It’s a salad and a stir-fry all at the same time! Leafy greens kale and bok choy are steam-fried along with cabbage and carrots in this oil-free kale 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 and breezy and cut to the chase, er, recipe.
So let’s just suffice it to say that though the recipes I post here are low-fat and most are suitable for any healthy diet plan, there are things in my pantry that aren’t fat-free or low in sugar or unprocessed, and they’ve been known to find their way out of my pantry and into my mouth. (I’m looking at you, Boca Chik’N and Fruitful O’s!) No matter how healthy my dinners are (and they really are what you see on this blog), I don’t make any progress losing weight if I eat junk for lunch and between meals. So I’ve cut out all processed foods, including flour and sugar, which always cause me to crave more processed food.
And I feel great! My new motto is “If I didn’t cook it myself and it doesn’t fit on my blog, I don’t eat it.” That’s a long motto, but you get the idea.
I’m basically following Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live (I have my own little tweaks), and one of its main precepts is “Thou Shalt Eat a Mega-Huge Salad for Lunch.” Mega-Huge means take the salad bowl you use to make salad for dinner parties and fill it up with lettuce, spinach, kale, and various other leafy greens and top them with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peas, and whatever other raw vegetables you can find. Finally, top that with an ounce or two of raw nuts and some cooked beans, and then eat the entire thing.
My main problem with this main precept is that I get tired of salads every day, especially during the winter when the thought of cold salad often leads me to heat up the beans before pouring them over the salad. So yesterday I opened my fridge and took out all the “remnants” of other recipes–the cabbage and kale I’d chopped for a photo shoot, the white beans leftover from Roasted Parsnip Soup, two baby bok choy that I didn’t use in my last stir-fry–added some onions and carrots, and made a hot salad out of them:
Then I posted the photo above to Facebook with the caption, “I just ate almost this entire stir-fry pan full of food–the kind of lunch that happens when I get tired of salads!” So many people wanted the recipe (though one wanted to chastise me for my “gluttony”) that I posted the ingredients. But since ingredients do not a recipe make, I figured I’d better give you the full run-down here on the blog.
What follows is exactly what I used and what I did, but since I was cleaning out my own fridge, not yours, feel free to use the vegetables that you need to use up. Chopping time aside (and I was lucky to have most of this pre-chopped), this cooks very quickly: Be sure you use a deep enough skillet that you can cover because steaming is necessary to get the veggies cooked fast without oil.
And note the number of servings. The recipe made about 4 of the salad-plate-sized servings in the plated photo, but if you’re following Eat to Live, you’ll want to eat more than that (or even the whole pan!) so I’ve set the nutritional info up for 2 servings. You could also serve it as a side dish for 4; just divide the nutritional stats in half.
Hot Skillet Salad
Ingredients
- 2 baby bok choy
- 1/4 cup red onion chopped
- 3 ounces baby carrots about 6, slivered
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup red cabbage sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 cups sliced kale
- 1 cup cooked great northern beans
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fat-free balsamic dressing or balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Wash the bok choy well. Slice the white stems into 1/4-inch slices and set aside. Slice the green leafy tops thinly and keep separate from the stems.
- Preheat a non-stick wok or deep skillet. Add the red onion and cook until it begins to soften. Add the carrots, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute. Add the bok choy stems, cabbage, basil, oregano, and 1/4 cup water. Cover tightly and steam for about 3 minutes, stirring several times. Stir in the bok choy leaves, kale, and beans and add another splash of water if it’s too dry. Cover and steam until the kale is tender and bright green, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in salad dressing or vinegar just before serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Eat to Livers Unite!
What do you eat when you don’t want salad? Leave your ideas and recipes in the comments below. And see Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing Plus Tips for Eating Salads When You Really Don’t Want To for more ideas.
Looking for other Eat to Live-able recipes? Check out my ETL sections both here and on the main website. Looking for support? Join us in the Eat-2-Live Group on Yahoo!
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sarakata
This looks great! I’ve been getting kale in my CSA and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it (most recipes tell you to cook it up in bacon fat!). Will definitely try this one out 🙂
CanCan
I am high raw gluten free vegan and i have really been slipping by dinner time, I can’t bear to eat another green smoothie some times! I started doing something like this based on your “garlicky greens” recipe, which allowed me to eat like a pound of spinach “steam-fried” instead of blended in a green smoothie, or chewing through it like a cow for hours on end. Woohoo!
cici
Susan,
I want to thank you for the great recipes that I’ve tried on your website. I made mexican enchiladas, spring rolls (so simple), broccoli no-fredo to name a few. My kids (18,15,11) love them – much to my surprise. I was so happy to find your website as it is hard to find vegan recipes that pay attention to the fat. I’ve applied some of your techniques to my own recipes (saute without oil, using applesauce in muffins).
Keep doing what you’re doing 🙂
Second, I am like you where I want to eat better – but there are so many temptations
Mia
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! And even though the whole point was to make a WARM salad, I liked it even better the next day cold, heh. Very good, both ways though.
Erika
I don’t have a whole lot of discipline, so I’m currently on packaged foods sometimes, and many times I make my veggies taste better with bottled tamarind and coriander chutneys. Specifically Swad brand.
If one could find a way to make those chutneys from scratch (coriander not so difficult, tamarind may be trickier, especially because packaged has a lot of sugar I think) but anyway, if one could make those from scratch and thin them out a bit it would be like having an Indian salad.
I will be forever grateful if Susan figures out a way to make a tamarind dressing and a coriander dressing that taste as good as Swad brand, but thinner consistency.
kate@ahealthypassion
this looks delish I have been craving kale and I think this might hit the spot! Thanks for yet another fab recipe 🙂
Faith Ellens
nomnomnomnom!!! This looks so mouthwatering…something I could not resist. Good thing it’s super healthy!
Adriana
That looks so good. I think I would have eaten the whole pan by myself too.
char
I am new to your site, and find it enticing. I hope you’ll consider shifting the same number of calories to include more raw, healthy fats. They are good for skin, heart, brain, hormonal regulation (which controls weight)… it could be the secret to letting your body relax and let go of the extra fat it’s conserving. But I don’t know. It’s just an idea (and it seems to work for me).
Mary
Thank you Susan! I’ve been trying to lose the last of my baby weight (now that she’s 19 months old!) I was inspired by your post and have been having a big, beautiful salad for lunch for the last week. I feel great and I think it’s even helping out 😀
Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen
This looks really delicious and I can’t wait to try it. A quick note for any UK readers – great northern beans are not widely available, but cannellini beans or haricot beans should substitute well.
Stephanie
My husband and I had this for dinner this evening. Delicious. With a lemon-garlic dressing that had some olive oil, so not completely ETL, but very healthy. We loved it. Also found myself today making a batch of blueberry oat bars from your site, as well as turnip and chickpea stew — so I’m set for the week with my dinner and dessert — all from FatFreeVegan.com! Thanks!
Susan
This is a delicious recipe Susan! Lots of color and crunch. Thank you for always inspiring me to try yet another new recipe!
Kathy (Kate)
I hear you about the weight loss. Been there, done that, should have blogged! lol. I am here for you. I just found your Blog, but will follow it! Maybe we can inspire each other. I too have been cleaning out the junk. How would you handle a husband who decides to bake every time you declare you are going to eat right? Sabotage anyone? No, I cannot blame him. He does not put the cookies in my mouth. AND he makes them as nutritious as is possible, so I am truly blessed in that respect. This winter has been a rough one on me. But, I realized yesterday that I have only gained 2 lbs since last summer. I love finding new ways to make things and have been doing that a lot. I have cut portions in half. I will continue to do that. I finally realized that a portion is NOT the entire thing! (go figure) Anyway, here is to the coming Spring. We can make it now! Hang in there! I hope to get back to my bike riding as soon as the snow melts. Have been out 2 times recently and it does help to feel better. Guess we truly hibernated this year! I just finished reading Julia and Julie. LOVED it. I am now reading more about Julia Child. She truly was a remarkable woman. I loved reading about the way they used to cook before knowing how bad it could be for one. Blabbering on here, sorry. I am planning on daily reading of your blog! We can do this! Kate from Iowa
Lex
That’s a starvation diet, too few calories. Remember the people in China eat up to 3700 calories a day and are fit and trim. You have a cup of beans, which is good, but the rest is like eating air. The #1 thing about the McDougall Diet is sticking to it. Every drop of fat accumulates no matter how healthy we eat every other meal.
SusanV
I respectfully disagree with just about everything you say, but I won’t go into it here.
Get Skinny, Go Vegan.
Somehow I naturally let flour fall by the wayside also, and sugar. I think it was just when I started including a lot more raw foods and so it was pretty easy as I would fill up on fruits and nuts. And now there are so many raw desserts that are better than regular desserts!! This “Skillet” meal looks a lot like my husband’s creations! Love the Cast Iron, as you don’t have to worry about all the nasty non-stick coatings. If you use a dish heavy enough, stuff just doesn’t burn that easily. And it’s the best for scrambled tofu.
moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
I am one to crunch on a salad all year long, but here in Idaho we’ve had record cold this weekend, last night in the sub zero temperatures. I had my dinner salad all chopped and suddenly, it just had to be a skillet salad, even though I had soup heating as well. So I put the layers in the dish into the skillet and voila! A warm salad–thank you!!
And here’s to Spring arriving. . .some day. . .
xo
moonwatcher
Moira
Thanks for the wonderful recipe and story! In response to your question about when I get tired of salads- green smoothies.
Christopher Kandrat
A great dish, the best thing me and my girlfriend made in awhile, thank you!
Kim
OMG I have been debating doing exactly what you are doing. I try and post low fat and healthy vegan food on my blog but I have to feed my family and they are not happy with most of the low fat stuff. My desert section is increasing and so is my waist. I am really addicted to flour and sugar and doing so has made me more lazy thus reaching for those processed “easy” foods you mention.
I reread the Eat to Live book and decided I would go for it again, bought a bunch of salad stuff and then had out of town guests come in. I had to make muffins, cookies and such and of course can’t make them without eating them so the salad is now bad and my desire to eat healthy again is lower.
I, like you, make pretty healthy dinners, and even healthy lunches and breakfast but it is the snacks and treats that do me in. I can’t wait to see how things go with you and hope you will post your progress good and bad for us all to see. We all have our weaknesses and no one is perfect (except maybe Dr. McDougall, Fuhrman and Barnard!)
Good luck to you Susan and PLEASE keep us updated 🙂
Kim
Chris
OMG! what an awesome recipe! I’m on Weight Watchers, which has been working great for me. I’ve been a vegetarian for decades (lacto-ovo plus occasional fish.) Tomorrow I’m starting a Vegan diet, so I’m cruising the web for recipes. I’m so excited! (wish me luck)
🙂
SusanV
Good luck! I think you’ll love being vegan!
Christopher Kandrat
One of the best salad related dishes i’ve had in awhile
Laura
I have a diet secret, too. I’m not overweight, but I binge. I eat healthy most meals – most days – and then I binge on sugar. I went a period of several months without binging and it felt so great – I didn’t hate myself. Then, I binged. And I realized “that feeling” after a binge – when I totally hate myself for giving in to food to make me feel differently – was worse than anything. It finally hit me. I hate the binge. I now have finally learned to recall how I feel after a binge – before I binge – so I can change it. Easier said than done. But why? Why should that be so difficult? It’s the whole reward thing. Now, I think I have finally changed my brain chemistry – a la David Kessler’s theory of conditioned hyper-eating. It’s not just the food. It’s the brain.
That said, I love my salads. And on a cold winter’s day – to warm up my salad – I stick with the green salad base – and simply add to that – some nuked veggies of the “frozen mixed veg” variety mixed with 1 T. of Thousand Island dressing. It’s simple – yet delicious. And very rewarding.
Eat 4 Stress
I love your motto! A few weeks ago, I had to have a heart-to-hear discussion with myself (um, so to speak) that if I was going to get these 40 pounds off from emotional eating at night, that I had to clear the pantry and fridge of temptation that I can’t handle. So, as of today, I am resolved that if it isn’t fresh and raw veggies, I shouldn’t eat it and only I truly know that there is no oil or butter in a cooked meal, unless I make it myself.
Fortunately, my husband does love the food I’ve been making as we slowly adapt. I cook a lot of Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s food and am always looking for new recipes that are similar to his, yours are perfect! Thank you for sharing all of your great recipes.
My husband has no emotional eating problems and can eat anything, but he has agreed to keep the munchies at work!
Kate
When I’m not in a salad mood, I default to veggie soups or green smoothies. I make a massive batch of veggie soup at the start of the week, and it always just disappears. My current favourite is split pea spinach. I cook split peas in extra veggie broth (more than called for, so the peas get saturated but there is still broth left over), and then I steam a bag or so of spinach, and throw the whole thing in the blender. It takes like 5 minutes (minus the cooking time for the peas) and is the most beautiful green and delicious.
moreskinnydays
I had always tried to eat healthy, but “Eat to Live” changed my perspective from adding produce to starting with produce. Now most of my meals are, for lack of a better term, salads or porridges. Salads using lettuce as a base and porridges use a fruit or vegetable as a base. I am not a vegetarian, but meat is a treat as is anything in a package.
Katie Rose
I did ETL for awhile too, and the salads made me feel great but I was always looking for a way to switch it up and add variety to my day. What a novel idea this recipe is! It looks delicious.
Meghan
Hey! I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried it, but tonight I made a salad and dressed it with salsa, Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast was a new addition for me but it made an excellent dressing once everything was mixed 🙂
Kellie
Susan — another hit! Absolutely loved this and so did my husband. A great way for us to get more kale in. I used regular green kale plus some locinato kale (aka dinosaur kale), too. The mixture worked well. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
April
Thanks for posting this recipe! I have never been able to just eat a bowl of cooked greens but am trying to incorporate them into other dishes. This was the perfect recipe to get me eating kale, I even grew it in my garden because of this salad! I’ve thrown in steam fried potatoes on occasion, leftover vinegar coleslaw, possibilities are endless! Think I’m going to have to make another batch soon! Thanks again and keep the recipes coming 🙂
Mia
Thank you so much for this recipe, with simple, precise instructions! As a college kid living on my own now, I’m just starting to get my head around cooking for myself, and this recipe basically taught me how to stir-fry (er, steam)! I’ve made this many times, along with many variations on it. Its so versatile it will never get old! Thanks again for your wonderful recipes. Keep em coming, and I’ll keep eating!
annie
THank you, Susan, for this and all your recipes. I’m happy to have found you. About weight, since I started eating a whole foods plant based no added oil diet in early 2011 I have lost ALL my excess weight with absolutely no hunger or stress. This feeds my health instead of my fat cells.
A.C.
Thanks!! I googled “Hot Salad” and this came up!
it’ll be a rescue as I have a pot luck tonight and totally forgot.. this will be a great pinch-hit! *I was thinking of adding a little fresh ginger, a whisper of 5-spice and a tablespoon or so of SoyVay’s line of sauces.. either way and any way: this looks like a Keeper! 🙂
brenda the barefootcookingirl
When I have a plate of salad in front of me at home and I just can’t eat another one – I take it and make soup out of it. Just toss it in a vitamix or other good blender, add some water and there you go. Hot salad in a mug, or two or three…. or even cold. You’d be surprised how many soups taste good cold! Love your site – new to it yesterday. Love it! BCG
Tam
Hello,
I just made this hot skillet salad tonight. I like it a lot! But, I may have cooked this a minute too long.. Doesn’t look as “lively” as yours in the pic!! I’ll cut up my veggies in advance next time. I did use an organic prepacked chopped kale salad that contained carrots and chopped red cabbage too!
I love salads and I like the idea of throwing greens and veggies together in a skillet.
This will definitely be a Fall/Winter staple for me. Thanks!!
Ann
I’m always looking for new ideas to treat my daughter, a vegetarian. Your approach and recipes are fantastic and I hope to find one to take to our family’s Easter dinner.
Monica
I’m not too embarrassed to admit I eat this pretty much every night. I alternate kale, spinach and bok Choy and add tomatoes, yellow squash, cauliflower or whatever else I have on hand. I season with fresh gound pepper, lemon nd balsamic vinegar-delish!!!