Sweet-ish Broccoli Salad

I'm eating this for breakfast, although I realize that most people would eat it for lunch or dinner. Fortunately for me, it's great any time of the day!

This makes one serving--Steve prefers "regular" breakfast food! Ha! You can double or triple the vegetables for more servings. The dressing will need to be added and stirred, adding more if it's needed, to maintain a crunchy consistency.

And finally, I used my mini-chop for the broccoli and carrots. Bless the inventor of this gadget!

4 large broccoli florets, chopped

4 baby carrots, chopped

2 Tbs. thinly sliced green onion

6 grape tomatoes

small handful of raisins (I would use cranberries here for Chelsea; she hates raisins.)

6 walnut halves, broken up into 3 or 4 pieces each--small chunks

1/2 c. olive oil

1 Tbs. dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp. agave nectar (you could also try pure maple syrup, and this can be doubled for a sweeter dressing.)

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Combine broccoli, carrots, green onions, tomatoes, raisins, and walnuts in a small bowl.

Whisk together the olive oil, dijon mustard, agave nectar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour about 2 Tbs. on salad. Taste and add more, if you'd like.

I thought this tasted great--and I'm not a big sweet-eater!! Ha! I hope you enjoy it!

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!

Better Citrus Salad (and Roasted Asparagus Spears)

Tonight, I roasted asparagus--

2 lb. fresh asparagus, break ends off and put spears into a plastic bag,

squeeze 1/2 a lemon into bag and add

3-ish Tbs. olive oil,

1/4 tsp. salt

Close bag and twirl the top, so it's tight. Holding it tight with one hand, squish the spears so the oil and juice coat all the spears.

Put spears into a 9 x 13 sprayed baking dish, and drizzle oil/lemon juice from the bag over them. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Crisp tender spears. Sprinkle with the lemon zest, if you like. It's really good!

Anyway, back to the salad! I published another citrus salad with herbs and stuff, but this one is much better!

1 pomelo, halved and scoop out the sections, like a grapefruit. (Chelsea looked this up. It's a Chinese grapefruit, ancestor to our ruby grapefruit. Chelsea did this, because Marste and I were on the phone, speculating about which fruits were combined to make this one! Ha!)

1 5-oz. bag fresh spinach

1 ripe avocado, diced

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

Equal-ish amount of olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

A very small pinch of stevia powder. One of those tiny spoons that come in the jar of stevia, filled scantly, is about the right measured amount.

Dice the pomelo sections, so the pieces are about 1/2 inch "square." (I realize "square" is a reach, shape-wise!) Add the spinach, avocado, and green onions.

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and stevia--add the stevia a bit at a time and taste in-between. The dressing needs to be not-quite-tart, as opposed to sweet! The pomelo is sweet and in those bites, sweet dressing would be bad! Ha!

Toss the salad with the dressing, and enjoy! Obviously, I served this with the asparagus. It looked like a lot of food, but I didn't have any leftovers! Ha!

Citrus, Spinach, Avocado, and Herb Salad

Okay, I'm having you chop the herbs before the avocado! The title sounded better with "avocado" first! Ha!

I've had some kind of flu for 5 weeks! I still have no stamina, so this is easier than it looks to fix! Ha!

1 navel orange and juice

1 red grapefruit and juice

Peel these with a paring knife, and section them by cutting alongside each membrane. Put the sections into a large bowl, so you have tossing room for more than just this! Add enough plastic wrap to press down across the sections and still reach the top of the bowl and fall over the sides.

About 1/2 5-oz. bag fresh baby spinach. (I used between 2 and 3 ozs. for the two of us.)

Place it on top of the plastic wrap.

2 green onions, thinly sliced

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

6 large leaves of basil, rolled together and thinly sliced

1/4 tsp. salt

Add these to the spinach.

1 small to medium avocado, peeled and diced

Add this to the spinach and herbs. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate it.

A tablespoon, or 2, of olive oil

Have a lemon wedge standing by, just in case!

To serve: slide the plastic wrap from between the layers. Add the olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, if there's not much juice from the fruit. Toss to mix.

Serves 2 as a side dish, or it serves one for a meal! Either way, it's good!

Peachy Keen Salad!

And still more salad! Woohoo! Ha!

A word about lettuce--well, several, really! Ha!--I always buy the 1-lb. size box (or bag) of mixed greens. This gives me enough to eat salads for lunch and to feed extra people, if they drop in. A 5-oz. bag gives me 4 skimpy servings, but I also know that not everyone eats salad like I do! I love to pile lettuce on the plates; it gives a salad a luxurious feeling. It's not a "diet food," if it seems luxurious! And it's okay to eat a lot of it, because it's not only nutritious, it also doesn't add a lot of calories--or fat, if you're just drizzling the dressing, instead of pouring it on! Ha! But I actually do like--yes, LIKE--the taste of greens!

4 servings

5 oz. bag mixed greens

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

6 green onions, thinly sliced

2 peaches, halved and diced

1 c. pine nuts

Dressing:

1/3 cup great quality balsamic vinegar (try Costco's Kirkland brand Balsamic Vinegar of Modena--yes, it's really imported! I have to thank Jill Erickson for introducing me to this!)

2/3 cup canola oil (or 1/3 c. olive oil and 1/3 c. canola oil)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

OPT: sweetener or sugar, if balsamic isn't a great quality one! Dressing should be without a lot of tartness!

Combine the dressing ingredients and buzz, shake, or stir!

To serve: layer lettuce, cilantro, green onions, peaches, and 1/4 c. (each salad) of pine nuts. Drizzle dressing over it, add a fork, and enjoy! (Chelsea just said, "It's good." Complete with a roll of her eyes--this is ecstasy, for her! LOL!)

Watermelon Salad

I love salad, and I'm grateful to warm--or hot!--summer weather, so no one here expects me to turn on any heat whatsoever! Ha! I'm also grateful to Mother Nature for giving us lots of fun fruits to mix with various vegetables! I try to do seasonal fruits, even though I know they're available year-round; it seems like someone somewhere is in the middle of summer at all times! Ha!

This is quick, if you use seedless watermelon. I sometimes choose to pick out seeds, because I think the seeded watermelons are better than the seedless! They're more flavorful and sweeter. BUT seedless ones work, too.

The chili powder adds extra flavor, which I also prefer. Chelsea likes less chili powder and a bit more salt. So, maybe I need to add salt, pepper, and chili powder shakers to my table next time!

Salad:

1 small seedless watermelon, cut into bite sized pieces, or melon "balled."

1 small jicama, diced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

3 green onions, thinly sliced

5 oz bag of mixed field greens

Opt.: 1 small avocado, diced

Dressing:

1/3 c. lime juice

1/2 c. canola oil (or some other mild oil--safflower, for instance!)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp agave nectar, or to taste (this depends on how tart your limes are!)

Mix watermelon, jicama, cilantro and green onions. Add dressing, and toss to coat.

To serve:

Place a bed of mixed greens onto four plates, and spoon the salad mixture over. Spoon the rest of the dressing over the watermelon salad, so the lettuce below will have some, too! Top with avocado pieces, if you're using them. Sprinkle a little chili powder over the top, if you want some extra zip!

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHELSEA!!! THANK YOU, CHELSEA!!!

Sweet Summer Salad

I still love salad!

Serves 4.

For the salad:

5 oz. bag mixed greens

1 pint grape tomatoes (small plastic box!)

2 ears white corn, niblets shaved off and ears reserved

1/4 medium red, brown, or white onion, diced

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1 medium ancho (aka "pasilla") chile, diced This should not be a hot chile! Instead, it's a sweet tasting chile! Be sure to remove ALL the seeds!

2 medium carrots, shredded

1/4 medium jicama, peeled and shredded

1 bunch radishes, cleaned and shredded

2 ripe avocados, cut in large dice (4 cuts lengthwise and 4 cuts crosswise)

For the dressing:

2 large, or 4 small limes, juiced--should be about 1/4 cup juice

1/3-1/2 cup canola oil (Olive oil is too heavy for this!)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, finely crushed as adding

Corn "milk"--stand the shaved ear on a plate, and run a knife down it to force the rest of the kernels and the juice out. Add this to the dressing to add texture and sweetness.

Agave nectar to taste; this dressing needs to have a sweet taste to it! (Some limes are sweeter than others!)

Mix the salad ingredients except the avocado, and chill. Make the dressing, and chill to allow the flavors to meld.

To serve: mix the salad, still omitting the avocado, and the dressing together and dish it onto 4 serving plates. Top with avocado "cubes." 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. ;)