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Posts Tagged ‘salad’

Tuna Salad Boats

Posted in Cutting out processed food, Fish, Fresh Vegetables, Gluten-free, Healthy Lifestyle, Kid Food, Low carb, Lunch, Paleo-friendly, Real Food, Recipes, Salads, Wraps, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2013 | 2 Comments »

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These are one of my favorite lunch items. I make the tuna salad and pack my romaine leaves in a ziplock the night before, so I can just grab my lunch bag and head out the door in the morning. Enjoy!

Tuna Salad Boats

Makes 4 leafy green boats of happiness2013-01-20 14.07.54

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 romaine leaves, washed and dried, thicker stem ends cut off
  • 1 can of tuna, drained and flaked
  • 1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
  • 1 T. dried currants
  • 8-10 crispy almonds, chopped (here’s a recipe for how and why to use soaked and dehydrated nuts)
  • 1/4 c. olive oil mayonnaise, plus or minus, depending on your tastes (here’s a great recipe, with video!)
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the romaine leaves and mix well.
  2. Fill the romaine leaves with the tuna filling, holding like a soft taco.  Proceed to “mmmmm” and “ahhhhhh” over the devastating, tiny hits of sweet from the currants, the crunch from the celery and almonds, and the silky, savory, and healthy olive oil mayonnaise tying it all together.

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Quick Lunch Post – Mine, for a change!

Posted in Lunch, Muriel, Real Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Sprouted seven-grain bread, lettuce, heirloom tomato, and tuna salad for the sandwich.  Tuna salad is sustainably-caught tuna, organic Spectrum brand mayo, celery, red onion, sea salt and pepper.  String cheese and strawberries on the side.  Yum!

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Chinese Chicken Salad

Posted in Brunch, Chicken, Main Dishes, Nut Butters, Paleo-friendly, Salads, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2012 | 2 Comments »

This recipe is adapted from an Ina Garten Chinese Chicken Salad recipe to accommodate what we had on hand, to contain less fat (not because of calories, but just because the texture was too oily), and to include less salt (again, the original recipe was overpoweringly salty).  If you don’t like using peanut butter, you could certainly substitute any other nut butter.

This is a quick and easy weeknight recipe for us.  It’s great cold, and if you’re in a hurry and your chicken doesn’t cool all the way down, it’s great warm too.  I put the leftover bit in the fridge for my lunch tomorrow.  It keeps very well for another day or two, and it will be delicious on toasted bread with spring greens to cushion it.

We have always put this over a big green salad because it’s a main dish, a protein, and a dressing all in one.  Served with a bowl of watermelon chunks on the side, it’s just about the perfect hot summer night meal!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb. chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
  • 1/2 lb. asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
  • 2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
  • 1 T white sesame seeds, toasted

DRESSING

  • 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 c. Bragg’s apple cider vinegar
  • 2 T. low-sodium tamari
  • 1-1/2 T. toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 T. honey
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 t. powdered ginger
  • 1/2 T. sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1/4 c. natural nut butter
  • 1 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Grill the chicken ahead of time or set aside freshly grilled chicken until cool enough to handle.  Shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.

Steam the asparagus for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender.  Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.  Drain.  Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Shared on Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday

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Strawberry Walnut Salad with Honey Vinaigrette

Posted in Brunch, Fresh Vegetables, Healthy Lifestyle, Lunch, tagged , , , , , on April 30, 2012 | 3 Comments »

I made this for the girls for lunch on Saturday.  They are both hardcore salad dressing abstainers; however I sneaked a little of this vinaigrette onto their salads and they raved about it.  Who would have thought?  I had one myself and I must say, this is the most inspired thing I’ve made in quite a while.  It was so simple, too.  I wanted something sweet, tangy, easy, and quick.  Fait accompli!

Strawberries are also one of those items I must buy organic.  The flavor alone is worth the extra cost.  They were on sale this week, so that extra cost was $.25.  The organic strawberries were $3.00, and the non-organic were $2.75.  Too good to pass up, and their flavor is unsurpassed.  Their sweet, bright flavor makes me think of the tiny, sweet, sun-warmed strawberries in my mom’s garden when I was growing up.

Strawberry Walnut Salad with Honey Vinaigrette

Serves 2

Strawberry Walnut Salad

  • 3 c. spring greens
  • 1/2 c. raw walnut halves/pieces
  • 1 c. sliced fresh strawberries

Honey Vinaigrette

  • 1 T. raw honey
  • 1 t. balsalmic vinegar
  • 1 t. lime juice
  • tiny dash of sea salt
  • 2 t. water

DIRECTIONS

  1. Arrange the spring greens in a bowl and toss the strawberries and walnuts on top.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.  Drizzle over the salad, or toss with it if you wish.

Enjoy!

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Creamy Avocado Chicken Salad Wraps (Without Mayonnaise!)

Posted in Chicken, Main Dishes, Wraps, tagged , , , , , , , on March 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

It’s a beautiful day by any measure, but especially in light of the fact that it’s mid-March in Wisconsin.  I think it hit about 75 degrees today.  The kids were playing out in Willow Acre Park this morning (our backyard), but we wanted to have a picnic lunch away from home.  Since it is so warm, I wanted to have a lunch that could sit outside.  After a swing through The Healthy Foodie’s website (I LOVE her recipes), I found her Creamy Chicken Avocado and Goat Cheese Salad.  I don’t eat anything goat-y because I just don’t like the flavor.  Please, I can hear you squawking, “But goat cheese is WONDERFUL!  You must not have tried the right kind!”  Please, trust me, I’ve tried and tried different varieties, and my palate says No, thank you, and please get this goat off me.

We also made whole wheat tortillas, which turned out beautifully.  The first time we made the recipe, we used all white flour, just to see how they came out.  They were delicious, so we substituted whole wheat flour for half, and unbleached flour for the rest.  Amazing.  SO much better than the whole wheat/multi-grain tortillas you buy at the store, both in flavor and in holding together.  We’ve found the store-bought multi-grain tortillas very soft and weak, and they break apart easily.  The flavor is weak and tastes over-processed.

The final touch was belgian endives.  We put two leaves down the middle of the tortilla, then filled the little endive “cups” with the chicken salad.  The crunch of the endive paired with the whole wheat tortilla and the creamy chicken salad made a delicious, healthy, portable, and satisfying lunch.  I hope you enjoy it as well!

Creamy Avocado Chicken Salad Wraps

Serves 4

CHICKEN SALAD

  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, sauteed and finished with salt and pepper, and cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 40 red grapes, halved
  • 1 unpeeled apple, cored and diced
  • 2 celery rib, diced
  • 1/4 c. pecans, chopped
  • 2 T. dried parsley (1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley, chopped)
  • 1 t. fresh rosemary, chopped

DRESSING

  • 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
  • 4 T. milk
  • 2 T. honey
  • 1 t. vanilla extract
  • 1 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 t. ground black pepper

ADDITIONAL

  • 8 whole wheat tortillas, warmed
  • 2 small endives, cored and separated into leaves

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large bowl, stir together the chicken salad ingredients.
  2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
  3. Add the dressing to the chicken salad and fold together gently.
  4. Holding the tortilla (or laying it on a plate), place two endive leaves down the middle.  Spoon chicken salad into endive leaves, and wrap the tortilla edges together.

Serve immediately.  If you prefer, the chicken salad mixture can be made up to eight hours ahead of time and refrigerated.  But it’s better fresh.

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