Archive for the ‘Cilantro’ Category
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 Three: Black Bean Citrus Lunch
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Black Beans, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cilantro, Gluten Free, Lime Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Mixed Baby Greens, Navel Orange, Vegan, tagged black beans, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, greens, lime, maple syrup, meal, mixed baby greens, mushrooms, navel orange, salad, salt, zest on November 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Black beans, navel orange, mushrooms, cilantro, and lime citronette over a bed of mixed greens.
Day Twelve: Leftover Burrito Fixings Become My Breakfast Salad
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Avocado, Casein Free, Cilantro, Gluten Free, Meal in Salad Form, Navel Orange, Pinto Beans, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Tomato, Vegan, tagged avocado, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, lettuce, meal, orange, pinto beans, rice wine vinegar, romaine, salad, scallions, tomato on October 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Weird, I know, but this is my one chance to get a salad as a meal in today, so I’m taking it. Leftovers from last night’s dinner made the prep super easy.
Day Eleven: Navel Orange, Garbanzo Bean, Cilantro Lunch
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cilantro, Garbanzo Beans, Garlic, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Mixed Baby Greens, Navel Orange, Shallot, Vegan, tagged cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, garbanzo beans, garlic, greens, lemon juice, meal, mixed baby greens, mushrooms, orange, salad, shallots, zest on October 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Yummy. I used up some leftover lemon citronette from yesterday’s dinner. Lunch was simply a bed of mixed greens, lots of garbanzo beans, a very juicy navel orange, a big fistful of cilantro, some quartered mushrooms, the zest from the orange, and some sliced shallot. I’d forgotten how much I love orange in salad.
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 »
Day One
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Arugula, Carrot, Casein Free, Cilantro, Corn, Egg, Garlic, Gluten Free, Meal in Salad Form, Rice Wine Vinaigrette, Tomato, tagged Arugula, carrot, casein free, cilantro, corn, egg, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, gluten free, maple syrup, meal, salad, salt, tomato on October 16, 2014| 2 Comments »
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.
Southwestern Avocado Citronette with Pinto Beans, Mandarins, and Yellow Bell Pepper
Posted in Arugula, Avocado, Bell Pepper, Casein Free, Cilantro, Cumin, Garlic, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Mandarin, Meal in Salad Form, Pinto Beans, Scallion, Smoked Paprika, Vegan, tagged Arugula, avocado, bell, chopped, cilantro, cumin, dinner, extra virgin, food, fresh, garlic, greens, jar, juice, lemon, lettuce, lunch, mandarin, maple syrup, meal, minced, olive oil, paprika, pepper, salad, salt, scallion, sliced, smashed, smoked, to go, yellow, zest on March 24, 2011| 6 Comments »
Early morning, time to make lunches. We had almost everything I needed for a couple of rocking southwestern salads, so I pulled all my ingredients out and got to work. No radishes in the house, so I used yellow bell pepper for extra crunchiness, and I went for pinto beans instead of black beans because, well, I felt like it.
All of the ingredients, ready to go.
Ingredients:
(Serves one as a meal.)
4 cups of arugula.
1/2 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained.
1/2 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and sliced.
2 mandarins, peeled and sectioned.
2 scallions, sliced.
1 fistful of fresh cilantro.
Zest of 1/2 a lemon.
Southwestern Avocado Citronette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1 T fresh lemon juice.
1/2 avocado, spooned into jar.
1/2 clove of garlic, smashed and minced.
1/4 tsp cumin.
1/4 tsp smoked paprika.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
The finished salad, ready for the dressing to rain down and the fork to attack like lightning.
Since I was making two salads, one for me to eat at home and one for my husband to eat at work, I doubled all of the ingredients listed above. I started by laying down my lovely beds of arugula — mine in a bowl, his in a stainless steel container with a tight fitting lid. I rinsed and drained the pinto beans, setting them aside in a sieve to drain a little more while I worked. I zested the lemon over the greens, and crafted my salad dressings in twin jars. In this case, that included measuring out the ingredients, and spooning the avocado into the jars as well. I shook them up and tested them by dipping a leaf of arugula into the citronette and tasting for salt and flavor balance. I peeled and sectioned the mandarins. (Yes, they are far more beautiful when they are sliced open and the jeweled fruit is exposed, but those plain little membranes keep the citrus juices from wilting the greens.) I chopped the yellow bell pepper, the scallions, and the cilantro, and added all of my ingredients to my beds of arugula. I nestled my husband’s jar of citronette in with his salad and snapped a picture before popping the lid back on.
Salads just don’t take that long to make — twenty minutes or less of chopping and mixing, and you’ve got a deliciously nutritious meal, for now or later.
Here's the same salad, packed to go!
The Verdict:
You know what I thought of this. I loved it. Juicy citrus, creamy beans, crunchy bell pepper, peppery arugula… This is a can’t fail recipe for me, and, once again, it succeeded.
Make it a Meal:
Done.
Pack it to Go:
Done.
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.
Lime Citronette with Leftover Chicken, Mandarins, Mint and Cilantro.
Posted in Avocado, Bell Pepper, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Chicken, Cilantro, Corn, Gluten Free, Lime, Lime Citronette, Mandarin, Meal in Salad Form, Mint, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Yellow Onion, tagged bell pepper, casein free, chicken, cilantro, dinner, extra virgin olive oil, food, gluten free, lettuce, lime, lunch, mandarins, maple syrup, meal, mint, mushroom, mushrooms, orange, romaine, salad, salt, scallion, scallions, side, side dish, vegan, zest on February 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
When life gives you leftovers, make salad!
Leftover protein and vegetables are amazing in salads. It’s a quick, easy way to make a delicious, nutritious meal. It’s cost-effective, because the leftover ingredients go further in a salad than they would on their own, and it’s fun, because you’re not actually eating the same damn thing twice in a week.
So, I was short on time and creativity, and I had some excellent leftover chicken tenderloins and some cooked corn. I rooted around for lettuce, mandarins, fresh herbs, and other veggies, and I made the best of it.
The ingredients, ready to be transformed!
Ingredients:
(Serves two as a meal.)
2 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped.
2 scallions, chopped.
3 mandarins, peeled, cut in half, and quartered.
4 button mushrooms, quartered.
1 avocado, quartered and sliced.
1 red bell pepper, sliced.
2 chicken tenderloins, leftover, cooked with onion, chopped.
1/2 cup of cooked corn.
1 fistful of mint, chopped.
1 fistful of cilantro, chopped.
Zest of one lime.
Lime Citronette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a day or two.)
1 T lime juice.
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
I made a lovely bed of romaine lettuce and zested my lime over it. Then I whipped up my citronette in a small jar, and started chopping. I added the chicken, vegetables, and herbs first, saving the avocado and mandarin for last so that they would be bright and colorful. I don’t like brown avocado, and I prefer for citrus fruit to go into salads at the last minute so it doesn’t wilt the lettuce. Once all of my ingredients were properly sliced and diced, I drizzled the dressing over the top and tossed it before serving it up.
Rainbow deliciousness, ready to eat!
The Verdict:
Straightforward and delicious. The mint and cilantro brighten up the salad, and the juicy mandarins work well with the creamy avocado. The simplicity of the lime citronette works well with the leftover chicken and corn, and helps bring all of the flavors together. The crunchy red bell pepper and the crisp romaine lettuce keep the salad fresh and the textures diverse. This was a perfect example of how using leftovers meat and cooked veggies in salads is a great way to streamline cooking while keeping the food fun, tasty, and interesting.
Make it a Meal:
Done. For a vegan salad, swap out the chicken for garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, shelled edamame, or lightly seasoned tofu, and add a smashed and minced clove of garlic to the lime citronette for a little extra flavor.
Pack it to Go:
As usual, the avocado and citrus fruit go in the jar with the salad dressing (this keeps the avocado from browning and the mandarin juices from wilting the lettuce). Everything else goes in a large glass or stainless steel container with a lid. Combine when you’re ready to fork toss and enjoy!
Salad Play 