Tuscan Kale Salad

This is my attempt at recreating the Tuscan kale salad from True Food Kitchen. The one at True Food Kitchen has breadcrumbs in it, which I don't include, but I think that's the primary difference. It's one of my favorite things to eat for lunch.

Ingredients

1/2 bunch Tuscan kale (also called lacinato or dinosaur kale)

Lemon Vinaigrette

1-2 tbs shaved Parmesan (I like Violife's vegan Parm.)

Directions

1) Remove woody kale stems and rip up the kale leaves. Rinse.

2) Pour boiling water over the kale; then drain and rinse with cold water immediately. (I doubt they cook the kale even this small amount at True Food Kitchen, but it makes it easy to digest and reduces the amount of dressing required to soften it up.) Let the leaves drain for a few minutes.

3) Dress with lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Lemon Vinaigrette

 Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1-3 garlic cloves

1-2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1) Put garlic cloves in a food processor and run until minced. 

2) Put all remaining ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

3) Keeps for up to a week in the fridge.

Buffalo Tofu Salad

This is a vegetarian adaptation of the buffalo shrimp salad at Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House.  Lately I've been keeping all the ingredients on hand so I can heat up some tofu and then throw everything together in a bowl.  It seems to be one of those dishes that has so much vegetable matter and healthy stuff in it that it can taste rich and filling and still help me lose weight.

Ingredients
Buffalo tofu, a couple fistfuls (can be made without the oil in the recipe -- I cube up the tofu and make a big batch so I can have it on hand in the fridge)
Spring greens, big bowlful
Pecans, 2 tbs (can be spicy, roasted, or toasted -- I've been just lightly toasting whatever raw pecan pieces I have on hand in a skillet)
Blue cheese crumbles, 2 tbs (I like a gorgonzola or something even milder)
Ranch dressing

Directions

1)  If you prepared the buffalo tofu in advance, heat it in the microwave.

2)  Toss salad greens with dressing.  Throw everything else on top.  Eat. 

Creamy Chipotle-Lime Dressing

This is still my first effort at this dressing, but I don't want to forget what I used.  And apparently the key to thinning white bean puree into the consistency of dressing is the addition of water (for thinning) and vinegar (so that it doesn't taste watery). 

Ingredients
1/4 cup water
1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 chipotle in adobo, from canned (note:  ONE CHIPOTLE, not one can full.  If you use the whole can, the spiciness will murder you.  Put the rest in a sealed container and throw it in the freezer for later.)
Juice of 1 lime (again, I think 2 would be preferable -- yielding about a tablespoon of juice in total, I'm estimating -- but I'm out of limes.)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup prepared salsa
salt, to taste
2 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tbs unsweetened yogurt (I used some of the homemade unsweetened soy cashew yogurt I made the other day -- I was shocked at how much it brightened and improved the flavor.  Though now that I've added vinegar, I'm not sure how much the yogurt mattered.)
2 tbs apple cider vinegar (vinegar seems to be essential to creating a bold enough flavor to serve as a salad dressing -- it was far too watery before I added it)

Directions
1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend smooth.  Refrigerate for up to a week (conservative estimate).
 

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing

I was going to make Neal Barnard's Roasted Red Pepper salad dressing, as found on Healthy Girl's Kitchen, but I started getting things out and ended up making it my own way instead.  It's still vegan, no-oil, and no-salt.  It's not very vinegary since I'm not super into vinegar, and it tastes good plain on a spoon, so we'll see how it tastes when diluted over an entire salad.  I think lemon zest and juice could also be a good addition or replacement for the vinegar, but I have no lemons right now.

Ingredients
1 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed (I used cannellini because it's what I had on hand, but great northern and probably even butter beans would work equally well)
1 1/2 tbs white balsamic vinegar (because that's how much I'd used when I realized the bottle was empty)
1 tbs fig-infused balsamic vinegar (because it smelled milder and more appealing to me than my plain balsamic)
1 tsp Mrs. Dash original salt-free blend (because I have two varieties of Mrs. Dash from when I first read Esselstyn and Fuhrman's books, and I never really use them)

Directions

1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender (I used my Vitamix for optimal smoothness) and blend until smooth.  Store in sealed jars in the refrigerator for (I'm guessing here) up to two weeks.  Makes two standard size mason jars worth of dressing.

Black Bean & Citrus Salad

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients
1 large onion, diced (1 cup)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced (1 cup)
6 oranges, sectioned, membranes ad pith removed (1 1/2 cups)
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice, reserved from orange sections
3 tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce
1/2 - 1 cup chopped cilantro
2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
arugula or baby spinach

Directions

1. Stir-fry onion and pepper in a nonstick sauce pan over medium heat until just tender. Add orange juice or water as necessary. Set aside.

2. Place orange sections in a large bowl.

3. Combine orange zest, orange juice, lime juice, cumin, and Tabasco in a bowl.

4. Add onion mixture, cilantro, and beans to orange sections. Add juice mixture and toss to combine. Serve over a bed of arugula or baby spinach.

Red Salad

This recipe is called Red, Red, Red, Red Salad in Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  

Ingredients:
1 bunch radishes, greens removed, trimmed, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 head red cabbage, cored and chopped
1 box grape tomatoes, halved
2 19-oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced (1 cup)
1/2 large red onion, diced (1 cup)
2 tbs no-tahini hummus
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tbs balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar of your choice(
arugula or baby lettuce

Directions:

1. Combine first six ingredients in a bowl.

2. Combine next three ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Add dressing to vegetables, toss, and refrigerate.

4. Just before serving, line a shallow salad bowl with arugula or baby lettuce and fill with salad mixture.

[Edited 6/19/2014: I won't bother making this again.  It's just not that good.]

Butter Bean & Basil Salad

Now that we finally have a thriving basil plant, I want to make some basil-heavy recipes.  This one comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients:
3 15-ounce cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup (or more) coarsely chopped basil
1 16-ounce pkg frozen corn, thawed under running water
1 box grape or cherry tomatoes, halved, or 1 large tomato, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients and pile in center of a platter or bowl.  Surround with spinach leaves and other vegetables of your choice, raw or cooked.  (I bet this would be good over baby arugula.)

Cranberry Waldorf Salad

I've been making this recipe for holidays for nearly a decade now.  It's healthy and tasty, and I usually eat the leftovers for lunch and snacks until they're all gone.  I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chopped cranberries (I've had best results by freezing cranberries, then quartering them.  Food processing releases juice and makes them sourer.)
1 cup chopped red apple
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbs white sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (6 - 8 oz.) container vanilla low-fat yogurt

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine cranberries, apple, celery, grapes, raisins, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and yogurt. Toss to coat. Cover, and chill 2 hours. Stir just before serving.

Pasta Salad

My mother used to make this dish with tricolor rotini, Presto salad dressing, and leftover cold turkey.  I've adjusted the ingredients over the years to make it vegetarian and a bit healthier (mostly by changing the pasta to whole wheat).  It can be made vegan by using a vegan salad dressing and omitting the meat.  This dish can easily be altered to your own taste.  Add other vegetables, such as chopped red bell peppers or grape tomatoes, and use whatever box of pasta and bottle of salad dressing you have on hand.

Ingredients
16 oz. whole wheat rotini (or tricolor rotini)
2 carrots, chopped
2-3 cups broccoli florets
4 oz. sliced black olives
4 oz. sliced green olives (sold by the jar as "salad olives")
1 cup chicken, turkey, or vegetarian chik'n strips, cooked/cooled/chopped (optional)
8 oz. Italian (vinegar-based, not creamy) salad dressing of your choice (I like Ken's Northern Italian Lite, which does contain cheese)

Directions

1. Boil the pasta, drain, and put into a sealable container.

2. Add remaining ingredients.

3. Seal container and shake to combine.  Serve warm or chilled.  Keeps in refrigerator for about 3 days.

Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad

This salad contains exclusively things I like, so that's exciting.  The recipe comes from Giada de Laurentiis of FoodNetwork.

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 medium beets, cooked and quartered
6 cups fresh arugula
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed
3 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Directions

 

1. Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Whisk the vinegar, shallots, and honey in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with salt and pepper. Toss the beets in a small bowl with enough dressing to coat. Place the beets on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the beets are slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Set aside and cool.

3. Toss the arugula, walnuts, and cranberries in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the salad atop 4 plates. Arrange the beets around the salad. Sprinkle with the avocado and goat cheese, and serve.

 

Hot-and-Sour Cabbage Salad

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. 

Ingredients
1/2 head Napa cabbage, shredded
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup seasoned or plain rice vinegar
1 tbs peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 - 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Place cabbage and green onion in a large bowl.

2. In a small saucepan, over medium head, bring vinegar, ginger, sugar (optional), and hot pepper flakes to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Pour hot dressing over cabbage and toss.

Green Banana Power Blended Salad

This recipe comes from Joel Fuhrman's Disease-Proof Your Child.  I'm not sure if it will be really good or just horrifying, but it sounds interesting and includes things I like (especially medjool dates).  I'll probably omit the vinegar initially and only add it if the dish seems weird or lacking.  If I can even find black fig vinegar.  I have balsamic fig vinegar, but Fuhrman's book lists at least half a dozen vinegars I've never even heard of, let alone seen before.

Ingredients
2-3 oz. washed baby spinach
3-4 oz. washed romaine lettuce
1 banana
1/2 avocado
5 medjool dates
1 tbs black fig vinegar (optional)

Directions

1. Blend well into a smooth pudding-like consistency in the food processor, the Vita-Mix, or a powerful blender by shoving the lettuce down into the blades with a cucumber or carrot used as a plunging tool. Blending raw greens until smooth greatly increases the absorption of nutrients from our digestive tract, delivering a powerful nutrient punch.

[Edited 7/28/13:  It's quite good.  I've never included the vinegar.]

Asian Chik'n Salad

This recipe is based on an Asian Chicken Salad recipe I found on AllRecipes.com. 

Ingredients
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbs rice vinegar
1 (8 oz) pkg dried rice noodles
1 head iceberg lettuce, rinsed/dried/chopped (I plan to use whatever leftover lettuce I have on hand -- probably romaine or green leaf)
1 pkg Morningstar Meal Starters Chik'n Strips
3 green onions, chopped
1 tbs sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Prepare the dressing 30 minutes ahead of time by combining the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salad oil, and rice vinegar in a salad dressing carafe.
2. To prepare the Chinese rice noodles, heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil and break off a little bit of the noodles and add them to the skillet and fry them. They will puff up in the skillet, so only add a few at a time. As they begin to puff up, remove and drain them on paper towels. Be sure to cook long enough as the under cooked noodles will be like eating needles. Once cooked, add them to the salad mixture.
3. In a large bowl combine the iceberg lettuce, cooked chik'n strips (I stir-fry them in a little vegetable oil), green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Let chill about 10 minutes, and just before serving add the cooked rice noodles. Serve in salad bowls and offer the dressing in a pourable container so your family can add as much dressing as they want. You can also pour the dressing over the top of the salad, toss, and serve immediately.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

I found this recipe on AllRecipes while looking for a really good, basic vinaigrette recipe to serve over salad greens.

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raspberry wine vinegar (or another good quality vinegar of your choice)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
(I'm not sure why there is no salt in this recipe, unless there is enough in the mustard.  I'll add it to the list of ingredients when I figure out how much is necessary.  I also doubt there should be equal amounts oil and vinegar, based on the old vinaigrette adage I heard on 'Good Eats', but we'll see how it goes.  I'll probably only use 1/4 cup vinegar to start and add more to taste.)

Directions

1. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, oregano, and pepper. Shake well.

Curried Tofu Salad

This recipe is meant to be a vegetarian version of curried chicken salad.  I found it on EatingWell.com, and I'm not sure how true I'll stay to the original recipe since I'm hoping to make it resemble the flavor of the curried tofu in my pot pie recipe, which I love.  I also have to take into account what Simran can chew, so walnuts and grapes and celery might have to be left out of her portion.  I plan to serve it with leftover salad greens and pita pockets.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons prepared mango chutney
• 2 teaspoons hot curry powder, preferably Madras
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 14-ounce package extra-firm water-packed tofu, drained, rinsed and finely crumbled (see Ingredient note)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 cup red grapes, sliced in half
• 1/2 cup sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Whisk yogurt, mayonnaise, chutney, curry powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in tofu, celery, grapes, scallions and walnuts.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Truly Vegetable Tabouli

This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  I plan to make most of it in a food processor rather than do all the suggested chopping.

Ingredients
1 cup bulgur
1 cup boiling water
2 large tomatoes, diced (2 1/2 - 3 cups)
1 cup finely chopped parsley, firmly packed
1 large garlic clove, chopped
4 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
zest of 1-2 lemons
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
arugula, spinach, or romaine lettuce (I plan to use romaine since I have it on hand.)

Directions

1. Rinse bulgur in a strainer, place in a large bowl, and cover with boiling water. Cover and let sit while dicing tomatoes.

2. Drain bulgur well and return to bowl. Add diced tomatoes, mix well with bulgur, and allow bulgur to absorb tomato juice.

3. Add parsley, garlic, green onions, sweet onion, and cucumber to the bulgur mixture.

4. Add lemon zest, juice, and balsamic vinegar and mix well.

5. Refrigerate -- overnight if possible, or at least a few hours -- and serve on a bed of arugula, spinach, or romaine lettuce.

Note from recipe:  You can top this, if you wish, with grated carrots, sliced radishes, finely chopped peppers of any color, diced bok choy, or other vegetables. For a heartier salad, add 1 can of rinsed chickpeas and/or thawed frozen corn or cooked kernels cut off the cob.

Hummus Salad Dressing

It's hard to find no-oil, no-salt salad dressings that aren't abhorrent.  I'm not sure how many taste buds a man has to kill to be able to eat straight vinegar like it's vinaigrette, but I still have too many for that.  Here is the most promising attempt at a legitimately healthy dressing I've seen.  It comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and features the no-tahini hummus that our household already likes.

Ingredients
2 heaping tablespoons no-tahini hummus
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, or vinegar of your choice (I'll be using white balsamic vinegar.)
1/2 tsp mustard of choice (I'll be using Dijon this time around -- it works really well in the green onion hummus.)

Directions

1. Mix and pour over greens. 

Colorful Broccoli Salad

I have two new habits I'm building this month:  have at least one green vegetable with every dinner (we do most nights anyway, but this means when we have pizza we also have a salad -- that sort of thing) and make at least one dinner per week that is the level of healthfulness Simran has been living by.  This essentially translates to eating mostly fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and avoiding oil, salt, added sugar, and animal products.  In the next month she will be eating less strained baby food and more of what Sameer and I eat (but pureed), and I don't want her diet to immediately suffer from that.  She'll have plenty of time to acquire a taste for chocolate cake and bricks of cheese when she's older.

Since I'm not used to cooking at quite this level of healthiness, most of my initial Simran-level recipes will be coming from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Dr. Esselstyn works at the Cleveland Clinic and is a leader in using nutrition to cure and prevent things like heart disease) and Joel Fuhrman's Disease-Proof Your Child (Dr. Fuhrman is to kids what Dr. Esselstyn is to heart disease patients -- eats by the same basic rules, but with more allowance for healthy fats from things like avocado, nuts, and small amounts of oil, as well as small amounts of dairy).

Today's Colorful Broccoli Salad comes from Dr. Esselstyn's book.  This recipe is how I learned that I like bok choy.  To make a full meal tonight, I'm pairing it with Confetti Twice-Baked Potatoes from the same book.

Ingredients
2 bunches broccoli, florets in small pieces, stems sliced
2 large onions, quartered and separated
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (1 cup)
3 pieces bok choy, chopped in 1-inch sections, including both white and green parts (I tend to use the entire bunch, just because I don't have any other meals planned that would use it)
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard, any kind
juice and zest of 1 lime

Directions

1. Steam broccoli until just tender and bright green, remove from heat, and put in a large bowl.

2. While broccoli is steaming, spread onions on a baking sheet and broil until browned on one side, watching carefully. Turn and brown other side. Remove and scrape into bowl with broccoli.

3. Add peppers, bok choy, and green onions to broccoli.

4. Mix vinegar, nutritional yeast, mustard, lime juice, and zest in a small bowl and pour over broccoli. Chill before serving.

Red Cabbage Slaw

I do not know anyone else who likes this salad as much as I do.  Ever since Sameer and I left Boston, I've been looking for a recipe for red cabbage slaw that resembles the side dish served with every meal at Brookline's Sol Azteca restaurant.  This is the closest I've ever come to recreating it (keeping in mind that I haven't had the real thing in years) and I make it with most of my Mexican-style dinners.

Ingredients
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt (substitute Forager plain unsweetened cashew yogurt to make it vegan)
1 tbs mayonnaise (substitute Vegannaise to make it vegan)
1/2 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp celery salt

Wash and dry the cabbage.  In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients.  Add as much or little of the dressing to the cabbage as you choose.  Stir, chill, and serve.  Keeps in refrigerator for a few days (I usually eat it all within two).