Salads

Spicy Apple-Walnut Salad with Fat-Free Balsamic-Raisin Dressing

March 28, 2012
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There’s an unwritten rule of food blogging that says, “When you don’t have anything else to write about, blog your lunch.” Or at least that’s been my formerly unwritten rule, and it’s served me well because it’s led me to create some of my favorite lunches: Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens, Hot Skillet Salad, and [...]

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Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing Plus Tips for Eating Salads When You Really Don’t Want To

January 8, 2012
Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing

We’ve all been there. You’re trying to eat more greens but you just can’t face another lunchtime salad. Maybe it’s because of the prep involved, maybe it’s because it feels like the North Pole outside, or maybe it’s because you’re just sick and tired of chomping your way through a big bowl of raw veggies. [...]

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Thai Salad with Slow-Cooked Tofu in Pineapple Barbecue Sauce

September 12, 2011
Thai Barbecue Salad

One of the highlights of my trip to Portland happened after Vida Vegan Con was over. That Sunday night, I got to meet my friend and long-time reader Maria, whom many of you know from the comments as Moonwatcher. Maria traveled ten hours to visit her son in Portland and timed her trip so that [...]

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Cashew Carrot Salad

July 31, 2011
Cashew Carrot Salad

I’ve discovered a salad that my daughter will gobble up like candy. In fact, she eats so much of it that she’s almost in danger of turning orange! I’m talking, of course, about good, old-fashioned carrot salad–but with a few updates and improvements.

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Ridiculously Easy Southwestern Coleslaw

June 23, 2011
Ridiculously Easy Southwestern Coleslaw

My daughter hated it. My husband described it as “different from any coleslaw I’ve ever tasted.” And I agreed with my husband. So why am I posting it here? Simple: I like odd coleslaws, and this one is odd but interesting. Light yet spicy, this lime and cumin-infused salad is the perfect accompaniment to burritos, [...]

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Pesto Primavera Pasta and Other Fresh Basil Recipes

June 17, 2011
Pesto Pasta Primavera

Every summer, our small back patio turns into a miniature basil farm with large pots of the fragrant herb filling every available inch. As soon as the plants shoot up a few inches, I start snipping off their leaves and adding them to just about everything I make. By this time, mid-June, the plants are [...]

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White Bean Salad with Za’atar

April 12, 2011
White Bean Salad with Zatar

Chickpea salads are very popular in my household. My daughter E likes them so much that she often helps me throw them together, and we never use exactly the same formula twice. Over the weekend, I decided to really shake things up and, instead of chickpeas, make a bean salad from great northern beans. I [...]

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Creamy Tri-Pepper Dressing

March 27, 2011
Creamy Triple-Pepper Salad Dressing

I’ve been trying to eat a big salad every single day, and though I haven’t completely succeeded, especially during my recent Spring Break trip, I wouldn’t be able to eat as many as I do if I were stuck using the same boring salad dressing day after day.  I can drizzle my salad with one [...]

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Hot Skillet Salad

February 8, 2011
Hot Skillet Salad

I’m on a diet healthy eating plan.  Those of you who just stumbled on this blog are probably now looking at its name and going, “Well, duh!”  But the fact is, I never really talk about my struggles with my weight here because that’s a long and personal discussion, and my writing style is fast [...]

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Sea-sational Chickpea Salad

September 8, 2010
Sea-sational Chickpea Salad

Eaten any good algae lately?  Chances are you have, even if you didn’t know it.  Algae, or sea vegetables, are used as stabilizers or thickeners in everything from mayo to ice cream, and even if you avoid processed foods, you’ve probably enjoyed sushi wrapped up in nori or miso soup flavored with wakame.  But if [...]

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Basic Low-Fat Coleslaw

August 16, 2010
Basic Low-Fat Coleslaw

There’s been a surprising development in the V family kitchen.  My daughter E has actually been asking for coleslaw, a food she used to have to be bribed to eat.  This phenomenon began after I stopped buying bagged coleslaw and starting using fresh heads of cabbage.  I could say that E likes the fresher taste [...]

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Israeli Couscous Summer Pilaf

July 7, 2010
Israeli Couscous Summer Pilaf

I’m thrilled to introduce my guest blogger today: the talented writer and artist–and just one of the nicest people I know–Nava Atlas.  Nava’s cookbooks, from the classic Vegetariana to the more recent Vegan Express and Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, are known for fresh, inventive recipes that are as easy as they [...]

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Thai-Inspired Chickpea Salad

April 18, 2010
Thai-Inspired Chickpea Salad

A couple of days ago, I set up a little game.  I gave you 5 ingredients (tamarind concentrate, green onions, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper) and asked you to identify which one of my old recipes I was using as the basis for a new recipe. The trick: The old recipe used only 4 [...]

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Korean-Style Cucumber and Edamame Salad

July 30, 2009
Korean-Style Cucumber and Edamame Salad

This summer’s weird, split-personality weather—first hot and dry and now hot and rainy—has wreaked havoc on most of the plants in my garden. The high heat in early summer kept my tomato plants from setting many fruits, and then when the few tomatoes that had formed were beginning to ripen, the sudden rain caused them [...]

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Blueberry Vinaigrette

July 26, 2009
Blueberry Vinaigrette

I try to eat a big salad every day for lunch, and though I don’t always succeed, I feel much better on those days that I do. As you can imagine, eating the same thing every day could get boring; for me, the key to keeping it exciting is not so much in changing the [...]

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Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens

July 21, 2009
Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens

If necessity is the mother of invention, hunger is the mother of new recipes. Well, hunger, laziness, and a sadly depleted refrigerator. On a recent Sunday, I was out of everything I would normally eat for lunch–no lettuce, no spinach, no cabbage, nothing fresh and green and salad-worthy. I was also sadly lacking the desire [...]

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Raw Corn and Black Bean Salad with Avocado

July 17, 2009
Raw Corn and Black Bean Salad with Avocado

Ever had corn so fresh that you were tempted to take a bite out of it, raw, and see what it tasted like? Recently I brought home some fresh, organically-grown corn and decided to do just that. I took a little nibble and it tasted good, a little starchier than I expected, but sweet and [...]

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Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad

July 12, 2009
Asparagus Pesto Pasta Salad

I hope you enjoy this update of an old favorite, first posted in June of 2006. I’ve improved the recipe and added nutritional information and new photos. I had to make a dish to take to a potluck yesterday, and when I went to the pantry to assemble the ingredients for the pasta salad I’d [...]

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Potato-Green Bean Salad with Lemon and Basil

June 14, 2009
Potato-Green Bean Salad

Potato salads can be dangerous. I’m not just talking about Aunt Mabel’s mayo-laden concoction sitting outside at the picnic all day, growing an army of bacteria. No, I mean the less immediately life-threatening danger that typical potato salads present to those of us who love, love, love them but don’t love the added fat they [...]

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Spicy Kasha Vegetable Salad

May 13, 2009
Spicy Kasha Vegetable Salad

If you’re having trouble fitting a whole grain into your busy schedule, I have a suggestion for you: Pick up a package of Wolff’s kasha. It can be used pretty much anywhere you’d use rice, quinoa, or millet, it cooks up faster than any of them, and best of all, it’s safe for your gluten-free [...]

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Spicy Carrot Salad

April 29, 2009
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These lovely April days, when the temperature is getting hot enough to make being outside a pleasure but being inside with the windows open just on the borderline of too stuffy and uncomfortable, I’m choosing more and more often to skip cooking altogether and make a meal of salad. The last thing I want to [...]

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Ridiculously Easy Grilled Romaine Salad

January 13, 2009
Ridiculously Easy Grilled Romaine Salad

Call me picky but I just don’t like romaine lettuce. Something about its crunchiness (I like iceberg even less) and bitter taste just turns me off. I’ll use it in a salad if I can hide it among a lot of loose salad greens and spinach, but I just can’t eat it on its own. [...]

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Two Chickpea Salads

October 11, 2008
Creamy Chickpea Salad

October may seem like a strange time to be writing about salads, but even in the cooler months, I like to eat salads for lunch. I load up on raw vegetables for my midday meal and concentrate on cooked veggies, beans, and grains for dinner. But raw vegetables don’t really fill me up or keep [...]

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Random Act of Quinoa Salad

August 18, 2008
Quinoa Salad

It’s lunchtime, and true to form, I haven’t eaten breakfast. I know, I know–most important meal of the day, keeps metabolism burning, aids in weight loss, yada yada. I’m sorry but I just forget to eat breakfast. I’m working on it, except when I forget to work on it. Anyway, lunch time rolls around and [...]

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Grilled Asparagus and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing

May 11, 2008
Grilled Asparagus Salad

I suppose I’m going to have to refer to this as “the recipe that broke my grill pan.” To be fair, it wasn’t the recipe’s fault that the pan broke–I blame that on Emeril. A fairly new cast iron double-sided griddle, it should hold up in an earthquake, not succumb under the pressure of some [...]

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E’s Fruit Salad with Strawberry Sauce

August 23, 2007

I’ve got a couple of new bloggy happenings to announce today. First of all, some of you have already noticed the new format. I’ve spent all week redesigning the blog so that in addition to the bright, shiny new page header, it has a three-column layout that, I hope, will make it easier for people [...]

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Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw

May 21, 2007
Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw

I had a problem coming up with a name for this salad. Though technically accurate, “Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw” sounds a little bizarre. Plus, since the grapefruit and the spicy wasabi paste are both optional ingredients, you could make this and come up with a coleslaw that is neither spicy nor grapefruity, but personally I think [...]

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A to Z Pasta Salad

February 16, 2007
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Since I don’t eat a lot of pasta anymore, this blog is sadly lacking in pasta recipes. Recently, however, I needed to make a dish for a potluck, and since asparagus is once again affordable, I decided to make my generic, go-to pasta salad (even if it’s definitely not salad weather here in frosty Mississippi). [...]

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Sushi Salad

October 26, 2006

I enjoy making sushi–and my family enjoys eating it. But sometimes I want the taste of sushi without the time and effort it takes to roll it. One way I get around the task of making sushi rolls is to have “Roll Your Own” nights: I’ll prepare the rice and fillings and cut the sheets [...]

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Moroccan Eggplant Salad with Preserved Lemon

October 4, 2006

I went in search of a North African side dish to serve with the Tunisian Bean and Chickpea Stew, and I found this Moroccan salad that interested me because it contains preserved lemons. A couple of months ago, I bought a jar of preserved lemons since I knew that I had seen recipes calling for [...]

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Hummus Salad

September 15, 2006
Hummus Salad with Pecan Dijon Dressing

Day 5 is finally here! It’s been a hectic week for me. Normally I do the bulk of my cooking at night so I can write about it the next morning, when I’m at my most energetic. Having to make a photogenic salad, photograph it, eat it, and then, still stuffed from lunch, write about [...]

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Taco Salad

September 14, 2006
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I mentioned before that there are two salads that I have gotten into a rut of eating all the time. Well, this is one of them (and I notice from the comments that many of you are taco salad fans too.) What you see is a bed of spinach and baby lettuces tossed with lime [...]

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Puy Lentil Salad with Roasted Beets

September 13, 2006
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If you’ve just joined us, here’s a quick recap: In an effort to find my lost salad mojo, I’m making a different salad every day for a week. The reason for the salad: A recent weight gain that I blamed on blogging but which was really caused by my lack of salad eating (and exercise). [...]

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Orange and Edamame Salad

September 12, 2006
Orange and Edamame Salad

Wow! I never dreamed I’d have such a huge response to my request for salad ideas. I made up a list and went to the grocery store this morning and bought four different kinds of lettuce (plus cabbage), four kinds of fruit (five if you count avocado), and several vegetables that I didn’t have on [...]

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Salad Days (Baby Lettuces with Grilled Portabella Mushrooms)

September 11, 2006
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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 [...]

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Basil and Bulgar Salad (aka Pesto Tabouli)

September 8, 2006

You know I love all things pesto. So you would probably think that I’ve tried pesto in just about every combination possible. After all, I’ve used Asparagus in pesto and topped Roasted Vegetables with pesto, and I’ve even gone so far as to stuff portabella mushrooms with Pesto Mashed Potatoes. But in all my playing [...]

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Orange Couscous Curry

August 14, 2006
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It was 9:00 on Sunday morning, and I needed to have a potluck dish ready by 10:30. To complicate matters, I had little desire to cook or even to attend the potluck–I was thoroughly immersed in a mystery novel and could have happily stayed curled up in the recliner with it all day. Nevertheless, I [...]

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Artichoke Pesto Pasta Salad

July 19, 2006

Last weekend I attended yet another potluck dinner. Something about the summer just screams “potluck,” I guess. For this one, I threw together not one but two pesto pasta salads: a regular one made with semolina pasta and olive oil, to share with the crowd, and a fat-free, healthier version made with whole wheat pasta [...]

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Ezme Salatasi (Turkish Tomato Salad)

July 14, 2006

I’m going to admit right up front that I’m not sure whether I’m posting this photo because I liked the recipe or because I wanted to show off the bowl that I got in a little art gallery in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Don’t get me wrong. The salad was good–light and cool and it really went [...]

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International Quinoa Salad

July 6, 2006
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Whenever my husband sees that I’m cooking quinoa, his eyes light up and he asks if I’m making “The Salad.” It’s our favorite quinoa dish, but for a while I made it only on special occasions because I couldn’t figure out how to make it without using olive oil. I was just afraid that it [...]

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Colorful Tofu Salad with Basil and Cashews

June 28, 2006
Colorful Tofu Salad

It’s swim-meet season, that dreaded time of year when once a week my family sits outside in the humid Mississippi heat while my daughter periodically gets to jump into a pool and swim as though Jaws himself were after her. She stays nice and cool while the rest of us wilt. Since we’re out there [...]

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Southwestern Black Bean Potato Salad

June 15, 2006
Southwestern Black Bean Potato Salad

It was blazing hot, and The Spice Hater (aka my daughter E.) was eating dinner with friends. So I seized the opportunity to indulge in a little hot pepper action and mixed up a batch of super-spicy black bean-potato salad and let it marinate in the fridge until very cold. It tasted wonderful to my [...]

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Coleslaw with Poppy Seed Dressing

May 31, 2006

Yesterday I was in the mood for coleslaw for lunch. I didn’t want to use the herbed dressing I made recently or the more exotic coconut-ginger or sesame orange dressings I’ve used in the past. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, but I wanted it to be different. Then I remembered a recipe that [...]

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Tropical Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Scented Yogurt Sauce

April 24, 2006

That title is a mouthful. Try saying it three times fast! This is the simple breakfast that I made yesterday. The fruit is based on what I had in the house at the time, so feel free to use whatever you have on-hand. This makes approximately 2 servings (or one big serving). Tropical Fruit Salad [...]

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Creamy Herbed Coleslaw with Grape Tomatoes

April 19, 2006
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Rather than have my usual lettuce and spinach salad for lunch today, I decided to enjoy a nice big bowl of coleslaw. And since there’s a 2-pound package of grape tomatoes on my counter (my daughter pleaded with me to buy them, saying she’d have them for snacks, but that’s a lot of snacking) I [...]

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Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad with Coconut-Ginger Dressing

March 20, 2006

The dipping sauce for the Miang Kum Rolls was still on my mind yesterday morning when I needed to throw together a couple of quick dishes for a potluck lunch. I’d decided to make the Thai-Style Vegetable Curry that I’d made the very first week of this blog; we’d loved it and planned to have [...]

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Sesame Orange Coleslaw

February 7, 2006

I think I have a new favorite salad! To go along with last night’s Thai Coconut Soup, I created this coleslaw, sort of a fusion of Chinese, Thai, and California (those oranges!) The little pieces of orange are explosions of sweet flavor amid the sesame-ginger seasoned dressing. I used three little clementines, but you could [...]

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Beet, Carrot, and Orange Salad

January 20, 2006

Beets are nutritional powerhouses (see below). I don’t have much experience with them, but after reading about the glories of beets, I decided to give them a try: Beet, Carrot, and Orange Salad 1 large beet, peeled2 large carrots2 orangesgrated fresh ginger or ginger powder, to taste Shred the carrots and the beet (using a [...]

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Two Salads

January 19, 2006

Last night we ordered sushi from our favorite Japanese restaurant. Mmmm–avocado rolls, asparagus rolls, and vegetable rolls. Sushi, even sushi made only with vegetables, is ridiculously expensive, so I try to keep costs down by ordering less and making side dishes at home. Normally I make miso soup and edamame, but last night I decided [...]

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