Tag Archives: salad

Lime Cilantro Coleslaw

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With a hint of cilantro and lime, this coleslaw is fabulous with Chicken Chilaquiles!

blog coleslawcilantrolime

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 12 oz coleslaw mix (or a 1/2 cabbage, shredded)
  • 1/2 cup carrots, shredded (optional)
  • Fresh chives for garnish (optional)

Directions

  • Combine lime juice, olive oil, honey
  • Toss green onions, cilantro and shredded cabbage
  • Drizzle dressing over coleslaw and toss to coat

dit-elle-Esther

Salmon Salad with Avocado Dressing

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I’ll reiterate that I am in no way consistent with the Paleo diet, but the idea totally intrigues me.   Even more so since Esther eats mostly Paleo.  If you have questions about Paleo eating, for sure check out her other blog post here.  I don’t have any health issues, but I do love the idea of eating clean and obviously healthy.  That said…with teenage boys that split their time between households…paleo eating is not going to happen full time.  I’m already too healthy for their tastes 🙂Blog Paleo Salmon Avocado Salad-7Ingredients

  • Salmon (amount depends on how many people you have to feed)  I may have cheated and used leftover salmon that my dad smoked, but I’m including a marinade and instructions for what I would have done had I not had that 😉
  • Tomatos (I used Costcos cherry variety pack-so colorful and delicious)
  • Yellow, Red, and Orange Bell Peppers
  • 1 shallot or half a red onion
  • 1 Large Avocado (if small use two, use half/one for the salad, half/the other one for the dressing)
  • I do a mix of organic greens and Costco’s Kale, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts Salad (hold the dressing, craisins, and seeds for this)

Salmon Marinade

  • 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Pure Organic Maple Syrup (some debate if this is Paleo, but could use raw honey too)
  • 1 lemon sliced
  • grind sea salt/pepper over

Salad Dressing

  • 1/2 large avocado (or one small)
  • 1 Tablespoon Pure Organic Maple Syrup (some debate if this is Paleo, but could use raw honey too)
  • 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Aged Balsamic Vinegar (also some debate if this is Paleo-can skip and still be tasty!)
  • 1/3 Cup Water
  • Freshed cracked pepper to taste

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 450
  • Marinate Salmon for at least 30 minutes, skin side down, and place sliced lemons on top.
  • Bake at 450
  • Cut all the veggies/avocado (I usually precut 3 peppers and keep them to toss in salads throughout the week)
  • Dump all the ingredients for the dressing in a blender and mix (the consistency will be thick, but it coats the salad pretty well)
  • Toss salad and dressing and then top with shredded bits of salmon. 
  • We added Sriracha for some added heat, but not for Maya 😉

Enjoy!dit-elle-Lauren

Roast Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing

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The days are longer, dinners outside  – I love this time of year and can’t wait for it to get warmer!

blog mangochickensalad2 Blog mangochickensalad1

Dressing

  • 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 2 Tbsp plain yogurt (or coconut milk for dairy free and paleo)
  • 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

Salad

  • 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 2 cups baby arugula
  • 2 cups chicken from a roast chicken
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
  • 1/2 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 1/3 cup toasted, chopped cashews
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (optional)

dit-elle-Esther

Strawberry, Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad

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Celebrate the longer evenings and sunnier days with a hint of summer kind of dinner – spinach salad with strawberries, warm chicken and goat cheese! 🙂

Blog chickenstrawberryspinachsalad

Ingredients

  • Large bunch of spinach (~5 cups, washed & dried)
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced
  • 3 oz goat cheese
  • 1-2 cups cooked and shredded or diced chicken (GREAT use of a leftover roast chicken)
  • Dress with vinegar & olive oil, poppy seeds, salt & pepper
  • Slivered almonds (optional)

Directions

  • Toss the spinach and strawberries with the dressing
  • Lightly mix in goat cheese and almonds and chicken
  • Serve immediately – excellent with cold or still warm chicken!

dit-elle-Esther

Ruby Root Slaw

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Raw carrots and beets are grated and tossed in an olive oil & vinegar dressing. A crispy delicate salad, delicious and full of freshness! 🙂

Blog beetsalad

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • 3 red beets, peeled and grated (use the grater setting on your food processor!)
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
  • 1 apple, peeled and grated
  • 1/4 c toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions

  • In large bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.
  • Toss the dressing with beets, carrots, and apple.
  • Refrigerate for an hour or more to let flavors meld.
  • Fold in walnuts and parsley before serving

dit-elle-Esther

Marionberry Baked Salmon with Truffle Cheese Garlic Bread and Raspberry Almond Salad

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Blog Marionberry Salmon Truffle Cheese Bread Raspberry Almond Salad-1So, I talked about the Valentine’s misshap in yesterday’s DIY post.  What I forgot to mentions was that the Huz was out of town until about 7, so we were stranded.  Not a big deal as we didn’t have plans and it was POURING, but I wasn’t able to go to the store and buy the fixings for the romantic dinner I had planned.  However, if there is one thing I’m good at (a super power if you will) it’s raiding the fridge/cupboards and pulling a meal out of my a$$ 🙂

Ingredients

Salmon

    • 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
    • 1 Tablespoon Jam (I used Marionberry)
    • Salt and Pepper
    • 3-4 salmon filets
  • Truffle Cheese Garlic Bread (are you kidding me?  It’s HEAVENLY and relatively healthy because you don’t have to use very much cheese to get a flavor mouthful!)Blog Marionberry Salmon Truffle Cheese Bread Raspberry Almond Salad-3
    • 1 teaspoon of butter
    • 1/2 teaspoon of crushed garlic
    • Loaf of bread
    • Cheese with Truffle (It’s spendy, but a little goes a LONG way!!)  We got this at Metropolitan Market)Blog Marionberry Salmon Truffle Cheese Bread Raspberry Almond Salad-2Salad
  • Lettuce greens
  • Raspberries
  • Almonds
  • Raspberry Walnut Vinagrette (I could have made my own dressing using olive oil, the same jam in the salmon marinade, diced up almonds, and some salt and pepper, but I was too tired :))

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 450
  • Line a baking pan with tin foil (makes the clean up SO easy!) and lay salmon skin side down.
  • Mix the jam and olive oil.  Spread over salmon and then salt and pepper
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes (depends on the size of your filets)
  • While they are baking mix butter and garlic in a ramican, put in microwave for 5 seconds and stir.  Spread lightly over bread that has been cut in half.
  • Grate a little bit of the cheese (I did maybe a Tablespoon on each side).  It has a really strong flavor, so not much is needed!  Let it sit while you make the salad.
  • Dump salad greens, raspberries, and diced almonds in a bowl and drizzle with dressing (phew that was hard ;))
  • Take the salmon out, turn the oven off, and put the bread in there for about a minute.
  • ENJOY!
dit-elle-Lauren

Beet & Walnut Salad

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This combination of beets, oil & vinegarette and toasted walnuts is delicious! Great as an appetizer, side or salad. 🙂

Blog beetwalnutsalad2 Blog beetwalnutsalad1

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds beets
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • dash of salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive or walnut oil
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 3/4 bunch green onions, sliced
  • 1/4 red onion, sliced into thin half-moons (optional)

Directions

  • Steam or boil beets until fork tender, it will really depend on their size, but about 20-40 minutes. Cut off root and stem ends and slip off skins under cool, running water while beets are still warm (easiest way to do this is to sort of ‘massage’ the beets and the skin will come right off). Cool beets.
  • Whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and oil until dressing is blended.
  • Cut cooled, peeled beets into 1-inch wedges and toss with dressing.
  • To toast walnuts, preheat oven to 350° F. Spread nuts on a cookie sheet and toast for about 4 to 5 minutes. Let cool. Roughly chop toasted walnuts.
  • Add walnuts, green onions and red onions to dressed beats; toss to combine.

Super mom tip: Beets can be cooked days in advance and stored in the fridge. Just keep them unpeeled until you are ready to use.

Thanks PCC deli and recipes! :)

dit-elle-Esther

Tzatziki Sauce

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This is a no frills, super easy, super yummy tzatziki sauce! Serve with fresh cut veggies as an appetizer, as a dressing for gyros, lamburgers or Greek salad. Any recipe that can be made in a food processor is a winner in my book!blog tzatziki1

Ingredients

  • 1 8oz container of Greek yogurt
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, peeled & diced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Splash of lemon juice
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or dry)
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Salt / pepper to taste

Directions

  • Put everything in a blender
  • Process until well combined
  • Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate
  • Let flavors meld for at least an hour for best taste

This Tzatziki sauce is not quite as thick as some recipes – I saved a few steps by NOT pressing water out of chopped cucumber or de-seeding it, but it tasted great!

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Warm Butternut Squash Salad with Apple Cider Dressing

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I got this recipe off of the Food Network (scribbled the recipe onto a notebook while watching the actual show not online!).  I’ve made a few changes, but feel free to refer back to the original!  It’s SO yummy, and relatively easy (especially if you cheat and get the pre-cut butternut squash ha!)

blog Butternut Squash SaladIngredients

  • 1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch) diced.  If I’m in a hurry, I grab 2 bags from Trader Joe’s, but I still cut those pieces in half because they are pretty big.
  • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil (I usually just drizzle over the top of the butternut squash and don’t measure :))
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1/3 C Dried Cranberries
  • 3/4 C Apple Cider
  • 2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Diced Shallots or I’ve also used 1/3 C diced red onion
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4-5 cups (or really, you choose depending on how many mouths you have to feed!) of spinach or arugula.  I personally LOVE arugula, but our boys don’t.  When I make this for friends, it’s arugula.  When I make it for the family-spinach.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Place butternut squash on a large cookie sheet.  Drizzle maple syrup and olive oil over the squash, grind a little salt and pepper over and toss around until coated.
  • Bake squash for a total of 15, but take it out and toss every 5 minutes, and add cranberries on the last 5 minutes (at the 10 minute mark)
  • While squash is baking combine cider, vinegar, onions/or shallots, and a little salt and pepper in a small sauce pan.  Bring that to a boil and stir for about 6-7 minutes so that it reduces.  Take off heat and whisk in mustard.  (original recipe calls for adding a 1/2 a cup of olive oil now, but I forgot to do that once.  It tasted fine, so I’ve left it out ever since :))  You choose!
  • Place salad greens in a large bowl.  Toss in butternut squash mixture and dressing.  Pepper to taste.
  • Online recipe also calls for walnuts and freshly grated Parmesan.  I’m fairly certain the tv show didn’t/or I just forgot to write it down.  In either case, I’ve never added either, but feel free (and let me know what you think!)  I have sprinkled pumpkin seeds on the top for crunch and it was yummy too!

Super Mom Tip

I’ve turned this into a meal (not vegetarian), by adding some sliced aidells smoked chicken and apple sausages into the butternut squash mix at the same time as the dried cranberries.  The flavors all go so well together!

  • dit-elle-Lauren

Curry Cashew Chicken Salad

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So yummy! A great variation to basic chicken salad.currychixsalad2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked and diced chicken
  • 3 stalks celery
  • Handful of frozen peas (optional)
  • Handful of cashews, chopped (toasted, optional)
  • Handful of raisins, chopped dates and/or grapes

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions

  • Toss salad ingredients in a large bowl
  • Whisk dressing ingredients in a separate bowl
  • Toss salad with dressing
  • Serve warm or chilledcurrychixsalad1dit-elle-Esther