Category Archives: salads

Jun 5 2013

Panera-Style Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

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I think it’s the summer heat, but I’m loving big dinner salads lately. This is one of my most recent favorites. It’s based on one of my favorite Panera salads and while I don’t think it’s dead-on, it’s a really great at-home option.

Warm, grilled chicken along with cold mandarin oranges and a great dressing – this salad is a winner.

Panera-Style Asian Sesame Chicken Salad
(from Iowa Girl Eats)
Serves 2

Romaine lettuce
2 medium chicken breasts
6 oz. can mandarin oranges, rinsed and drained
2 oz. slivered almonds
Wonton strips

For the chicken marinade:
3 T. soy sauce
2 t. brown sugar
1 t. sesame oil
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. garlic powder

For the dressing:
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. canola oil
1 1/2 t. sesame oil
1/2 t. salt
Pepper, to taste
1/2 t. sesame seeds, toasted

 

In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken marinade ingredients.  Add the chicken breasts and marinade for 15 minutes. Grill over medium-high heat for about ten minutes, until cooked through and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Cut into slices.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Bring the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat, then add in the sugar and stir until dissolved. Once it’s cool, combine the vinegar and sugar mixture with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a jar, and shake to combine.

Toss the lettuce with a few tablespoons of dressing and divide between two plates. Top with sliced chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds and wonton strips.

 

Apr 19 2013

Mason Jar Salads

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Lunch has been a bit of a problem for me lately. Work’s been busy and by the time I get around to lunch break, I just want to grab something – which has been a lot of fast food or something from the cafeteria at work. Occasionally, I can get myself to pick up something healthy (aka, salad bar), but all of it’s been a little rough on the wallet.

I decided I was going to kick the habit this week and get lunch under control.

The idea of jarred salads have been all over Pinterest – and they seemed a really good option. Prep them at the beginning of the week -dressing goes on the bottom, lettuce on top – and you have fresh, prepared salad all week. I made a Greek-inspired version for lunches this week.

There’s not really a recipe here, just a layering method. You start out with your dressing at the bottom (I used a Greek vinaigrette with feta) followed by your proteins (red beans and grilled chicken, for me). After that comes the “sturdy” vegetables (cucumber and red onion), then the more “delicate” toppings (tomatoes, olives and feta). The rest of the jar is filled up with lettuce.

It cost me just about $15 to get everything to make five days worth of lunch (not including the jars – I already had those). At $3/day, this is much less than I would spend buying lunch. It’s also a pretty balanced, healthy lunch – better than I would pick during a normal lunch rush.

Just dump the contents of the jar into a bowl and you’re good to go.

I was really impressed by how well the salads held up packaged like this. Today’s lettuce is still crisp and nothing is soggy. I wish I had tried this sooner – it’s just what I needed for lunch.

Mar 1 2013

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus-Curry Dressing

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Today is recipe swap day! For the latest blogger’s choice swap, I had Jaida’s blog, Sweet Beginnings. I knew I wanted to make a meatless meal since today’s another Lenten Friday and Jaida had lots of great options to pick from.

I settled on this salad because I knew it’d be perfect as a dinner and also as an easy-to-pack lunch for work. Gosh, was this good. I’ve never been so happy that my husband doesn’t really like sweet potatoes – more for me!

 Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus-Curry Dressing
(as seen on Sweet Beginnings, originally from Pampered Chef – Spin on Salads)
Serves 4 as a main dish

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 c. mayo
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 t. curry powder
1 t. orange zest
1 medium Red Delicious apple, cored and diced
1/2 c. diced celery
1/4 c. thinly sliced green onions, with tops
1 package fresh baby greens

Preheat the oven to 450F degrees. Line a large backing sheet with foil.

Cut the sweet potatoes into large cubes and toss with olive oil to coat. Spread them in a single layer on the baking dish and roast for 22 minutes, turning halfway through. After roasting, set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, orange juice, mustard, curry powder and orange zest to make dressing. Set aside.

Combine cool sweet potatoes, apple, celery, green onions with 1/3 c. of the dressing and toss to coat.

Serve over baby greens.

You can check out what the other blogger chose to make below. Thanks to Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking for hosting!

 


Oct 25 2011

Autumn Salad w/ Homemade Dressing

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A few weeks ago, I started taking a Monday evening yoga class.  It feels wrong to eat a heavy dinner before going, so I’ve been whipping up lighter fare. This salad has been my favorite of the lot so far.

Pears, pecans and cranberries make this perfect for the season. The homemade salad dressings, though, give it the extra special touch. I’ve been remaking this salad for lunch a few days a week because I enjoyed it so much. It would also be a perfect dish to make for Thanksgiving dinner! 

 

Autumn Salad
(from Espresso and Cream)
Serves 2

3 to 4 c. chopped romaine lettuce
1 medium pear, chopped
1 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. pecans
4 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 T. Poppy Seed Salad Dressing (recipe below)
2 t. Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Combine lettuce, pear, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta in a large bowl. Toss with dressing.

Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
(from All Recipes)
Makes about 1.5 cups

3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. cider vinegar
4 1/2 t. grated onion
1 T. ground mustard
1 t. poppy seeds
1/2 t. salt
1 c. vegetable oil

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Slowly add oil, while whisking briskly. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
(from All Recipes)
Makes about 1 cup

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1 t. ground mustard
1 pinch salt
Ground black pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and mustard powder. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Jul 15 2011

Watermelon Salad

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This is another recipe I made in an effort to use up our watermelon a little faster. I was sick of eating plain watermelon so I was hoping dressing it up a little would make it more appealing – and this totally did the trick.

The flavors here work really well together and make a great dish – it was something I was looking forward to eating again, despite being watermelon-ed out. The recipe below is sized to serve one because I felt this dish was best fresh. You can multiply it as needed.

Watermelon Salad
(adapted from Cooking Weekends)
Serves 1

2 c. watermelon, cubed
1/4 c. crumbled feta
1/4 c. kalamata olives, halved
2 T. chopped red onion

Toss together. Serve immediately.

May 2 2011

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

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Summer’s officially only a few weeks away and there’s onthing like the promise of having to be in a bathing suit soon to make you want salad for dinner!

This recipe came form SkinnyTaste.com and Gina never disappoints – this was fantastic. Everything works together well to give you a really nice, summer-feeling salad. The chicken would also be great on it’s own!

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
(from SkinnyTaste.com)
Serves 2

4 (about 8 oz) chicken tenderloins
6 T. shredded coconut
1/4 cup panko crumbs
2 T. breadcrumbs
1 large egg, beaten
pinch salt
olive oil spray
4 c. mixed baby greens
1/2 c. shredded carrots
1/2 large tomato, sliced
1/2 small cucumber, sliced

1 T. oil
1 T. honey
1 T. white vinegar
2 t. dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.

Combine coconut flakes, panko, breadcrumbs and salt in a bowl. Put egg in another bowl.

Lightly season chicken with salt. Dip the chicken in the egg, then in the coconut crumb mixture. Place chicken on a cookie sheet lined with parchment for easy cleanup. Lightly spray with olive oil spray and bake for 30 minutes turning halfway, or until chicken is cooked through.

Place 2 cups baby greens on each plate. Divide carrots, cucumber, tomato evenly between each plate. When chicken is ready, slice on the diagonal and place on top of greens.

Whisk together oil, honey, vinegar and mustard. Heat dressing in the microwave a few seconds and divide equally between each salad.

Apr 8 2011

Fish Stick Tacos with Jalapeno Coleslaw

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Mark and I aren’t big fish eaters – he’ll eat some shrimp and I like fried clams. The only mutually agreeable fish dish is frozen fish sticks, so they usually make their once-a-year appearance on a Lenten Friday. This year, we switched things up and made them into fish stick tacos topped with jalapeno coleslaw.

They were good and a welcome change from the usual but the coleslaw was the shining star – it would also be awesome on a pulled barbecue beef sandwich.

Jalapeno Coleslaw
(adapted from cdkitchen)
Makes about 2 cups

8 oz. cabbage, shredded
1 medium carrot, grated
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
3 T. sour cream
3 T.  mayonnaise
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 t. salt
Pinch of pepper

Toss together grated cabbage, shredded carrot and chopped jalapeno in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix together remaining ingredients and combine well. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mar 4 2011

Toasted Pecan and Broccoli Salad

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My library puts their new, nonfiction books right by the checkout so nearly every time I go, I end up browsing the new cookbooks. Even though farmers market season is still a few months away, Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook caught my eye.

Broccoli happened to be on sale that week so I tried out this salad. It was great and absolutely made me wish summer was closer!

Toasted Pecan and Broccoli Salad
(from Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook)

3 heaping T. chopped Pecans
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3 T. sugar
1 T. cider vinegar
3/4 lb. fresh broccoli florets, chopped
2 T. chopped red onions
3 heaping T. dried cranberries
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place chopped pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally.

Stir together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar in a large bowl. Add broccoli, onion and cranberries and gently toss to coat. Cover at chill at least 2 hours.

Sprinkle with bacon and pecans just before serving.

Feb 7 2011

Valentine’s Salad with Chocolate Vinaigrette

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The online book club I participate in does quarterly challenges to get everyone reading outside of their comfort zone. One of this quarter’s challenges was to read a book about food and then cook a meal based on it. Pretty fun, right?

I chose to read Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond. The book follows the author’s journey to uncover the truth about the candy business – and how much he really loves candy. As a nod to the book, I decided to do an all-chocolate meal.

We started with this salad. The salad alone is really awesome but the vinaigrette makes it extra special. You can absolutley tell it’s chocolate, but it’s not over-powering or too sweet. It would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day meal.

Valentine’s Salad with Chocolate Vinaigrette
(from The City Sisters)

Salad

Spinach
Arugala
Cucumber
Strawberry
Feta Cheese
Walnut halves and pieces

Toss together spinach and arugala. Top with sliced cucumbers, strawberries, feta and walnuts.

Chocolate vinaigrette

1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1/3 c. castor sugar
1/4 c. dark chocolate chip

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar and sugar over low heat until sugar is disolved. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Leave to cool at room temperature. Do not refrigerate – the chocolate with solidify. Stir gently before serving.

Note: Castor sugar is finer than regular sugar but not as fine as powdered sugar. You can make your own castor sugar by running some regular sugar through a food processor for a few seconds.

Linked up with Ingredient Spotlight: Chocolate at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

Sep 24 2010

Family & Food Fridays: Grandma’s Marinated Carrot Salad

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The Adventures of Miss V

Starting today, I’m going to be participating in Family & Food Fridays at the Adventures of Miss V. Each week I’ll be sharing a recipe that’s a family favorite – and the story behind it.

I thought I’d start things off with a favorite from my Grandma. When the invites for my bridal shower went out, they each had a blank recipe card in them and asked guests to share their favorite recipe for my new collection. Grandma shared her recipe for marinated carrot salad because she knew it was one of my favorites. (Or, maybe she was getting sick of making it for me because it was always my #1 request!)

Either way, I’m glad it’s now in my repitoir. It’s easy and delicious – you can’t ask for much more.

Grandma’s Marinated Carrot Salad

2 lb carrots – peeled and cut in about 1/2″ chunks
1 onion, sliced in thin rings
1 green pepper, cut in thin strips
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Par boil carrots for about ten minutes. In a saucepan, bring last six ingredients to a boil. Pour over carrots, onions and peppers. Let stand at least over night. This keeps well in the fridge for a week or two.

Featured on Eat at Home’s Orange Veggie Spotlight