Tag: salad


Aug
2013

Summer Succotash

categories: Recipes

Well Dined | Summer Succotash

This stunning dish comes to you from my weekly vegetarian lunches with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies.  Consisting of just vegetables with a little feta, this is about as healthy as you can get!  It’s also super filling and surprisingly delicious.  I say surprisingly because let’s be honest, most people don’t go around graving a pile of veggies.  But this is so good that even my veggie hating husband liked it!  Served warm with a variety of textures and flavors, vibrant basil, and salty cheese – it really leaves you feeling satisfied.

Well Dined | Summer Succotash

Great on it’s own as a lunch, served as a side to chicken or steak (which is what I did with leftovers), or even stuffed into a pita pocket – this is a super healthy AND yummy Summer dish.  It can also become vegan quite easily.  So how about it?  Let’s get some veggies into our lives! (more…)


Aug
2013

Kanikama Salad

categories: Recipes

Well Dined | Kanikama Salad

Kanikama is the imitation crab meat you find in cheap sushi rolls.  It is made from white fish (pollock usually) that is formed and colored to look like crab.  Sounds gross, but is actually pretty tasty – and way cheaper than real crab.  Kanikama salad is a pretty typical way to prepare imitation crab outside of sushi rolls.  It usually involves kanikama, shredded vegetables, and mango in a light mayonnaise based dressing and is sometimes topped with tobiko.

My version is kanikama and mango over lettuce, served with avocado (I meant to get tobiko, too, but I forgot!)  This is really light and refreshing, and a little bit sweet – perfect for summer.  It’s important to realize that Japanese mayo is different from American – it is lighter, thinner, and made with rice wine vinegar.  For my dressing, I bought Yum Yum sauce thinking it would be good as is (it’s a mayonnaise based sauce that they use at Hibachi grill restaurants).  But when I tried it out, it was a bit too sweet and bland.  So I added a splash each of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, and toasted sesame oil (easy on that last one, it is very strong).

I don’t really have a recipe – it’s more of a play with seasonings til you like it kind of thing.  You could add in julienned carrots, cucumber, even summer squash.  You could dice the avocado and fold it in with the mango (which I did on subsequent days).  You could toss the lettuce in the dressing as well, instead of setting the dressed kanikama on top.  There are lots of ways that you can make this your own.  Leave a comment telling me how you like your kanikama salad!

Well Dined | Kanikama Salad


Jul
2013

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

categories: Recipes

Well Dined | Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Melissa of Smells Like Brownies has been doing a CSA this year, so for one of our weekly vegetarian lunches we decided to use up some of the beets and lettuce she had received.  This super delicious and filling salad involves sweet roasted beets, fragrant toasted walnuts, and creamy goat cheese.  Simple and fresh – this is a great way to enjoy beets!

Warm Beet and Chèvre Salad
from Smells Like Brownies
serves 2

Ingredients:
3/4 lb beets (about 3 medium)
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil, plus extra as needed
1 tbsp honey
salt and black pepper
1 wheat baguette, cut into 1/4″ slices
1 medium head lettuce, such as Bibb or Boston
1/3 cup walnuts, lightly toasted, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
4–6 oz goat cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.  Wrap the beets tightly in foil and roast them for 1–1.5 hours, or until they are soft enough to pierce through the thickest part with a butter knife.  Unwrap the beets and let them cool 10–15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, and olive oil in a small bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Lightly brush the baguette slices with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Set the slices on a cookie sheet and broil in the oven for 3 minutes.

Rinse and tear up the lettuce.  Sprinkle the toasted, chopped nuts and oregano over the greens.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, rub the skins off the flesh.  Cut the beets into slices or wedges and sprinkle over the salad.

Top the salad with crumbled goat cheese and a drizzle of the oil and vinegar dressing.


Jul
2013

Mexican Style Quinoa Salad

categories: Recipes

Well Dined | Mexican Style Quinoa Salad

This vegetarian/vegan meal that I made with Melissa of Smells Like Brownies is perfect for summer.  It is light and fresh (but still filling), takes advantage of summer produce, and is packed with protein.

Well Dined | Mexican Style Quinoa Salad

All you have to do is combine the ingredients – corn, tomato, avocado, bell pepper, scallions, jalapeno, black beans, cooked quinoa.

Well Dined | Mexican Style Quinoa Salad

Then toss with a dressing of lime, olive oil, honey, and cumin.

Well Dined | Mexican Style Quinoa Salad

Top with some fresh cilantro (or parsley if you, like me, are not a fan) and your perfect summer lunch awaits!  You can serve it warm, cold, or room temp – doesn’t matter.  The ingredient list is also totally flexible, go with whatever ratio of quinoa to veg you like, take out the stuff you don’t like, add in something you do, make it yours. (more…)


May
2013

Grilled Halloumi & Quinoa Salad

categories: Recipes

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Halloumi is a salty, dense Greek cheese that is super amazing when grilled.  My friend Melissa, from Smells Like Brownies, is a big fan so she was pretty excited when I showed her this recipe.  Hearty quinoa mixed with lettuce and veggies and topped with warm cheese – delish!

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We didn’t end up having the cucumbers the original recipe called for, so we used tomatoes instead and they were great.  I do really like cucumbers, though, so I would say to use both.  The more veg, the better, right?  The dressing includes red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, mint, and scallion – yum!

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We also discovered (by oiling one side and not the other of an electric grill) that the cheese gets better grill marks when the grill is not oiled.  Don’t worry, though, it won’t stick!

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This is a very satisfying (and light!) vegetarian lunch that is sure to make even meat eaters happy. (more…)


Nov
2012

Salt Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

categories: Recipes

I LOVE roasted beets – sweet and rich and beautiful, like healthy edible jewels! One of my favorite ways to serve them is in a salad with watercress and fresh mozzarella.  But I have made that so many times that I wanted to try something a little different.  This version uses goat cheese, a slightly more complex dressing, and a different method of roasting.

Usually I just wrap the beets in foil and roast them.  This method involves first placing the beets on a bed of salt and herbs.  It imparts just a little bit more flavor to the beets. (more…)


Nov
2012

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Kale, Apple, and Red Onion

categories: Recipes

I recently had a lunch date with my friend Melissa of Smells Like Brownies.  As a long time vegetarian, I wanted her help to learn ways of using quinoa other than just as a substitute for rice.  She suggested that we make this Quinoa salad, chock-full of roasted veggies with a balsamic dressing.  I couldn’t wait to try it!  Roasted sweet potatoes and red onion, hearty kale, sweet and tangy apples – all the beautiful flavors of Fall. (more…)


Sep
2012

Hard “Boiled” (Baked) Eggs

categories: Recipes

I discovered this method of hard cooking eggs (attributed to Alton Brown) via Pinterest and Greetings from the Asylum.  The concept is that baking them instead of boiling them is more consistent and results in less gray, less smelly, more creamy eggs.

As you can see, the eggs will sit perfectly on most oven racks and it doesn’t matter how clean the rack is, because you will be peeling the eggs.  Bake them at 325 for 30 minutes.

As soon as you take them out (with tongs), plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking (and prevent that grey ring around the yolk that happens when they cool too slowly). (more…)


Sep
2012

Shaved Market Vegetable Salad

categories: Recipes

I was so inspired by this shaved vegetable salad at Simon in Las Vegas that the first thing I wanted to do when I got home was to make my own version.

So I went and bought the vegetables I wanted to use – carrots, celery, beets, fennel, and asparagus.

Then I sliced them up using the slicing blade on my food processor (a mandoline would also work) and tossed them with high quality olive oil, lime juice, and sea salt.

I actually stored the vegetables like that in the fridge and throughout the week or so that they lasted I would take out what I needed and add it to raw kale massaged with olive oil (which takes some of the bitterness out) along with watercress, grapes, pepitas, and fresh mozzarella for a delicious summer salad.

It is so healthy and fresh and keeping the vegetables raw means that you are getting the full nutritional value from them, plus they keep you super full.  But this seriously tastes so good that you will not even be thinking about how healthy it is.