Salads

Thai-Inspired Fruit Salad with Lime and Thai Basil

May 1, 2013 by Erica

Thai-Inspired Fruit Salad with Lime and Thai Basil

Happy May!

I think this fruit salad is the perfect way to start off such a glorious month.

Fruit salad just screams “summer barbecue” to me. It doesn’t make an appearance unless you have warm weather, a grill, and enough friends present to make a dent in a huge bowl of fruit. Yep, it doesn’t get much better the kind of occasion that features fruit salad.

But I’m not a fan of what I’ve come to think of as the typical fruit salad: pineapple, melon, and grapes. Maybe I’ve eaten too many continental breakfasts, but that just does not appeal to me. It always seems to sit out too long, the pineapple is all sour and hard, and does anyone actually like the melon in that salad? If so, the world – or at least hotel breakfast buffets – needs more people like you. And fewer people like me, who pick out all the grapes for themselves.

So instead, I created this Thai-inspired fruit salad featuring my favorite spring and summer flavors. No melon required.

Thai-Inspired Fruit Salad with Lime and Thai Basil

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Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

April 29, 2013 by Erica

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

Sometimes 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.

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Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

March 22, 2013 by Erica

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

Thank you for all your sweet birthday wishes yesterday! It means so much. I had a great birthday, and I even got to eat one of the cupcakes leftover from yesterday’s blog post. I love it when the leftovers stick around that long!

Sometimes, like yesterday, I like to eat a cupcake… or two. And sometimes, especially after two weeks of experimenting with cupcake recipes, I like to eat a salad.

Then, because I ate a salad, I can totally justify a cupcake. I love the way that works.

So here is this week’s salad, which might be one of my all-time favorites. And that’s a good thing, because I have a lot of cupcakes to ~~make up for~~ earn!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad

This salad is a combination of all my favorite salad-y things. Red cabbage, which is randomly (but truly) one of my favorite foods. Quinoa and spelt, which are not only some more of my favorite foods, but make this salad much heartier than it would otherwise be. And then edamame, carrots, green onions, and pepitas for more protein, sweetness, flavor and crunch. Not to mention the the light and lemony dressing, which adds the perfect zing.

What could be better than all your favorite healthy foods stacked together in a cute and portable jar?

Not much, I’ll tell you that. In fact, when you taste it, you just might start yelling, OH MY GOD, DOUBLE RAINBOW!

Sorry for that reference. I know it’s so 2010. I just couldn’t resist.

This salad makes the absolute best leftovers (as long as you keep the dressing separate), which is key in my life. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

All the ingredients are very sturdy, which also means the salad is super crunchy. (Spelt and red cabbage will do that.) So I may have even liked it best on day 3 or 4, when it was a bit easier on the jaw. (To make it less crunchy, you can put the red cabbage in a strainer and pour a pot of boiling water over it. This will soften it up a bit, but I didn’t bother.)

Enjoy this salad and have a fantastic weekend!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

5.0 from 1 reviews

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

Hands-on time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

Author: Erica

Yields: 5-6 servings

Ingredients

For the salad:

1 cup uncooked spelt berries
1 cup uncooked quinoa
4 cups shredded red cabbage
2 cups grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
2 cups shelled cooked edamame, defrosted if frozen
6 green onions, sliced
½ cup pepitas

For the dressing:

½ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
heaping Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 Tbsp water
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In separate small pots, bring spelt berries and quinoa to a boil with 1 1/2 cups water each. Simmer until tender but still chewy, 50-60 minutes for the spelt berries and about 15 minutes for the quinoa. Drain excess water and set aside to cool. This can be done ahead of time.
While grains cook, prepare the salad dressing. Blend all ingredients together with an immersion blend (or regular blender).
To assemble salad, layer ingredients in single-serving jars or clear bowls. You can also layer the entire salad in a large clear bowl, or just toss all ingredients together. Serve alongside dressing. Will keep for up to a week in the fridge (with dressing separate).

Notes

Inspired by Oh She Glows.

Tropical Chopped Salad with Mango, Pineapple, and Coconut

February 18, 2013 by Erica

It’s that time of year again… the time when we’re still in the depths of winter, and I start dreaming of the beach.

The mountains are beautiful in the winter, the skiing is great, the food is hearty, blah blah blah. It’s cold and I need a vacation.

This weekend, in an attempt to find the warm weather, Nate and I drove down to Zion National Park for some sun and hiking. Hopefully I’ll have a post with pictures for you later in the week! But I don’t even have a long weekend, so this morning I’m back at work, chugging away. A little weekend getaway to southern Utah was lovely, but something longer and more tropical would be right up my alley at the moment.

Enter this tropical salad. I went to the store and bought everything I could find that was delicious, in season, and from a warm location (sorry, sustainability), chopped it up, and put it in a bowl. Then I ate it and fantasized that I was sipping a pina colada on a beach, rather than eating salad out of a Tupperware in my office break room. It was so delicious that it almost worked.

This salad is just what you need at this time of year. Pineapple, mango, coconut, macadamia nuts, avocado? Yes yes yes! I enjoyed mine drizzled with olive oil and a few squeezes of lime, which I would recommend. You could also use your favorite dressing here!

Now to plan my summer beach vacation. Only 5 1/2 more months…

Tropical Chopped Salad with Mango, Pineapple, and Coconut

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the salad:
½ cup uncooked quinoa
4-5 cups shredded red leaf or romaine lettuce
1 mango, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped pineapple (about ¼ large pineapple)
1 cup finely chopped jicama
1 avocado, finely chopped
½ cup roasted unsalted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
½ cup flaked coconut, toasted
2-3 green onions, sliced

For dressing:
drizzle of olive oil
squeeze of lime juice
(or your favorite dressing)

Instructions:

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Add to a large bowl with all other salad ingredients. Toss and serve. Drizzle each serving with olive oil and lime juice.

Time:

30 minutes

Wilted Spinach, Brussels Sprout and Citrus Salad

January 14, 2013 by Erica

I’m feeling like my love of green things is slightly underrepresented on this blog.

It’s also slightly underrepresented in my life lately, despite the fact that it’s January.

But let’s face it, it is January, and nothing about freezing temps (high of 17 today) makes me want to eat cold, crunchy vegetables.

And that’s why this salad has a warm dressing poured over it, wilting the spinach and making me feel slightly happier about eating raw veggies in the dead of winter.

I came up with this salad the other morning before work, when I went to pack my lunch and realized that we had NO leftovers. That is not a common occurrence around here, because I’m pretty careful to make enormous dinners so that I can bring lunch all week.

So, boooooo, salad it was. Plus some frozen soup I found in the freezer. I was kind of bummed about it… until lunch kept me full all afternoon. That is definitely a rare occurrence.

I think it’s the Brussels sprouts that added the fullness factor? Whatever it was, it made me realize that this is a January salad I can handle.

If you are not a fan of Brussels sprouts… please give them a second chance?

They are pretty delightful when sliced into thin ribbons like this. Plus there’s none of that skunky flavor that you might associate with overcooked Brussels.

I used cara cara navel oranges in my salad, because I love their beautiful color and sweetness. But you could use regular navel oranges, grapefruit, or any other citrus.

You do have to supreme it – sorry! I mean I guess you don’t have to, but that’s really the only way I like my citrus salads, because I can’t stand the pith – yuck. But totally your choice, and if you’d like to supreme it but aren’t sure how, just google it and you can find some great video tutorials.

You’ll want to adjust the vinegar in the dressing for the sourness of the citrus you choose… I could have added another tablespoon of vinegar with these oranges, but if you use a grapefruit, you may not want any vinegar at all.

And sprinkle with some pepitas for a beautiful mid-winter salad. Enjoy!

Wilted Spinach, Brussels Sprout and Citrus Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

5 oz baby spinach (about 8 loose cups)

12-15 Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

2 oranges or other citrus fruit (I used cara cara navel oranges for their pretty color!)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Instructions:

Add spinach and sliced Brussels sprouts to a large bowl.

Supreme the oranges and set aside the segments. Squeeze the juice from the remaining parts of the oranges into a small heat-proof dish. (I got about 1/4 cup of juice out of mine.)

Add the oil, vinegar, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the orange juice. Adjust the vinegar to get the acidity that you like. Microwave until hot, about a minute.

Pour hot dressing over the spinach and Brussels sprouts and toss to coat. Top with orange segments (I like to add them after tossing so they don’t get torn up after I’ve so carefully supremed them!) and pepitas.

This salad is best when served immediately. It will keep in the fridge up to 24 hours, although the spinach will become more wilted.

Time:

10 minutes

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