Tag: Picnic

Posted on

Summer Salads, part I

Summer brings a change to our kitchen. Basically, we do a lot less oven roasting and a lot more grilling. The other change is we add several basic vegie salads to the fridge, to help make meals easier … at home or on the road.  

The next few Thursday posts will contain recipes and notes on the different salads we like. We hope you like them too and if there is a summer salad you really enjoy, please take a moment and share it in the comments. We’ll load it in the recipe page and let the other readers of the blog know.

The most basic of these salads is Chopped Salad. You’ll find a variety of recipes in any search, because it’s a basic go to recipe. Our main criteria is for the dressing to be simple, low fat, low carb. As evident in the recipe, the variety is also in vegetables used. It’s what you like and/or have on hand. This turns out ot be a great end of the week vegetable drawer emptier. 

Chopped Salad is super versatile. It is great as a side to any grill entree. Add it to a bed of greens and some protein and you have a salad entree. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Chopped Salad

Ingredients

  • 1/4 lb green beans cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cucumber, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1 small yellow or red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 4-5 small tomatoes, seeded and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup corn

Vinaigrette

  • 3-4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinaigrette
  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  • Lightly blanch green beans. Don't overcook. Cool in a bowl of cold water, then cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Peel cucumber. Seed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Seed and cut yellow or red pepper into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Seed and dice tomatoes into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Chop fresh basil leaves.
  • Chop fresh parsley.
  • Toss in corn and gently mix ingredients together.

Vinaigrette

  • Mix olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, dijon mustard and salt and pepper. Stir vigorously until well incorporated.
  • Add vinaigrette to chopped salad and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate.
Posted on

What’s for lunch – Bento!

Avocado Egg Salad, berries, cherry tomatoes, carrot, celery, and crusty baguette.

You can create a nutrient rich, balanced and portion-controlled meal in these specially divided containers. Long a Japanese tradition, a bento box traditionally contains rice or noodles, fish or meat, with pickled and cooked vegetables.

The boxes are easy to make ahead and can be eaten on the go. When packing your box, focus on the flavors you enjoy.

4 tips to packing bento

Vary textures

Think hard, soft, crispy, crunchy

Eat seasonally

Fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables retain more nutrients. Naturally ripened and harvested at the right time, they pack more flavor and nutrition.

A feast for your eyes

Vary the colors of ingredients. Diversity of colors leads the eye around, adding to anticipation of your meal.

Keep it simple

Slicing, dicing, julienning, or any of other cutting techniques affect flavor. Surface area can affect the flavor of vegetables and fruit. Avocado Egg Salad recipe can be found here.