Category: Salad

Lunchovers?

Call them what you will, one of the best ways to stretch your grocery bill is to incorporate leftovers or things that need using up into your lunch. 

We’re off to run a couple of errands before the Super Bowl and we were smart enough not to eat the two extra lamb chops in the grocery store package (on sale last week and held in the freezer). We broiled the lot last night and sliced the leftovers for lunch. They’re served on a bed of local baby greens and cukes, both hothouse-grown.

  
For the dressing:

1/4 c / 60ml homemade wine vinegar

2T / 30ml olive oil

1oz / 30g crumbled feta

1T / 15ml Dijon

1T / 15ml dried oregano or basil 

6 dry-cured olives, chopped

Sprinkle on top:

1T / 15ml chopped sundried tomatoes 

Fresh Winter Flavours

It’s easy to get on a soup kick in the wintertime, but there are still lots of seasonal salad options, even as the cold weather has taken hold. We are fortunate to be able to get local, greenhouse-grown lettuce until spring returns, but cabbage or kale or other winter-hardy greens would work just as well.

Fill your plate with…

2c / 500ml lettuce, washed and torn

Top with

1 pear, sliced

Drizzle with a mixture of 1/2 T or 7ml each 

Dijon mustard 

Crunchy mustard

Olive oil

Cider vinegar

Then grate or crumble 1 oz aged cheddar or other cheese you need to use up since the holidays

And sprinkle with 1T / 15ml chopped walnuts or spiced nuts – (thanks for these @dickiedanger @icfplanetweird) and 1T / 15ml raisins.

Switch out the greens, the pears for apples or citrus, different nuts (or even cooked pulses) and cheese – and your winter salad repertoire will be infinite.

Enjoy!

  

Squeezing in some Summer Salads

The nights are cooling and everyone’s talking about back to school…so we are making it a priority to enjoy the harvest, and especially salads! Today’s included lots of homegrown veg, supplemented by other not so local favourites.

For two: 

4-6c chopped mixed greens

2 diced peaches

1 diced avocado

4 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small cucumber, diced

Dress with (shaken):

2 T Dijon

Zest and juice of half a lemon

1 T olive oil

Top with:

1 oz feta

1 T toasted no salt shelled sunflower seeds

Enjoy!

  

We're Eating in Technicolor…

  “Eat your colours” is a great description to get kids to tuck in to a variety of fruits and vegetables. Eye appeal works just as well for us, the “grown-ups”. That’s the whole idea behind today’s Super Sesame Salmon Bowl. (A vegan version could just as easily feature sautéed mushrooms, chickpeas, or seitan).

2 c /500ml broccoli florets and stems cut in coins

1 c /250 ml sliced red cabbage

2 small avocados, diced

1 apricot, sliced

1 ripe tomato, sliced

2 t / 10 ml sesame oil

1t / 5 ml honey

15 ml sesame seeds 

1 can salmon 

For two, we steamed the broccoli for a minute or so in the microwave in a large bowl with the juice of a lemon. Put veggies (except avocado) in a bowl w the steamed broccoli. Drizzle with sesame oil, honey, and sprinkle in the seeds. Toss lightly.

Add the salmon and avocado and mix gently. Eat and enjoy.

Salmon Chanted "Veggies!"

 One of our good health mantras is, “Eat Less. Move more.” In truth, it might be closer to “Eat more fresh, plant-based foods and less animal-based and processed foods. Move more.” Somehow that’s just more complicated for folks to understand, accept, and stick with. One thing is for certain, we’ve looked at all sorts of diets and eating styles, and we know that making vegetables the main course of any meal is vital to getting the fibre and nutrients a body needs. So instead of a salmon sandwich, we knew our Friday fish was calling out for a salad. 

Today’s lunch includes greens, tomato, carrot, cucumber, and mushrooms. It could just as easily be a combo of the veg you like best. The rules are, strive for colour, things that can be eaten raw, and be sure to get the leafy stuff in there. We split a 7.5 oz can of water-packed wild caught salmon between two of us, and topped the salad with (for two) 2t/10ml each of Dijon, fat free plain yogurt, and pesto whisked together with 3T/45ml lemon juice. 

How will you get more veg in your diet today?

You Light up my Lunch…

  

Leftovers can be a great start to lunch, and using them up while they are top-of-mind is key to preventing them from becoming a science experiment at the back of your fridge. This is a salmon loaf from the classic Anne Lindsay cookbook, Lighthearted Everyday Cooking. Ours is an ancient dogeared copy, but it is still a wealth of easy, practical healthy recipes. 

We paired it with a slaw of grated carrot and shaved celery, dressed with a mix of equal parts Dijon, light mayo, and rice vinegar. 

Turkey Apple Caesar

Delicious! We are always inspired to find new ways to use things like a basic roasted turkey. Soups, salads, stews, chilis…it’s all good. Today’s lunch finished off the last of the bird.

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For two:

1 package of romaine hearts – chop or leave whole and arrange on plates
Top with:
110g diced roast turkey
1 medium apple
For the dressing, mix:
10ml/2t anchovy paste
15ml/1T each Dijon and lemon juice
30ml/2T fat free plain yogurt
Drizzle over your salad and grate on a light serving of Parmesan cheese.

Turkey Avocado Salad

310 calories per serving
Serves two

Divide 1 litre spinach leaves between two plates. Slice two large mushrooms on top.

Mix in a bowl:
15ml each Dijon, light mayo, salsa and fat free plain yogurt
Stir in 1 diced avocado and 180g diced turkey breast.

Put the turkey salad on the bed of spinach and mushrooms, and top with 1/2 bell pepper, diced.

Enjoy!

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It isn't easy eating green (in winter)

…I was going to end that title with “in the frozen northland”, but in fact, relatively speaking, we are in the south of our country. However it is most decidedly winter, and that can make local a challenge. Fortunately there is nearly always a hydroponic/greenhouse grower of greens – or a friendly windowsill.

Top a big batch of greens with a simple vinaigrette of mustard, olive oil, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Sprinkle with sliced apples, walnuts, raisins, feta, and…eat up!

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It's Not Too Late for Salad!

As the weather cools and many of our garden crops have been harvested, it can be easy to turn our thoughts to root vegetables. Well we should! But it isn’t too late for salad yet, even without cold frames. Yesterday we harvested delicious beets and Swiss chard, an we still have a healthy crop of mizuna. All of this was turned into today’s lunch salad, along with some chopped apple, walnuts, and feta cheese, held together with this vinaigrette (for two):

15ml/1T each of red wine vinegar, tarragon Dijon, and olive oil, whisked together. If you don’t have tarragon Dijon, use regular, and add some chopped herbs of your choice.

Tasty – although we admit if the chill stays in the air, we will turn our thoughts to soup!

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