Warm Dark Greens Salad

 

Once you open a box of spinach, you really have to eat it up fast before it starts to wilt and melt. So here's another salad:

Asparagus - steamed for 5 min (or to desired softness)

Dark Kale - sauteed

Spinach - left raw

Apple - sliced

Sunflower seeds

Green onion - chopped  

The raw spinach was tossed in with the warm asparagus and kale. These are all dark green veggies which supposed to be full of great vitamins and antioxidant properties. Apple slices, sunflower seeds and green onion added after that. Blaming this on pregnancy brain...but I can't remember what I used for a dressing....sorry! 

And that lovely chicken on the side...Costco roast chicken. So good. =) 

Cumin wings on sweet potato spinach salad

 

I love chicken wings...and so I bought some. I was too lazy to mince garlic for some honey garlic wings (plus I can't really eat the honey right now) so I went with my next favorite flavor which is curry/cumin wings. There was a random sweet potato in my fridge so this got worked in as well.

Chicken Wings

Cumin

Soy sauce

Coconut sugar (or any sugar you want....I just used a slight pinch though normally I'd probably use a tbsp or two)

Salad:

Gouda cheese

Sweet potato - cubed and pan seared in butter

Spinach

Dressing:

Grainy mustard

Olive oil

Cider vinegar

a couple drops of Stevia (plant based, zero glycemic index, sweetener)

It was a nice hearty salad. The sweet potato was filling when paired with some meat. Yum.

Pomegranate Kale Salad

I whipped this up one day when trying to figure something out for vegetables. I had the kale, which I shredded. There was pomegranate in the fridge which I though would add some nice color and sweet tartness to the mix. A loose carrot "peeled" into the salad gave additional color and flavor. Considering kale was on the nuttier bitter side, I thought a sweeter salad with the pomegranate and carrot would be nice. Then I added the seeds and nuts for protein.

Pomegranate seeds
Baby kale leaves
Carrot shreds
Chia seeds
Hemp hearts
Pine nuts

Dressing :
Tahini
Garlic
Cider vinegar
Maple syrup
Grainy mustard

It was the second time I tried using tahini to make a dressing. The first time failed because I tried to thin it with oil...but it caused the mixture to break up and get really goopy. This time, it's thinned with vinegar or water, which worked out really well. Overall, I really enjoyed this combo for a tahini dressing...will be definitely repeated!

And Ta-da....a nice bright'n colorful'n tasty side.

And with that, here's to a happy and healthy New Year in 2014!! Keep cooking, experimenting and creating. God bless!

Christmas Steak

And just like that, Christmas is upon us! This isn't Christmas dinner, but it's close.

Boneless rib steak:
Montreal Steak Spice
Chopped cilantro
Olive Oil

Mushrooms:
Garlic
Paprika
Cumin
S&P

Salad:
Baby Kale
Chick Peas
Pomegranate
Avocado

Dressing:
Tahini
Grainy Mustard
Maple Syrup
Lime juice

Everything was delicious. The steak was eaten with a wedge of lime for a nice citrus note. And, the vitamin C from the lime helps your body absorb the iron better from the red meat. Just FYI.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. 

The Love, Joy and Peace of Christ be upon your household. 

And may every good and perfect gift find its way to you in the New Year!

Beet & Brussels Sprouts Salad

There are SO MANY ways to do a good meal-worthy salad. I personally believe that raw nutrients are better than cooked stuff...even if the calories and vitamin/minerals are reportedly the same whether cooked or raw. Being Asian, I still eat a lot of COOKED vegetables....but I'm exploring the raw side now. I'm used to eating raw spinach salad....but beets and brussel sprouts were always consumed cooked. After seeing a few recipes for eating these items raw, I came up with this salad to see how it goes:

Beets - peeled and cut into matchsticks
Brussels sprouts - sliced very thinly, like slaw
Apple - thin slices
Spinach
Pine nuts
 
Dressing:
Mustard
Garlic
Tahini
Apple cider vinegar
Maple syrup

The dressing was completely eye-balled and adjusted to taste....but I really really liked the dressing. And when tossed with the salad...I thought it was a very tasty, earthy, hearty salad. My husband mostly agrees...until he realized I used raw brussel sprouts. "No wonder!! Something tasted off. I don't like that earthy bitter taste." Well, to each their own. Maybe next time I'll blanche the sprouts first?

Summer Apple Salad

Whenever I think of apples in salad, I usually remember the creamy potato fruit salads my grandma would make. But now I've got a beet salad to change up the taste and color of an apple-y salad, and today, a fresh citrus seasoned apple salad. It's got barley mixed in so I feel it could replace the carb option in a meal.

Sliced Apple
Shredded carrots
Sliced celery and its leaves
Barley
(I may have one more vegetable ingredient but I can't remember for the life of me.)

Dressing is my go to:
Grainy Mustard
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Stevia drops (sugarless sweetener)...instead of honey

Also pictured, a nice med rare stake and some grilled broccoli.

Beet Salad

The problem with salads is that it's hard to get full on them. Well, it used to be. I came across this salad in the book "Meals that Heal" by Julie Daniluk. I didn't have all the ingredients but I had the key item: Red beets.

So I went to work in grating and chopping up a bunch of different fruits and veggies:
Red Beets
Carrots
Apple
Celery
Salt and Lemon Juice to season
 

Put a big scoop of it onto some greens, sprinkle some Tamari almonds and voila, a very hearty salad. I can eat it without the greens...but it's prettier with some contrasting colors. Enjoy!

Leftover Makeover: Maple Crunch Chicken Strips

How about a MEAT recipe for once! =) I've been posting a lot of vegetarian fare because that's where I'm exploring right now. I have a lot of meat dish go-to's and haven't been as creative. Especially come summer...it's marinated wings, steak and ribs. I think I've already featured those. Anyways....

So you know when you finish a box of cereal there's all the broken and sugary bits at the bottom of the bag? I always feel like it's such a waste to throw it away since I paid more to buy healthier cereal but it'd be gross to eat it straight with milk. Well, I found an answer....I coated chicken strips in them and then pan fried it. I could do it shake and bake style too, but pan frying was faster. And it's so good!!

Chicken
Marinated in corn starch and a bit of soy for the savory aspect
Remnants of three kinds of cereal (Ancient Grains, Maple Crunch, Harvest Crunch)...this adds the sugar to the marinade so you don't need to add more.

I enjoyed this over salad with half an avocado. Used the go-to honey mustard dressing (but no garlic this time).

Warm Sweet Potato Broccoli Salad

What do you do when you have a little bit of a couple different veggies but not enough of any for a good meal size serving? You throw it all together and call it stew or soup or in my case, salad. The yams take longer than broccoli to cook so I started with them in a pot with some butter. Added a tiny bit of water to get the steam going. Then I cut up the broccoli and added it. BUT, I didn't watch the timing so I ended up with overcooked broccoli. Ah well...still tasty. With the added water and moisture from the broccoli, there ended up being enough "sauce" to coat the salad so I didn't need to make a dressing. The contrast of soft warm veggies with the crisper cooler leaves was quite nice. The heaviness of the yam made it possible to be full as well.

Yam/sweet potato
Broccoli
Box mixed greens salad
Paprika
Cumin
Sugar

 

Caprese Salad

I wasn't sure whether to post this since the idea is not original or inspired at all. ha ha. But here it is...one of the easiest and yummy salads to make.

Sliced tomatoes
Sliced fresh mozzarella
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Basil (fresh basil would've been WAY better)

Leftover Makeover : Bean Patty

Remember the nine bean patty? I decided I would throw it into a salad. It's flavorful and good protein. So...there it went. And the Salad was a very good one because of it.

Bean patty
Fresh mozzarella
Avocado (half)
Walnuts

Dressing: Honey Dijon Summer dressing...minus the garlic this time

 

Veal Flank Stew and Spring Salad

I bought some veal flank meat and thought a stew would be nice....but as Spring is here, pairing it with a fresh salad would be even nicer.

Stew:
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Veal flank
Onion
Garlic
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Sriracha
BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Tomato Paste
Various herbs that seemed to smell good together

Salad:
Spring Greens
Naval Orange cut to bite sizes
Chopped Almonds

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Grainy mustard
Honey
Lemon Juice

Fennel Broccoli and Orange Salad

It's not quite Spring...but we wanted something fresh and summery to brighten all the gloominess of Winter. So...threw together a yummy salad to enjoy:

Fennel
Broccoli
Orange
Cilantro
Pine nuts

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Honey
Wine vinegar
Grainy mustard

Salmon Onion Quiche & Spaghetti Squash Salad

Meatless Monday! Well, we do have salmon in it, but that still counts as vegetarian right? Kind of? I was trying to use up leftovers and quiches are great to put them in.

Quiche:
Salmon
Onion
Leftover yellow zucchini
Eggs
Almond Milk

Crust:
Flour
Water
Olive Oil

Salad:
Spaghetti Squash
Tomatoes
Leftover yellow zucchini
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Veggie Quiche & Broccoli Salad

The Salmon & Swiss Chard quiche turned out so well I wanted to try again. This time with tomatoes replacing the salmon. A true Meatless Monday meal. Oh wait....I have eggs...

Quiche filling:
Onion
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Marble Cheese
Eggs
Almond Milk
S&P

I think I failed to mention last time that the eggs:milk ratio is 3 eggs: 1 cup of milk. I think the almond milk gives it an extra layer of depth in flavor....the magic for aromatic, fluffy goodness!

Broccoli salad:
Broccoli
Raisins
Pumpkin Seeds
Flax Seeds
Cilantro

Dressing:
Mayo
Mustard
Vinegar
Sugar

Barley & Lentil Salad

It was Meatless Monday in the house and I realized I forgot to buy some heartier vegetarian produce. So what could I make? Rummaging through my cupboard I came across some pot barley and lentils. It was a bit hot outside to be eating stew, but I could turn it into a salad! So here it is:

Pot barley
Lentils
Tomato
Egg (this is allowed for vegetarian meals right?)
Shallot
Dried figs
Dried Basil and Oregano
Cumin
S&P to taste

It was scopped onto a bed of baby romaine and dressed with the lime vinegrette I've been making a lot of. Turned out....not bad. The figs added bursts of sweetness that went with the citrusy dressing really well. The barley really soaked up the dressing so I'll need to add more to get some taste into it. But it was filling...with lots of good fibre. Until next Monday!

Blueberry Corn Salad

I think this is my new favorite summer salad...I'll take a picture the next time I make it.

BBQ'd corn niblets (after cutting the niblets off the cob, save it for sweetening soup stock!)
Blueberries
Arugula
Spinach
BBQ'd meat (steak, ribs, chicken, whatever)

(I would've loved some shredded mint or basil tossed in as well...but my basil plant is still tiny in its pot.)

Drizzle with this citrus-y lime vinaigrette goodness:
Lime juice
Olive Oil
Mustard
Sugar
Vinegar
Salt

The citrus dressing cuts through the rich smokey fats of the BBQ'd meat. The blueberries add a tangy sweetness. It's all very yummy.

Date Chicken and Napa Salad

My Hubby requested date honey glazed chicken for dinner last night. While thinking about what greens to pair that with, I saw a head of napa cabbage sitting in the fridge. It was too hot to eat steamed napa...which is usually how Asians eat it. (That or boiled in a broth for noodles.) Could it be a salad too I wondered...cabbage is cabbage isn't it? A quick search on Google confirmed napa salads do exist, though they were all eaten with raw, wax covered instant noodles and msg seasoning. No thanks. When I think of raw cabbage, I think of kimchi...so this napa salad will be kimchi inspired!

	Napa Salad: Napa cabbage Carrots Fish Sauce Sugar Garlic Olive Oil Vinegar Crushed Chili Powder
	Marinade for the pan seared chicken thighs: Cumin Black pepper Soy sauce Paprika Date honey (drizzled after pan searing)

(Hubby even had third helpings of the napa salad!)

Red Cabbage Slaw #2

Last time I only used half a head of cabbage...so I made a slaw again with the remaining half. Slight variances made but still light, crunchy and yummy.

Slaw:
Half red cabbage
Granny Smith apple
Carrot
One shallot
Raisins
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chia seeds

Dressing:
Orange juice
Olive Oil
Honey dijon mustard
Salt
Honey

The dressing wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest...I think I needed more acidity in the taste. The Lemon dressing is still my favorite. What would you recommend adding instead?

Next time.

Red Cabbage Slaw

I discovered my love for red cabbage slaw while on a trip to Israel recently. It's cool, crunchy, light and tastes like summer. There's so many different ways to do this slaw so you'll probably see several variations come through this blog. So yum! I unfortunately ate the whole thing before remembering to take a photo of it....so next time. Here's what went into it:

Half a red cabbage, slivered
Some fennel
One shallot
Handful of raisins
Cilantro

For the dressing:

Mayo
Honey Dijon mustard
Sugar
Salt & pepper
Lime juice
Some vinegar