, to taste (about 2 dashes)
Directions:
- Place all the fruits and vegetables together in a medium bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar, juices, cumin, and salt. Pour over salad. Mix together gently. Chill and serve with something delicious and savory like tortilla soup!
Serves 2 – 4
February 27, 2010
By Anne in Mexican-Inspired, Vegetarian
Did you know that empanadas can be quite easy to make? Goya brand makes empanada pastries that you just fill with something (such as shredded chicken, mixed veggies, spicy beans, etc), fold up, and fry. It’s one of my family’s latest favorite meals, and I’m fond of how quick it is.
I made this salad to be an empanada receptacle, basically. I tore up my empanada over the greens. Guilty pleasure meets healthy virtue.
Empanada Salad
Ingredients for an individual salad:
- Handful of leaf lettuce
- Half an avocado, cubed
- A few slices of red onion
- 1 Roma tomato, chopped
- Several cilantro sprigs, chopped
- Lime juice and olive oil, to taste
- One empanada, any flavor
Toss the salad together with the lime juice and olive oil. Break the empanada into pieces and place on the salad. Alternatively, serve the salad alongside the empanada.
February 27, 2010
By Anne in Lunch/Snack Salad, Vegetarian
Our lives are not always living cookbooks. What kinds of odd concoctions do you assemble for yourself if nobody’s there to dine with you?
This salad was, as usual, born of speedy necessity. During naptime I was making a snack tray for a toddler playdate, then realized I hadn’t eaten lunch myself yet. Let’s just say the toddlers had more raisins than greens, and I had one delicious lunch. This is one of those combos that transcended the sum of its parts. Crunchy, creamy, and savory, peppered with bright hits of lemon and dill, this salad made me suddenly slow down and take a seat.
You can find silken tofu in containers that have been vacuum sealed and don’t need to be refrigerated. This way it’s on hand and there’s no pressure to use it right away. I like these small containers, because then there’s not an open tofu package that turns into a science project after weeks in the fridge.
Broccoli and Tofu Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 small head of broccoli, lightly steamed and separated into florets
- 1 small package of silken tofu, cut into small cubes
Topping: A few shakes of Herbed Popcorn Seasoning (save the rest for a batch of popcorn):
- 1 T powdered buttermilk
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried dill weed (or your favorite dried herb)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Blend together the seasonings and sprinkle some over the broccoli and tofu.
Serves 2.
February 25, 2010
By Anne in Italian-Inspired, Side Salad, Vegetarian
This is the first of 100 “real” salads to come. I’ll list the ingredients and any unusual preparation instructions, but this is mostly a documentation of ingredients rather than actual recipes. It’s meant to amuse and hopefully inspire you. I hope you’ll sometimes come away from the blog wanting a salad. I’m very open to your salad ideas and feedback!
Pizza Sidekick Salad
Pizza makes the best croutons. Just tear that pizza slice into bite-sized bits and throw it on your greens. Voila! You’re eating your greens. And those greens taste like pizza. In theory, it makes you eat less pizza. Depending on your pizza toppings, you don’t even need to do much with the salad itself. Keep it simple.
Ingredients:
- Fresh leaf lettuce
- Yellow bell pepper, chopped
- Avocado, cubed
- Artichoke hearts, chopped
- Torn up pieces of pizza as croutons (not shown here)
- Dressing: None needed - but oil & vinegar would be great.
This salad was just okay. I actually would like more ingredients than this on a pizza sidekick salad, especially since the pizza was pretty simple already, but it’s what was in my fridge, and it was still pretty refreshing.