pollanesque, posts by tag: recipes: salads - LiveJournal

Adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe

Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

1 large or two small shallots, sliced finely
kernels cut from two ears of corn
approx. 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh mozzarella, cubed (optional)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
squeeze of fresh lime juice

Sauté shallots and corn in olive oil and sea salt over medium-high heat until shallots are softened, 3-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and halve cherry tomatoes and cube fresh mozzarella and toss together in a bowl. (Leave out the mozzarella for a vegan version.)

Toss corn and shallots with tomatoes and mozzarella, and top with a few squeezes of fresh lime juice.

Just wanted to share, I had a salad the other night that was TO DIE FOR. It had mixed greens, cubes of yellow and pink watermelon, and cubes of feta dressed with basil oil. OMG AMAZING.

Also, if you're a fan of salads, hie thee to the NYT website for Mark Bittman's 101 Salads.

from Everyday Food

Rhubarb Salad with Goat Cheese

3/4 pound rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup walnut halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bunches arugula (about a pound total) - tough ends removed (or other greens--I used spinach)
1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.  On a rimmed baking sheet, toss rhubarb with honey.  Roast on upper rack until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet.  On another rimmed baking sheet, toast walnuts on lower rack until fragrant, 5 minutes.  Let cool, then chop.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add arugula and fennel and toss to combine.  Top with rhubarb, walnuts, and goat cheese.

(Serves 4)

A friend brought a delicious, cool summer salad to book club recently, and this is my adaptation of the same. Where she used barley, I used quinoa for its nutty taste and high protein value. Almost everything else was a pantry staple (olive oil, salt, pepper) or ordered from the local farmer's network. This may well be the cheapest dish I've ever made!

ingredients

1 (uncooked) cup quinoa
1 small red onion
1/3 cup balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 small cucumber
4 ripe tomatoes (or equivalent: I used two roma and a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes)
2 tbsp fresh basil
4 tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper

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I first started thinking about eating locally back in 1994. ( Collapse )

I am deeply, deeply in love with this salad. It's quick, easy, incredibly tasty, and a wonderful lunch without adding anything to it. I can't wait to make it with fresh corn once the corn's ripe!

ingredients

1 1lb bag frozen corn kernels (I use white shoepeg, but any will do)
2 15oz (or thereabouts) cans of black beans
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

method

1. Rinse the beans thoroughly
2. Mix the beans and corn together. (You can do this while the corn's still frozen if you like.)
3. In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients, and whip with a fork until combined.
4. Pour the dressing over the beans and corn and toss thoroughly.
5. Put in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

notes

I've always made this the night before I plan to eat it, but I've tasted the mix as soon as I'm done combining the ingredients, and it tastes good straight away. I make this big batch and eat from it all week - but it's easy enough to halve the amounts if you have less storage space or don't think you'll eat as much.

YUM

Here's a tasty and easy recipe I made for my lunches this week:

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Also, for your convenience (because I didn't know how to cook barley before):

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I've been meaning to post this for a while. Over at my blog, I documented a week in which I used a single whole chicken to cook four meals for two people. Thought it went well with Cate's post about food waste!

I usually spend part of one day each weekend preparing food for the week.  As I am waiting for my bread to rise, I thought I'd follow up on a promise from last week  to write up a discussion post on foods on the go and easy-to-fix-in-the-office foods, in the hopes that others would share their tips and tricks.  
Year round, I try to take my lunch and snacks to the office, but in the summer, I often have days in which I eat all 3 meals away from home.  If I ate out for all those meals, the cost would be extraordinary - and most of the local and affordable and fast restaurants leave few options when trying to avoid preservatives and HFCS.   The answer: make and take my healthy meals and snacks, and transport in a responsible way. 









A few last tips:
I have the space at work so I keep a small stash of things at my desk to be put into use when I've forgotten something or didn't have the time to plan ahead.  I have a set of cutlery and cloth napkin, a wide mouthed mug that can be used for soup, a can of soup or two, to have when I've not had the time to pack meal, a few favorite spices - I keep a bottle of malt vinegar for veggies and salads and some cinnamon to use on fruit or oatmeal.
Also, if you have a lunch buddy at work who is similarly minded, you can take turns bringing lunch.  It's almost no added work to bring for two what you would be bringing for one.  You will also have the opportunity to try new meals and get a day off from preparing lunch.

While browsing the website for My Organic Market (no, really, that's it's name, M.O.M. for short :D ), I discovered they have a recipe section and tried out this quick and tasty turkey (or other meat/tofu) salad for my lunches last week. :)

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