Butter Lettuce and Chive Salad

This salad was initially pictured with the quiche recipe from last week, but it's such a light and refreshing recipe that I wanted to include it separately. Butter lettuce has a different texture than my typical romaine lettuce--it's much more soft and, well, buttery, than the crunch of romaine or even iceberg. It peels apart very easily and is soft and almost velvety on the tongue, but still with some crunch in the background.

The lemon and chives add a nice accent to this dish. This is actually the first time I tasted raw shallots, and I'm sufficiently impressed that I might actually use them in some of my other recipes. It's not an overwhelming onion taste, but a nice tang in the background.

Butter Lettuce and Chive Salad
Originally found at Blue Apron

1 head butter lettuce
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp minced shallot (about half a small shallot)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch chives, minced

Trim off and discard the root end of the lettuce. Separate and rinse the leaves. Tear or roughly chop into bite sized pieces. Combine the lemon juice and shallot, then slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine the lettuce and chives, and top with vinaigrette to taste.

Vinaigrette keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days, so it can be made ahead.

My Notes:
Light and refreshing, just like I said. Squeeze the lemons with a juicer or over your hand to prevent seeds from going into the vinaigrette.

Orange, Green, and Black Salad

Salad shown with seared salmon

This Blue Apron meal was interesting. The salmon wasn't very flavorful and I was not impressed with the overall flavor profile, but I fell in love with this salad. I was first introduced to black rice (also known as purple rice due to the color the water turns when you make it, or forbidden rice) several years ago. It has a wonderful nutty taste and naturally has a little crunch (even if you boil the heck out of it). I don't have much opportunity to actually eat it, but it's always a nice treat when I do.

This salad has a wonderful mix of crunch, creaminess, and tang. And it's hardy enough to be a meal on its own. Feel free to add some protein source to it if you so desire, though.

Orange, Green, and Black Salad
Originally found at Blue Apron

2/3 cup black rice
2 Tbsp pepitas
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and medium diced
1 navel orange, peeled and medium diced
Juice of one small lime
Zest from one small lime
1 shallot, finely diced
1 bunch cilantro

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling on high. Add the rice and cook 27-29 minutes, until tender. Drain and rinse briefly under cold water. While the rice is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat, then toast the pepitas until lightly browned and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Combine the lime juice with the diced shallot. Slowly whisk in 2 Tbsp olive oil until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Combine rice, avocado, orange, lime zest, and toasted pepitas in a large bowl. Toss with vinaigrette just before serving and garnish with cilantro.

My Notes:
This dish actually keeps pretty well. If you don't make it all at once, dice and add the avocado last, just before serving, as the juice of the limes and oranges will keep it from browning. I'm perfectly content to keep this as a side dish, but again, feel free to add protein if you want to make it a full meal.

Taco Salad

Pictured: Dairy variety

Taco Salad
From Connie's Kitchen
Serves One

Large handful tortilla chips
2 cups sliced romaine lettuce (about 4 large leaves)
1/2 roma tomato, diced
1/4 medium cucumber, diced
2 Tbsp Miracle Whip
1/2 cup salsa

For Meat variety:
1/4 lb ground meat, browned
taco seasoning, to taste
1/4 cup water

For Dairy variety:
1/2 cup Morning Star Grillers Recipe Crumbles (or other meat substitute)
Taco seasoning, to taste
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cheese

Place either meat or Grillers recipe crumbles in a frying pan. Combine with water and taco seasoning to taste. Heat to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens.

In a small container, mix Miracle Whip and 2-3 Tbsp salsa until well combined.

To assemble the salad, place chips on plate, followed by lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. Top with meat or meat substitute. Dress with Miracle Whip mixture and remaining salsa. If using meat substitute, top with cheese.

My Notes:
My host made this for me last month, except that I think she had carrots in her variety. I modified the recipe a tad, using less Miracle Whip (and Lite stuff, rather than the full fat variety), and making sure it was Kosher.

I personally really like cheese on my salads, so I looked for a way to get the taco flavor without using ground meat. I found the Morning Star crumbles, which are kosher-dairy, so acceptable to use with this recipe. It's made using TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein), so it does fall apart a bit when it's mixed with water, however formed it looks when it's frozen. Still, it gets the job done.

Curry Rice Salad

Curry Rice Salad
Originally found at Simply Recipes

1 to 1 1/2 cups brown rice
one large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp curry powder (mild)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
few drops of sesame oil
Bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 cup raisins
1 apple, cored and chopped
1-2 Tbsp honey

Cook brown rice according to package directions.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add curry powder, chili powder, cumin, and sesame oil. Allow to simmer for a minute. Add onion and cook until translucent.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the hot rice and curry infused oil. Taste and prepare more oil if needed. Add cilantro, raisins, apple, and honey to taste. Chill and serve.

My Notes:
Not bad. My trial did not include the cilantro (I got lazy and decided not to go to the store again prior to making it). I also had to add more curry powder because I could barely taste it. Still, the flavors melded together well, and everyone at the picnic I brought it to enjoyed it. This is definitely a 'mess with it as you go' recipe, where the above proportions are not exact by any stretch of the imagination. So have fun and play around with it until you get what you want.

Mexican Quinoa Salad

Image Pending

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Adapted From Cooking Quinoa

3 cups cooked quinoa*
1 can corn, rinsed
1 1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil

In a large bowl combine quinoa, corn, black beans, tomatoes and cilantro. In a small bowl combine cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, and lemon juice. Whisk until well combined. Toss quinoa salad with 3/4 of dressing (to taste) and serve warm or cold. Drizzle additional dressing on top as desired.

*When making quinoa, rinse the grain thoroughly, then combine with water in a 1:1.75 ratio (so for every cup of quinoa, you'd use 1 3/4 cups water). Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 or so minutes, until the water is absorbed. I used the standard 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water, and it came out mushy and I have to boil some of the water off, so using slightly less will work wonders, I think. Note that 1 cup of dried quinoa will approximately yield 3 cups cooked quinoa.

My Notes:
A couple weeks ago, one of my friends brought dinner for all of us studying in the library, and made a quinoa salad. I fell in love with the stuff and vowed to make something of my own. So, I scoured the internet as I usually do and came across the recipe above. I bought all the ingredients for it... and then went on vacation (I couldn't find the quinoa until the night before I left). When I came back, my lime had rotted, and all I had was a lemon, so I used that instead. It turned out a little bland, so I used some old taco sauce to spice it up a little, and then eventually threw the leftovers in a soup. I'll keep working on it.

Thai Noodle Salad

(Told you it was pending)

Thai Noodle Salad
Originally found at Allrecipes.com

1 (12 ounce) package angel hair pasta
4 large carrots, shredded
1 small green bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 small red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 small yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, divided
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup tahini (estimate)
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Green onions, for garnish

Break pasta in half and cook as directed. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, carrots, bell peppers and cilantro.

In a food processor, mix together 1/4 cup peanuts, peanut butter, tahini, vinegar, chile sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar until well combined. Add a small amount of oil if the mixture is too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Ten minutes before serving, toss the pasta mixture with the peanut sauce. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, peanuts, and sesame seeds, if desired.

My Notes:

I definitely adapted this recipe. I didn't have rice wine vinegar, so I cut the amount in half and used white wine vinegar. It came out really sour, so I added more tahini to compensate. The recipe above reflects the change I made; if you actually use rice wine vinegar, you may want to use more, as it isn't quite as strong as white wine vinegar.

I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I brought the dish to a potluck we were having, and those who had it complemented me on it. And I tried it and was mostly pleased. It's definitely less harsh on the salad itself than it is straight out of the bowl. Guess I need to work on my taste discrimination a bit more.

All in all, it was a very good, and very colorful recipe. I enjoyed it, and it was nice and light for a summer's day (or night, as the case may be).

Salmon-Asparagus Orzo Salad

Salmon-Asparagus Orzo Salad
Originally found at My Recipes.com

6 cups water
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces
1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 (1 1/4-pound) skinless salmon fillet
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat broiler. Put water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from water, reserving water in pan. Place in ice water; drain and set aside.

Bring reserved water to a boil; add orzo and cook until al dente. Combine dill, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over salmon fillet and place on a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil 5 minutes* or until fish flakes easily with fork.

Using two forks, break fish into chunks. Combine fish, orzo, and asparagus in a large bowl and toss. Season again with lemon juice and olive oil, if desired.

My Notes:
*If you're using a frozen salmon fillet, use the low broiler setting and cook 10-15 minutes, until the center is a light pink. No, I don't really trust raw fish.

A few months ago, I went to a restaurant called Orzo. The menu wasn't fabulous for a kosher-style diet, as most of the dishes contained pork. But, I lucked out and found a broiled salmon fillet over a bed of asparagus orzo. I hadn't really ever had asparagus before, so I was hesitant to get it, but I went for it, thinking I could pick out the asparagus if it came down to it. I actually found that I really liked it. This recipe basically mimics it, except that you break the salmon into the salad.

I changed the original recipe a little by using the 'vinaigrette' to flavor the salmon instead of tossing the whole salad in it. As a result, there wasn't a ton of flavor on the orzo itself, but that was easily fixed by some more lemon juice and olive oil.

And notice! It's not a dairy recipe!

Southwest Layered Salad

Southwest Layered Salad
Originally found at Kraft Canada

6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup cheese
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 cup broken tortilla chips

Place lettuce on plate, followed by beans, corn, salsa, cheese, ranch dressing, and chips. Serve.

My Notes:
I finally found a kosher ranch dressing. I'm so excited. When I originally started this, I was thinking that there was no way I'd find a kosher ranch dressing, since my favorite varieties (mostly Hidden Valley) weren't kosher. So, I started trying other dressings (honey mustard became my favorite). But I was randomly shopping in the store the other day and found one with an OU certification.

At any rate, this salad actually tastes really good. I was skeptical, since I'm picky with textures and salsa on lettuce without some sort of meat didn't sound that appetizing, but it was good. The crunch with the tortilla chips was key, I think. This could be adapted to be pareve or meat, but I chose to just keep it dairy. I really need to branch out more.