Tag: salads

Korean BBQ Restaurant Salad

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This is my stab at re-creating (and enhancing) the table salad served at my favorite local Korean BBQ joint. Every time I see this salad I get excited about blueberries, so I added them to mine. I also added a splash of vinegar. Delicious.

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo

Korean BBQ Restaurant Salad

Half a package arugula

Generous amount pomegranate arils

Big hand full blueberries

Big hand full sliced black olives

1-2Tbsp ground toasted sesame seeds

Splash fruity vinegar

10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

Sprinkle olive oil

Generous sprinkle flake salt & black pepper

Toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl & serve with your favorite protein.

Makes 2 big salads

Tarragon Chicken Pita

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This is a nice and light chicken salad – perfect tucked inside a pita or scooped up with cucumber rounds.

gluten-free, paleo-ish

Tarragon Chicken Pita

2/3 – 1 cup pulled rotisserie chicken, chopped

2tsp – 1Tbsp tarragon mustard

2-3Tbsp pickled onion, chopped

Enough mayo to bind your ingredients together

1/2 small shallot, diced

2tsp fruity vinegar

3Tbsp slivered almonds or pine nuts

Arugula

Your favorite kind of pita as a vessel for serving – or just in a bowl with cucumber rounds for scooping

Mix everything but the arugula & pita. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Serve as desired.

Makes enough for 2 people if they have normal sized pitas; I wolfed the entire batch down because I was starving and my pitas are Middle-East sized.

Seared Peach Pesto Salad

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This is a nice salad as a meal. Serve with your favorite protein for a complete boost.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Seared Peach Pesto Salad

4 Saturn (or other variety) peaches, cut into bite sized pieces

4 heads baby gem lettuce, chopped

200g green beans, snipped into bite sized pieces

Garlic oil

Salt & pepper

Red pepper flakes

Soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos

Hand full of pine nuts

2 Tbsp of your favorite pesto

Juice 1/2 large lemon

A couple teaspoons water

First, sear the green beans and then the peaches in a little garlic oil in large pan over medium-high. Hit with salt & pepper and a little soy at the very end.

Add the peaches and green beans to a large bowl when done.

Chuck a big handful of pine nuts into the still-warm pan and shake around to toast.

Chop or rip the lettuce and add to the bowl.

To make the dressing, shake the pesto, lemon juice, generous cracks pepper & salt and a little water to make the dressing.

Toss and garnish with the pine nuts.

I served mine with a protein and topped with a little extra spice and black pepper.

Serves 2 as a big lunch salad

Strawberry Prawn Salad

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This one is light, refreshing, and tastes healthy.

It’s also delicious, and packed with protein.

Note: a little fresh Basil or cilantro would be a great addition to this salad.

gluten-free, paleo, pescatarian, low-carb

Strawberry Prawn Salad

200 – 250g prawns

Avocado

Baby spinach

1-2 Persian cucumbers

Slivered almonds

Garlic powder

Togarishi or other spicy mix if desired

1 pint strawberries

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp date molasses

3 Tbsp olive oil

Generous sprinkle black pepper

Generous sprinkle salt

Juice of 1 lime (about a Tablespoon)

To make the dressing, whiz together 4-5 strawberries, the olive oil, lime juice, balsamic, date molasses, olive oil, salt & pepper.

For the shrimp, season liberally with salt, pepper, garlic powder & togarishi. Cook through.

For the salad, add the rest of the strawberries, chopped; the avocado, also chopped; and chopped cucumbers to a large bowl. Add the shrimp & dressing and toss.

To assemble, add halt the shrimp mix to a bed of spinach and garnish with slivered almonds.

Serves 2

Caesar Potato Salad

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I’ve been craving a good Caesar dressing ever since DH and I had lunch at that Italian restaurant during Ramadan and he got a pretty great salad I was sad I couldn’t partake in (cheese).

So I thought about it, worried about coddling eggs, and came up with another plan. And than abandoned that plan (involving the 1 brand of good vegan Parmesan I’ve found because it has abandoned the country). This version is naturally dairy-free and is no less delicious than I wanted it to be. Serve hot or cold.

gluten-free, dairy-free, pescatarian(ish)

Caesar Potato Salad

10 – 12 small white potatoes, chopped

2 tsp anchovy paste

Juice 1/2 lemon

2 cloves garlic

3 egg yolks

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp mustard powder

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/3 c olive oil

2 tsp capers

2 spring onions or a small shallot, minced

Salt & fresh cracked black pepper

Add the potatoes to a pot with enough nicely salted water to cover. Boil 6-8 mins or until tender. Drain.

Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the capers and shallots or spring onions) to a blender and process, drizzling the olive oil in slowly. Taste and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

Toss with the potatoes, capers and alliums and serve hot or cold.

Serves 4 – 6

Steak Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

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This is a fantastic lunch – or dinner – salad. It’s quick to make, bright and fresh, and with a hit of protein.

gluten-free, paleo

Steak Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

Dressing:

1 mango

1 thumb ginger

4 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp orange juice

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Sprinkle red chili flakes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp hot & sweet sauce from Indifoods

Juice of 2 limes

Salt & pepper

Salad:

Leftover cooked steak

~ 1/2 c radish, sliced thin

3 small cucumber, sliced into thin half moons

1/3 – 1/2 c frozen peas, thawed

500g baby spinach

10-20 cherry tomatoes, halved

Assemble all dressing ingredients in a blender. Whiz to combine.

In a large bowl, assemble all salad ingredients and toss.

Toss with dressing and serve – I top with my favorite seedy salad topper mix.

Serves 3-ish if you’re having a big lunch salad

Heenat Salad

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This is a blind stab at recreating the show-stopping salad served at Heenat Salma Farm last month during the yoga/Pilates day retreat I went to.

It’s not perfect – by far – and I meant to “fix” the issues the original had (too sweet dressing – needed acid and/or heat), but I’m not sure this hit the mark. It’s been like a month since I’ve tasted the original, and all those ingredients were organic farm fresh – so I did what I could.

This rendition is fantastic. Not the same as the other, but definitely craveable.

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Heenat Salad

2 nectarines, chopped

8 dates, seeded and chopped

200g feta (I used vegan feta from Sheese), cubed

~2c kale, chopped

~4c red lettuce, chopped

~1/4c red onion, sliced into wafer thin moons

~1/2c walnuts, chopped

~1/2c (roughly 20) black olives, chopped

~1/4c cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

3Tbsp date syrup

2tsp cardamom (ground)

3Tbsp lime juice

6Tbsp olive oil

1tsp smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

Whisk dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add all the salad ingredients (minus the feta) and massage in. Add the feta, generous salt & pepper and toss to combine.

Serves 4

Chili Lime Couscous Salad

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Another great batch cook lunch salad. This one is great with a hand full of shredded rotisserie chicken as the protein.

vegetarian, vegan

Chili Lime Couscous Salad

1 cup Israeli couscous

1.5 cups water or stock

Olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced into thin moons

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch broccolini, chopped

1 small bell pepper, chopped

2 cups shredded red cabbage

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Juice & zest of 2 limes

1 large scallion, sliced into thin rings

Tajin, salt & pepper

Slice the onions into thin moons. Sauté in a glug of oil over medium/medium-high heat 10-15 minutes or until softened and beginning to color.

Add the garlic & couscous and sauté 1-2 minutes.

Add the water or stock and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the broccolini and half the lime zest and sauté an additional 5 minutes or until the broccolini & couscous are both cooked to your liking.

Add all the chopped veggies and the other half of the zest to a large bowl. Toss with the lime juice and a good glug or two of olive oil.

Add the couscous when done and toss.

Sprinkle generously with Tajin, salt & pepper, toss. Taste for seasoning, adjust & toss again.

Serve with your protein of choice.

Makes 5 – 6 servings

Fish Taco Bowls

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Another great grab-n-go lunch option. These fish taco bowls are pretty great.

gluten-free, pescatarian

Fish Taco Bowls

500g fresh fish (I used King Fish, but any firm fillet will do)

Couple Tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Your favorite spicy seasoning

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Juice of 1 lime

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

3 cups red cabbage, shredded

1/2 small red onion, cut into thin half moons

Small bell pepper, diced

100 grams feta (my favorite is Sheeze or Veg Life)

Good glug olive oil

Tajin

Salt & pepper

Preheat your air fryer to 400 for 3 mins. Skin, de-bone and cut the fish into bite-sized cubes.

Toss with a liberal amount spicy seasoning and cornstarch. Blast with a couple hits spray oil and air fry 7 – 10 mins, tossing a couple times and blasting with more oil.

While the fish nuggets are working, prep all the veggies and add to a large bowl. Add a couple glugs olive oil, the lime juice and liberal shakes of Tajin, salt and pepper.

Toss to combine and taste for seasoning. I ended up repeating the seasoning process 3x.

To serve, layer the salad in a bowl over some leftover rice or grains and add a hand full of the fish nuggets.

Makes 5 – 6 servings, depending on how much fish you have per serving

Orange Chicken Salad Sandwich

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This sandwich makes a light dinner or decent sized lunch. The orange dressing is kind of a pain, but it’s worth it. Next time, I would double the recipe.

gluten-free

Orange Chicken Salad Sandwich

2 leftover boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped (rotisserie chicken would work great)

1 orange, peeled and wedged

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 c baby fennel, chopped fine

1 scallion, sliced thin

2/3 roughly chopped herbs – I used a mix of mint, basil & cilantro

Lemon juice

1 Tbsp sambal olek

2 cloves garlic, grated

Your favorite mayo – I used Kewpie

Slivered nuts (optional) – I used pistachios

Baby spinach (optional)

Some type of wrap to make it a sandwich

First, the P.I.T.A. dressing. Simmer the orange wedges, honey and vinegar in 300ml of water for about an hour. You want this mix to reduce to a thick syrup when blitzed. Pull and blitz until smooth.

The rest is easy to assemble. Add everything but the mayo, lemon juice, spinach & wrap to a large bowl.

Combine well. Add just enough mayo to stick together, hit with salt & pepper and lemon juice to your taste.

To make a sandwich, pile as much as your wrap can handle on a bed of spinach leaves and roll.

My wraps were large so I only had 2 and was bummed about that