Gah! It’s hot and I don’t want to cook. And, its summer time, so the house is overrun with hungry teens. And, I need healthier choices in foodstuffs for myself… so I’ve been making 4-5 salads at a time to keep on hand in the fridge. But, I’m getting bored with my repertoire.
I’ve been making various chicken salads using rotisserie chicken. The current one has mayo, pecans, cranberries, celery and poppy seeds. It’s good in a sandwich, on a cracker, or just by itself.
I’m switching up and ‘asian style’ salad to sometimes have tofu and asparagus, or sometimes have beef and green beans. I blanch the veggies and lightly stir fry the beef. The sauce is soy sauce, a bit of sugar, some sesame oil, and a bit of ginger and/or garlic and/or green onion.
Various coleslaws. I posted my cajun style shrimp coleslaw recipe on the dope before. I like coleslaws, but am trying to go light on mayo-based salads.
Various potato and macaroni salads. The boys like tomato salad- tomatoes, bacon, mayo. Gah- more mayo.
And that tomato salad of yours sounds weird to me. That seems so heavy and fatty and like the mayo would smother the tomato flavor. To me, mayo/fatty dressing salads are the exact opposite of what I want when it’s really hot.
What about the classic Caprese salad? It has the fresh mozzarella that has (filling) fattiness without making you feel weighed down. I also like adding some balsamic or red wine vinegar, but I’m a vinegar fanatic.
I think the boys like it because it is ‘meaty’ tasting and a little bit like a BLT sandwich.
I’m trying to get away from all the mayo so for any salad that calls for mayo, I cut the mayo amount in half right off the bat. This does not seem to work very well for pasta salads, though. Pasta seems to absorb mayo and turn dry.
I’ll give the mango mint salad a try, zweisamkeit. Thanks!
We also like all permutations of Indian style yogurt, cucumber, (and sometimes mint) sauce. We dip bread and raw veggies in it.
I like that caprese, too. I’ve only seen it served neatly stacked on a plate. Any reason I can’t mix it in a bowl? We’ve been getting some really good tomatoes lately.
I’ve never used any mayo in my pasta salad. Just toss it with any kind of light Italian-type dressing. In fact, I can’t remember that last time I used mayo in anything. There are so many other tasty alternatives that the calories and fat in mayo just aren’t worth it to me.
Hell naw! Just toss it all in a bowl and have at it. The precisely layered presentation is pretty and ensures you get each ingredient in every bite. That’s great and all, but I know I don’t care if I get a forkful of just tomato with basil.
And re: blt salad: that makes sense. I’m glad you didn’t take offense! Two things you can try to extend your mayo is to blend it with olive oil or with plain yogurt. Low- or nonfat yogurt would obviously be the less fatty choice, but I can see olive oil working nicely with some dishes. Oh, and maybe buttermilk?
No reason at all! Try this: chunk the tomatoes and lightly salt them to draw out some liquid. Then add cubes of good quality French or italian bread, stir around to soak up the juice. Add chunks of mozzarella & thin slivered fresh basil, drizzle of olive oil, drizzle of balsamic vinegar, black pepper. Stir all together. NOM!
I’ve been making pasta salad quite a bit recently, like so:
Cook 1/2 lb pasta of choice (I like the spirals, Rotelli, I think?), drain, and rinse well under cold water. Put in a bowl, drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and one of balsamic vinegar, add some fresh ground pepper and stir to coat. Throw it all in the fridge to cool off.
Chop up veggies of your choice into small bite sized pieces - lately I use scallions, carrots, broccoli, green pepper, and arugala, baby spinach or romaine lettuce. Red onion and tomatoes are also good adds, I just don’t happen to have any.
Choose some protein - I favor grilled chicken, or cubed salami. Some small diced firm cheese if you like that.
Toss everything together with more olive oil and some salt. Dust with parmesan cheese and herbs like oregano, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder, to taste.
A classic Greek salad is easy to make and doesn’t contain mayo: tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano.
Bulgur wheat (soak in hot water to cook it) or
Wheat berries (boil the heck out of those) or
Canned beans (drain and rinse)
And mix with any combination of salt, pepper, fresh herbs, olive oil, various vinegars, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, and green onions. I throw together whatever I have.
A couple of other ones I really like…
Pan-fry a bag of frozen corn with garlic, diced onion, and a pat of butter. Put it in a bowl with diced peppers, black beans, diced mango, and one chipotle pepper minced. Mix up and taste… you might want to add more sauce from the pepper can or you might not.
Cook a batch of white rice and let it cool. Mix with black beans, green onions, sweet peppers, fresh cilantro, and dress with salt and lime juice to taste.
My wife’s pasta salad consists of tri-color pasta, cucumbers, olives, mushrooms, cheese chunks, etc, etc, all tossed together in a big bowl. For dressing, half zesty Italian and half French dressing from a bottle. Quite good.
I make a quinoa salad that goes over well with my family/friends:
Make 2 cups quinoa (basically bring 3 cups of water to a boil & simmer it covered for 20 minutes). Stir it off the heat and let it rest while you get the other ingredients ready.
Add chopped green onions, celery, grated carrot, bell pepper, blanched fresh or thawed frozen corn, blanched fresh or thawed frozen peas in the amounts that look good to you (maybe 3/4 to 1 c apiece? I don’t measure)
Mix in dressing: 1/4 c lemon juice, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 c chopped fresh parsley, garlic (I use 4-5 cloves, but we loves our garlic), and salt & pepper.
Full disclosure: I lifted the original recipe from the “You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan!” cookbook, but I’ve modified it over the years.
I make a vinaigrette dressing with 1 part olive oil, 2 parts wine vinegar, a bunch of minced raw garlic, ground black pepper, and finely grated parmesan (dried actually works better than freshly grated). This goes really well on any pasta salad - make whatever round or tubular pasta you like, toss some broccoli and/or cauliflower in for the last few minutes of cooking, drain it in a colander over cooked (or canned) black beans, add in some chopped boiled eggs, and toss it with the dressing. Grate some extra parmesan over the top, and you have dinner!
The coleslaw we usually have is a recipe that my midwestern mother-in-law taught me. The dressing has no mayonnaise; it consists of 2 parts sugar, 3-4 parts cider vinegar, and 1 part milk. Pour that over chopped cabbage, let it sit for about 20 minutes, and you have Iowa coleslaw.
Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions tossed with oil and vinegar or Italian dressing
Sliced cucumbers and onion in rice wine vinegar
Corn cooked any way you like – grilled corn is delicious in this – cut off the cob, then mixed with chopped tomatoes. Toss it with Italian dressing. Green onions and parsley are tasty additions.
For lunch today I sliced some of the cold leftovers onto greens and added a quick dressing I made by combining greek yogurt and fresh lemon juice*. Very yummy.
*Maybe could’ve seasoned it more–some oregano, or cilantro even…next time.
My former workplace had potlucks from time to time, and one of my co-workers frequently made what he called a “Back Porch Salad.” He’s start with a bag of romaine/radicchio mixed greens. Then he’d chop up a couple of apples (usually Braeburn, or Rome, or a similar) into bite size pieces. Then he’d dump in some golden raisins and chopped cashews, and top it with some bottled raspberry-pecan or raspberry walnut dressing. I never really thought I cared for cashews, but I really love this salad. I like it better with a low fat version of the dressing.
That Asian salad looks awesome, C3. And I like **Quercus alba **'s lunch, too. Thanks!
I went to the big farmer’s market yesterday and bought lots of fresh stuff. The best deals were cases of mango(e)s (6-9 mangoes per case) for 6 bucks, and fist sized bundles of fresh cinnamon sticks for 3 bucks.
Stopped by the grocery store on the way home and mangoes were 2 bucks each!
I’ve made successful fruit salads mixed with vanilla or lemon yogurt as a dressing. Chop up apples and/or pears, sprinkle with lemon juice, toss with seedless red or green grapes, raisins/chopped dates/mandarin oranges/pineapple/maraschino cherries/cut up dried apricots/walnuts or pecans - whatever looks good - and mix with a carton of yogurt in a complementing flavor.
That seems so heavy and fatty and like the mayo would smother the tomato flavor. To me, mayo/fatty dressing salads are the exact opposite of what I want when it’s really hot.
Two things you can try to extend your mayo is to blend it with olive oil or with plain yogurt. Low- or nonfat yogurt would obviously be the less fatty choice, but I can see olive oil working nicely with some dishes. Oh, and maybe buttermilk?