Crunchy, Colorful Chopped Salad

Sometimes I just open my refrigerator. . .

to see what jumps up and says, 'pick me, pick me. . !'

So it was today. Earlier I made my tweaked version of Martha Stewart's Tuna and Apple Salad. I also wanted to make a crunchy vegetable salad. So this happened - and I had both for lunch. . .

1-2 ribs of celery and some greens

1-2 carrots (-or- part of 1 giant carrot)

1/4 sm.-med. purple cabbage

1 white spring turnip

1 purple shallot

Chop everything into a medium glass bowl. Toss with a little savory, herby vinegar and oil. To balance this, add a little sweet dressing such as poppy seed or French.

I picked at these two until there was only a little of each left, then I rolled it all up in that crispy cabbage leaf I used to line the bowl.

Wow, so good. . .My kind of lunch! . .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

A Greens and Beans Vegetable Salad

1c dry beans

Cook these according to package directions or use 1 can of beans, rinsed and drained.

1 long romaine 'head' of lettuce

4 big radishes

1/3c chopped onion

1 big carrot - sliced / steamed

2 stalks celery - chopped / steamed

Slice the romaine lengthwise twice, then cut crosswise into bite size pieces. Wash well and spin in a salad spinner. Rinse and dry the bowl of the spinner and use that as the refrigerator container for the lettuce and the rest of the prepared vegetables. Combine greens and beans in a salad bowl. Don't skip the beans! They're an excellent source of fiber and protein. Top with a drizzle of your favorite dressing (this is mine), a little feta cheese, and a good sprinkle of nutritional yeast, for a great blast of the B Vitamins you need every day. . .It's spring! . .Break out the salad ingredients! . .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

Cucumber-Tomato-Green Onion Salad

In a 12-16oz. jar with a lid, combine the following:

6oz. light red or white vinegar 

~ one, or two--for more depth of flavor

3oz. good quality EVOO

1-2t Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning

1/2t finely ground black pepper

Shake well and warm this, in the uncovered jar, just a little to hydrate the herbs and blend the flavors.

Pour over these chopped vegetables about an hour before serving:

3 mini English cucumbers - rough peeled

4 green onions - white parts and greens

3 nice size Roma tomatoes

Toss a couple times before serving. This is great with heavier meats, to lighten things up. It's also just a nice healthy, easy-to-put-together salad. . .Lin

An Amazing Salad. . .

This post will be more story than recipe. . .

I wasn't planning on posting today. 'Today' began at 5 am.

I woke early to open the garage for the plumber working on my basement bathroom creation. I went back, for a short nap then hit the ground running, to Home Depot to replace the nasty-awful utility sink in my laundry room. It had to be disconnected and moved, to hack through the cement floor to fix a section of the underground drainage system. Perfect opportunity to replace that horrid thing.

Then I stopped at my daughter's garden to grab a few end of season cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, and some of her gorgeous flowers.

The teeny-tiny flowers above almost got mashed. I barely missed stepping on them, they're so small.

Here's another bouquet I made. . .

The cabbages however, are a mystery to me. I was pretty sure we planted only one variety, but we ended up with 2 distinct types. 

These two are both the same size, yet the one on the left weighs 28oz. and the lighter one on the right is only 8oz!! The heavy one is perfect for Kimchi, coleslaw and soup, while the lighter one works well as part of a lettuce mix. 

Perfect segue to —> this Amazing Salad!

I didn't measure or weigh anything, so I'll just tell you the ingredients if you'd like to try one of your own.

I started with a big handful of this Josie's Organics mix, and some of the cabbage pictured above. To that I added a Campari tomato, a cucumber, a big brown radish, onion, avocado, pecans, mushrooms, Dubliner cheese which, to me, tastes like the best Gruyere+Parmesan blend ever.

I drizzled this with EVOO and apple cider vinegar then sprinkled it well with Penzeys (smoky) Seasoned Salt and pepper. The healthy purple chips...are just the best things ever with a salad.

Ahhhh, Salads. . .Be Bold - Be Creative! . .Lin

A Good Salad begins with. . .A Great Lettuce Mix

I have a wonderful Progressive brand salad spinner (lettuce washer) I bought at Walmart for under $10.  When I start craving salad, which is pretty much always, I put together a lettuce mix so I can store it in the 'fridge.  Once that's done, a really great salad is just a few minutes away.

This mix contains green cabbage, regular romaine lettuce from a 3-pack, purple romaine from a gourmet lettuce 4-pack, sliced fresh baby spinach and sliced onion.  Chop and wash the lettuce, spin it dry, then add the cabbage, spinach and onion.  Now you're ready to create 5 or 6 big salads over the next several days.

I made some of my Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing, adding 1T of garlic from a jar, a drizzle of honey and 2T garlic aioli mustard. I used that one each of these salads. If you love vegetables, raw, steamed, canned, like I do, It's ALWAYS Salad Season! Make a lettuce mix and put salads into your daily diet.

Here are the ones I created from this particular mix.

Be Bold - Be Creative - Go Salad Crazy! . .Lin

+ avocado, tomato, walnuts,
mushrooms, cucumber

+ avocado, tomato, white beans,
cucumber, hard Irish cheese

+ tomato, garlic-stuffed olives, white beans,
fresh mushrooms, feta 

+ lentil sprouts, white beans, feta

+ lentil sprouts, pickled vegetables, feta

Orange-Avocado-Spinach Salad

Sometimes when we deviate, just a touch, from our norm, the results are so good we can't wait to use it as a springboard for other directions. This salad turned out so well, I was shocked! I can also vision the basics of this salad with chopped apple, grated raw beet, sliced strawberries, chopped walnuts, sprouts, finely diced celery heart and greens. . .ahhh, endless possibilities! Not all in one salad, but several  interesting combinations. For today though, this is what happened:

• 1 big handful of fresh spinach - stemmed and torn
• 1 Cutie or Halo - tiny mandarin orange
• 2T± very thinly sliced mandarin orange peel
• a few thin slices of a big sweet onion
• 2 radishes - thinly sliced
• 1 med. carrot - cut in half then sliced thin
• 1 sm.-med. avocado - chopped

Tear the spinach, quarter the peeled orange then slice the quarters. Add the peel, and all the other ingredients and toss gently.  Drizzle everything with a good amount of EVOO, salt and pepper and a big splash of fruity white balsamic vinegar.  Toss again and serve.  This makes 1 big salad or 2 side salads. . .Lin

Make A Lettuce Mix!

As soon as I start craving a salad, the first thing I do is make a great Lettuce Mix, the base for all my salads for the next several days.  Today mine was:

• 2 long heads of romaine
• 1/3 lg. head of green cabbage
• some fresh spinach
• 1 lg. purple shallot
• 1 lg. carrot

Once those are all cut, chopped, sliced the way I want it with the greens washed and spun dryin my salad spinner, it's my blank canvas for the next few days. I can grab a handful, just as is, dressed with vinegar and oil, salt and pepper to go with a stroganoff, or a bowl of chili and have everything ready in no time. Or, like today, I was craving salad. Typically, for me a salad isn't complete without fresh, small, bumpy pickling cucumbers and a perfect avocado. I didn't have those, and by the time the kitchen was cleaned, a salad was still on my mind. To the big handful of this Lettuce Mix, I added walnuts, mung bean sprouts, half a peeled tomato, a little feta cheese, and Raspberry Vinaigrette, because where there are walnuts, spinach and feta...well, that's just how it is! This was exactly what I was craving!

The leftover tomato gets stored with the Lettuce Mix right in the container of my salad spinner. A great one by Progressive I found at WalMart for right around $10 😁 Apparently, they realized what a great deal these were, since the price is now more than double! Still a great deal though. I love mine. Happy Salad-ing! . .Lin

Chicken Beet Salad

Well, this idea sure took a great turn. . .A couple turns actually. . .

It began as a growl in my gut. Hunger will do that. I knew I had a little cooked chicken in the 'fridge. I just watched a Dani Spies YouTube video called 'Beets 101,' so. . .guess what I was craving 😊

It started with just 4 ingredients: 3oz. cut up roasted chicken, 1/2 can of drained julienne cut beets, about 1/3c of sour cream, and a big splash of syrupy, black cherry (or raspberry) balsamic vinegar.  I mixed the last 2, added the chicken and beets, but, nope. That wasn't quite right.

Salt and pepper, nope, it still needed something. It needed more sweetness and texture--1/2c of craisins. For some zip and crunch--3 big, sliced green onions and a stalk of celery, chopped. Next some crunchy protein and Omega 3's--a big handful of chopped walnuts. It need more beets, so in went the rest of the can. If you're a Feta cheese person, top it with some crumbles.

Now it's perfect.

It reminds me of a variation on the Waldorf salad.

Beets ! ! !

Try them in a new and different way. 

They're such a great, healthy vegetable, and every part is edible, beetroot, stem and greens. . .Lin

Tuna Salad

• 10-12oz. drained canned tuna
• zesty bread and butter pickles
• a small celery heart + greens
• 2 colorful mini peppers
• 1 hard boiled egg
• part of an onion
• 1 clove of garlic 
• Kalamata olives*
• 1-2T dark grainy mustard
• mayonnaise to hold it all together

Chop, mince or slice all the vegetables the way you like them.  Combine everything in a medium glass bowl.  Serve with Norwegian crispbread and vegetables or fruit.  *This needed something a bit more savory, so at the very end I topped it with some chopped Kalamata olives. not shown.  Mmmm. . .Just right! . . . Lin

Salad For Breakfast

I've been reading and watching lots of YouTube videos during  our COVID quarantine time. In particular, those on the Mediterranean Diet and life in The Blue Zones. If you're not familiar with these and are interested in eating in a healthier way that promotes longevity, please check them out.

Yes, this really was breakfast today here at Mi Casa. If, like me, you practically gain weight just looking at waffles, pancakes and packaged cereal, you're probably familiar with soup, leftover meatloaf and vegetables, chicken chili, etc. as natural choices for breakfast. This went together quickly. I drizzled it with my Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing * 

• 
  1 quick-blanched peeled tomato
• 1 handful baby kale or arugula
• 3/4c garbanzo beans
• 3 big mushrooms
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 12 minute egg

Tear, slice, chop then arrange or toss together in a bowl, dress, add a little more fresh cracked black pepper and some coarse Celtic sea salt. I skipped coffee this morning and had this with lemon water, but a big steamy mug of tea is sounding really good right now! Be creative. . .have fun with your cooking! . . . Lin

Venison Steak, Vegetables and Salad

I can't believe I forgot to post these!

From 6 weeks ago! The vegetables: half a tomato, a small kohlrabi, cucumber and two small white turnips, were sliced, and drizzled with a touch of the dressing and peppered.

The 3-4oz. venison steak was sautéed with the potato, onion, a tiny bit of poblano pepper in a little butter and a splash of the salad dressing. This is another 500 or less calorie plate, and it was delicious! 😋And, it came together in no time at all. Be Bold! Be Adventurous! Happy Cooking. . .Lin

Quick, Spicy Turkey and Egg Salad

I woke up hungry this morning. Sometimes food doesn't even cross my mind, until noon or after, but not today! I was thinking steamed eggs and turkey. It evolved quickly into an interesting 'salad'. By the time this was put together and I sat down, I wasn't getting up till my plate was clean! Ooops, forgot a knife. Nope, not getting up. . .It quickly turned into three yummy Lettuce Wraps!  Mmmmm. . .no pic though, I was not moving - even to get my camera!

2 steamed eggs (aka: hard boiled)

½c chopped kalamata olives

4oz. roasted turkey

⅓c golden raisins

2 green onions

4 radishes

1T± coriander (cilantro) chutney

1-2T fig balsamic vinegar
½c plain Greek yogurt
½t pepper
1t sugar

Slice, chop and gently mix everything together in a medium glass bowl. Stuff in a pita, roll in a tortilla, serve over crispy chopped romaine, or roll in some gorgeous fresh lettuce leaves. . .Lin

. . .the Chicken or the Egg. . .? Salad

Ahhh, the age old question.  However, those of us who believe the Bible, know it was The Chicken 😀
God didn't spend time creating The Egg - He created The Bird who would create The Egg! 

This was just a simple, quick, throw-together.  It made enough for 2-3 pita sandwiches or 2 big salads served on romaine leaves with a side of carrot sticks, radishes, pickles, or sweet potato fries.

3oz. cooked dark meat chicken

1 lg. green onion - chopped

1+c chopped green cabbage

1 12-minute steamed egg

some special pepper

mayonnaise - ranch dressing

~ a little Himalayan pink salt

~or~ 1T drained capers 

~or~ a few lg. garlic-or-feta stuffed green olives-sliced

Combine everything in a medium bowl and serve however you like.   . .
I just ate the first half of this right out of the bowl this morning for breakfast! 😁...😋 . . . Lin

A Healthy Salad Mix

I've been doing a lot of listening and reading lately, trying to sort through all the information floating around, regarding nutrition.  My old standby, my 5 Ingredient Salad, has always been my favorite go-to.  It would (will) be hard to turn my back on that.  However, I've learned that tomatoes and cucumbers 2/5 of the salad, contain high levels of lectins.  The 'jury' still seems to be out as to whether or not they should be reduced or eliminated from our diets, but I do know lectin containing foods are inflammatory.  Having many auto-immune conditions, which are perpetuated by inflammation, for myself, I'm going to eliminate foods high in lectin until I hear or read otherwise.

This is one version of a healthier alternative.  If we shop carefully, at food co-ops and farm stands, we can later, check our vegetable drawers for good salad mix ideas.  Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, cilantro, parsley, celery, green and purple cabbage, radishes, kohlrabi, onions, romaine and all types of lettuce, carrots. . .SO many good choices!

This time I used Romaine, Purple Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Celery, Carrots, Onion, and added black beans, avocado, and some bleu cheese crumbles.  The dressing I was craving today was made in an old Good Seasons cruet using apple cider vinegar, rosemary seasonings, water and good quality extra virgin olive oil.  Clean eating can be fun as well as healthy. . .Lin

Birthday Party Potato Salad

¾-1c mayonnaise

2T raw honey

2T apple cider vinegar

2T seedy brown mustard

½t finely ground black pepper

1½# baby potatoes

2-3 hard boiled eggs

Whisk the first group of ingredients together in a glass bowl.  Check the flavors and make any adjustments or additions you'd like.  Scrub the potatoes, cover with cold water in a 5 quart pot and simmer on low until they're cooked the way you like.

Drain the pot then fill with ice water and set aside for 10 minutes to stop the cooking and chill them.  Drain, and let the potatoes dry on a clean dish towel.  Chop or slice all the following into a medium - large glass bowl.  Mix them well, then carefully add the (peeled or unpeeled) cubed potatoes and chopped eggs:

¼ lg. green pepper

¼ lg. yellow onion

2 sm.-med. carrots

½c drained-rinsed capers

4 center stalks of celery and tops

Blend gently then drizzle with the dressing.  Gently mix again and chill until ready to serve.  This can be made a day or so in advance and will keep several days in the 'fridge.  I never cook my potatoes to the done-mushy stage, so this potato salad turned out fresh and nicely crunchy.  The dressing is tangy, slightly sweet and creamy.  This and the zucchini casserole I made yesterday will go to my sweet Great Grandson's first birthday party after church tomorrow.

😍 Happy Weekend Everyone! . . Lin

A Big Sorghum Tabouli Salad (gluten-free)

1½c sorghum

Rinse, then cook the sorghum according to the package directions.

1 recipe of Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing *

~ with ½t of ground oregano added

2 cans garbanzo beans

~ drained and rinsed

1c chopped celery

¾c sliced green onions

¾c drained-rinsed capers

¾c sliced kalamata olives

¾c chopped green peppers

¾c Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing

Make up a fresh batch of the dressing.  Put the drained, still warm sorghum, garbanzos and all the chopped vegetables and ingredients in that group in a large container, drizzling with the dressing.  Gently mix it all with a big wooden spoon.  Cover and refrigerated to marinate, at least a couple hours or as long as a day ahead.

Just before serving, prepare the following vegetables; according to directions below; then chop into a big bowl:

3 lg. tomatoes

3-4 med. pickling cucumbers

~ or one long English cucumber

2-3 hearts of Romaine lettuce

1 bunch of parsley

Wash 3 large tomatoes.  Drop them into rapidly boiling, water to cover them.  Gently stir until the skins split.  Immediately plunge them into icy water.  After about 10 minutes, cut them in quarters and slide the skins off.  Remove the wet seedy parts.  This will give you a meatier-drier tomato which will keep the salad fresh longer.  Additionally it removes the main source of lectin in tomatoes, found in the skin and seeds.  Lectin is responsible for much inflammation in the body.  Scrub, peel, seed and chop the cucumbers.  Lectin is also found, to a lesser degree, in cucumbers (and zucchini).

Slice-chop the tomatoes and cucumbers into a bowl with the well cleaned Romaine and parsley.  Mix this, then combine it with the marinated sorghum and vegetables.  Add more dressing if needed.  This makes a giant container (about 6 quarts) of tabouli.  It's August!  Happy Salad Days! . . . Lin

A Cucumber Salad UPDATE!

As much as I've always loved this salad, (scroll down) for me, it's just not one that keeps well.  It's more of a one-shot serve-it-now-and-be-done kinda thing.  Leftovers are usually a favorite of mine, but in regard to raw foods and salads, they aren't always very good, even just the next day.  I had quite a bit still in the 'fridge today.  Decided to jazz it up - with a little bean protein!  For this, garbanzos (chick peas) are my hands-down preference!

Rinse and drain, then put in a medium sized bowl bowl.  If you still have this dressing leftover, pour it over the beans.  Warm this just a touch in the microwave, toss it with the original salad, add some gorganzola crumbles just before serving.  Be Creative - Happy Cooking Everyone! . . .Lin

Updated Version of Millie's Cucumber Salad

My Mother-In-Law made this all the time for family dinners.  It was SO good, but really sweet.  Here's her recipe. . .

https://slowfoodhealthyfood.blogspot.com/2012/07/millies-much-requested-cucumber-salad.html

This version is way less sweet, using a healthier sweetener and lemon juice in place of the vinegar.  It's still a good idea to stick with a neutral oil, unless you really love the flavor of olive oil. . .if so. . .go for it 😉

5 pearl onions or equivalent

4 med.-lg. pickling cucumbers

1t dried cilantro

chopped chives or sliced garlic scapes

Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing *

add 1-2T pure Maple syrup to dressing - shake well
or use your favorite citrus vinaigrette dressing

1 med.-lg. vine-ripened tomato

Halve and slice the onions, rough peel the cucumbers, halve them lengthwise, and slice into a small-medium glass bowl.  Add dried cilantro and chives or garlic scapes, then pour about half a recipe of the dressing on top to marinate.  Gently stir several times over the next hour or so.  Add chopped tomato, stir again, and refrigerate an hour before serving.  This will keep several days, covered in the 'fridge. . .if there are leftovers. . .Lin