Salad Days
You've probably heard of the "Freshman Ten"--the 10 pounds that many freshmen seem to gain that first year of college. Well, I'm here today to report to you a new phenomenon: The Blogging Ten. I believe that blogging can actually cause you to gain weight, particularly if you are writing and reading about food.
Think about it. All the hours spent sitting at the keyboard rather than exercising. All the experimenting with recipes just to get them right before you blog about them. All the images of luscious foods on other people's blogs--images that invariably assault you in the form of cravings for dessert just around bedtime.
Or maybe that's just me. Whether it's an epidemic or just an isolated case, I've definitely caught the Blogging Ten. And now I'm determined to get rid of it.
So you can expect to see fewer photos of cheesecake here and more fresh fruits, vegetables, and salad, lots of salad. This week I plan to feature a different green salad every day. That will tax my creativity a little because I usually fall into a rut of only two types of green salad. So I'm open to suggestions. Drop me a comment describing your favorite salad combination. Remember, I'm going for vegetable-based salads, so tempting me with pasta salad would just be too cruel!
Here's the salad of the day, my new favorite:
Baby Lettuces with Grilled Portabella Mushrooms
(serves one)
1 large portabella mushroom
1 tsp. minced garlic
balsamic vinegar
baby lettuces
chickpeas
1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
fatfree dressing
Combine the garlic with a couple of tablespoons balsamic vinegar and an equal amount of water. Slice the portabella into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Toss the balsamic mixture with the mushroom slices.
Heat up your George Foreman Grill (or your oven). Place the mushrooms in a single layer on the grill, and cook until tender. (This takes less than 5 minutes in the GF.)
Fill a large bowl with baby lettuces. Top with portabella strips, chickpeas, and walnuts. Lightly drizzle with dressing.
I've tried this with fat-free balsamic and Italian dressings, but I think it'd also be good with raspberry dressing. I've also grilled the mushrooms using soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil in the marinade and topped the salad with Gingery Vinaigrette. You may even find that the grilled portabellas give the salad so much flavor that you can do without dressing--or just toss in whatever remains of the marinade.
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
Labels: eat to live, gluten-free
posted by SusanV at 4:00 PM
28 Comments:
It's almost fall- how about a spinach salad with pears or apples and an orange or pomegranate vinaigrette and some toasted pecans?
PS- I've moved to blogger beta so I'm showing as anonymous- I'm allibrew.blogspot.com
you're too funny! I'm a big fan of nuts, seeds and balsamic vinagrette.
megan the vegan
Don't look at my blog then! You are right about everything, sitting at the keyboard, drooling over other people's foods, not exercising, I could go on... instead, I like your outlook, and I recommend to you a spinach salad with apricots, almonds and a balsamic sort of dressing.
If you could come up with something like that and turn it into a recipe, I think I would be very happy!
Or what about a bean salad with veggies?
Aha. It's blogging's fault. May we make it political ranting, boring blogging's fault, please? If it's food blogging, then there's no way I can give it up, even for salads! Off to my spinach - romaine - pear - watermelon - something else I forget what I got - salad.
My favourite salad is my Mum's puy lentil salad. She adds fetta cheese, but makes a separate one for me without it.
I've left out the measurements, because it is really up to the cook to decide what kind of balance they want. The puy lentils hold their shape really well, but ordinary brown or green lentils would work if necessary.
Ingredients:
Puy lentils
Red onion
Herbs (such as thyme, parsley &/or coriander/cilantro)
Carrot
Green beans
Salad leaves
Baby tomatoes
Chopped walnuts (optional)
Dressing
balsamic vinegar
extra-virgin olive oil
Crushed garlic
Salt and freshly ground Black pepper
Oh, wonderful! My own weightloss has stagnated ten - kilos that is - above my ideal weight, due to blogging and a discovery of how fun it is to bake breads and sweet things. I've been planning to get a bit more serious vis-a-vis Eat To Live, so this is just what I need, too!
I had a yummy salad today of mixed baby lettuces/spinach and a very ripe sliced pear. I did not add any dressing at all and it was terrific!
Susan I am totally excited about this. I have recently tried to include a huge salad with everything I serve up at our house. I too am challenging myself to be more creative with salads. You can check out my blog, I have blogged about quite a few salads over the last little while. I am looking forward to your salad ideas this week. I'm excited!
Ha, it is true! We think about the pictures we see, we keep trying recipes and taking photos just so that we can sit in front of the computer to blog and share them with friends. Meanwhile we are also eating the yummy foods we make, and as you mentioned, not enough exercise around...
Love your idea of one salad a day, we should all do the same, I really like this!
My favorite salad would be spinach salad with orange vinaigrette! Yummm! I have had it many times throughout the summer! I usually add cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, orange slices. And from there it is just a matter of using your imagination, adding ingredients you like/some protein to make it a more complete meal!
Another one I love is a quinoa salad I have posted on my blog, it is really delicious and full of flavors, with quinoa, tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, tofu, and a basil lemon dressing that is to die for, take a look at the kitchenspace, this one is a winner for me!
Ana
Spinach salad with candied pecans and pears is very nice and autumn-y. How about a spinach salad with sliced strawberries and red onions and a mango or orange based vinaigrette? I love salads too, though I seem to eat the same ones all the time.
I always loved a simple salad of spinach, rasberries, steamed tofu and a red wine vinagrette. Simple and fresh! :)
I just adore your blog, btw. Keep up the great work!
One of my favorite salads is using either spinach or some mixed baby greens, add some pecans, blue cheese, and dried raspberries or cranberries. I usually top mine off with a raspberry vinaigrette.
Baby greens, jicima slices, toasted walnuts, mandarin oranges.
Mango vinagrette:
1 mango peeled and removed from pit.
1/16 cup apple cider vinegar
1/16 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp toasted coriander seeds crushed
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp hot mango chutney (optional)
salt to taste
3 Tbsp olive oil
puree in blender or mini food processer
hilarious! you are right though...even watching the food channels on pay tv make me want to eat! I think I even put on weight from watching them! :D
All of these salads sound great! I also like roasted beets (with a splash of balsamic & orange juice), sunflower seeds, and avocado. It sounds weird, but it's great.
I know exactly what you mean. I've gained a few since blogging too.
I've got some lovely spinach...let's do it!
I love your blog so much! You are right about the Blogging 10! haha! I am eating more raw foods now to make up for last month's cookie baking craze I was in!
Your salad looks perfect! I am finally realzing the perfection of salads. I think that when you make your own dressing, how can you not love the salad!? My favorite salad ingredients include apples, raisins and walnuts all together in the salad. Or seeds and beans, like sunflower seeds and chickpeas.
~Candi
http://candi2400.blogspot.com/index.html
Here's one I just made recently for a potluck, though you might want to figure a way to take all that oil out of the dressing:
For salad
3 navel oranges
5 oz baby spinach, trimmed (6 cups leaves)
4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (from 1 medium head)
1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 firm-ripe California avocados
For vinaigrette
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon curry powder, toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
That dish looks tremendously hearty! Yum!
How about baby spinach, strawberries, sugar snap peas (sliced lengthwise), jicama, red onion and a lemon poppyseed vinaigrette?
Love you blog and photos - definately increases the cooking/eating in my kitchen! :)
One of my most favorite salads include:
-baby spinach
-thin slices of avocado
-thin slices of mango
-a drizzle of low fat rasberry vinaigrette, to bring the flavors together.
I've got the newlywed 15 to lose, and you are totally right about blogging. I usually don't like salads. I'm not sure why, so maybe you'll inspire my to eat more salads. I do have some mushrooms in the fridge that need to be eaten...
how about a non-green salad? carrots and dill, with some nayonaisse, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, etc and maybe some fresh corn off the cob - cukes if they are around. that's my dinner plan for tomorrow.
for today- tomatoes, wheatberries, shredded carrots, balsamic vinaigrette and roasted pepper hummos. and spices and some peas and whatever else comes to hand.
also, green bean salad - with canellini beans, with a red wine dressing or garlic hummos.
or chinese salad- shredded cabbage, mushrooms, corn, sliced carrots, ginger and a sesame dressing.
i am sure you will be down ten in no time. looking forward to the pictures.
lowell veggie
I'll be glad to see more salads featured - this one looks quite yummy [perhaps it will inspire me to include more salads as posts, too; I tend to take salads for granted].
I've been eating a lot more salads lately because I've been using a thin version of a white bean hummus as dressing. I just add different spices or herbs to the hummus depending on my mood and the veg that I have around to put on my salad. because I love my hummus so much (and I make it without oil so it has less fat) I'm more interested in trying different combos!
Aimee
I like:
Romaine Lettuce, Finely sliced Kale, finely sliced Red CHard, coriander leaves, raw broccoli, chickpeas and a fruit (blueberries, blackberries, orange have all worked well) with a squeeze of fresh juice as dressing!
MM..that salad looks great. Also, the portabella slices look a lot like squid tentacles!
You've got a great blog!
I actually stopped blogging for this very reason - my healthy salad recipes were boring and my fun recipes were making me fat. My two fav indulgent salads are:
Waldorfy: Lots of dark romaine, chopped apple, chopped celery, grapes and walnuts. Mix dressing seperatly: equal parts (2T) mayo, plain yogurt and fresh-pressed apple juice (i have used both regular and vegan forms of mayo and yog and it tastes good both ways).
Taco: Lots of dark romaine, black beans or kidney beans, corn kernels, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, shredded carrots. I toss with salsa. Also good with soy chedder cheese and vegan sour cream.
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