Category Archives: Salads

Meatless Mondays: Lentil and Wild Rice Salad with Poached Eggs

13 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Egg Salad, Eggs, Gluten-Free, Legumes, Lentils, Meatless Mondays, Salads, Vegetarian, Wild Rice

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Despite the fact that I’m a vegetable-crazy person, I often forget to put up a post for Meatless Mondays.  I nearly always eat vegetables with eggs or, more often with egg whites, (the dogs get the yolks) for breakfast…

Above: Sauté spinach a minute or two in a teaspoon or two olive oil in a small, nonstick skillet with a little red onion or shallot, crack egg whites only (2-3) evenly on top, season with salt and pepper, and cover, cooking until whites are opaque. Garnish with salsa.   

…but rarely write a recipe or post as the meals seem so simple–like the egg white and spinach omelet above.

Here are a few I have written and posted:

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Dutch Oven Beef and Italian Sausage Stew

16 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in Beef, Beef Stew, Gluten-Free, One-Pot Meals, Salad, Salad dressings, Salads, Sausage

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Give me a cold day. Any cold day. Let me have time and peace to stir together something that incubates in my oven gently easing its teasing, come-hither aromas throughout the house and drawing near all who enter.  Add an entrancing, captivating book waiting for me during that 3-hour parole and I am a happy girl. Ok, include a balanced, but lofty bottle of wine and the deal is sealed.

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BBQ Chicken-Grilled Veggie Stack with Southwestern Rice Salad

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by in Barbeque, Chicken, Grill, Rice, Salads, Vegetables

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While the old deck disappears and the new one is added, our summer dinner spot is gone.  This seems to be a theme in our lives lately. (Change is in the air.) Outdoor tables and chairs are stored in the garage; patio candles sit awkwardly in a living room corner. Cushions and pillows are propped up next to the piano or rest at odd angles under sofa tables in the family room.  We have cabin fever this year in the summer because from May – September, we do not eat indoors unless there’s a horrific storm or we’re in a restaurant.  Our life, from 5:00 on — when sun is on the western side of our house — is outdoors.  But not, sadly, for two weeks. Continue reading →

Tuna-Cado Dinner: No-Cook White Bean Salad with Avocado and Tuna

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in Dried Beans, Salads, Tuna, Tuna salad

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If you’re like me, there are some days you will not be going to the grocery store. Maybe it’s Sunday and you know how crazy the parking lot is or perhaps it’s a warm Thursday night and you’ve had it.  (What is “it?”)  Could be you’re too busy enjoying the irises blooming for the first time in eleven years – below.  Or you’re avoiding the mama robin nested outside your back door so you can work in the garden without her defecating on you. (Second photo below: Yes, she did this to me.)

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In reality, you unthawed nothing because you were, uh, working, reading a sleazy novel at the pool, running kids, on a hike, at a meeting, or watching movies. Could be you’re lazy, which is an admirable once-in-a-while quality. Do cultivate it.  You are not lighting the grill and you’re not opting out by ordering pizza or Chinese. You could eat a green salad. Again.

Alyce Morgan's photo.
 (above: Rosie (Miss Bo-Bo) and Tucker waiting for crusts when I DO order pizza.  Not today, though)

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Whole Meal on the Grill

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by in Desserts, Grill, Memorial Day, Salads, Salmon

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Last December, these good cooking friends came to take a short Italian class with me and liked it so well (ah, gee) they returned en masse to redeem the class gift certificate one gave to the rest for a Christmas gift–on the condition that we attempt a grilling class. Onward, upward.  “Sure,” I said.  I also said, “I’m not a big outdoor griller. I grill inside.  A lot. I have at least 3 stovetop grills.  Dave, however, grills outside. I eat.” (Why should I learn to grill outdoors?!)  But I figured between Dave and I, we could come up with a full grill menu everyone would lust after.  Or, rather, I’d come up with the menu, and Dave would light and “man” the behemoth gas grill we bought to try and keep up with all his grilling love.

Often, on the blog, you see Dave thus:

Rotterdam-Dave at De Ballentent

Rotterdam-Dave at De Ballentent

And while, to you, it might appear his typical pose, he actually works very hard at his daily job, practices trombone as much as possible, takes excellent care of me, and then, in good weather, looks like this at home:

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Did I say he cleans the kitchen quite a bit?  All right, he walks on water.

If you’re looking for an entire meal on the grill for Memorial Day or any other day, this one just might be it. It’ll feed 6-8 people generously and could provide a few leftovers at the end of the day.  First are a long slew of happy pictures, beginning with an overview of the menu; the recipes follow. At the very end is a link to click so that you can view the recipes in a printable form.  ENJOY YOUR GRILL!

                                                               (Basic grilling technique link here.)

Try this:

MENU:

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Grilled Mini-Naan Pizzas with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese  (Prosecco)

 

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Grilled Caesar Salad (Chardonnay)

 

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Grilled Lemon Salmon and Tinfoil-Packet Vegetables with Avocado Mayonnaise (Oregon Pinot Noir or Chardonnay)

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Grilled Pineapple with Ice Cream and Maple Syrup (Sparkling Rosé)

 

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Salmon Salad with Broccolini, Kale, and Avocado Mayonnaise

23 Monday May 2016

Posted by in Avocado, Salad dressings, Salads, Salmon

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Last Friday, I taught a class called, DESIGN YOUR OWN WHOLE MEAL SALAD, at First Congregational Church of Colorado Springs.  This active church sponsors an excellent Health Ministry with lots of great wellness-promoting features including cooking classes that run from March – October. (If you’d like a copy of the booklet from the class, leave  a note in the comments or email me/message me on fb.)

The class consisted of a couple of favorite salads, Salmon Caprese with Asparagus… (shown below in a bit neater variation than my very quick to fix and eat photo above… along with lots of tips, talk, and helps about making salads a weekly mainstay in your house)…

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and Israeli Couscous Salad, right below here in all its attendant glory. I do love this salad!  Both of them, if the truth be known.  I’d like to have nickel for every time I’ve made either one, but especially the couscous. Continue reading →

Grilled Pork Chop Caprese or What to Do With One Leftover Pork Chop and Two Hungry People on a Rainy May Night

15 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Caprese Salad, Pork Chops, Salads

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IMG_2370My favorite year-round company meals often include a big, thick pork chop. If you’ve eaten at my house, you’ve probably had one. I’m talking 1 1/2 – 2-inches thick, bone-in, please.  Cold months I’ll brown them to a crisp, throw them in the oven to finish off slowly with a sprinkle of warming rosemary, and serve them nestled  down into a buttery root vegetable mash of some sort with lemony green beans or spicy sautéed spinach and a creamy mushroom sauce. Insert Pinot Noir. Continue reading →

Puy Lentil and Sweet Potato Salad with Mustard and Thyme

04 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by in Lentils, Meatless Mondays, Salads, Vegan, Vegan and Gluten-Free, Vegetarian

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Yesterday as I thought about what dinner might bring, I kept going back to some salmon fillets I had squirreled away in the freezer.  The weather had warmed up — no snow except on the Peak — and grilling was back online. Note sun on the lentils….

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There was also a pound of fat asparagus waiting for its dip in the olive oil bath before grilling (contrary to popular opinion thicker asparagus has more taste than the skinny variety), but as good as all that sounded, I thought there was something missing.  A bed for the protein to rest in, so to speak. We were hungry, for goodness sake.  We needed something that would make for another night’s meal all by itself or for a couple of lunches, but that would cushion the blow of the salmon on the plate.  Continue reading →

Curried Green (Puy) Lentil Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli, and Kale

01 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Gluten-Free, Lentils, Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian

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There’s little better pot of gold in the fridge than a lentil salad. Make that curried lentil salad and we’re nudging platinum; you’re rich! Full of protein (add rice for a complete protein), fiber, color, texture, and nutrients, it’s a hefty and quick supper that translates into a week’s lunches at home or work as it travels so perfectly well. Tuck it into a pita or a tortilla. Warm a big spoonful and eat with scrambled eggs; it will love you all the more. See below. 

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Lentils are that perfect landscape upon which almost anything can be planted, grown, and harvested. They’re a warming winter soup or a trusty spring salad. They’re a platter for big hunks of protein when need be.

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Here’s my Salmon on Lentil Risotto. Continue reading →