Just trying to settle my upset stomach…
Archive for the ‘Cucumber’ Category
Day Twenty Five: Upset Tummy, Cucumber, Mint & Ginger
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Casein Free, Cucumber, Ginger, Gluten Free, Mint, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Vegan, tagged cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, ginger, mint, rice vinegar, salad on November 20, 2014| 1 Comment »
Day Twenty Four: Lemon Veggie Yum
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Casein Free, Cilantro, Cucumber, Garbanzo Beans, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Mixed Baby Greens, Radish, Scallion, Tomato, Vegan, tagged casein free, cilantro, citronette, cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, garbanzo beans, garlic, gluten free, lemon, maple syrup, mixed baby greens, mixed greens, radish, salad, salt, scallions, tomato, vegan, zest on November 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Day Twenty: Light Lime Lunch
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cucumber, Garbanzo Beans, Gluten Free, Lime Citronette, Mint, Romaine Lettuce, Vegan, tagged cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, garbanzo beans, garlic, greens, lime, lime juice, maple syrup, mint, mushroom, romaine, salad, salt, zest on November 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Romaine lettuce, cucumber, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, mint, and lime zest with a lime citronette. Delicious. The bright lime worked so well with the crunchy romaine and the mint–very light and fresh.
Day Eighteen: Grapefruit, Arugula, Garbanzo Beans
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Arugula, Avocado, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cucumber, Garbanzo Beans, Gluten Free, Grapefruit, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Pine Nuts, Vegan, tagged Arugula, avocado, cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, garbanzo beans, garlic, grapefruit, lemon, maple syrup, meal, mushrooms, pine nuts, salad, salt, zest on November 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Yummy…I started with a bed of arugula, piled it high with cucumber, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, avocado, and grapefruit, then zested a lemon over it all, tossed it with a lemon citronette, and finished it off with a handful of toasted pine nuts leftover from last night’s pasta dinner. Delicious.
Day Sixteen: Simple.
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cracked Pepper, Cucumber, Gluten Free, Meal in Salad Form, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, Vegan, Walnut on November 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Day Six: Dinner…Garbanzo Bean Bonanza
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Avocado, Carrot, Casein Free, Cilantro, Cucumber, Garbanzo Beans, Gluten Free, Meal in Salad Form, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Vegan, tagged avocado, carrots, cucumber, dinner, extra virgin olive oil, garbanzo beans, meal, rice wine vinegar, romaine, salad, vegan on October 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Here I Go Again.
Posted in Arugula, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cilantro, Corn, Cucumber, Gluten Free, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Shallot, Tomato, Vegan, tagged Arugula, cilantro, corn, extra virgin olive oil, maple syrup, mushrooms, rice wine vinegar, salad, salt, shallot, tomato on October 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »
My salad-a-day practice slowly died a couple years ago. For health and happiness reasons, I’m determined to get it going again. For now, I’m trying a new experiment. I’ll use this space to document my salads. Minimum of one meal per day that is a salad, craziness encouraged. That might mean I post just a picture, or just a brief description. In other words, my posts should be prolific but less detailed and polished. (Of course, I reserve the right to get detailed and fancy if I feel like it.) We shall see! Here’s yesterday’s salad, a day late. It included arugula, cucumber, corn, cherry tomatoes, shallots, cilantro, and a rice wine vinaigrette. I ate it with a small piece of veggie lasagna, so it maybe shouldn’t count. Still, I developed this plan while I was making it, so it gets to be included: 
Today’s lunch salad is coming soon.
Creamy Blue Cheese with Crunchy Vegetables
Posted in Blue Cheese, Blue Cheese, Carrot, Celery, Cracked Pepper, Cucumber, Garlic, Gluten Free, Italian Parsley, Meal in Salad Form, Red Onion, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Romaine Lettuce, Side Salad, tagged baby, blue cheese, carrot, celery, cracked, dinner, extra virgin, food, garlic, green, heart. lettuce, italian, lunch, maple syrup, olive oil, onion, parsley, pepper, red, red wine vinegar, romaine, salad, salt on March 30, 2011| 1 Comment »
I was making lunches early in the morning, and I knew I wanted a straightforward, no frills, very basic blue cheese dressing over a super crunchy salad. Something my grandmother would have enjoyed — familiar, simple, and tasty.
I grabbed romaine lettuce, carrots, celery for crunch, as well as italian flat leaf parsley and red onion for flavor, and I got to work.
Ingredients, ready for action.
Ingredients:
(Serves one as a meal.)
1 heart of romaine, chopped.
4 baby carrots, cut into wheels.
1 rib of celery, coarsely chopped.
2 slices of red onion, quartered.
1/2 english cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced.
1 fistful of fresh italian parsley.
2 T blue cheese, crumbled.
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
Blue Cheese Red Wine Vinaigrette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1 T red wine vinegar.
1 T sour cream.
1 T blue cheese.
1/2 clove garlic, smashed and minced.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
Since I was making two salads, I doubled all of the ingredients listed above. I mixed up two jars of blue cheese red wine vinaigrette, and then I started chopping. I began by creating my beds of chopped romaine hearts, and then I added the carrots, celery, onion, and parsley. I crumbled the blue cheese and sprinkled it on top of the salad, before cracking black pepper over it all.
I nestled my husband’s salad dressing jar in the larger glass container with the salad and popped the lid on top to keep everything fresh for lunchtime. I tucked mine in the fridge for later.
Packed to go!
The Verdict:
This turned out exactly as I intended. Very creamy, savory salad dressing and powerfully crunchy veggies. Celery is highly underrated — I really appreciated it’s crisp flavor with the blue cheese. I think this salad was a bit boring for my husband, but as he always says, my worst homemade salad is always far tastier than anything he can get from a quick lunch restaurant near his work.
Make it a Meal:
Done. If you want to amp up the protein, add some chicken breast, or deli meat, or kidney beans.
Pack it to Go:
Done.
Blue Cheese, Candied Pecans, and the Kitchen Sink
Posted in Balsamic Vinaigrette, Bell Pepper, Blue Cheese, Button Mushrooms, Cucumber, Garlic, Meal in Salad Form, Mixed Baby Greens, Pecan, Scallion, Side Salad, tagged baby, balsamic, bell, blue cheese, candied, clove, cucumber, dinner, english, extra virgin, food, garlic, greens, lettuce, lunch, maple syrup, meal, mixed, mushroom, olive oil, pecan, pepper, red, salad, salt, scallion, vinegar on March 22, 2011| 1 Comment »
When I was little, and we had a big enough group of people gathered together, sometimes we went to a local ice cream parlor that had an enormous, crazy sundae called “The Kitchen Sink.” It had everything. It was the size of an actual kitchen sink, with an obscenely large number of different flavors of ice cream, covered in all the toppings they had. Every bite was different, and fun, and I ate it with a gaggle of happy friends at birthday parties, after soccer games, or after drama and dance performances.
This salad reminded me of that sundae.
I had plans for pork tonkatsu (or at least my made-up bastardized version of it) for dinner. I also had nice little brown and serve sourdough rolls from a local bakery. I wanted a big, crazy salad to complete the meal. I like sweet with pork, so I knew I’d be including some candied pecans. I was in the mood for blue cheese, so I added that to the mix. I had gorgeous baby greens, so the bed was determined. I needed some crunch, so I grabbed half a cucumber and what was left of a red bell pepper. A balsamic vinaigrette would tie it all together, and I tossed in some mushrooms to soak up the tasty salad dressing like little sponges. Mushrooms, as you know, are made to be coated in balsamic vinaigrette. It was a wild, vibrant combination. My own little kitchen sink of a salad.
Ingredients, ready for their transformation!
Ingredients:
(Side salad, serves 3-4.)
6 cups of mixed baby greens.
5 scallions, sliced.
1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced.
1/2 english cucumber, quartered vertically and sliced.
5 medium mushrooms, sliced.
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese.
1/2 cup candied pecans.
A colorful bed of baby greens, ready for the party.
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil.
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.
1 small clove garlic, smashed and minced.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
I created a lush bed of baby greens, and quickly mixed up my balsamic vinaigrette in a small jar. I quickly chopped my vegetables and gently laid them in the salad bowl. I added the nuts and cheese, and let it all sit for a moment while I dealt with the tonkatsu. Once the rolls were out of the oven and the pork was ready to eat, I drizzled my balsamic vinaigrette over the salad, tossed it, and served it up.
Ready for that yummy balsamic vinaigrette!
The Verdict:
I got exactly what I wanted — crazy, strong, fun flavors. The sweet nuts worked well with the pork, the mushrooms were delicious, and the blue cheese gave it all an extra creamy flavor kick. I loved it. The kids were not impressed, but my husband gobbled it up right alongside me.
On the plate, ready to be devoured!
Make it a Meal:
With the nuts and the cheese, I think it would already work as an amazing meal.
Pack it to Go:
Easy. Put your salad in a glass or stainless steel container with a tight fitting lid, and your vinaigrette in a small jar, nestled in the greens. Drizzle the dressing (just as much as you want, to taste) over the salad, fork toss or put the lid back on and give it a few quick shakes to combine. Enjoy!
Citrus with Chicken, Daikon, Cilantro, and Mint
Posted in Bell Pepper, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Chicken, Cilantro, Cucumber, Daikon, Frisee, Garlic, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Mint, Mixed Baby Greens, Mizuna, Navel Orange, Radicchio, Red Leaf, Red Onion, tagged bell, breast, chicken, cilantro, clove, cucumber, daikon, dinner, extra virgin, food, frisee, garlic, juice, lemon, lettuce, lunch, maple syrup, mint, mizuna, mushroom, navel, oil, olive, onion, orange, pepper, persian, radicchio, red, red leaf, salad, salt, thigh, zest on March 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Time to make lunch!
We both had busy days planned, so I made two salads, one to go and one for me to eat at home before heading out with the kids for the afternoon. I’ve been on a citrus kick, so I decided to make a lemon citronette. I added navel orange for a sweet citrus punch, as well as daikon, red onion, and lots of cilantro and mint to give it a little bit of an asian fusion feel. I’ve always loved those fresh vietnamese spring rolls, and cilantro plus mint is an easy winning flavor combo for me. The daikon and red bell bepper added necessary crunch, and leftover roasted chicken provided plenty of protein.
A rainbow of ingredients!
Ingredients:
(Serves one as a meal.)
4 cups of mixed greens, including red leaf, mizuna, radicchio, and frisee.
1/2 roasted chicken breast, skin removed, chopped.
1 roasted chicken thigh, skin removed, meat torn into bite sized bits.
1/2 navel orange, peel sliced off, quartered, and sliced.
1 large mushroom.
1/2 red bell pepper.
1/2 persian cucumber, sliced into wheels.
8 thin slices of daikon (use a sharp cheese slicer or a mandoline), halved.
1 thin slice of red onion, quartered.
1 fistful of cilantro.
1 fistful of mint.
Zest of one lemon.
Lemon Citronette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1 T lemon juice.
1small clove of garlic, smashed and minced.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
I doubled all of the ingredients above to make two identical salads.
As usual, I prepared a lush bed of greens and zested my lemon over the top. I mixed up two batches of citronette in small jars, and I added the navel orange to the salad dressing so that it wouldn’t wilt the greens. Then I sliced the veggies, herbs, and chicken, layering it all over the greens. For the daikon, I like peeling it with a vegetable peeler and then using a really good cheese slicer (mine were all brought over from Norway in our suitcases) to get nice thin slices quickly. Once the salads were made, I nestled my husband’s jar of dressing in his bowl and snapped a quick picture.
Two salads, one packed to go and one ready to stay home.
The Verdict:
Great meal salad. The chicken works well with the citronette, and the diverse veggies and herbs added color, crunch, and flavor.
Ready to eat!
Make it a Meal:
Done.
Pack it to Go:
Done.
Salad Play 