Category: Salad

Southwest Chicken Salad

We couldn’t get enough of this salad.  You can increase or decrease ratios of what you want in your salad.

 

Ingredients:

Lettuce- I used spring mix

Frozen corn- steamed or microwaved

Chopped fresh tomatoes

Cooked brown rice- I did mine in a rice cooker

Black beans- from a can or cooked in a crockpot

Southwest Chicken*

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing*

 

 

*Southwest Chicken ingredients:

1/3 c. oil

3 T. white vinegar

1 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 pound of chicken breasts

Directions:

Combine spices.  Add oil, vinegar, and cilantro.  Place all into a plastic ziploc bag and add chicken.  Allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Grill chicken until cooked through- about 6-7 minutes per side. Baste chicken with leftover marinade when you turn it.  Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked.

 

*Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing ingredients:

2 small avocados

2 T. mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise so it would be egg free)

1 c. cilantro, washed

2 green onions, sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

juice of 1 lime (about 1 T.)

3 T. milk (I used unsweetened cashew milk)

4 T. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp white vinegar

Directions:

Scoop out the avocados and save the pits for storing in the dressing. Blend all ingredients in the blender until smooth.  Store in the fridge in an airtight container with the avocado pits in the dressing to help keep it fresh.  Could also be used as a dip.

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

Even my husband, who doesn’t really care for avocados, was helping me lick the bowl after this one.  We served it over a southwest salad.

 

Ingredients:

2 small avocados

2 T. mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise so it would be egg free)

1 c. cilantro, washed

2 green onions, sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

juice of 1 lime (about 1 T.)

3 T. milk (I used unsweetened cashew milk)

4 T. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp white vinegar

 

Directions:

Scoop out the avocados and save the pits for storing in the dressing. Blend all ingredients in the blender until smooth.  Store in the fridge in an airtight container with the avocado pits in the dressing to help keep it fresh.  Could also be used as a dip.

 

Inspired by:

http://www.food.com/recipe/creamy-cilantro-avocado-dressing-449407

Italian Salad Dressing

I had dinner guests over the other night and wanted to use lots of herbs.  This is what happened.

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp dried thyme or 1 T. fresh thyme

1 T. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried

1 T. fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried

1 T. fresh basil or 1 tsp dried

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 c. olive oil

2 T. rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar (optional)

1/2 tsp sea salt

 

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until minced.  All of my herbs were fresh from the garden except for thyme.  This goes well on a spinach salad with vegetables mixed in.

See my garden?  Please ignore the grass that is growing in :-).

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Chicken Salad

This is one of my go-to’s for camping, picnics, etc.  It is so simple and versatile.  It’s hard to find a sandwich bread on a store shelf that is gluten, dairy, and egg free and that won’t crumble apart around your sandwich and baking bread takes awhile, so this is my normal solution.  If you are really in a hurry, you can use canned chicken.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken.

~1/4 c. regular or vegan mayonnaise (Vegannaise and EarthBalance have vegan mayos and I think there are more brands out now)

1/4 c. craisins

salt and pepper to taste

dash of onion powder

1-2 tsp celery seed

Optional:  add-ins such as chopped celery, onion, green onion, etc.

 

Directions:

Shred chicken.  Add mayonnaise until it is the moistness you like in your chicken salad. Add salt and pepper to taste as well as onion powder and celery seed if desired. Add in mix-ins such as craisins, celery, etc.  May be eaten with crackers, inside half an avocado, on a sandwich, or just by itself.

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Homegrown Garden Salad

This is the first year I’ve ever had a real garden.  My parents had them while we were growing up and I helped some, but I wasn’t responsible for it.  We have just started harvesting things from our garden.  It is so exciting!  Some of the sugar snaps are ready and we were able to harvest a few leaves of rainbow swiss chard as well as some basil.  The rest of the ingredients were from the store.  You can mix and match with whatever you have in your garden or your store, but here’s some ideas for starters!

Ingredients:

1 handful of spinach

1 handful of chopped leaf lettuce

1 leaf of yellow stem swiss chard

1 leaf of red stem swiss chard

1 orange pepper, chopped

tops of green onions, chopped

2-3 sugar snap peas

Handful of broccoli, chopped

Small handful of basil (I used sweet basil, ajaka, and red leaf)

Optional: Mild white cheddar cheese (obviously not dairy free)

Dressing of your choice (we used Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion)

Optional: Add in baked chicken

 

Directions:

Harvest whatever you can from your garden that would go in a salad.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Top with dressing of your choice and cheese if you can eat it.  Enjoy!

Cranberry Almond Salad

I recently went camping with some friends.  I didn’t want to spend a lot of time preparing meals, so I tossed together this salad.  My husband and I ate the same salad at home and had the opportunity to warm up the meat, so you could do the meat hot or cold.

 

Ingredients:

2 handfuls of spinach

2 leaves of leaf lettuce, chopped

2 T. craisins

1 T. sunflower seeds

1 T. slivered almonds

1 handful of broccoli, chopped

3-4 chunks of baked chicken

Dressing of your choice

 

Directions:

Wash spinach, lettuce, and broccoli.  Place in bowl and add craisins, almonds, and sunflower seeds.  Add chicken (either hot or cold).  Add dressing of your choice and eat!

 

Notes:

I oftentimes make the chicken ahead and freeze it. Then I can pull out small amounts as needed.  If you are taking this salad on a campout, I suggest storing the dressing separate from everything else.  I also put the craisins, almonds and sunflower seeds in a separate container so they wouldn’t get soggy.  Happy camping!

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Dressing shown is Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing.  It looks creamy but it has no gluten, dairy, or eggs.  I don’t know what magic is in it to make it look creamy.  Sometimes it’s best not to ask :-).

Basil and Greens Salad

I usually don’t make fancy salads.  I end up eating them at restaurants often and it takes a lot of ingredients to make it fancy.  However, one day I looked in my fridge and realized I had collected little bits and pieces that together could make a really good salad.  If you don’t have one or more of these ingredients, don’t worry.  The recipe won’t be ruined as salads are very forgiving.  I mean, after all, they let you toss them and then eat them.

Ingredients:

1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

handful of spinach

2 stems of basil, leaves only- I used ajaka and red basil because that’s what I had,

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 bunch of green onions- green part only, sliced

Dressing: Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing.  Surprisingly, it looks creamy yet has no gluten, dairy, or eggs in it.

Directions:

Wash and chop all ingredients.  You may use more or less of any ingredient if that’s what you have around.  The basil is a really nice touch, so I would include some form of basil if you have it.  You could also toss in some carrots, tomatoes, etc. for some color.

Top with your favorite dressing and enjoy!

Greek Salad

After I made skewers, I had leftover chicken and vegetables.  I searched the internet and found inspiration for this recipe.  It was, once again, a hit with the guys.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 c. olive oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 T. minced onions

1 yellow pepper, diced

3 roma tomatoes, diced

7-8 mushrooms, diced

2-3 cups of cubed, cooked chicken (lightly salted and peppered) (omit chicken for vegetarian option)

1-2 handfuls of fresh basil (optional)

Optional add-ins that I didn’t use:

Feta cheese

Black olives

Cooked pasta

Green onions

 

Directions:

 

Cook chicken and allow to cool.  In a large bowl, stir together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, oregano, sugar, salt, and minced onions.  Dice the vegetables and add to the olive oil mixture.  Add cooled chicken.  Stir in some torn basil leaves and garnish with a sprig of basil.  Store in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before eating.

 

Recipe adapted from:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/11689/greek-pasta-salad-i/