Tag: salad

Artichoke Heart Salad

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When in a pinch for a quick meal, I will often go to the local supermarket to find something healthy to eat. Most of the time, I end up either picking up some no-filler meats, e.g. Applegate hot dogs, or the salad bar. More often than not when going for the salad bar, I end up with mixed greens, cucumber, hardboiled egg, and olive oil with salt and pepper. This was somewhat bland, but pretty satisfying, until I came across an artichoke salad. I started putting this atop mixed greens, and I haven’t gone back since.

Determined to remake this at home to save money and time, we developed the following recipe. I love how this improves as it sits in the fridge, and it is fantastic on its own or on a bed of greens. Plus, it is ready in under half an hour. This is a must-have to improve your salad game.

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Waldorf Salad

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Early fall is the season of apples for me, and I get excited to use all kinds in every way possible. So, when Brent suggested we try to create our own Waldorf salad–in which apples are a main ingredient–I was completely on board. The original Waldorf salad recipe is attributed to the dinning room manager of New York’s Waldof-Astoria Hotel in the late 1890s. It contained apples, celery, and mayonnaise, and was served on a bed of lettuce.

Soon thereafter, walnuts became another main ingredient and over the decades other ingredients have come and gone. Some common additions are chicken, turkey, dried fruits, and yogurt. I imagine that yogurt plays an integral role in helping the dressing stay light and flavorful. So, I wanted to recreate that experience, but keep it dairy-free.

This Waldorf salad is sweet and light, and can be served as a refreshing lunch, appetizer, snack or even dessert. (Yes, I said dessert. I had the leftovers as “dessert” for three straight dinners.) We hope you will enjoy it, too!

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Easy Calamari (Squid) Salad

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Squid is an ingredient that I vilified for a large portion of my life—probably until I was in my early teens. My mom’s insistence that I try all foods at least once, as well as a friend whose parents owned a restaurant, turned me on to calamari. There’s also been some recent news chatter about a certain substitute that some restaurants have allegedly been using as a cost savings measure (tldr; some claim pig rectum is being used, but current evidence points to hearsay and urban legend).

When our local supermarket had organically sourced squid, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a dish that didn’t include frying this delicious cephalopod. This salad is light and refreshing, and would easily work as an appetizer or first course, but can also work as a full meal itself. If you’re looking to put together a more exotic meal without a lot of effort, this is certainly a great way to go. Just note that cleaning and preparing squid can be a little time intensive, so if there is an option to buy them pre-cleaned (and you’re in a hurry), take advantage of it.

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Spiralized Cucumber Dill Salad

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One of the main rebuttals for going on a gluten free or a paleo diet is how difficult it is to get by without noodles and pasta. We appreciate that those foods have been a staple and mainstay in a lot of households, and losing them is a bit jarring. Although we’re slightly behind the curve here with the “spiralizer” kitchen gadget, now that we have one, we can’t get enough of it! This cucumber salad was our first adventure, and there are plenty more to come.

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Mom’s Watermelon-Mint Salad

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It’s that time of year for those of us here in the mid-Atlantic area where the weather is starting to warm, the flowers and trees are in bloom, and summer is on its way. During our holiday time together over Easter weekend, my mom was at it again with another tried and true recipe. If you haven’t noticed, she’s often providing, or giving the inspiration for, new recipes on our blog: here are a few examples (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Growing up, I loved having a slice of watermelon here and there, but was never a fiend for it. That being said, this salad has me coming back for seconds and thirds every time. I’m a big fan of refreshing, healthy, and simple; and this hits all three right on the head.

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