One of the most common requests I get for recipe shares is my salads. The difficulty is that I don't have a lot of 'recipes' per say. I usually just look at what's in the fridge, and throw it in a bowl.
That said, I've got a couple I can share, and going forward I'll make a real effort to write down what I do (if it works, of course!).
Salad One: Manda's Favourite Salad
This one is my go-to salad, and my absolute favourite thing to make. It's a side or a meal, depending on how big you make it, and what extras you add.
Ingredients:
Field greens/salad mix or baby spinach (well washed and checked over for bugs)
Cubes of roasted sweet potato (peel and chop a sweet potato into 1/2" cubes. Toss with olive oil and roast in a 425 oven until done - about 20 minutes). Butternut squash is also great here.
Handful of sunflower seeds
Handful of dried cranberries
Handful of onions of your choosing (if I'm feeling healthy I choose a chopped green onion. If I want a treat, I'll choose some crunchy fried onions. A sweet middle ground is some slow caramelized onions, which I always keep ready to go in the fridge).
Toss it all in a bowl, and then drizzle with dressing of your choice. My faves for this salad include a simple balsamic and olive oil (2 parts oil to vinegar), with a couple shakes of dried basil and oregano. For a twist, try a lemon and tahini dressing (lemon juice and olive oil with a tsp of tahini, and a tsp of honey).
For a heartier meal, an avocado goes really well in this salad, and provides a bit more oomf as a main.
Salad Two: The Easiest, Most Beautiful, Veg Side Dish Ever (Or, my cheater version of Ratatouille)
What can I say about this one. It LOOKS fancy and impressive, but is the easiest thing in the world to pull off. I came up with it when my oldest was obsessed with the movie Ratatouille, and it looks an awful lot like what they make in the movie. I assure you though, it's not based on any traditional recipe, so don't call it that if you have guests who know food. ;)
Ingredients:
2 zucchinis, sliced thin
1 eggplant, sliced thin (the small chinese ones work best. If you have a regular eggplant cut in half or quarters and then slice, but it won't look as pretty)
2 tomatoes, sliced thin
1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), sliced
handful of fresh basil leaves
sprinkle of dried basil and oregano
salt and pepper
Directions:
Slice all your vegetables thinly to make rounds. You can save time if you want and use a food processor or mandolin, but I encourage you to practice your knife skills. :)
Drizzle a round baking dish with oil, and beginning around the walls of your dish, place your vegetables in a fan pattern around it, overlapping the layers as you go in toward the centre. Try to maintain your pattern (zucchini, eggplant, tomato, pepper, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, pepper, and so on).
Every so often, place a basil leaf in the mix as well.
Continue until you've come to the centre of your dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle your dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Tear up any remaining basil, and sprinkle that on the top as well.
Bake in a 425 oven until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown on the edges. Baking time depends on how tightly you've packed your layers - anywhere from 15-35 minutes or more, so watch closely.
Salad Three: Kale & Chickpeas
This one is a serious fave of mine, because it's so simple but so full of nutrients. Washing your kale is the most time consuming part of this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, washed and dried well
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
drizzle of lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste (I like this one salty)
Directions
Heat a frying pan on the stove to a medium high heat. You want the kale to cook quickly and crisp around the edges, not wilt slowly, so it needs to be quite high (just below your oil's smoking point). Drizzle your pan with a generous glug of olive oil. This helps the edges of the kale to crisp up. Once the pan is hot, toss your kale and garlic into the pan, turning with tongs almost constantly so that it doesn't burn. It will only take a few minutes until the leaves are tender near the stem, and slightly crispy along the edges. As soon as this happens, remove from heat.
Transfer to a bowl and stir in chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle of lemon juice.
So that's my first three salads. Try these out and let me know how you like them. More to follow soon!
That said, I've got a couple I can share, and going forward I'll make a real effort to write down what I do (if it works, of course!).
Salad One: Manda's Favourite Salad
This one is my go-to salad, and my absolute favourite thing to make. It's a side or a meal, depending on how big you make it, and what extras you add.
Ingredients:
Field greens/salad mix or baby spinach (well washed and checked over for bugs)
Cubes of roasted sweet potato (peel and chop a sweet potato into 1/2" cubes. Toss with olive oil and roast in a 425 oven until done - about 20 minutes). Butternut squash is also great here.
Handful of sunflower seeds
Handful of dried cranberries
Handful of onions of your choosing (if I'm feeling healthy I choose a chopped green onion. If I want a treat, I'll choose some crunchy fried onions. A sweet middle ground is some slow caramelized onions, which I always keep ready to go in the fridge).
Toss it all in a bowl, and then drizzle with dressing of your choice. My faves for this salad include a simple balsamic and olive oil (2 parts oil to vinegar), with a couple shakes of dried basil and oregano. For a twist, try a lemon and tahini dressing (lemon juice and olive oil with a tsp of tahini, and a tsp of honey).
For a heartier meal, an avocado goes really well in this salad, and provides a bit more oomf as a main.
Salad Two: The Easiest, Most Beautiful, Veg Side Dish Ever (Or, my cheater version of Ratatouille)
What can I say about this one. It LOOKS fancy and impressive, but is the easiest thing in the world to pull off. I came up with it when my oldest was obsessed with the movie Ratatouille, and it looks an awful lot like what they make in the movie. I assure you though, it's not based on any traditional recipe, so don't call it that if you have guests who know food. ;)
Ingredients:
2 zucchinis, sliced thin
1 eggplant, sliced thin (the small chinese ones work best. If you have a regular eggplant cut in half or quarters and then slice, but it won't look as pretty)
2 tomatoes, sliced thin
1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), sliced
handful of fresh basil leaves
sprinkle of dried basil and oregano
salt and pepper
Directions:
Slice all your vegetables thinly to make rounds. You can save time if you want and use a food processor or mandolin, but I encourage you to practice your knife skills. :)
Drizzle a round baking dish with oil, and beginning around the walls of your dish, place your vegetables in a fan pattern around it, overlapping the layers as you go in toward the centre. Try to maintain your pattern (zucchini, eggplant, tomato, pepper, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, pepper, and so on).
Every so often, place a basil leaf in the mix as well.
Continue until you've come to the centre of your dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle your dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Tear up any remaining basil, and sprinkle that on the top as well.
Bake in a 425 oven until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown on the edges. Baking time depends on how tightly you've packed your layers - anywhere from 15-35 minutes or more, so watch closely.
Salad Three: Kale & Chickpeas
This one is a serious fave of mine, because it's so simple but so full of nutrients. Washing your kale is the most time consuming part of this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, washed and dried well
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
drizzle of lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste (I like this one salty)
Directions
Heat a frying pan on the stove to a medium high heat. You want the kale to cook quickly and crisp around the edges, not wilt slowly, so it needs to be quite high (just below your oil's smoking point). Drizzle your pan with a generous glug of olive oil. This helps the edges of the kale to crisp up. Once the pan is hot, toss your kale and garlic into the pan, turning with tongs almost constantly so that it doesn't burn. It will only take a few minutes until the leaves are tender near the stem, and slightly crispy along the edges. As soon as this happens, remove from heat.
Transfer to a bowl and stir in chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle of lemon juice.
So that's my first three salads. Try these out and let me know how you like them. More to follow soon!
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