Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Casein Free, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Mandarin, Mint, Romaine Lettuce, Vegan, tagged citronette, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, greens, lemon, lemon juice, lettuce, mandarin, maple syrup, meal, mint, orange, romaine, salad, salt, satsuma on November 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
My lovely in-laws have a lovely mandarin tree. We were gifted with an enormous bag of mandarins on Sunday, so of course Monday’s lunch had to be a delicious mandarin salad. I’d already had breakfast and a snack, so I kept this one light and overflowing with perfect satsuma mandarin oranges.
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Butternut Squash, Casein Free, Chicken, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Navel Orange, Potatoes, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Yellow Onion, tagged butternut squash, chicken, citronette, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, greens, lemon, lemon juice, maple syrup, meal, navel orange, onion, potato, romaine, salad, salt, scallion, zest on November 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Really tasty this time. A huge serving of salad with chicken, roasted potatoes, and roasted butternut squash on top. Everyone else ate it on a plate, with a tiny bit of the salad on the side and a huge slice of bread. My way was yummy.
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 »
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.
Posted in 100 Days of Salad, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Garlic, Gluten Free, Grape, Lemon Citronette, Meal in Salad Form, Mint, Mixed Baby Greens, Shallot, Vegan, Walnut, tagged citronette, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, grapes, greens, lemon, lemon zest, meal, mint, mushroom, salad, shallot, walnuts on October 29, 2014| 2 Comments »
Ah, this was good. My first citronette since starting this challenge. This salad is much lighter than some of my meals–perfect dinner since I had a burger with the kids for lunch…I love mint and lemon. I love grapes and walnuts. Toss some mushrooms in as delightful flavor sponges, and pile the bowl high with mixed baby greens–really perfect.
Posted in Avocado, Casein Free, Garlic, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Mandarin, Mint, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Side Salad, Vegan, tagged avocado, dinner, extra virgin, food, fresh, garlic, green, juice, lemon, lettuce, lunch, mandarin, maple syrup, mint, olive oil, romaine, salad, salt, scallion, side, zest on April 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Dinner needed to be quick and simple. I was roasting some baby potatoes in the oven with extra virgin olive oil and salt, and I had chicken tenderloins ready to saute. I wanted a straightforward, kid-friendly salad to complete the meal. You know me and my kids — if I combine a light salad dressing with lots of fruit and mild, crunchy romaine, I’m almost guaranteed success.
So I gathered a hefty pile of citrus, including the last of the mandarins from my mother-in-law’s tree, and I kept the salad fresh and fruity.
Delicious raw materials for a tasty salad.
Ingredients:
(Side or lunch salad, serves however many.)
1 heart of romaine, chopped.
4 mandarins, peeled, halved, and then quartered.
2 scallions, sliced.
1 avocado, quartered and sliced.
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 fresh lemon juice.
1 clove garlic, smashed and minced.
1/4 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
Ready to serve!
On the plate, and ready to be devoured.
Make it a Meal:
Pick your protein! Leftover chicken and steak both work well with this flavor palette, as do garbanzo beans.
Pack it to Go:
Pack the greens, mint, and lemon zest in a large glass or stainless steel. Make your dressing in a jar. Remember to put your avocado in your dressing jar so it doesn’t brown, or to leave it whole and slice it into your salad when you’re ready to eat. The mandarins can be peeled and sectioned by hand, so that the membranes keep the juices in the fruit segments instead of leaking onto the lettuce and wilting it. Alternatively, you can slice the mandarins as I did, and put them with the avocado in the jar of citronette, to prevent wilted lettuce. If the jar of dressing is small enough, simply tuck it into the larger salad container. Combine your dressing with your salad when you’re ready to eat it, fork toss (or pop the lid back on and give the large container a few quick shakes to combine), and enjoy.
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.
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!
Make it a Meal:
Done.
Pack it to Go:
Done.
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.
Posted in Arugula, Casein Free, Garlic, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Lime Citronette, Mint, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Side Salad, Vegan, tagged Arugula, clove, dinner, extra virgin, food, garlic, juice, lemon, lettuce, lime, maple syrup, meal, mint, olive oil, romaine, salad, salt, scallions, side, zest on March 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Juicy skillet steaks. Wild mushroom cream sauce. Fresh sourdough bread slathered with butter. All I needed was a very simple side salad, light and refreshing, to complete the meal. I decided to go with a lemon-lime citronette, with mint and scallions to deepen the flavors.
Simple ingredients, ready to prep.
Ingredients:
(Side salad, serves four.)
1 heart of romaine, chopped.
4 cups of arugula.
2 scallions, chopped.
1 fistful of fresh mint.
Zest of one lemon.
Zest of one lime.
Vinaigrette or Citronette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1 T fresh lemon and lime juice.
1 clove garlic, smashed and minced.
1/2 tsp maple syrup.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
Plated and ready to eat!
I plated the food, and served it up.
Here's one of our kid's plates, with sliced steak and the food clearly not touching.
Make it a Meal:
This is a very adaptable combination — add any leftover meat, or tofu, or garbanzo beans, and some extra fruit (citrus, berries, melon) and veggies (radishes, cucumber, mushrooms, peppers), and you’re good to go.
Pack it to Go:
It couldn’t be easier. Put your salad in a large glass or stainless steel container with a tight fitting rubber lid, and your citronette in a small jar. Tuck the dressing jar in to the larger container. When you’re ready to eat, shake up the citronette and drizzle as much as you need over your salad, then fork toss and enjoy.
Posted in Arugula, Avocado, Bell Pepper, Button Mushrooms, Casein Free, Cilantro, Cucumber, Cumin, Garlic, Gluten Free, Lemon Citronette, Navel Orange, Romaine Lettuce, Scallion, Side Salad, Smoked Paprika, Vegan, tagged Arugula, avocado, bell pepper, casein free, cilantro, cucumber, cumin, dinner, extra virgin olive oil, food, garlic, gluten free, juice, lemon, lettuce, lunch, maple syrup, meal, mixed greens, mushroom, mushrooms, navel, orange, paprika, romaine, salad, salt, scallion, side dish, smoked, vegan, yellow, zest on February 14, 2011| 4 Comments »
Improvising for dinner again, I needed a kid-friendly salad to accompany the chicken tacos they wanted. I went for a southwestern citronette, happy for a chance to play with the ingredients for one of my favorite salads.
I pulled a heart of romaine and some arugula out of the fridge, and grabbed a yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, a cucumber, cilantro, scallions, and of course some citrus fruits. Impressed by the beautiful colors, I snapped a picture and got to work.
Here are the ingredients, ready to chop.
Ingredients:
(Side salad, serves 4-6.)
1 heart of romaine.
2-4 cups of arugula.
1 fistful of cilantro.
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced.
1 avocado, quartered lengthwise and sliced.
5 mushrooms, quartered.
1/4 english cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced.
3 scallions, sliced.
1 navel orange, skin sliced off, quartered and sliced.
Zest of one navel orange.
Zest of one lemon.
Southwestern Citronette:
(Use only what you need. Refrigerate extra for a couple of days.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil.
1 T lemon juice.
1 tsp maple syrup.
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced.
1/4 tsp cumin.
1/4 tsp smoked paprika.
Pinch of salt, to taste.
Tossed and ready to serve!
With the citronette made and mellowing, I started chopping and adding vegetables to my bowl. I saved the avocado and the navel orange for last so that the avocado would be lusciously green and the citrus juice wouldn’t wilt the lettuce.
On the plate and ready to enjoy!
Make it a Meal:
Easy enough — add pinto beans, black beans, leftover chicken, steak, carnitas, or shrimp, and then sprinkle some corn chips over it for extra crouton-style crunch.
Pack it to Go:
Avocado and orange need to be packed in a jar with the salad dressing. The rest of the salad is fine in a nice large glass or stainless steel container with a good rubber lid. Nestle the jar in the salad container and store it in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat, simply shake the dressing and pour it over the salad. Use only what you need (use a fork to pull the yummy fruit out of the jar without getting more citronette than you want). Fork toss your salad, or put the lid back on the salad container and give it a few good shakes to combine. Enjoy!
Salad Play 