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This quick and easy salad is just the thing to break up winter’s heavy, roasted tastes with a bright punch of acidity.
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, Whole30
Apple Mint Salad
1 apple (I prefer Fuji or Gala), julienned
2 Tbsp. fresh mint, minced
2 Tbsp. cilantro, minced
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Pinch of Kosher salt
Few grinds black pepper
1 tsp. Apple cider vinegar
2 large radishes, julienned
Toss all ingredients. Great served alongside pulled pork, or Spicy Tuna Cakes.
Serves 2
This salad is sweet, tart, fatty & salty and strikes a great balance between the carbs & fat you want when the weather turns cold, and more virtuous things like fresh greens.
Vegetarian, vegan & paleo with omissions; gluten-free with none
Delicata, Pomegranate & Arugula Salad
1 delicata squash
Arugula
1 pomegranate
Pecorino, romano or other salty aged cheese
Pomegranate molasses
Optional pulled meat of some sort – I used pork like this, this would also be fantastic
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
First, start your squash.
Preheat your oven to 425 F. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
Slice the ends off your squash and push the seeds out with a spoon. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds.
Lay squash rounds in a single layer on your prepared sheet – making sure not to crowd; brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.
Bake 20 minutes, flip, and bake another 20 minutes or until browned and nutty on both sides.
While the squash is working, de-seed your pomegranate (my favorite method is to roll the pomegranate on a cutting board to loosen the seeds, cut in half, and whack with the back of a wooden spoon. Not only cathartic, this method is really quick and only a little splattery).
Reheat your pork (I prefer crisping it up a bit either under the broiler or in a pan on the stovetop) and gather the rest of your ingredients.
When the squash is crisped, pull from the oven and start assembling your salad. I used about a cup of arugula, 6-8 slices of squash, a hand full of pomegranate arils, a Tablespoon or so of cheese, and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses. Enjoy.
Depending upon the size of your squash, serves 2-4. My squash was on the small side and I was hungry, so it served 2.
This recipe was born out of the need to burn fall with fire. Call it bleeding frustrations, getting rid of demons, or just simply not getting enough fire with my wintery weather while on vacation, but I came back with an urge to burn things – specifically, food things.
Why so destructive? Slightly burnt around the edges radicchio is fantastic. So are toasted nuts. And butter. And pears – I thought long and hard about caramelizing these, too, but since no one has seen fit to festoon me with a blowtorch it didn’t happen. It might in the future, though. Maybe Santa will bring the gift of fire.
Gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian friendly, vegan friendly
Burnt Radicchio Salad with Pear and Maple
1/2 head of radicchio
Drizzle olive oil
1/4 c. crushed pecans
1 Tbsp. ghee
1/2 pear
Drizzle maple syrup
Kosher salt & black pepper
Leftover flank steak (optional but delicious)
Set your broiler on high and tinfoil a cookie sheet. De-stem your radicchio and cut into two chunks. Place onto the prepared sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil 5-6 minutes, or until blistered and burning at the edges. Not incinerated, just lightly burnt around the top and edges.
While your radicchio is burning, toast your pecans in the ghee over medium-high heat until they smell nutty. Remove from the heat.
Slice your flank steak and pear into thin slivers.
When the radicchio is done, chop into bite-sized pieces and add to a serving vessel. Top with the sliced pear, flank steak if you’re using and pecans. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of maple syrup and hit with another pinch of salt and few twists of pepper. Viola.
Serves 1 for lunch
Yay, fall. This dish makes a satisfying lunch “salad” or dinner side dish, and just screams fall to me. And it’s quick – plus easy. A big win in every category.
Vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo
Blistered Cabbage & Apples
1 small head cabbage (about 2c. when shredded)
1 Fuji apple
2 Tbsp. ghee
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 pinches kosher salt
Few grinds steakhouse seasoning
1 tsp caraway seeds
Wash, core and shred the cabbage. De-seed and chop the apple.
Heat the ghee in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, hit with salt and a few grinds of your favorite steakhouse seasoning and sauté, stirring occasionally, 5-10 minutes or until softened and blistered in places. You could also broil the cabbage here to the same effect.
In the last few minutes, add the apple, vinegar and another shot of salt. Stir and continue to sauté until the apples are almost tender.
Serves 1-2 for lunch or 2-3 for dinner.
It must be the Southerner in me, but every time I think ‘pulled meat’ (hee hee) I think ‘slaw’. This week, I made pulled beef as my big multi-meal protein, and was graced with some really nice cabbage and chard in this week’s CSA box.
Slaw it is, and what better kind than spicy?
Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, Paleo (swap aioli for strict)
Spicy Chard & Cabbage Slaw
1/2 small head cabbage
1/2 bunch rainbow chard
4 scallions
1 small bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
Fresh black pepper
For the dressing
2 Tbsp. mayo (I used Just Mayo, which is pretty great and not filled with a bunch of crap – it’s not strictly paleo (contains canola oil & tiny amounts of sugar & pea protein), but it is good and waaaaayyyy more convenient than my futile attempts at making aioli)
3 tsp. sriracha
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. water
2 pinches kosher salt
Core and shred the cabbage and add to a large bowl. Ribbon the chard and add. Thinly slice the scallions and add. Julienne the pepper and add. Mince the garlic and add. Toss with a few cracks black pepper.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayo, sriracha, lemon juice, water and salt.
Drizzle the dressing over the slaw and toss with your hands to combine.
Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a bigass salad
Yeah, yeah, yeah – another salad. I’m on a homemade salad kick lately, and inspiration seems to be striking hardest during lunch. So: salads. This particular rendition combines my favorite salad green – kale – with sweet peppers, crunchy cabbage and a nice kicky, fatty dressing for something that is both healthy feeling and hearty enough to carry you through the afternoon.
Paleo, gluten-free and Whole 30 compliant
Crunchy Kale & Cabbage Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
5 ounces or so chopped kale (I used half a bag of the organic chopped kale from Trader Joe’s)
1 medium carrot
1 orange pepper
1.5 – 2 cups shredded cabbage (red would be fantastic here, but all they had at the store was regular green – which was also tasty)
Dressing
2 Tbsp. tahini
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s ftw)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
3 big pinches citrus salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 clove garlic
2-3 Tbsp. water
Julienne your pepper & carrot (I used a mandoline), chop your kale if needed, shred your cabbage and mince the garlic. Combine the veggies in a large bowl and all dressing ingredients in a shaker or bowl. Whisk or shake the dressing ingredients to combine, adding more water if needed to reach a pourable consistency.
I like to massage my dressing into my greens when I’m having a hearty green like this.
Optional add-ins: roast chicken, hard boiled eggs, sliced scallions, some sort of nut. I had chicken the first day for lunch and eggs the second. Scallions would have been great here, and nuts may or may not have added anything worthwhile to the party.
Makes 2 big lunch salads
Sorry about the hiatus, guys. If you couldn’t tell already from my Picture of the Day posts – we’ve moved! This past week has been full of not-cooking as my new kitchen has slowly taken shape. I’m finally back in business – and not a minute too soon. This lunch was the first thing I actually made in the new place, and it came together quick. Just the ticket for a healthy and vegetable-packed lunch.
Those of you that have been reading for awhile might recognize my favorite salad ingredient, broccoli slaw. I think I have an obsession issue with the stuff. I hate soggy lettuce with a passion, and home made salads always seem to disappoint – unless I use broccoli slaw. Then all is well with the world. I can’t get enough.
Quick Lunch Salad – Confetti Broccoli Slaw with Chicken
1 bag broccoli slaw (I use the organic broccoli slaw from Trader Joe’s in a 10 ounce bag. Dole also makes a good one)
2 baby endive, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 big handfuls pepitas, toasted
Leftover roast or grilled chicken – or what I had on hand, a chicken patty (1 portion per person) – Omit if you want a vegan or vegetarian salad
Dressing
3 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
3 big pinches citrus salt
3 tsp. apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg)
2 tsp. mustard (I went for grainy here, but only had smooth Dusseldorf style)
1 clove garlic, minced
Chop your veggies and add to a big bowl. In a small bowl or mason jar, combine the dressing ingredients & shake/whisk. Combine the dressing with the salad and toss.
Makes 2 huge lunch salads, or 3-4 more reasonable servings
Alternate seasonings: For lunch the next day, I decided to go a more curry route and added half a chopped apple and curry chicken to the salad mix plus 1 tsp. curry powder and 1 tsp. cumin powder to the dressing. Yum.
This salad came about because, here in January, I couldn’t stand not eating tomato any longer. Enter Fresh Direct. They tempted me with a beefsteak tomato – that while fairly costly, was actually fresh and actually tasted like tomato. Not sure if it was hot house (there was no mention in the description and it certainly didn’t taste like it), magic fairy house, or teleported from somewhere warm – but it was delicious. Just the breath of warm I was craving.
I ate this for lunch on my second day of Whole30 Take 2 – and didn’t feel deprived in the least.
Arugula & Orange Salad with Pulled Pork and Tomato
2 cups arugula
1 tomato – I used a big beefsteak
1 orange – I used a Cava Cava orange, which was delicious – blood orange would also be great here, or clementine — any orange with a lot of taste
2 Tbsp. gremolata
2 tsp. grapeseed oil
4 ounces leftover pulled pork
Supreme (cut off the outer rind and slice out each wedge individually – for video instructions, click here) your orange and cut the pieces into bite-sized chunks.
Cut the tomato into bite-sized chunks.
Warm your pork if needed.
Chuck the arugula, pork, tomato and orange into a big bowl and toss to combine.
Sprinkle with gremolata, the juice from the orange middle, and grapeseed oil.
Serves 1 for lunch.
This little side salad is as delicious as it is versatile. It’s bright, kicky, crunchy and can please a crowd. I served it along side some quick pork chops for dinner and then topped with chicken breast for lunch the next day.
Jicama, Pear & Grapefruit Salad
Adapted from a recipe I saw while rifling through a cookbook … which one? I was too busy day dreaming after reading the ingredient list to remember things like that
1 jicama
1 pear
1 grapefruit
2 medium carrots
1 lime (zest + juice)
Fresh mint/cilantro/basil (you’re looking for 6 Tbsp. total here)
1/4 c. grapeseed oil
1-2 tsp. sriracha (use Whole30 approved if necessary)
Flaky salt
Cracked black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 c. toasted nuts (I had macadamias on hand)
Peel and julienne the jicama. Julienne the pear. Grate the carrots. Add each to a large bowl when finished.
Supreme & chop the grapefruit into bite sized pieces, squeezing the extra juice into a small bowl. Add the grapefruit pieces to the julienne bowl.
Zest the lime, adding the zest to the julienne bowl. Squeeze the juice into the dressing bowl with the grapefruit juice.
Finely dice the herbs. I did 4 Tbsp. combined mint & cilantro with 2 Tbsp. basil chiffonade. Add to the julienne bowl.
Add the grapeseed oil & sriracha to the dressing bowl and whisk to form an emulsion. Taste and add more acid or sriracha as needed.
Sprinkle two generous pinches salt into the julienne bowl, with a few cracks of black pepper and the toasted nuts. Toss well to combine. Pour the dressing over (you might want to start with half) and toss well to combine (I used my hands). Taste and add more salt or dressing as needed.
Makes enough to serve 4 for dinner or 2-3 big lunch bowls.
Reformed beet-hater now occasionally craves the color and majesty that is a perfectly roasted beet every once in awhile. When I have those days, I’m happy someone in the health food biz decided to offer pre-roasted beets for sale at Whole Foods.
The recipe is written with a single lunch serving in mind. Feel free to scale up to feed your desired number.
Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette (paleo, Whole30)
1 small roasted beet (I took the lazy way out here and bought some pre-roasted beets)
1/2 avocado
1 Tbsp. slivered almonds
3-4 ounces leftover rotisserie chicken (optional but delicious)
1/2 grapefruit
Citrus salt (or other flaky finishing salt)
Grapefruit Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp. almond oil (or other neutral oil like grapeseed)
1 tsp. grainy mustard
1/2 tsp. organic apple cider vinegar (Braggs ftw)
1 big squirt grapefruit juice
Slice your beets wafer thin, shred the chicken, slice the avocado thin, and toast the almonds in a dry pan until lightly brown. Supreme the grapefruit.
Either add all to a bowl or lay out pretty for a composed salad. Both are equally tasty.
Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients and pour over the top. Finish with some tasty salt and eat.
Serves 1 for lunch, but can easily be scaled up to feed more.
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