Make your own salads

This has become a favorite in our house especially on busy days.  The girls love the "make your own" aspect of it and I love it because it's (mostly) healthy and quick and easy.  No recipe really.  Just pick your toppings- we usually do tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, chives, hard boiled eggs, cheese, bacon (if I have it), craisins or raisins, sometimes olives and/or avocado and usually some type of nuts.

I found this  fabulous marinade for chicken and beef.  It's not only south beach diet friendly, it's also super easy and versatile.  Sometimes when I bring chicken home from the store, I go ahead and cut it up and put it in the marinade and then put it in the freezer in ziplocs and it's ready to go.  Other times if I haven't really planned ahead, I'll marinate the chicken just for an hour or so before cooking it and it's still just as yummy.  It's also a great marinade to use over night before grilling, but sadly we don't have a grill...

Mostly I love that we've found a fun, creative and healthy way for our girls to love salad!  

For dressing, I almost always use homemade ranch or our favorite balsamic vinegar dressing that I use for everything.  Here's that recipe...

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP honey

2 TBSP dijon mustard

1-2 garlic cloves minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients expect olive oil.  Gradually stir in olive oil until well blended.  Store at room temperature and shake to combine before using.

Black bean pineapple salad

This is a yummy accompaniment to any Mexican feast.  We love it with taco salads or fajitas.  I've altered it a good bit over the years to suit what we can find here and the tastes that we like.  

Black bean pineapple salad/salsa

1/2 lb dry black beans cooked in salted water or 2-3 cans black beans

pineapple tidbits with a little juice

chopped red pepper, red onion and celery

Dressing

1/4 cup lime juice

3-4 TBSP honey

2 TBSP olive oil

salt to taste

Combine veggies in serving bowl.  Mix dressing and pour over veggies.  Chill for 6-8 hours before serving to let flavors blend. 

Broccoli Slaw

I love broccoli in almost any form.  My kids do too making it a pretty popular choice around here.  It's gotten easier and easier to find as we've lived overseas, and now it's actually pretty affordable.  It always bugs me though, the way they cut it in the stores because they leave a huge amount of the stalk on so you end up paying mostly for that since they weigh it by the kilo.  I bought a bunch of broccoli last week and was cutting it up and prepping it for freezing and storing and I remembered broccoli slaw.  I had a favorite recipe for this that we used in the states where you can conveniently buy shredded broccoli slaw pre-packaged.  I had so much stalk that I realized I could use my food processor and shred it with some of the broccoli to make my own broccoli slaw.  It turned out great.  For those of you in the states, you can buy it pre-packaged or you can shred it yourself or just use the broccoli   florets.  Either way it's yummy!

Broccoli Slaw

1 pound broccoli chopped, or shredded broccoli stalks, or pre-packaged broccoli slaw

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup sunflower kernels, toasted

2 pkgs Ramen noodles crumbled (reserve seasoning packets)

grated carrots, red cabbage for color, if desired

Dressing

1/3 cup oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 ramen seasoning packet (chicken flavor)

Combine veggies, nuts, and noodles.  Mix dressing ingredients and pour over all.  Serve immediately.

Feta Coleslaw

Well, I guess it looks like none of us eat anymore!  We do eat.  And I even cook still.  Some.  It's just been such a crazy few months, I'm lucky to get a decent meal in front of my family- much less blog about it!  

Anyway, trying to get back into the routine!  Here's a recipe that's become a favorite side dish in our house- AND it's healthy.  AND my 13 year old LOVES it.  And finding veggies that she not only loves but asks for regularly- well I consider that an accomplishment!  

When we were in the states a year or so ago, I went to a place called Zoe's Kitchen in Birmingham.  You can find their link here.  Kind of a trendy, Mediterranean style restaurant with lots of yumminess.  More Greek Mediterranean than Lebanese (in my opinion) but still super good.  They have a fantabulous coleslaw with a vinegar based dressing and huge yummy chunks of feta cheese.  I made it my mission to replicate this recipe.  Mine has ended up pretty different than the original mainly due to the different consistency of feta in this part of the world but it's still super yummy and all my kids love it.  

Feta Coleslaw

1 head cabbage shredded

diced green onion

other diced veggies as desired (I usually use red pepper, green pepper, maybe carrots)

crumbled feta (enough... ok lots)

Dressing

vinegar

olive oil

Cavender's greek seasoning

lemon juice

salt

Ok, for the dressing- I have never measured.  I use more vinegar than oil (maybe 3 parts vinegar to 1 part oil?).  Then I squirt in the lemon juice (a few TBSP?).  The seasoning and salt is to taste but I'd say  at least 1-2 tsp of Cavender's if not a little more.  

Combine all slaw ingredients.  Combine dressing and pour over veggies at least a few hours before serving so the flavors can combine.  

KJ's Chicken Salad

KJ might not even know that she has a chicken salad, but in our house, this is KJ's chicken salad.  She made it for supper when I visited them back in the fall and I LOVED it so much and now make it a good bit.  So yummy and quick and easy!  (and pretty...)

KJ's Chicken Salad

1 rotisserie chicken (or chicken cooked in crock pot- white and dark meat)- torn into pieces

chopped celery

chopped walnuts

craisins

celery salt (amount depends on if you also used celery too)

mayonaise (enough to where it sticks together but not so much that it gets gloopey- is that a word?)

Combine all and serve on a bed of lettuce.

(I had mine with hummus and red peppers- also super yummy!)

Summer Pasta Salad

I think you would all agree that it is just TOO hot to cook in the summer- here and maybe anywhere this year!  I"m actually going to put two pasta salad recipes on here- both family favorites for us.  I"ll also put the recipe for the balsamic vineger salad dressing  that I use on pretty much everything- from my fave blue cheese, pear and lettuce salad to this pasta salad to using it as a dip for zataar manaeeche.  It's just plain yummy.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TBSP Dijon mustard (regular is fine too)
3 TBSP honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup olive oil

Whisk together first 7 ingredients and gradually whisk in olive oil

Summer Pasta Salad

I found this great article on the all recipes site and kind of came up with my own creation using our favorite things and this was the result.

1 pound whole wheat noodles- shape of your choice (I used spiral)
salt to taste (I used a lot as mentioned in the article)
chopped zuchini, carrots, red peppers (any other veggies you like)
chopped onion
sauteed pine nuts
olives
shredded chicken
salad dressing of choice

Boil pasta in large pot with 2 TBSP of salt.  During last two minutes of cooking add chopped zuchini, carrots and peppers.  Drain all.  Toss in onion, pine nuts, olives, shredded chicken and toss with your favorite salad dressing.
 
Garlic Chicken Pasta Salad

Below you'll see this recipe exactly as is in the cookbook, but I have gradually changed in over the years to suit our tastes, but I kind of do it differently every time.  For example, I usually use a lot more of the garlic dressing than it calls for.  I also sometimes stir in ranch dressing instead of mayonaise, and usually once it's all put together, I stir in some of my favorite balsamic vinegar dressing because I almost can't have a salad without it....


Garlic Dressing
1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, split
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup olive oil
Prepare dressing at least one day ahead.  Combine first 5 ingredients and gradually whisk in olive oil

Salad
1/2 lb vermicelli (cooked al dente and drained)
1/3 cup Garlic Salad dressing
3 cups cooked, cubed chicken (I usually use a rotiserrie)
2 cans artichoke hearts (I've never used this)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
sliced black olives to taste
1 cup mayonaise
4 TBSP parsley
cherry tomatoes
sliced avocadoes

In large bowl, combine pasta and garlic dressing and toss well.  Cool completely and refrigerate several hours or overnight.  When ready to serve, add chicken, artichoke, green onions and olives.  Add mayo and toss gently.  Toss with parsley and cherry tomatoes just before serving and top with avocado slices.

Chinese Cabbage Salad (for Angela)

 Salad:  (layer in bowl)
1 head cabbage shredded (I'm sure you can get this in a bag in the states, Ang)
bunch green onions chopped
1 pckg Ramen noodles chopped

Dressing: (combine all and boil for one minute)
1/2 cup oil (not olive oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 TBSP soy sauce

Pour dressing over salad ingredients just before serving.  Toss together and serve immediately.

Mucho Mango Salad

1 ½ ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed

2 T whole milk yogurt

1 T fresh lime juice

1 T orange juice

1 T o.j. concentrate or pineapple concentrate

2 T grated peeled fresh ginger (opt)

½ t fresh coriander

Salt and black pepper

½ c. cubed kiwi

½ c. blueberries

2 c mild baby greens, thick stems removed

2 T chopped macadamia nuts

Lime wedges, for serving

Place about 1/3 of the mango cubes along with the yogurt, lime juice, o.j. concentrate, ginger, if using and coriander in a food processor until smooth. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the remaining mango cubes, kiwi and blueberries in a large salad bowl, pour the dressing on top and toss to coat evenly. Divide the greens between 2 salad plates, top each with half of the mango salad, then sprinkle the macadamia nuts on top. Serve with lime wedges.

I didn’t use blueberries (can we even get them here??) or lime b/c I didn’t have any. I just cut up the kiwi and mango and put them on the lettuce. Then I poured the dressing over and topped w/ macadamia nuts – delicious! I served it alongside Italian chicken lentil soup.