Salads

Holiday Salad

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This salad is the BEST! I make it at Thanksgiving and Christmas because of it’s beautiful colors and pomegranate is in season at that time of year.  It’s super easy to make, It looks beautiful and it tastes great! I like salads that have different textures. In my opinion, crunchy, sweet, salty, smooth textures all need to be inside a great salad. The amount in this recipe serves six. Three to four people if serving as a main dish. I like to use a light oil and balsamic vinaigrette with this salad. It’s very refreshing next to the heavier holiday dishes that are usually served. You could make this the day AFTER Thanksgiving and top it with leftover turkey, YUM!

Tools                                                   

  • Large bowl
  • tongs

Ingredients

  • 10 oz bag of baby spinach
  • 10 oz bag of baby greens like kale, radicchio and mizuna
  • 6 oz bag of butter lettuce
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced*
  • 4 oz bag of low sugar dried cranberries
  • 4 oz of pomegranate seeds*
  • 4 oz bag of sliced almonds, toasted

DELISH TIP 1-Red onion can be quite strong. You can mellow their flavor if you slice your onion and then soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towel and then add them to your salad.

DELISH TIP 2– You can get the seeds out of the pomegranate by halving it and whacking the outside with a wooden spoon. Do it over a big bowl because they’ll fly out and bounce around. This is a fun job for children, or to relieve stress! Or you can buy the seeds in a jar in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store.

Tomato Feta Salad

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We eat this salad almost everyday in the summer. It’s crunchy, juicy, and refreshing. Look for organic tomatoes that are tasty if tomatoes aren’t in season where you live.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of Organic cherry tomatoes                                             FullSizeRender-6
  • 1 English cucumber
  • 1/2 cup of feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup of white onion
  • 1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves
  • 3 TBSP of italian dressing
  • S&P

 

 

 

This salad is so simple but its delish!! Slice tomatoes in half or quarters depending how large they are. Chop cucumber and dice onion. Chiffonade the basil or tear it by hand. Crumble in the feta and add dressing. Toss to combine. Let the flavors blend in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

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Shrimp Caesar Salad

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A shrimp Caesar is one of my favorite salads. I prefer it over grilled chicken, I like to grill them but when it’s 1 degree outside I just saute’ them in a pan. I like to use my own Caesar dressing for this recipe and my semi-homemade croutons.

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Recipe- Serves 4

  • 3 heads of Romaine- chopped or torn
  • 4 TBS of Julie’s Caesar dressing
  • 4 TBS of shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup of croutons
  • 2 oz of anchovies (optional)
  • 1 lb of RAW shrimp, peeled and deveined.

Peel and season your shrimp, cook 4 minutes.

Toss the lettuce with the dressing and coat well. Add cracked pepper. Sprinkle your cheese and croutons all over the salad and top with shrimp. Enjoy!!

Delish Tip: FOOD HACK: “Semi-Homemade” Croutons

I use unseasoned croutons and melt 2 Tbs of butter/olive oil and 1 TBS of olive oil. I add about a tsp of garlic powder and a tsp of my favorite dried herb mix and toast the croutons in the mixture for about 5 minutes. I sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on them too. They are DELISH!

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Chopped Salad with Mixed Greens and Balsamic Vinaigrette

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Salads can get  a little boring sometimes so to pump up some interest I like to buy new veggies and toppers put into them. My favorite lettuce is butter lettuce. I love the silky, tender leaves, that magically hold salad dressing.

Remember, the best salads have many tastes and textures to them. Crunchy, cool, salty, sweet or sour and bitter adds interest while you are eating.

Salad Recipe:

  • 1 head of butter lettuce- torn
  • 1 small bunch of Swiss chard- stems removed
  • 1/2 an English cucumber -diced
  •  2-3 Watermelon Radish -thinly sliced
  •  1 14 oz can of Hearts of Palm– sliced
  • 2 TBS of sunflower seeds
  • 2  scallions- sliced
  • 1/2 cup of croutons*

Delish Tip: This is a SUPER basic vinaigrette but it goes great on salads and I actually sauté it with green beans as a Warm salad too!!

Hearts of Palm taste a little like marinated artichokes. They have a pleasant mouthfeel to me.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

  • 1 small shallot diced
  • 1 TBS dijon mustard
  • 2 TBS of Balsamic Vinegar
  • 6 TBS of olive oil
  • S&P to taste

 

Caprese Skewers

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Here is another super Easy DELISH dish with TWO different versions…

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Ingredients:

One container of Bocconcini mozzarella balls (marinated)

Fresh green basil and purple opal basil

cherry tomatoes

S&P to taste

skewers

*italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette optional

RECIPE I:

Alternate skewers with mozzarella, basil, and tomato. Drizzle the marinating liquid on tomatoes and S&P. If you can’t find the marinated mozzarella then drizzle some italian dressing or balsamic vinegar on the tomatoes. Refrigerate until ready to serve. These are crispy, creamy cool and refreshing on a hot summe day.

RECIPE II:

Same directions as above but you can put these little beauties on the grill, under the broiler, or our favorite a Presto Pizza Pizzazz!! The cheese gets a little gooey and the tomatoes get a little warm and then we serve them on some GARLIC rubbed toasted baguette. It’s amazing!