FOR (BUSY) PEOPLE WHO LOVE GOOD FOOD
Category: Salads
A friend suggested I try fresh tarragon, and it was excellent in this turkey salad. I kept things simple with shredded turkey breast, tarragon, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. It is served here on a bed of lettuce, shredded carrots, and sliced cucumbers.
I was inspired by this Giada De Laurentiis recipe and the shiny Japanese eggplants at my produce market. It would make a nice appetizer, but I turned it into a main dish salad. There really is lettuce underneath all that eggplant, I promise! I used less oil than the original recipe, but this is a simple dish that you could easily make after a day at the beach.
1 1/2 c. green lettuce
1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 1″ slices, and grilled
1-2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
4-5 leaves fresh basil, chopped
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Black Pepper
Place lettuce in a large bowl. Top with grilled eggplant slices, goat cheese, and fresh basil. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and add a dash of black pepper.
Just in case the panzanella didn’t strike you, or even if it did, here’s another summer salad recipe. The original recipe is from 101 Cookbooks, and is nothing like traditional pasta salad, which is a good thing in this case. I was happy to get the chance to use broccolini, and fresh mint, and feta cheese, but I did not treat this recipe as delicately as recommended. It was all tossed together, and then divided among containers for portable lunches. I admit the salad was best the very first day though!
1 c. whole wheat orzo
2 bunches broccolini, cut into small pieces
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 seedless cucumber, diced
1 avocado, diced
6 oz. fat free feta
2-3 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
Heat a large pot of boiling water. Add orzo, cook for 5 minutes. Add broccolini and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes more. Drain and rinse in cool water, and place in a large bowl. Add cucumber, avocado, feta, lemon juice, and olive oil and toss well. Add freshly ground black pepper if desired.
I really like the concept of panzanella, a salad which puts stale bread and leftover vegetables to good use. I was especially inspired by this recipe, but it seemed more complicated than necessary, and I wanted to try to use less oil. The steps I took are outlined below, but of course each bowl of panzanella will be unique. Most of the flavor comes from the garlic, fresh basil, and balsamic vinegar which make an excellent combination.
1. Cut 1 12″ baguette into cubes and place in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and garlic salt, and bake at 425 for 10 minutes on a cookie sheet, until browned. Set aside to cool.
2. Place 4-5 cups of vegetables in a bowl, including green beans, chopped zucchini, and grape tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes on a cookie sheet until browned. Set aside to cool.
3. Place bread, vegetables, 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil, and 1/2 c. chopped fresh mozzarella cheese in a large bowl, and toss gently. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
There just had to be a spinach salad somewhere in my summer holiday weekend. The dressing makes this one special I think; it tastes very fresh. In multiplying this recipe to serve a larger group, we ended up with more dressing than salad, so you may want to make the dressing and then use just the amount you need.
4 c. spinach leaves
1 small red onion, sliced
1 can mandarin oranges (or 2 small oranges, sectioned)
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts, optional
1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 T honey
2 T chopped cilantro
1 T Dijon mustard
Toss spinach, red onion, orange pieces, and pine nuts. Mix dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Toss with salad just before serving.
My sister is a big fan of Hungry Girl’s first cookbook, and made this Hot Chick BBQ Chop salad. The recipe is copyrighted, so you’ll have to check out the book, but featured ingredients include lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, corn and beans, with a quick homemade BBQ sauce for the dressing.
I’ve posted a few scallop recipes recently including Seared Scallops with Balsamic and Spicy Scallops. The scallops are good here, but the mango steals the show. I was initially inspired by this recipe, and while I am sure that I would like the sugared macadamias, I wanted to keep things light.
The recipe as I prepared it, for 2 salads:
8 oz. scallops, sauteed in 1 t canola oil
4 c. spinach
1/2 c. sliced red onion
3/4 c. diced mango, divided
2 T lime juice
1 t fresh ginger
1 T water
Toss spinach, onion, and 1/2 c. diced mango in a bowl. Top with scallops. Place remaining mango, lime juice, ginger, and water in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour dressing over salad.
You know that broccoli salad you sometimes spy at salad bars, and summer barbecues? The creamy one with the bacon? Roni at Green Lite Bites has a great recipe for a healthier version of this salad, which still uses real bacon. Next time, I will definitely blanch the broccoli though, it was just a little too crunchy for my tastes, but the flavor was perfect.
I got the recipe for this salad from Smitten Kitchen, and since making your own pesto was highly encouraged, I decided to give that a try as well. My food processor wasn’t happy about this decision, but after much coaxing, I was able to make something which resembled pesto. While my pesto making skills need improvement, this recipe was still fantastic! I skipped the pine nuts, only because I didn’t have any on hand, but they would make a nice addition next time. And ‘next time’ for this recipe will be very soon.
2 lbs. small red potatoes, quartered
1/2 lb. green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
1 c. basil leaves, cleaned
2 t minced garlic
3 T olive oil
Salt
Pepper
4-5 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Boil potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until almost cooked. Add green beans, and cook for 5 minutes more. Drain, and allow vegetables to cool. In the meantime, combine basil, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix potatoes and green beans with pesto, vinegar, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
I wanted to try using blueberries in a homemade salad dressing, so I took out the food processor and tossed them in, along with a few more traditional ingredients. The result was good, but very tangy. It is certainly less sweet than the strawberry balsamic dressing, but of course it depends on the ripeness of the fruit. The salad itself was very simple – green leaf lettuce with shredded Parmesan cheese, but I should have thrown a few whole blueberries in as well. Next time!
1/3 c. blueberries
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t lemon juice
1 t olive oil
1/8 t thyme
Mix ingredients in a food processor.
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