Waldorf Salad PLUS

Steve said he wanted salad for dinner, and for whatever reason, neither lettuce nor spinach appealed to me. This doesn't happen very often, mind you!

So, I just decided to make Waldorf Salad and call it quits, but of course, it didn't work out that way! Ha! Here is our dinner salad for this evening. We both really liked it, and I hope you do, too!

Serves 2-4, meal or side!

1 large, crisp apple (I used a Red Delicious; they're just now coming into season, so they're good!)

2 stalks of celery, cleaned and sliced

2 medium cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and sliced crosswise about 1/4 inch thick

3 green onions, thinly sliced

24-30 red flame grapes, halved lengthwise

2-3 handfuls of walnuts, depending on how much you like them!

Bleu cheese crumbles (they can be "optional," but they really add a flare to this!)

Mayonnaise, about 1/2 cup?

Dijon mustard, about a tablespoon?

Olive oil, maybe a tablespoon or two--enough to thin the dressing to make tossing easier.

Chop the apple, toss it into a bowl, and add the celery, cucumbers, green onions, and grapes.

Dressing: combine the mayo, mustard, and olive oil in a small bowl. The dressing needs to be pretty tangy to offset the sweetness of the fruit, so add more mustard if I've misjudged my own addition. Obviously, this is "to taste!" Ha!

Toss the dressing with the fruits and vegetables. Add the walnuts, and toss again. I just served it on salad plates without further prep; it would look great on a bed of greens, and you could add extra dressing to seep down into the greens, too. However you serve it, toss some bleu cheese crumbles on top of it! Enjoy!

Mu Shu Chicken!

Yay! for Mu Shu! I love that stir-fried goodness, all wrapped in a rice pancake and topped with some plum sauce! MMMMMmmmmmm . . . Ok, I actually don’t really care about the pancake. I like the vegetables and the plum sauce. Protein is a bonus.

PLUS! It's HEALTHY! It's almost all vegetables, plus whatever protein you add. There's a little bit of fat for cooking, but other than that, the only thing you really have to be aware of is what's in your sauce. Who could ask for anything more?

The Recipe:
Serves 6-8

2 Tbs canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 head of celery, stalks sliced diagonally into quarters (in other words, BIG pieces)
½ 10-oz bag grated carrots
1 10-oz bag sliced mushrooms
2 10-oz bags presliced cabbage
6 large green onions, white parts chopped, green parts cut into 3-inch lengths
2 cups cooked protein: chicken, scrambled eggs, steak, whatever (I usually use eggs, but had some leftover chicken to use up, so I used that in this recipe)
*Note: I do NOT add salt or pepper to this; most of the sauces you’ll put on top have salt, and that will be plenty.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and celery, lower the heat, and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the celery begins to soften just a little bit, and the onions begin to get translucent.

Add the carrots and mushrooms, stir to combine, and cook until they begin to soften.

Add the cabbage and green onions, and stir gently until the cabbage begins to wilt. (Note: you might have to add the cabbage a little at a time, stirring until it wilts before you can add the next couple handfuls. Your pan will be REALLY, REALLY full.)

Add the protein and heat through.

Spoon generous portions onto plates, and top with plum sauce.

*There are LOTS of sauces that will work with this: sometimes I add oyster sauce or soy sauce mixed with chili sauce. I’ve added sesame oil, I’ve added fish sauce, I’ve added spicy peanut sauce. These particular veggies seem to go best with an Asian-style sauce, but feel free to experiment. The only flavors you’re working with are the vegetable flavors, and the sauces usually have salt, so I don’t even add that to the mix.

What I Ate for Dinner - Old School Chicken Salad

I LOVE chicken salad. With lots of mayonnaise and celery and onions. I LOVE IT. But I have to admit that I don’t usually eat it on bread. My favorite way to eat it is spooned over a generous plate of cooked, chilled broccoli. I know, I know, it sounds weird. But it’s really, REALLY good, especially in the summer when it’s hot out, and the cool chicken salad and broccoli is a nice change from regular, lettuce-based salads.

The key here is to use LOTS of vegetables (well, lots for chicken salad, anyway) and REAL chicken, chopped. Don’t use canned chicken, although chopped pre-cooked chicken works just fine.

Yum.

The Recipe:

1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
6-8 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
5-7 large celery stalks, chopped
Mayo, salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Chill, and then serve over cooked, chilled broccoli.

FANTASTIC. Really. ;)