Beautiful Beet salad

It's that time of year when the sun stays out long enough that I can take my time at the farmers' market. And last week, there was an abundance of beets which meant I had to get some, right? And I decided to whip up a tasty beet salad.

Ingredients
Golden and red beets, skinned and chopped
Arugula
Radishes, sliced
Gorgonzola crumbles
Roasted pistachios
Citrus Olive oil

1. Boil beets in a pot of water for about 30 minutes and drain.

2. Combines all ingredients, drizzle with oil (I used orange olive oil and a vanilla fig vinegar) and serve.

Mega Salad - Broccoli, Quinoa, & "Bacon" with Tahini Dressing

I started with this recipe for this Creamy Broccoli Salad and put it over greens. Which was good. But then I kicked it up a notch by adding crispy tempeh bacon and almonds.


I found there was plenty of dressing when I made the broccoli salad, so I only used half and saved the other half to top the salad right before eating.

Mega Salad - Broccoli, Quinoa, & "Bacon" with Tahini Dressing
Makes 2 gigantic servings (or 3-4 normal servings)

Ingredients:
Creamy Broccoli Salad, plus leftover dressing
A few handfuls of greens (I used pre-packaged mixed greens, but kale or arugula would be great, too)
4 slices tempeh bacon
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a small pan, then fry tempeh bacon until crispy on both sides. Crumble or chop into small bites.

In a giant salad bowl (or several smaller bowls), lay down a bed of lettuce dress lightly and toss. Then add broccoli salad, almonds and tempeh bacon.

Enjoy!

Note: If you're not eating right away, keep components separate so your greens and tempeh bacon don't get too soggy.

Roasted Cauliflower, Broccoli & Sun-Dried Tomato Salad with Chickpeas

Another "inspired by pinterest" recipe.

I found a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower, Broccoli & Sun-Dried Tomato Salad with Chickpeas and knew immediately that it would be my lunch the entire following week. I love how easily it comes together and how little work is involved. Especially if you're roasting veggies for dinner, you can just make extra for tomorrow's lunch!

I left out the olives and served it over mixed greens. I added in some baked tofu and topped it with a dijon vinaigrette. So yummy! If I were going to eat it immediately, I'd roast the chickpeas in the oven and get them super crunchy. If you're preparing it ahead of time, I don't think that cooking them at all is really needed, but that's a personal preference.

Summer Series: Too Hot to Cook - Part 1: Panzanella & BBQ Tofu

I'm attempting a summer-long series inspired by my lack of desire to do lots of prep work or stand over a hot stove as temperatures hover in the 90s.

Last night, I made a Panzanella salad and BBQ tofu strips (which I just called "BBQ strips" until my 3-year-old declared them a winner) with a side of sliced avocado. Simple, not a lot of prep and perfect for a hot summer evening. Honestly, I would eat just the salad for dinner with some sliced avocado, but for the kid's sake, I wanted to round the meal out.

For the BBQ tofu, I followed this recipe from my BBQ Tofu Sandwiches.

Panzanella Salad
Ingredients:
(all vegetables are approximate)
5 nice-sized tomatoes, cut into a large dice
1 English cucumber, cut into a large dice
1/2 red onion sliced thinly
1 loaf of yummy bread (ideally getting stale, but if it's not, that's okay!), cubed - I used ciabatta
1/4 cup vinegar (red wine or balsamic)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 (small) clove garlic, minced or grated on the microplane
salt & pepper to taste
1 handful basil, chiffonaded

Directions:
If your bread isn't stale, set your oven to 200 and put the cubes on a cookie sheet and let them dry out for about 40 minutes. Once that is done, continue with the recipe.

In a measuring cup, measure out the vinegar and oil, add the garlic and salt & pepper and mix together.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add the dressing and toss and toss and toss. Then refrigerate for at least an hour to let the dressing soak into the bread.

Add basil and toss again just before serving.

Pizza salad

I saw this recipe from the June issue of Good Housekeeping and knew it would be a great summer meal!

I used sourdough English muffins instead of pizza crust, since it's what I had on-hand. The muffins were cut in half, sprayed with oil olive, topped with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese, and baked at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

I followed the rest of the recipe pretty closely and it turned out great! I served baked asparagus topped with Parmesan cheese on the side.

I think next time I make this, I'll add black olives to the salad, and maybe some fresh basil.

Red Quinoa Salad

The color red has been known to enhance our appetites, so this salad from Better Homes and Gardens will surely get your tummy grumbling.

Red Quinoa with loads of spring produce: raspberries, beets, radishes, lettuce and cilantro!

Simple Carrot Salad

In reading French Kids Eat Everything, my biggest takeaway was that French kids eat carrot salad with dijon vinaigrette. I thought "My kid would eat that!"At the end of the book, the author was kind enough to include the recipe for the dressing, along with a bunch of others.

This salad also tastes similar to a vinegar-y coleslaw if you let it sit in the dressing overnight. Mmm!

Ingredients
Grated carrots (1 small per person)
Tomatoes (chopped, optional)
Grated or chopped cauliflower

for dressing:
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 Tbsp Maple syrup (optional)


Directions:
Mix together all dressing ingredients thoroughly. Pour (use discretion, I used about half of the dressing for 3 big servings of salad) over carrots and tomatoes, if using. Let it marinate if you have time. Keep chilled until serving.

Note: I used my food processor for all the grating, so I throw in the carrots and then the cauliflower and dump that into a bowl and pour the dressing on. It practically makes itself.

Mexi-Salad

Need an easy, affordable, yet filling meal? Nothing better than a Mexican salad!

Mix together:
Lettuce
Sliced bell peppers - red, orange, yellow
1 can black beans
1 cup frozen sweet corn
Shredded Mexican mix cheese
Salsa of choice

In a large pan in 2 tbsp olive, heat up the veggies and beans. Mix with other ingredients and serve!

I had my pinto bean queso as a side with homemade tortilla chips.

Southern style salad and hush puppies

A tasty combo, and easy and quick to make! These were in the January/February issue of Vegetarian Times.

The salad is just canned black-eyed peas, chopped onion, diced carrots, diced green peppers, sliced green onions, chopped tomatoes, apple cider vinegar. How to make? Just throw it all together in a bowl and refrigerate for about an hour.

The hush puppies recipe is very similar to this one from TasteofHome.com, but they are baked for about 10 minutes rather than deep frying.

Miso Tempeh and Kale wrap/salad

Oh yum. That's all I have to say. And it's great for a quick dinner or healthy lunch. Double the recipe and have plenty leftover to take to work the next day. I found it at http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/07/kale-avocado-wraps-w-spicy-miso-dipped.html

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp white miso paste
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp agave or maple syrup
black pepper
2-4 Tbsp oil (I used olive)
1 package tempeh, sliced into 8 logs
1 bunch kale
1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly
1-2 tomatoes, sliced, diced or cut into weges
1 small avocado, sliced or diced

Directions:
1. Mix miso, vinegar, agave (or syrup), a sprinkle of black pepper and 1-2 Tbsp of oil together to make dressing.

2. Heat another Tbsp or so of oil in a saute pan on medium heat.

3. Dip tempeh logs into dressing, then lay them into the hot pan. Allow them to cook for a minute on each side until all sides are carmelized, being careful not to overly blacken. Remove from pan and cool.

4. Remove kale leaves from stem and chop into small pieces.

5. Wash kale well. Run it under (or dunk in) hot water, then dunk it into very cold water. Then dry the kale in a salad spinner and/or with a towel.

6. Transfer kale into a dry bowl, toss with dressing and onions.

7. To serve, either make a salad of kale, tomatoes, avocado and 2 tempeh logs or put all of the components on a wrap (I used whole wheat tortillas) and enjoy.

Quinoa Salad... with Avocado?

The day before I came across this recipe, my husband and I were talking about how we needed a new quinoa salad recipe for the summer. And then this one fell into my lap. My intention was to use one or two avocados chopped up and mixed into the salad instead of served up in the cute, but very avocado-heavy way suggested in the recipe. Then I forgot. And it was still delicious. It also makes a crazy amount of food, so unless you're having company or bringing it to a potluck, I suggest halving the recipe. I used regular uni-colored quinoa with delicious results. Great as a side-dish or light meal.

Quinoa Stuffed Avocado
Ingredients:

2 cups tri-color quinoa, cooked

1/4 cup red onion, small dice

1/2 cup cucumber, small dice

1/2 cup tomatoes, small dice

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 avocados, halved and pitted (less if you're chopping and adding to the salad)

Directions:

Prepare quinoa according to package directions.  Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.  Mix in the red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, cilantro, olive oil, vinegar and salt.  Cut each avocado in half and gently scoop out of the shell, keeping it intact.  Scoop the quinoa salad into the center of each avocado or chop the avocado and add to the salad.  Serve immediately.

Simple Salad Dressing

I found this gem while looking for coupons in Whole Foods "Whole Deal" coupon booklet (that they conveniently only have AFTER the checkout, so you have to really try to get coupons for your current visit).

Ingredients
1 clove garlic or small shallot, finely chopped (I used garlic, because that's what I had on hand, but will use a shallot next time I can get my hands on one)
1 teaspoon 365 Everyday Value Organic Dijon Mustard 1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar  (I used red wine, but may try apple cider next time)


1/2 cup 365 Everyday Value Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh herbs (chives, chervil, parsley or dill) (dried works in a pinch, but fresh is better)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 


Method
Put garlic or shallot into a bowl with mustard. 


Whisk in vinegar, and then oil. 

Stir in herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Find the original recipe and variations here.

Easy Pasta Salad

A super quick and easy yet yummy meal!



Cooked bowtie pasta
Arugula
Halved cherry tomatoes
Gorgonzola crumbles
Dash of pepper

Mix together and you're done!

For the love of Strawberries - Salad

My next post in my month-long devotion to this sweet juicy fruit is a combination of a bunch of recipes I've found online. What's great about this strawberry salad is that it can be the main meal, a sidedish, or dessert!



I used whatever quantities seemed appropriate:
Salad mix (arugula, etc)
Sliced strawberries
Pine nuts, toasted
Pecans, chopped
Balsalmic vinegar

Mix altogether. And you're done! The nuts give the salad a nice crunch, while the sweet from the strawberry and the bite from the vinegar really compliment each other.

Watermelon Basil Salad

I got this simple, delicious recipe from my friend Darcy. It's a perfect hot weather snack!

Chop 3-5 cups of watermelon, then cut several fresh basil leaves (to your taste) into the bowl. Mix and serve!

Weekend Salad

Weekends are for relaxing, spending time with family, planning meals for the week, and eating last week's leftovers. It is in that spirit that I bring the weekend salad. Made up of produce (lettuce, tomato, carrot, green onion & avocado) bought mid-week, chicken (for the husband) made for Friday's lunch and quinoa (for me) for lunches this week, we bridged the last week and this week and made our bellies happy in the process.

The salad pictured is topped with quinoa, avocado and Annie's Lemon & Chive dressing, which is my new favorite.

Quick & Easy Vinaigrette

I was trying to figure out how to eat the rest of the spinach in my fridge when Matt volunteered to make me some vinaigrette. He was done in about two seconds so I made him tell me how he did it - because people need to know! He mixed 1/4 cup olive oil with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and then added a bit of mustard and honey. Whisked together, it was the perfect topper for my hummus, peppers and spinach salad. It was enough for 3 salads.

2 Versions of Spinach & Broccoli Salad

I had a lot of spinach and broccoli on hand this week, so I made myself some salads, each a bit different from the others for variety. I don't know about you, but I don't like eating the same thing day after day. Here's two of the ways I mixed things up:

This one was spinach, broccoli, avocado, banana peppers, farmer's cheese, sunflower seeds and creamy Italian dressing.

This is spinach, broccoli, red pepper, homemade hummus, sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette. This version was my favorite! So good!

Tomato & Pepper Salad

The other day I was stuck inside, trapped by the miserable heat, with very little to eat. So I had to make up something and I ended up surprising myself with a nice Tomato and Pepper Salad.

Ingredients:
1 can drained, diced tomatoes ("Mexican" style)
1 grated carrot
1 cup drained, marinated red and yellow peppers
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl and you're set! I enjoyed mine with some seasoned wild rice and vegetarian refried beans for a Tex-Mex inspired dinner.

May's Fruit Salad

I just happened to have just the right amount of ingredients on hand to make up this delicious fruit salad the other night. Very simple but delicious, especially after a night in the fridge. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would've been some sliced strawberries.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb canned peaches, drained & sliced
• 1 apple, cored & sliced (also peeled, if you want)
• 1 15 oz can pears, drained and sliced
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1 TBSP sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix the peaches, apples, pears and blueberries in a bowl.
2. Add the yogurt, sugar and juice of the lemon and lime.
3. Enjoy right away or the next day for extra flavor!