Swedish Pizza Salad

Have you heard of this?

Apparently in Sweden, this is served along with every pizza ordered in restaurants there. It makes total sense to me since it would balance out the starch and grease in the pizza quite nicely. I Googled it and there are a few variations. This is mine. . .I added carrot, and really struggled with NOT adding onion, since I love that in everything! (except maybe strawberry ice cream. . .or chocolate cake 😁)

Combine in a large glass bowl:

1/2 of a sm.-med. heavy head of white cabbage - finely sliced

1 lg. carrot - shredded

Dressing:

3T single source EVOO

3T white vinegar

2T fresh lemon juice

1T dry oregano

1T sugar

1-1/2t salt, garlic, pepper blend

I whisked these ingredients together but the oregano was stubborn, so I blended it on high for about 30 seconds. Pour it over the vegetables, mix gently then refrigerate at least an hour or overnight before serving.

I made a chicken, tomato, zucchini, mushroom, pesto alfredo sauce, cheese, pasta casserole just before this, that turned out great, according to the tiny little test bowl I tried. I'll serve both of these to some special people visiting me tomorrow. . .Lin

Simple Cabbage Salad

This sounded SO good to me, any variation of coleslaw always does! It went together in no time, since other than dressing there are only 3 ingredients. Thinly slice the following into a medium glass bowl:

1 lightweight head of green cabbage
~ tight heavy heads aren't as flavorful
1 med. Vidalia onion
1 med. carrot

Toss with my Lemon Olive Oil type vinaigrette and a little poppy seed dressing. Toss a couple times while it marinates, an hour or longer.

This is so good -just as is- or use it as a base for other ingredients. I did that just now, adding: chopped grape tomatoes, radishes, Italian flat leaf parsley and some rotisserie chicken. Just perfect for lunch on a summer day. . .Lin

Anti-Inflammatory Vegetable Smoothie

I made an amazing carrot-pineapple-lemon-cucumber version of this yesterday, but I didn't note proportions, so I'll work on recreating that soon. This one was a bit too heavy on the garlic, using 1 BIG raw clove for each serving, so I've modified that here. I steamed the chopped beet for about 7 minutes to reduce/eliminate oxalates. Those are high in raw beets and can cause kidney stones.

1 lg. beet

2 med. carrots

1 big seedless lemon
3-4 small cloves of garlic

3-4 1" pieces of fresh ginger
1 handful of baby arugula for each serving

1T raw honey for each serving

a sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt for each serving

Scrub the beet and cut into chunks. Steam it for about 7 minutes until a fork slips in and out of the pieces easier than when raw, but don't overcook. Scrub the lemon, carrots and ginger but don't peel anything except the garlic.

Cut the  blossom and stem section off the lemon. Cut the whole-unpeeled lemon and carrots in pieces and divide those into 2 or 3 containers (for another day) in addition to the blender jar. Add the garlic, ginger, arugula, then cover and refrigerate.

Before blending, add the honey, salt and start with 1c water, then adjust that amount to your desired consistency. . .Lin

Vegetable, Fruit, Seeds and Nuts, Corn, Wheat and Rye Quick Bread - Muffins

In a big glass bowl, whisk together these dry ingredients:

1c rye flour

1+1/2c all purpose flour

1/2c corn flour

1t salt

1t baking soda

1t baking powder

1T pumpkin pie spice

2T chia seeds

2T ground flax seeds

1c chopped pecans or walnuts

In a smaller bowl, stir together:

3 lightly beaten lg. eggs

3/4c single source EVOO

3/4c plain Greek yogurt

3/4c dark brown sugar

1c raisins

1T real (Mexican) vanilla

When ingredients in the smaller bowl are combined, stir in:

2 med. carrots + 1 8oz. zucchini - shredded

Preheat your oven to 375°F.
Pour the ingredients from the smaller bowl into the big bowl. Stir-mix well with a rubber spatula. The batter will be heavy - my spatula was able to stand up in the center of the bowl. Using a serving spoon, fill each paper lined muffin cup 3/4 full with the batter.

The remaining batter will keep several days in your 'fridge, or you can bake it into a loaf of quick bread in a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins and bread with spiced sugar if you want, just before baking.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test. The batter in the bread pan will probably take another 5-10 minutes to bake all the way through. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Another Salad Mix + Lemon-EVOO Dressing

No matter the time of year, and even though I live in Northern Minnesota, I almost always have a BIG fresh greens and vegetable mix in my refrigerator, so a salad can be put together in only a few minutes. This is my current one for the next few days. 

Salad Mix:

1 big petite or regular Romaine

6 big green onions

2 carrots

1 big handful of chopped kale

2c sliced-chopped purple cabbage

1/2 of a long, skinny, bumpy English cucumber

Slice the Romaine lettuce lengthwise into quarters. Cut into 1" cross sections. Wash well in your salad spinner, starting with warm-hot water, then drain and wash in icy cold water. Drain, spin several times to remove all the water. Rinse and dry the outer container then fill with the spun lettuce. Wash and prep the other vegetables then slice or chop them into the lettuce. Use this as the base for a tossed salad, like mine, or grab a handful and top with chopped chicken or tuna packed in EVOO. . .think of other ways to use these greens and vegetables. Chop up some fresh fruit: an apple, grapes, a whole Cutie Mandarin orange, including the skin! Put these on a bed of the greens and drizzle with the dressing. Mmmm, so good and fresh! Add to a pot of soup - grab a handful (put the cucumbers back in the mix) chop it fine and throw it into the pot.

Lemon-EVOO Dressing: 

1c single source EVOO*

1/2c pure lemon juice

2t Himalayan pink salt

1t black+cayenne pepper mix

1/2 -1t granulated roasted garlic - optional

*I can't stress strongly enough, how important it is to read labels on extra virgin olive oil. If there's a 'code' at the bottom - telling which countries the oil came from - PASS on it!! It's been proven, through chemical analysis, that often these multicountry offerings test as substances other than olive oil!! Buy only EVOO from one country / point of origin, i.e.: California, Spain, Italy, Greece, or the best by far: Moroccan.

Combine in a 14oz., or larger, glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. This keeps in the refrigerator a long time, a month or more, but probably won't last long. In addition to using as a salad dressing, it would be a good addition, just a drizzle, to mayonnaise for coleslaw, egg salad, tuna salad and also as an excellent marinade for meats.

Today, my salad for a 1pm breakfast-lunch was a big handful of the salad mix, with the addition of 1/2 medium tomato, 1/2 large avocado, 1 hard boiled egg and a handful of walnuts. Drizzled with a good amount of the dressing. Don't worry about this type of 'fat'. It's the absolute best type for your body. So many nutrients here! The fresh vitamins from the greens and tomato, the protein and fiber from the avocado, egg and walnuts. This is anti-inflammatory and it all tastes so great. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Coleslaw with Snow Pea Pods, Raisins and Almonds

Since being on Whole 30 I've been more careful about reading labels. I'm shocked at how much sugar, dairy and grains sneak into our cooking under various names. These ingredients are all approved for the plan.

Finely slice about 1/3 of a large head of green cabbage and 1/4 medium head of purple cabbage into a large bowl. Add 1 large shredded carrot, 5 or 6 chopped green onions, some sliced crispy snow pea pods, 3/4c golden raisins, 2±oz. toasted slivered almonds.

In a little bowl, whisk together: 1/2-3/4c mayonnaise, 3T red wine vinegar, 3T dijon mustard, a sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt and some black and cayenne pepper.

Pour over the vegetables, toss, refrigerate an hour or so to blend the flavors before serving. This is good by itself or as a compliment to just about anything that needs a little freshness, protein and crunch. . .Lin

Quinoa Tabouli (gluten-free)

1c any 'color' quinoa

2c fresh cold water

2 huge cloves of garlic - smashed and minced

Simmer the quinoa on low until all the water absorbs. Remove from heat, add the garlic and stir gently. Cover while chopping all the vegetables. The heat will mellow the sharpness of the garlic a little.

Combine in a big glass bowl:

quartered grape tomatoes
2 yellow mini bell peppers
celery heart and tops
5 tiny cucumbers
5 green onions
1/2 purple onion
1 med. carrot - grated
zest and juice of 1 lemon
lots of good quality single source EVOO
1/2 bunch each: curly & Italian flat leaf parsley
2 cans of well rinsed-and-drained black beans

Add the slightly cooled quinoa and garlic.
Combine gently. Check the flavors and season. I used Lowry's Garlic Salt, ground black and red pepper. I was making this for our church potluck, so I forgot to take a pic of the finished bowl. Drop down two recipes. . .Yup, it looks pretty much like that Tabouli 😁 . . . Lin

German Potato Salad Soup

I thawed a package of 6 Quail and also 1 Pheasant to roast over the weekend for a family get together after church this past Sunday. Rather than a fussy sit-down roast poultry dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. I decided to keep it casual. I made an interesting version of something similar to German Potato Salad and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad to go with the roasted meat. After lunch, I took off all the meat, packaged that, and made a pot of bone broth with the bones and skin.

I'll probably make a stroganoff sort of thing with the leftover meat, either all 18oz. of it, or half and use a chicken salad recipe for the rest, so stay tuned for those.

Meanwhile, I still had leftover hot potato salad to turn into something else. Today I decided to make soup, using mashed up potato salad as the focal ingredient. This potato salad has onion, celery, dill pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, and crumbled bacon. Mashing it somehow seemed the logical thing to do.

Slice-chop the scrubbed vegetables shown: carrots, celery, green pepper and garlic. Sauté these a few minutes in 2-3T butter. Add a couple ladles of bone broth, cover and simmer with seasonings and bay leaves for about 15 minutes until they're all tender. Remove the bay leaves, then mash everything in the pot to a rough-mash stage with a potato masher.

Add the mashed potato salad, stir to combine. Ladle in more bone broth to make it just barely 'soupy.' Simmer this on low for 5-10 minutes. Check the flavor, then stir in a can of coconut milk if you'd like, or just stick with bone broth, using enough to make the consistency right for a rustic soup. Serve with a little shredded cheese on top. . .Lin

I had a bowl of this, made with coconut milk, without cheese on top, and I have to say, it's for sure one of the most interesting soups I've ever eaten! 

A one of a kind recipe, and since there's 3 quarts of it, I'll be working on this pot for a while. It's surprisingly good!

A Fresh Lettuce Mix

Celebrate The First Official Day of Summer! . . . Make A Lettuce Mix!

Keep it in your spinner container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh at least 5 days, ready for your additions for all sorts of healthy salads.

Chop or slice the Romaine into your salad spinner. Wash and spin it dry, then add the remaining sliced or chopped vegetables:

2 Romaine hearts

purple cabbage

green cabbage

1 carrot

1/2 lg. purple onion

Serve this as is, for a simple green salad, or add whatever you'd like to make it a side salad, or a whole meal. Shown here with leftover taco type beef, corn and beans. I also added 1/2 an avocado and a drizzle of mayonaise-sour cream-Greek yogurt dressing with pepper, garlic salt and dill. 

It's salad season!

Make a lettuce mix, then be creative! . .Lin

Colorful Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Slice very thin, and combine in a medium glass bowl:

1# Brussels sorouts

1/3c each: red and yellow bell pepper

6 green onions + tops

1 med. carrot

1c peanuts \ optional

1c craisins / optional

Dressing:

This is a modification of my Lemon-EVOO Salad Dressing.

In a 12oz. bottle shake together the following:

4oz. Greek Kalamata EVOO

4oz. fresh lemon juice + zest

1oz. Heinz Salad Vinegar

1T Spicy Brown Mustard

1t Lowrey's Garlic Salt

1/2t black pepper

1-2t raw local honey

If you want, once the dressing ingredients are in the bottle, shake then  microwave for 15-20 seconds to warm everything. This makes it easier to combine well, and also releases the flavors quicker.

Pour enough over the salad to coat everything lightly. Stir or toss, then cover and chill, or leave on the counter, 30 minutes or longer to blend all the flavors. 

I had a Wild Foodie Thought. . .I was going to leave out the peanuts and craisins, then in a couple days, put the leftover salad into a pot, add vegetable stock and make soup! The dressing on it would add great flavor. Then it could be eaten just like that, chunky, or blended. But this is always so good, I knew there wouldn't be any left after a day or two, so, this time I added the optional ingredients and had a big bowl for an early dinner tonight. It was wonderful!

As I was eating it I realized, the peanuts and craisins would also be great, for making a little different kind of soup. Simmer the leftover salad with chicken broth, then blend. Cool a bit then whisk in coconut milk or coconut cream, cinnamon and some red curry paste! 😃

Next time, I'll make extra, and put some aside for soup! . .Lin

(picture was taken before craisins, peanuts and dressing was added)

Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup II

This has been sounding really good to me lately. Finally it seems life has slowed down, for the next few hours at least, so I can cut, drizzle, season and roast! Wash, dry and rough cut the following vegetables onto one or two baking sheets.

2¾# tomatoes

2 big carrot

1 lg. yellow bell pepper

2 lg. stalks celery

1 lg. purple onion

LOTS of peeled garlic cloves

Greek Kalamata Olive EVOO

Lowry's Garlic Salt w/ Parsley

Italian Seasoning

black pepper

Drizzle the olive oil over everything. Season, then roast in a preheated 400° oven for 20-30 minutes. Everything but the tomatoes was done in

When they're browned or charred the way you want, let them cool a bit, then pull the tomato skins off, if they slip off easily. Put all the vegetables in a big stock pot.

1/3c ± dark, aged Balsamic vinegar
2-3T Better Than Bouillon-chicken

Drizzle the vinegar over them and put the pot on medium heat. When the vegetables heat, to just barely simmering, stir, then add enough chicken or vegetable broth-stock, 1-2 quarts or so.

Bring this up to a low-bubbly simmer. Cover and continue to simmer a half hour.

Take off the heat and let cool a bit before blending it with a standard, or immersion blender. Check the seasonings and make any additions or corrections.

If you want to add half and half, heavy cream or sour cream, do this when the soup has cooled to body or room temperature. Whisk it in and heat again.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of dill, grated flavorful cheese, some nuts or seeds sprinkled on top - any or all of these. Obviously this would pair great with a grilled cheese sandwich or some crusty garlic bread. 

Chill or freeze for later. . .Lin

Fruit, Vegetables and Roasted Chicken

Well, this was a nice surprise!

I wasn't planning to blog this (normally I use solid color plates and bowls when I do) but it turned out really well. I snapped a photo before devouring it all, plus the rest of the fruit and vegetable mix - the photo only shows half of what I made!

I roasted an Amish chicken this afternoon. I'll create more recipes with that in the next few days. It smelled so good I decided to quick cook something to go with a little bit of the chicken for an easy dinner tonight. This is only 2-1/2oz. chicken with some Lingonberries.

To serve with the chicken, I combined:

1 lg. carrot

1 slightly underripe Bartlett pear

1/4 lg. Vidalia onion

garlic salt and black pepper

2T single source EVOO

a little water

Scrub and slice the carrot, and peeled onion. Quarter and cut the pear into 1/2" cubes. Start by simmering the carrot in the water and olive oil with the seasonings. After a few minutes, add the pear and onion.

Continue to cook on low, covered, for 5 minutes. Don't overcook. Uncover, stir and continue to simmer until the liquid evaporates. Serve with a 'side' of chicken. This was DE-licious! . .Lin

Shrimp-Pasta Stirfry

This makes one big serving:

1 carrot - sliced

1.5oz. dry corn-rice (gluten-free) pasta

Simmer these until al denté, then drain in a strainer.

Marinate the following in a big splash of Lemon-EVOO Dressing then sauté:

7 med. shrimp, cut in half

3 smashed-minced garlic cloves

As soon as the dressing begins to sizzle, add the drained carrot and pasta. Let everything sizzle a minute or two, stir, then let it sizzle again. Continue this until the shrimp and garlic are just barely done. Flip this around in the pan, then serve. This is great as a quick, healthy lunch or dinner. Shown with a side of coleslaw. . .Lin

A Simple Basic Coleslaw

1/2 lg. head of green cabbage

1/2 lg. Vidalia onion
1/4 red bell pepper
2 celery heart ribs 
1 big carrot

2T white vinegar
garlic pepper seasoning
Brianna Poppy Seed Dressing

I love coleslaw and I make it a lot, with only a couple variations.

Slice-chop all the vegetables into a medium-large glass bowl. Add the vinegar, seasoning and dressing. Stir to coat everything.

Let the flavors combine for an hour or so before serving.

This is great to offset overly rich foods. . .Lin

Vegetables, Seeds and Protein

Today this was breakfast. . .
It was really good, and it went together quick!

1 med. carrot

1 handful broccoli florets

Scrub the vegetables and slice into a bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave on high 2 minutes. Drizzle with 1t EVOO and sprinkle with parsley garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Add to the bowl, some sprouted pumpkin seeds, a few Kalamata olives and one quartered, hardboiled egg. Drizzle the egg with a little seasoned mayo you can make ahead and keep in a plastic squeeze bottle. Mine is 1c mayo mixed well with 2-3T brown, grainy-seedy mustard and 2T or so, white Balsamic vinegar. . .Lin

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Wash and chop-slice the mushrooms into a big soup pot. Sautè them with the following ingredients:

20oz. crimini - baby portabella - mushrooms

2T finely chopped onion

1 minced garlic clove

4T (1/2 stick) butter

fresh ground pepper

Stir occasionally over low-medium heat until the liquid in the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms start to brown a little. Add the rest of a large onion, sliced. Cover and simmer a half hour or so until everything is nicely caramelized. Take 2/3 of the mushrooms and onions out of the pot. These will be added at the end and not blended with the other vegetables.

Make a roux with 2 heaping tablespoons of unbleached, all purpose flour and 1/3c± cold water and add that to the mushroom pot.

In another pot, combine the remaining chopped vegetables shown, part of a poblano pepper, 3 bay leaves, 3c water, and 1 package of beefy onion soup mix. Simmer, covered 30-40 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Remove the bay leaves, add the simmered vegetables to the mushrooms to be blended. Blend as smooth as you'd like with an immersion blender.

Stir in 1c half and half, and the chunky mushrooms. Bring this to a low bubble.

Serve with a drizzle of truffle-infused EVOO and some freshly chopped herbs. . .Lin

Meatloaf-Meatball Stroganoff

Meatballs

In a big bowl mix:

1# ground elk

1# ground bison

1# turkey sausage

8oz. crushed crisps

2 lg. pasture raised eggs

1c - 1-1/2c beef broth

Chop the following and add to the bowl:

2 stalks celery

1 med. purple onion

2/3c green part of aSt leek

1 med. carrot - grated

Mix well with a heavy wooden spoon or clean hands. Form into meatballs, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake until nicely browned, 30-40 minutes. I made these ahead and froze in a gallon zip-type bag.

Stroganoff

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil then add 1# thin spaghetti. Once the pasta boils a few minutes, add 1-2oz. finely chopped curly kale. When the pasta is al denté, drain then put it back into the pot. Add 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup, stirring gently to coat the pasta. Add 2# of frozen meatballs, also stirring them in.

Chop the vegetables:

1/2 lg. purple onion

1/3 green bell pepper

1/3 orange bell pepper

8-10oz. small mushrooms

1oz. EVOO roasted garlic

Sauté these until crisp tender, in 4T of butter, adding the chopped garlic at the very end, then stir them into the pot of pasta and meatballs.

Stir 2c beef broth into 12oz. sour cream and pour over all these ingredients, then toss to mix and coat everything.

Chill several hours, then warm it up again. This changes the pasta making it a resistant starch. This will improve the flavors and also reduces the glycogen level of the pasta making it much healthier than eating it right after the initial cooking. . .Lin

Orange and Green Asian Coleslaw

Wash, then thinly slice the ingredients shown here:

1/2 a skinny orange bell pepper

a small broccoli crown

fresh Brussels sprouts

4 green onions

1 carrot

Combine everything in a large bowl.

Drizzle with your favorite Asian dressing, 2T lemon juice, a sprinkle of garlic salt, pepper and 1t sugar. Mix well.

Chill an hour or more before serving. This will keep several days, covered in the refrigerator. . .Lin

My Version of KFC Coleslaw

 

In a big glass bowl whisk together then set aside:

3T sugar

2T lemon juice

1/2c mayonnaise

2T white Balsamic vinegar

1/2c cold fresh water

3-4T buttermilk powder

salt and pepper

To the dressing, add the chopped vegetables, mix well then cover and chill several hours.

8c chopped green cabbage

1½c chopped purple cabbage

1 lg. chopped carrot

3-4 sliced green onions

Serve with burgers, grilled chicken, meatloaf. . .Just about anything! . .Lin

Cucumber, Carrot and Tomato - oh my

I don't blog everything I make, but this one needs to be out there somewhere in CyberLand!

Slice - chop the following:

2 mini English cucumbers

3 med. carrot - grated

1 Roma tomato

1/2 sm. onion

fresh ground black pepper

I made sriracha mayonnaise the other day. Today I used some of that plus a big splash of white Balsamic vinegar. I like it when something I make, that's bit outside the box of my experience, turns out well. It always leads to expanding my parameters with other ingredients. . .Lin