Tag Archives: salad

Spinach-Pear Salad with Honey-Ginger Dressing

7 Sep

Spinach-Pear Salad

I’m back, after a long summer hiatus!

The problem with a recipe blog is that after you share all your best tried-and-true dishes, the ones you return to again and again — well, you’re out of material! So after a flurry of activity when I started this blog years ago, I’m now limited to posting when I make something new and remember to take a photo of it, which is less often than ideal.

I still like to try new things, though. This recipe is adapted slightly from one that was in a recent issue of Cooking Light.The recipe called for 2 cups of baby spinach, which I didn’t think was enough for four people — or proportionately enough for the dressing — so I used a 5-oz. package of baby spinach and it was perfect for four.

If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see I used black raisins instead of golden — because I didn’t have any golden raisins on hand. I think the golden ones would be better, but don’t use that as a reason not to try this salad. Craisins or dried cherries would probably work well too.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1-1/2 Tbs. olive oil
5-oz. package baby spinach
1 ripe Bartlett pear, sliced
3 Tbs. golden raisins (black raisins are OK)
3 Tbs. toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Whisk together the lemon juice, honey, mustard, ginger, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.

Toss the spinach, pear slices and raising with the dressing in a large bowl and divide among four salad places. Top with the toasted walnuts.

Serves 4

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Edamame Succotash

28 Mar

Once upon a time, when I still worked in an office, the HR people brought in a chef who worked on behalf of our health insurer so that he could give us tips on healthy eating. He not only gave us the healthy eating tips — presumably this would lower our insurer’s cost for our medical care — but he also did a cooking demo and left us with some great recipes. This salad wowed everyone, and I’ve made it several times since. It’s got an interesting combination of flavors  and all the different colors make it very pretty. And it’s very easy to make if you start with frozen edamame and corn and jarred peppers!

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, cubed
1 package (16 oz.) frozen shelled edamame, thawed
2 cups fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup raw or roasted red peppers, diced (you can use jarred roasted red peppers)
2 Tbs. Thai sweet red chili sauce
⅛– ¼ tsp. Thai red curry paste
1 Tbs. mirin or seasoned rice vinegar
1½ Tbs. toasted sesame oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the mango, edamame, corn, cranberries and peppers in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the chili sauce, curry paste, vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat.

Serves 6 to 8

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Jerusalem Spinach Salad

3 Dec

Jerusalem spinach saladAfter a weekend of gorging, I thought everyone might be ready for a lighter recipe!

This recipe is adapted (very slightly) from one in Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. It’s easy and delicious.

The book is absolutely gorgeous and would make an excellent gift or look good on a coffee table. Many of the recipes are interesting, although some of the ingredients may be difficult to find in the United States. We’re lucky to live in an area with a large Middle Eastern population, so I had no problem finding pita or sumac powder. I didn’t have any chile flakes (which are easy enough to find) so I used cayenne pepper, about half as much as the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. white vinegar
½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
¼ lb. pitted dates
¼ cup olive oil
2 small pitas (or one large one) roughly torn into 1½-inch pieces
½ cup unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped
2 tsp. sumac
½ tsp. chile flakes
5 oz. (half a standard-sized package) baby spinach
2 Tbs. lemon juice
Salt

Directions:

Put the vinegar, onions and dates in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix well with your hands. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes, then drain out any residual vinegar and discard.

Heat the 3 Tbs. olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the pita and almonds and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring all the time, until the pita is crunchy and golden brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the sumac, chile flakes and ¼ tsp. salt. Set aside to cool.

Just before serving, toss the spinach leaves with the pita mix in a large mixing bowl. Add the dates and red onion, the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil, the lemon juice and another pinch of salt.

Serves 4

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Black Bean and Corn Salad With Lime-Cumin Dressing

12 Nov

Black Bean and Corn SaladThe original recipe I adapted this from used beans only. I thought it looked nice — and tasted better too — with beans and corn.

This might seem like an odd time to be promoting a salad, rather than a warming cold-weather dish. But it’s the start of entertainment season, with Thanksgiving, Chanukah and soon enough Christmas and New Year upon us. This salad is a really good one for a potluck, brunch or party. It’s light on the dressing, and you can serve it with a single spoon rather than salad forks or tongs. And it’s quite attractive. If you want even more color, substitute some red or orange pepper for the celery. You can easily double it if you’re serving a crowd.

Ingredients:

1 cup thinly sliced celery
¾ cup vertically sliced red onion
1 (15-oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (thaw if using frozen)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. olive oil
¼ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:

Combine celery, onion, black beans and corn in a bowl and toss well. Combine the lime juice, sugar, oil and cumin in a small bowl, and whisk until blended. Pour over the bean mixture and toss to coat. Allow the salad to sit for at least a few hours in the refrigerator or at room temperature for the flavors to mingle.

Serves 4 to 6

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Massaged Kale Salad

20 Aug

Kale Salad 1We finally had enough kale in the garden to actually make something. I’ve eaten some good kale salads but never actually made one, so I hit the ‘net in search of good recipes. This one was posted by Aarti Sequeira on the Food Network website in 2010. It was easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, stalks removed, leaves thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
Kosher salt
2 tsp. honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 mango, diced small (about 1 cup)
2 Tbs. toasted pumpkin seeds or pine nuts

Directions:

Place the kale in a large serving bowl. Add half the lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt and “massage” the salad with your hands until the kale starts to soften and wilt, about 2 to 3 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the ¼ cup of olive oil while whisking.

Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pumpkin seeds or pine nuts. Toss and serve.

Serves 4

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Zaatar-Roasted Pineapple & Salmon Salad

9 Jul

Zaatar Roasted Pineapple and Salmon SaladI clipped the recipe for this nice summer salad from an article by Adeena Sussman in Hadassah magazine. If you have a piece of leftover salmon from another dinner, this is a great way to use it up – and the recipe is easy to halve for two.

Zaatar is Middle Eastern spice blend that includes thyme, oregano and sesame seeds. It might also include sumac, marjoram and other herbs. You can find it in any grocery store that caters to people from the Middle East or in a bulk store that specializes in spices. If all else fails, order some online! I’ve featured zaatar before, in my Roast Chicken recipe. It’s also good on pita: brush the pita with olive oil, sprinkle on zaatar, and put it under the broiler for about half a minute.

Ingredients:

½  of a cored pineapple (about 1 lb), cut into ½-inch cubes
1 Tbs. zaatar
¾ lb. (2 cups) flaked cooked salmon
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced
4 cups baby lettuce leaves (or mixed spring greens or baby spinach)
3 Tbs. lemon juice
3 Tbs. olive oil
¼  tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss pineapple and zaatar in a bowl; roast in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until lightly caramelized, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes.

Gently toss roasted pineapple with salmon, pepper and scallions. Divide lettuce among 4 plates and top each plate with a quarter of the salmon salad.

Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper; drizzle over the salad.

Serves 4

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Quinoa Salad with Beans and Corn

11 Jun Quinoa Salad with Beans and Corn

Quinoa Salad with Beans and Corn I was a little late jumping on the quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) bandwagon because…well, it was new and peculiar! It’s one thing to try something in a veggie-friendly restaurant, quite another to cook  it — and there were all those dire warnings about rinsing it first so it isn’t bitter. It turns out that quinoa is almost as easy to cook as rice (though you do have to take the added step of rinsing it). In taste and texture it’s somewhere between rice and bulgur, mild but with a little firmness to the bite. I adapted this recipe from epicurious.com. I was looking for something that contained neither gluten nor onion/scallion because we were hosting a guest with allergies. The recipe calls for “chopped fresh coriander,” which I think means cilantro. I didn’t have any, and we don’t particularly care for cilantro anyway, so I added  about a teaspoon of ground coriander to the dressing. I added a little parsley to the salad for the color that fresh cilantro would have provided. But I’m printing the original ingredients. You can make it up to a day ahead of time.

Ingredients:

1½ cups quinoa 1½ cooked black beans (rinse if you use canned) 1½ red wine vinegar 1½ cups cooked fresh or frozen corn ¾ cup chopped bell pepper (any color) 2 pickled jalapeno chilies, seeded and minced (I used bottled sliced jalapenos and chopped them)| ¼ cup finely chopped fresh coriander Tbs. lime juice (or more to taste) 1 tsp. salt 1¼ tsp. ground cumin (or to taste) ⅓ cup olive oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, wash the quinoa in at least 5 changes of cold water, rubbing the grains and letting them settle before pouring off most of the water, until the water runs clear; drain in a large, fine sieve. (I just used the sieve each time I drained the quinoa.) In a saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the quinoa for 10 minutes. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water. Set the sieve over a saucepan of boiling water; make sure the quinoa does not touch the water. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and the saucepan lid and steam until fluffy and dry, about 10 minutes (add water to pan if necessary). While quinoa is cooking, toss the black beans with the vinegar. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and cool. Add the beans, corn, bell pepper, jalapenos and coriander and mix well. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, salt and cumin and add the oil slowly in a stream, whisking constantly. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix well. The salad may be made a day ahead of time and chilled, covered. Serve at room temperature. Serves 8

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A Tuesday two-fer: Two sweet-and-sour salad recipes

28 May Carolina Coleslaw
Carolina Coleslaw

Carolina Coleslaw

Today’s blog is a two-fer because if you don’t like cabbage, or you don’t have a cabbage, or you’re sick of cabbage, you can substitute cucumbers and follow the exact same recipe. Use three large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin, or two English cucumbers, which you can peel or not .

I’ve been making this recipe for years. I adapted it from a recipe I clipped from a magazine. It’s attributed to “Mrs. McCollum.”  I use about half the dressing originally called for, and it’s ample. You can adjust the amounts and use even less if you use less cabbage. You can substitute Splenda for the sugar with no ill effect (unless, like my kids, you think using Splenda in the first place is an ill effect).

This salad will keep for two weeks or more in the refrigerator.

Carolina Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 large cabbage, about 3 lb., quartered, cored and shredded finely (or cheat and use a bag of coleslaw mix)
1 bell pepper, any color, sliced thinly or diced
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp. celery seeds
½ cup vinegar
⅓ cup vegetable or olive oil

Sweet Sweet & Sour Cucumber Salad

Sweet & Sour Cucumber Salad

Directions:

Combine cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl. Mix sugar, salt, mustard and celery seeds in a small saucepan. Add vinegar and oil and bring to a boil. Continue to cook a few minutes over low heat until sugar dissolves. (Alternatively, put everything into a large measuring cup and heat to boiling in the microwave. Stir well to make sure the sugar is dissolved.)

Pour the hot dressing over the cabbage and toss well to mix. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Plan to let it sit at least three hours before you serve it.

Serves about 12

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Spinach and Cabbage Salad

7 May

Spinach and Cabbage SaladYikes! I needed a dish for a potluck and didn’t have any time to cook. Solution? This wonderful Spinach and Cabbage Salad, which is soooo easy and soooo yummy!  You can eat mountains of it without worrying about calories too much, because it’s full of fiber and not too heavy on the dressing. The hardest part is picking over the baby spinach to get rid of any really long stems and slimy pieces. If you buy a package of spinach a day or two before you’re making the salad, and it has a good “use by” date, you shouldn’t have to throw away much at all.

If you make this for a potluck and need to drive a long way, or if you have to mix up the ingredients more than an hour before you serve it, add the dressing at the last minute.

Don’t use the entire half-bottle of dressing to start. If you prefer a lightly-dressed salad, you might want to use less. So start with one-quarter or one-third of the bottle and add more if you need to.  Just be sure all the vegetables are coated and the salad seems moist.

You can eat any leftovers the next day, but after that it will be too soggy to enjoy.

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded cabbage or pre-packaged slaw mix (or just use the whole package, which is probably more than 3 cups)
1 bag baby spinach (pick over it to get rid of long stems and slimy bits)
½ cup toasted slivered or sliced almonds
½ cup golden raisins
½ bottle Vidalia onion salad dressing (Westborn Market makes a good one)

Directions:

Combine cabbage, spinach, almonds and raisins. Add dressing just before serving and toss well so that all the ingredients are coated.

Serves 8 to 10

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Israeli Carrot Salad with Parsley and Pomegranate

24 Mar

Israeli Carrot SaladI got this recipe from a newspaper article on Rosh Hashanah foods, but it’s also great at Passover!

Once you peel the carrots, separate the pomegranate seeds from the pith and separate the parsley leaves from the stems, it’s a snap to make this salad with a food processor! (Helpful hint: cut the pomegranate in half and then put the pieces into a large bowl of water before breaking them apart. The seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the pith will float to the top. Skim off the pith, and then drain the seeds in a strainer or colander. This will keep your hands, clothing and counters from getting stained with pomegranate juice! Or you can splurge and buy pomegranate seeds at a specialty food store like Trader Joe.)

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
½ bunch flat parsley, divided
1 lb. carrots, peeled
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. orange juice
4 Tbs. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
Several grinds of black pepper
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 cup golden raisins

Directions:

Place the garlic and all but 2 Tbs. of the parsley in the bowl of a food processor and chop well. Add the carrots, lemon juice, orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse until the carrots are chopped into small pieces but not pureed. Mix with raisins and pomegranate seeds and sprinkle with reserved parsley.

Serves 6

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