Greek Salad

I just made this Greek salad, except instead of tomatoes, green bell pepper and red onion, I used red and yellow bell pepper, white onion (that had been in the fridge so not as spicy), and jicama. I also added some orzo.

It is so tasty! I made it for dinner tonight, perfect for a hot summer day...but I want to eat it all right now. This is a problem.

Oriental Salad

I am on a salad kick this summer, same as most summers. This is my new every day salad, as in, I want to eat it every day. I've had it 3 days in a row now, but I think I better quit since it has sort of a lot of butter in it. Yikes!

Oriental Salad (from Nanny)
1/4 c. butter (half a stick)
2 pkgs ramen noodles (just the noodles. Throw away that nasty packet of MSG that comes with)
1/2 c. chopped almonds
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
3 lbs. coleslaw mix or you know, shredded cabbage, green & purple, and some carrots

1. Brown butter in saucepan. Stir in ramen noodles, almonds and sesame seeds until everything is nice and brown and toasty. Transfer to bowl and wipe out saucepan.

2. Combine oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil in saucepan. Whisk together and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute and let cool.

3. Put cabbage in large salad bowl, dump almond/sesame mixture on top, and toss with dressing. I think if you add some chicken, it could count as a whole meal.

Lindsey Salad

This is my new favorite salad. I had it at our friends' house and have made it since like 6 times!

1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/8 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
a couple grinds black pepper

Mix dressing together in a screw top jar and chill.
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Lettuce - any crispy crunchy kind like romaine, ice berg, whatev
Bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled (optional...but super tasty)
Chow mein noodles, crispy rice noodles, or uncooked Top Ramen noodles* (my personal choice)
sesame seeds
sliced toasted almonds
a couple green onions, chopped/snipped
feta cheese, crumbled

I didn't put amounts in because you can just guess and see what looks good to you. This amount of dressing is plenty for 2 main dish salad helpings.

Quinoa!

I am so excited! I finally figured out what to do with quinoa!

I saw a recipe in an Everyday Food cookbook for a warm spinach salad with roasted shiitake mushrooms, quinoa and goat cheese. Not having any shiitakes nor goat cheese on hand, I did regular mushrooms this way, which I had already figured out is really tasty on a bed of spinach.

But, I took a cue from this new recipe and put some just-cooked quinoa (I had had a package of it in my cupboard for the longest time because it isn't that good - just ask Mom) on top of the spinach along with the mushrooms and IT WAS GOOD! It made the spinach even more wilty and delicious.

Oh yeah, and I shaved some parmesan on top, so we wouldn't miss the goat cheese. It worked.

So - go forth and do likewise. Unless your name is Mom and you hate mushrooms. Guess what Mom - I have good news! I used the extra quinoa on another spinach salad today sans mushrooms. I just heated it up, layered it over the spinach and then put some grapefruit segments and avocado slices, and topped it with Seeds in your Teeth dressing. Turns out that quinoa benefits greatly from any kind of salad dressing.

I am so happy! I wanted to love quinoa but I just couldn't... and now I do. Yippee!!

Seeds in Your Teeth Dressing

1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 T. soy sauce

Shake these together in a screw-top jar until mixed. Then add:

2 T. sesame seeds
1 T. poppy seeds
2 T. minced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c. vegetable oil

Shake all ingredients together. This is really good on a salad of spinach, oranges and feta.

Thai Beef Salad

Here is a recipe from the coolest restaurant in Dayton, Thai Nine.

Dressing:
4 T. lime juice
3 T. fish sauce
1 T. sugar

Salad:
Bed of lettuce or cabbage
5 cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
2 T. thinly sliced red onion
1 T. sliced green onion
1/2 cucumber, halved and sliced
1 T. cilantro, chopped
1 T. basil, chopped
1/2 lb. steak, thinly sliced and pan fried -OR- grilled and then thinly sliced (I did option #1)

Toss to combine salad and dressing! Yummm. We ate this salad for dinner with a side of rice, which nicely soaked up the extra dressing.

Balsamic Mushrooms

This is our favorite way to fix mushrooms...

Balsamic Mushrooms from Martha Stewart
1/4 c. evoo
12 oz. mushrooms, washed, dried and quartered
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms in oil 5 minutes, turning to prevent sticking. Add vinegar, salt and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute longer.

Today I put these mushrooms straight from the pan onto a bed of spinach leaves. The heat wilted the spinach a little bit which I love, and the mushrooms just tasted like a really substantial dressing. SO GOOD.

Marinated Zucchini

This is a brilliant Moosewood recipe to use up any zucchini you have hanging around! I remembered to take a picture before devouring the last two bites.

Ingredients
1 zucchini (or peeled eggplant), sliced about 1/3" thick
2-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
olive oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar (I like balsamic - especially the white balsamic from Trader Joe's)
dash salt
chopped fresh herbs (mint, parsley, basil, oregano, or thyme)

Method
In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add zucchini and fry until golden on both sides (work in batches if necessary). Transfer zucchini to a bowl. In a little more olive oil, saute the garlic until golden but not brown. Transfer garlic to bowl, and top with vinegar, salt and herbs. Stir to combine. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

If you want to make the zucchini or eggplant into a sandwich, toast the sandwich bread in the skillet in the leftover garlic-infused olive oil. You can melt some cheese on there while you're at it. YUM.

Mama Hitchman's Pasta Salad

Dressing:
1/2 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. red wine vinegar (white wine vinegar or white balsamic are acceptable substitutes)
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well to combine.

Salad:
In a large bowl, mix any or all of the following:
8 oz. pasta, cooked according to package directions (rainbow rotini or bow ties are good)
chopped red or green pepper
chopped salami
fresh mozzarella balls
olives... I like kalamata
sun dried tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil

This tastes better after the flavors have melded for a while........

Corn Tomato Salad

This salad of Rachael Ray's is my new favorite thing. I am planning to keep some in my fridge at all times this summer. YUM!

(I followed the recipe, except I didn't have any peppers and I used some red onion instead of scallions)

She says you could use this as a salsa and I think that would be a great idea... it is super tasty.

Jody's Cucumber Sauce

This makes an amazing salad dressing, gyro sauce, or dip for pita bread/tortilla chips/veggies.

2 c. plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled & seeded
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. white vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Strain yogurt through cheesecloth for about 2 hours.*
2. Grate cucumber into colander. Sprinkle with salt and let sit and drain for 15 minutes.*
3. Combine olive oil, vinegar and garlic. Stir in cucumber and strained yogurt.

*These first 2 steps are really optional, but it makes the sauce a lot thicker.

Japanese Carrot Dressing

for Tami.....

1/2 c. grated carrot
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. orange juice
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. grated ginger
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Mix all ingredients together and serve over crunchy greens.

This is from a Moosewood Restaurant cookbook but I substituted OJ for mirin (Japanese rice wine?) and added brown death.

Honey Mustard Dressing

If you are addicted to all things honey-mustard, like me, you Must try this salad dressing.

6 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
2 T. dijon mustard
2 T. white wine vinegar (I like to use TJ's white balsamic vinegar)
1 tsp. black pepper
dash of salt
dash of garlic
sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl and whisk until emulsified. Chill until ready to serve. This is really good on a spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon and hardboiled eggs.

Napa Cabbage Salad

This is soooooooo yummy, one of my faves. If you're going to make a huge main-dish salad for several people, double the dressing recipe.

Dressing
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1/2 c. oil (olive is good)
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. white vinegar (I like to use rice vinegar)
1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt

Shake all ingredients together in a screw-top jar.


Salad
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Napa cabbage (or regular cabbage, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce - whatever is crunchy)
toasted almonds
toasted sesame seeds (I do these two together on the tray in my toaster oven)
uncooked ramen noodles, crunched up
dried cranberries
mandarin orange segments (from a can or fresh, although that's more work)
cilantro
green or red onion
avocado
feta cheese (I know it sounds weird, but it is good)

Add some chicken and crumbled bacon and it's not vegetarian anymore, but it's sooo good.

Cuban Lentils!

At our avocado house communist dinner last night, we enjoyed this new lentil salad recipe from the Food Network.

Here's what I did, for posterity's sake:

6 c. water
1 1/2 T. salt
1 1/2 c. lentils
1 T. evoo
4 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. vinegar
4 green onions, white/light green parts only, sliced thin on the diagonal
1/2 c. finely chopped red or green pepper

In a large pot, boil water and salt. Add lentils, reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes until tender but not mushy (if you use the smaller red lentils, check them at 15 minutes because they are much more delicate).

Meanwhile, in medium skillet, heat evoo over medium low. Add garlic, cook gently about 5 minutes or until softened (not brown). Remove from heat and stir in spices, salt, vinegar. Transfer mixture to large serving bowl.

Drain lentils; transfer to bowl. Toss together with dressing until lentils are evenly coated. Cool to room temp and stir in green onions and peppers. Serve warm or cold.

I highly recommend this one! Cheap, easy, healthy, yummy.