I’m in the mood for a salad. Preferably something with feta and baby spinach.
That said, I’d like to welcome all recipes to this thread.
(I’m not a big salad eater so I have nothing of my own to contribute.)
I have started to eat dandelion greens, as a nice alternative to spinach, (nothing wrong with spinach, but switched to dandelion greens just for a change). You can buy organic dandelion greens at most organic markets. I usually just have some type of greens, tuna fish and oil and vinegar dressing.
I’ve always been a fan of the classic Cobb salad, which I make something like this for an entrée-size single serving;
3-4 leaves Romaine lettuce
Half of a Roma tomato
2 strips crispy fried bacon
2 tablespoons bleu cheese crumbles
Half an avocado
A hardboiled egg
One grilled chicken breast
1/4 cup of homemade red wine vinaigrette
Chop up the lettuce, tomato, bacon, avocado, egg, and chicken into bite-size pieces. Toss the lettuce with the dressing, layer the other ingredients on top, and dig in.
Vinaigrette recipe (makes enough for 5-6 salads);
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Not the healthiest salad in the world, but it’s certainly filling.
I like baby spinach, fresh sliced mushrooms, salmon (from the foil pouch) and low-cal 1000 Island dressing. It works for me.
Warm Spinach Salad:
Bag o’ spinach
1 red onion - thinly sliced
1/2 lb thick cut bacon
2 hard boiled eggs
Roma tomatos - quartered
2 tbs. honey
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs. dijon mustard
olive oil (approx 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup)
Method - thin slice the onions. In small bowl, whisk the red wine vinegar and honey. Add the onions to this (it will take the bite out of the onions, and slightly pickle them). I like to cut the bacon up into about 1" chunks. Fry up the bacon. Save about two tbs. of clear, hot bacon fat for the dressing. Hard boil the eggs.
Put your spinach into your serving bowl, and sprinkle with the onions, bacon, tomatos and sliced egg. Whisk the bacon fat and mustard into your vinegar mixture. Drizzle in olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. Salt and pepper sparingly (because of the bacon). Drizzle the warm salad dressing over the spinach. Nom nom nom…
This sounds awesome.
Jamie Oliver did a nice, assertively flavored salad with Tarragon. I can’t remember the exact original recipe, but I do
1 c clean, fresh tarragon leaves
1/4 c red grapes
2 T toasted slivered almonds
1-2 T balsamic dressing
Excellent as a small side serving for a grilled dinner.
Field greens or spring mix
Sliced strawberries
Candied pecans (butter and brown sugar melted together, dash of salt then toss pecans)
Goat cheese
half and half of GOOD balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with salt and pepper to taste
Best salad on the planet. I can eat an entire bag of greens this way
Find yourself a bottle of passion fruit vinegar and mix some with olive oil for a fantastic and simple dressing. Also, the addition of candied walnuts improves almost any green salad.
Baby spinach, red onions sliced as thin as you can get them, feta, black olives, pine nuts and sliced strawberries. Top with a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette.
This is the spinach salad I make. The onions are carmelized, which makes it more bomb. No leftovers when I make this.
POMEGRANATE AND FETA SALAD
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn
1 bunch spinach, stems removed, washed and torn
seeds of 1 pomegranate (use dried cranberries if pomegranates are not available)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
Toss lettuce and spinach together in a large salad bowl. Add pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and feta.
Whisk dressing ingredients together and store in refrigerator. Toss with salad ingredients just before serving.
CORN CHIP SALAD
1 head of Romaine lettuce
1 can pitted small black olives, sliced, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup broken-up corn chips (or maybe a bit more, to your liking)
1 small container cherry or grape tomatoes, washed (cut them in halves or quarters)
2 whole green onions, washed and sliced
Avocado Dressing
1 ripe avocado, seed removed, peeled (under-ripe ones are very green and hard. Over-ripe ones are black and squishy. Try to get one in the middle.)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce or chili sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup canola oil
To make dressing:
Put dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth (10 – 20 seconds). You could try mashing or whisking them together. The dressing can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for 2 days or so.
Put salad ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Eat.
A simple warm spinach salad. Wash a bunch of spinach leaves and put them aside in a bowl.
Chop up some bacon and fry it until it’s crispy. When it’s about two thirds cooked, drain off most of the fat and stir in some crushed garlic.
When the bacon and garlic are fully cooked, stir them in hot to the bowl of spinach. The heat from the bacon and garlic will slightly cook the spinach. Eat it while it’s warm. You don’t even need dressing.
Mmmm, I love salad with a touch of fruit.
My fave this summer was Nectarine Salad
- One nectarine (or peach), peeled and chopped
- handful of sesame seed, toasted
- lettuce greens. I’ve used mixed leaves or baby spinach. Whatever you like.
- dressing: mustard, white vinegar, olive oil and a two teaspoons of curry powder, shake in an empty jam jar to emulsify
Toss everything together. If you want you can toss in grilled chicken pieces so it becomes a more substantial meal.
I’ve recently been making a lot of pasta salad (my 20 month old loves it):
Short pasta noodles of your choice*
Medium onion
red pepper
cucumber
banana pepper rings
hard salami**
provolone cheese**
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs. juice from banana pepper rings
1/4 cup of the onion
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
Hand full of herbs: basil and/or parsley
3/4 cup of olive oil
*This is the only recipe where I actually prefer the whole grain pasta. I normally use the Barilla Plus Rotini (in the yellow box). But I will need to find something else now.
**At the deli counter at the grocery store, ask for a half inch thick slab of provolone, and two 1/2 inch thick slices of hard salami. Make sure to cut the rind off of the salami. These will then chunk up nicely for the salad. Pre-sliced salami and provolone can be substituted, but don’t truly fit the bill.
Whilst the pasta is cooking: Small dice the onions first, and put them in your big bowl with a little red wine vinegar and a sprinkling of sugar. Let them soak as you chop up the rest of the ingredients (it will take the bite out and pickle them a bit). Chop up the red pepper, cucumber, banana pepper rings, salami and provolone into small chunks. Put in the bowl.
Drain the pasta in a colander, and then run under cold water over the pasta to cool it. It can sit a few minutes to continue cooling while you make the dressing.
In a food processor, add the onions, herbs, vinegar, banana pepper juice, mustard, and lots of salt and pepper. Whiz it up. Drizzle in the olive oil until you get to your desired consistency. Combine everything, stir well, and refrigerate for an hour. Nom nom nom
This one reminds me of my taco salad recipe, which I came up with on the fly one night when preparing for taco night and I discovered the box of taco shells had all gotten broken and crushed. It’s good comfort food and pretty filling, and should make about enough for four hungry adults;
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 12-count box taco shells, crushed
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 jar medium or hot chunky salsa
1 15 oz. can refried beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
Sour cream
Jarred sliced jalapenos
Brown the beef, drain, and prepare with the taco seasoning.
Warm the refried beans on the stovetop.
Toss the lettuce, onion, cheese, and crushed taco shells with the salsa.
Portion the lettuce mixture out onto plates. Spread the beans over the top of the salad, then spread the beef over the top of the beans. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, jalapeno slices, or more shredded cheese to taste.
This is a personal favorite of mine. I call it Heart Salad
1 can Hearts of Palm
1 can Artichoke Hearts (not in oil)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
2 Tbsp Taragon finely chopped
1 Cove Garlic-Finely chopped or pressed with a garlic press
1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cut all the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Add taragon and garlic to the vegetables.
Whisk together the vinegar and olive oil, pour over the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.
The addition of feta cheese would be nice as is the addition of any other fresh herbs like parsley or basil. I tried adding olives but didn’t care for it. Chunks of fresh mozzarella would also be nice.
This is better the longer it sits. Trust me. The next day it’s excellent.
Horseradish dressing
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons creole mustard (or whole grain mustard)
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce (we use Louisiana brand hot sauce)
2 tablespoons cane syrup (this is a Louisiana product, and may not be available – you can substitute a mild molasses)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Yield: about 2 cups
Directions
Mix it all together.
I can’t get cane syrup here, so the first time I made it I made simple syrup and molasses. Now I just use a little Karo corn syrup and light molasses. I use Zatarain’s mustard and Louisiana brand hot sauce.
The beef
Most supermarkets will have packets of thinly-sliced roast beef. I prefer Trader Joe’s because I think it tastes better than the beef slices at the local supermarkets. It’s also cheaper. The last several times I’ve made this, I’ve used the Dietz & Watson roast beef, shaved as thin as they can make it, from the local supermarket.
The salad
You can make your own salad, but I find it easier to use the bagged mixed Spring greens.
Assembly
Use three or four slices of thinly-sliced roast beef. Tear it into bite-sized bits (no more than a couple of inches square) and arrange them on a large plate. Pile on the greens. Add as much dressing as you desire. Top with French’s fried onions.
Very simple and delicious…
Spinach
Strawberries
Poppy seed dressing