Spinach Salad

We all need to get more greens in, right? This is a tasty way to do it.

Spinach Salad

1/2 lb. fresh spinach

1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts

One tomato, cut into small pieces

1/4 red onion, cut into small pieces

Dressing:

2 T rice vinegar

1 T soy sauce

6 T oil (I used olive, but peanut would be good, too)

1/4 t cayenne

1/4 t salt

Add all salad ingredients to a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients well, pour over salad, and mix to coat everything well. Serve. Enjoy!

Ramen Cabbage Salad

I'm not a fan of ramen noodles, in general. I associate them with being sick. But uncooked, they add a nice crunch to salads.

Ramen Cabbage Salad

1/2 c. sesame seeds
1/4 c. slivered almonds
One package ramen noodles (you won't be using the seasoning packet)
2 T. butter
1/4 c. oil
3/4 c. white vinegar
2 t. soy sauce
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
One head of Napa cabbage
6 green onions

Toast the sesame seeds, almonds, and ramen noodles in butter in a skillet. Set aside. Combine the oil, vinegar, water, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well. Chop the cabbage and green onions and place in a large bowl. Pour on the dressing and gently toss. Before serving, top with the nut and ramen mix. Enjoy!

Nicoise Salad with Spring Vegetables

Nicoise salads always sound so posh. But really, they are just a salad with a little extra. More like a cold side dish than a salad. But pretty tasty!

Nicoise Salad with Spring Vegetables

12 small red potatoes, quartered
2 c. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 container vegan plain yogurt
1 T. basil
1 onion, sliced
1 can vegan tuna
Black olives
Romaine lettuce

Boil the potatoes about 10 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Add the green beans and cook about 5 minutes more. In a food processor, add the yogurt and basil and whir to blend. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place the romaine leaves on the bottom. Add the potatoes and green beans, the onion, tuna, and black olives. Dollop the yogurt mixture on top.

Before serving, mix it all together, to make sure the salad is coated with the yogurt dressing.

Serve. Enjoy!

Healthful Salad

Continuing our walks, I am continuing with the salad experiments. And with the weather getting progressively warmer, I am totally okay with this!

Healthful Salad

Choice of dark green lettuce
One cucumber, peeled and cubed
Handful of grape tomatoes, halved
One bell pepper, diced
One avocado, diced
5 radishes, sliced
One peach, cubed
3 pineapple slices, cubed
One small can of mandarin oranges, drained
Handful of strawberries, sliced
Half of a red onion, chopped

Mix all of the above in a large bowl, and pour on the dressing:

2 t. mustard
6 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. white pepper
3 T. canola oil
1 T. parsley
1/2 t. dill
1/4 t. tarragon
1/4 t. basil

Mix well and pour over salad.

Mix the dressing into the salad until well coated. Cover and chill under serving time. Serve. Enjoy.

Got mixed reviews. Hubby didn't care for it, son loved it. Next time I would leave out the cucumber and cut back on the lemon juice. Otherwise, I liked it, too.

Asian Spinach Salad

Hubby and I have started going for walks every day we can. I've noticed that after every walk, he really wants a salad. This usually means we go to the grocery store and take advantage of the salad bar. So, to save some time, and get to try out new recipes, I've decided to make different salads at home.

Asian Spinach Salad

1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts
Fresh spinach leaves (I used the prepackaged, prewashed kind)
10 grape tomatoes, halved
Thinly sliced red onion (as much or as little as you like)
2 T.  rice vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1/8 t. cayenne
6 T. canola or peanut oil

Mix the rice vinegar, soy sauce, cayenne and oil together. Shake well. Assemble remaining ingredients in a bowl, and pour on the dressing. Mix gently but well, to coat everything evenly. Serve. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday

I've been vegan for awhile now, so the idea of a meatless Monday is just every day for me. This weekend, however, I attended a Vegfest with my family, and it really brought home to me the importance of making more people aware of the benefits of eating a more plant friendly diet.

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their goal is to introduce people to a healthier lifestyle that helps them to reduce their meat consumption by 15%. Their website offers several items of interest - from health and environment benefits of going meatless one day a week to many, many articles worth reading to loads of recipes to help you get started.

It was of interest to me to learn that the idea of Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays were introduced to the American public during World War I. Other presidents promoted the idea, as well. It is now a global movement and spreading!

The reasons for going meatless are many and I could go on (and on, and on!) about it here, but I won't. However, if you need a single incentive to get you at least started, consider this. Going meatless for just ONE DAY A WEEK will save you an estimated $600 a year in groceries alone.

You needn't buy the expensive vegetarian frozen stuff. Not at all! It's as simple as making a salad. Do salads make you think of boring lettuce and some cut up tomatoes? Here's your chance to shake things up a bit. Use whatever veggies you like in your salad. Find a salad dressing you absolutely love and delight your tastebuds with it poured atop crunchy ingredients. Experiment with different lettuces if the only one you've ever had is iceberg. Throw in some nuts if it suits your fancy. I like to grind peppercorns over my salad, but you can play around with spices and seasonings.  I discovered recently how much I really like fresh chopped cilantro in a salad, and I've always loved fresh chopped dill. Instead of croutons, try melba toast. Chomp a bite of scallion with each bite of salad. Add some cut up strawberries or mandarin oranges. The possibilities are endless! You are limited only by your imagination and a little by your budget. You can make a huge salad with plenty of leftovers for not a lot of money.

So how about it? Try going meatless for just one day a week. Just one! See what a difference it makes!