Tag Archives: dressing

May 10, 2013

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

This was originally supposed to be a soba noodle salad.

The other day at work, I got really fixated on making one. I just knew it would be perfect with the various leftover veggies lurking in my crisper. I wouldn’t even have to go to the store! Major success.

Then I got home and found we had no soba noodles. Major failure.

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

So I went to the grocery store. AND THEY ALSO HAD NO SOBA NOODLES.

What. The. Hell.

So back home I went, dug wayyyy to the back of my (very deep) cabinet, and pulled out some ramen noodles. Cha-ching! Salads with ramen noodles are totally a thing. I know because my mom and grandma make one, and that makes them official. And also delicious. A few minutes later, I was digging into this!

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

So now that I’ve taken you on the little journey of how this salad came to be, let me tell you about it! Ramen noodles, obviously. Toasted to crunchy perfection! And I officially massaged my kale for the second time ever, woo hoo! Getting to be a pro at this. Then some crunchy and colorful veggies to really make you feel like you got your nutrients for the day.

And the dressing I had actually made for the roasted carrot and chickpea salad last week, but didn’t end up using it. I regretted the soy sauce as soon as I added it – it wasn’t at all what I was going for with the carrots and chickpeas. But it was perfect with these veggies! And that, my friends, is how I came to post two salads with miso dressing on consecutive weeks.

Fascinating, I know.

Anyway, this salad was so crunchy, flavorful, and fun. I know you’ll love it!

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

And finally, because I’m so happy it’s Friday, here’s what’s in store for the weekend: Tonight is a costume party (lifeguard/surfer themed – not sure what I’m wearing!), and tomorrow night is a wedding. I’m excited to kick off the 2013 wedding season (and thankful that this one involves no travel)! I’m also looking forward to the wedding because it’s my excuse to get my first pedicure since September, if you can believe that. I’ve been au naturale in the toe department all winter!

Anyway, in between parties and pedicures, I’m running a 5K race on Saturday morning. We’ll see how that goes! It’s my first race of the season and the first 5K road race I’ve run in a LONG time. (I did a 5K last summer, but it was a trail race – this should be easier!) I’ve been running 3 to 4 miles, 3 times a week, but no speed workouts or anything. If I can run the whole thing at about an 8:15 pace, I’ll be pretty happy. Wish me luck!

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

5.0 from 2 reviews

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen
 
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Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
For the dressing:
  • 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 3 Tbsp white miso paste
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup water
For the salad:
  • 1 bunch curly kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 3-4 green onions, sliced
  • 1 cup frozen edamame, thawed
  • 2 3-oz packets ramen noodles, flavoring packet discarded
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • sesame seeds

Instructions
  1. Prepare the dressing by blending all ingredients together.
  2. In a large salad bowl, pour half of the dressing over the kale. With your hands, toss the kale leaves and massage the dressing into them for about 30 seconds. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  3. Break up the ramen noodles into chunks. Preheat a toaster oven or regular oven to 350. Spread crumbled ramen on a baking sheet and toast until golden, several minutes.
  4. Toss veggies (pepper through edamame) with kale. Top with toasted ramen, avocado, and sesame seeds and serve alongside extra dressing. (You may have some dressing leftover.)
  5. Enjoy!

Notes
Dressing adapted from Food52.

 

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May 3, 2013

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

Hello, beautiful.

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

You should know that I’ve been wanting to post about this salad for a looong time. Ever since I started this blog, in fact. It’s a copycat of my favorite salad at (probably) my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake, Caffe Niche. But every time I’ve made it, it hasn’t quite lived up to the restaurant version, and I had to get it juuust right. But I think I finally did!

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon DressingWarm red quinoa, roasted tomatoes and onions, and lemon dressing served over a bed of arugula. It is just as good as it sounds – the nutty flavor of the quinoa, the sweetness of the roasted vegetables, and the bite of the lemon and arugula all combine to make my perfect salad.

The restaurant serves this in full or half portions. I always get the full salad, telling myself I’ll take the other half home. It hasn’t happened once! I’m a goner as soon as I take the first bite.

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

This is the kind of salad that you order for lunch on a sunny restaurant patio on a warm spring day. Preferably with a glass of red wine! It’s satisfying but still light, and although I love the salad warm, the leftovers (if you manage to save any!) are excellent cold.

Can I cram any more pictures in here to convince you to make this salad ASAP? Well, maybe just a few.

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon DressingIn the restaurant version, the onions are caramelized, rather than roasted. But let’s get real – ain’t nobody got time for that! Man I hate caramelizing onions – it always feels like a project. So I just tossed ‘em in the oven with the tomatoes, which cut down on the cooking time (and dishes!), and still gives them a great sweet flavor.

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

Also, I think I about quadrupled the amount of tomatoes from the restaurant version. I don’t want them hiding in there, you know? I love that my take on the salad is just bursting with juicy roasted tomatoes.

I highly recommend putting this on your summer menu!

Have a good weekend, and happy Cinco de Mayo! No Mexican recipes from me this Cinco de Mayo, unfortunately… maybe I’ll get my act together for that next week :)

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing

5.0 from 1 reviews

Warm Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing
 
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Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
For the salad:
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tsp olive oil, divided
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup dry red quinoa
  • arugula
For the dressing:
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • sprinkle of black pepper

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425. Separate onions into individual strips after slicing. Toss onions and tomatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spread on a baking sheet. Roast until onions are beginning to get crispy and tomatoes have burst and are juicy, 15-20 minutes.
  2. In the meantime, add quinoa to a pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain excess water.
  3. While quinoa and vegetables are cooking, prepare the dressing by blending all ingredients together.
  4. Once quinoa and vegetables are ready, stir them together with half of the dressing. Serve on a bed of arugula with extra dressing alongside. You may have leftover dressing.
  5. Enjoy!

 

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April 29, 2013

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger DressingSometimes doing the same thing over and over again is a bad thing. It’s called getting stuck in a rut.

But sometimes doing the same thing over and over again is a good thing. You’re hitting your stride. Perfecting the art. Getting it down to a science.

What I just learned from writing those sentences is that sports, art and science all involve doing the same thing over and over again. And I often feel like cooking is all three of those things! Definitely art. Definitely science. If you’re skeptical about the sports bit, you should see the sweat I can work up trying to get three dishes ready at the same time. It probably counts as my workout for the day, right? I thought so.

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been roasting a lot of vegetables lately. I’ve put them in tacos, I’ve had them on lentils, I’ve eaten them as sushi, I’ve called them poutine. April has kind of been The Month of the Roasted Vegetables around here. Stride = hit. Art = perfected. Science = …gotten down to? Sure. All of those things.

And so, just as the weather is getting warm enough here in Salt Lake that I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be wanting to turn my oven on, here is another roasted vegetable recipe. And it’s a really good one, too, this time over kale for Dole National Salad Day on Wednesday.

Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables to roast (and maybe I’ll even show you my favorite way to roast them soon!). In fact, they’re maybe one of my favorite vegetables period, which means I probably shouldn’t have laughed at my dad so much for eating about two pounds of them a week while we were growing up. In any case, I love carrots, especially roasted, and I think “scarfed” is the appropriate verb for the manner in which I consumed this salad about 0.8 seconds after taking these pictures.

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

Can I confide something in you? This “massaged kale” salad is the first time that I have EVER massaged my kale. The whole “massaged kale” thing always kind of weirded me out, to tell you the truth. I mean, massage it, really? Am I supposed to give it a pedicure afterwards, too? Some recipes instruct you to get in there with your hands for an oddly long amount of time. But I found that just 30 seconds of tossing the kale leaves with my hands and kind of, well, massaging them really did break them down and improve the texture considerably. So I guess I am sold! Kale masseuse numero uno right here.

All right, I think that is all I have to say on the subject of this salad. Happy Monday, get your week off to a good start!

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

5.0 from 1 reviews

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing
 
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Author:
Serves: 2

Ingredients
For the roasted carrots and chickpeas:
  • 2 cups chopped carrots (bite-sized)
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 14-oz can)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • sprinkle of salt and pepper
For the dressing:
  • 2 Tbsp white miso paste
  • juice of 1 lemon (3-4 Tbsp)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey (optional, add if dressing is too sour for you)
For the salad:
  • 1/2 bunch curly kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
  • handful of bean sprouts (optional)

Instructions
  1. First, roast the vegetables. Preheat oven to 450. Toss carrots and chickpeas with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on a lined baking sheet, taking care to spread the carrots in a single layer. Roast until carrots are beginning to brown and chickpeas are crispy, 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by blending ingredients (miso through olive oil) together, or mincing finely and whisking. Taste and add in the honey if the dressing is too sour for you.
  3. Pour half of the dressing over the kale and massage into the leaves with your hands to soften them.
  4. To serve, layer kale, optional bean sprouts, and roasted carrots and chickpeas. Top with remaining dressing.
  5. Enjoy!

 

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