Antipasto Salad

 If you like antipasto as much as I do, then you will really like this antipasto salad. It is super simple to put together and is, essentially, just a gathering of all of the ingredients that you would find on an antipasto plate combined in a bowl and drizzled with a wonderful black currant balsamic vinaigrette. I found this recipe on the 7Barrels website. If you’re not familiar with 7Barrels, they make excellent olive oils and vinegars. I’m not affiliated in any way, I just love their products.

Antipasto Salad

Slightly adapted from 7Barrels

 1 10-oz. pkg. Melissa’s baby heirloom tomatoes, halved

1 c. mixed olives

½ c. sliced pepperoncinis

½ c. marinated artichoke hearts, halved

4 oz. thinly sliced salami, quartered

1 c. shredded mozzarella

 Dressing

¼ c. Tuscan Herb Extra Virgin Olive Oil*

2 T. Black Currant Balsamic Vinegar*

1 T. dried Italian seasoning

1 T. Melissa’s minced garlic

Handful Fresh Parsley - chopped

Salt/Pepper - to taste

 Combine all prepared salad ingredients in large bowl.

Whisk all dressing ingredients together until fully emulsified. Pour dressing over salad; toss until evenly coated.

Salt and pepper to taste. Add more Black Currant Balsamic, if desired, by drizzling over plated salad.

Enjoy!

 *Or of your choice

  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Chicken Tikka Salad with Yogurt Mint Dressing

This post contains affiliate links.

There is no doubt about it these are unique times. But, I have always contended that there is good and bad in everything, and some of the good comes from connections that I have made on Twitter. I am a fan of the British television series, “Father Brown.” John Burton, who plays Constable Goodfellow in that series, is on Twitter, and he cooks! One day he posted a picture of a chicken tikka salad that he had made, and it looked so good that I had to try it. I took a chance, and asked him for the recipe, and he was only too happy to provide it.

Photo credit: IMDb

This is my own unique twist on John’s salad. Everything can be prepared a day in advance, and you can cook up the chicken shortly before serving. Do allow the chicken to cool before putting it on the salad, or your lettuce will wilt.

Chicken Tikka Salad
Inspired by John Burton

For the salad:
1 small head green leaf lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Sliced cucumber
Thinly sliced red onion
1 apple, diced
¼ c. walnuts

For the marinade
1 c. whole plain yogurt
2 t. garam masala
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. cardamom
1 t. ground turmeric

1 t. paprika

1 t. kosher salt
1 t. ground coriander
1 T. Melissa’s minced garlic

Pinch cayenne pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

Prepare the marinade: in a medium bowl combine all marinade ingredients. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day combine salad ingredients in a large bowl; set aside.

Remove marinated chicken from the refrigerator. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken AND marinade and cook, stirring, until the chicken is cooked through, 3-4 minutes aside. Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Once chicken has cooled slightly toss it with the salad greens to combine. Drizzle with Yogurt Mint Dressing (recipe below).

Yogurt Mint Dressing

 ½ c. whole plain yogurt

1 - 2 t. fresh lemon juice

½ T. Melissa’s minced garlic

¼ cup mint leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Add more lemon juice to thin, if desired.

Lemony Salmon and Spiced Chickpeas

A salad for supper, particularly where heartier appetites are concerned, is not always satisfying, unless it is full of calorie-laden additions, and that defeats the purpose.

This easy and beautiful salad is an exception and it’s a breeze to make. I baked my salmon early in the day, allowed it to cool, broke it into pieces, and stored it in the fridge. Then, all I had to do around dinner time, was prepare the chickpeas, slice radishes that I always keep cleaned in the fridge, and toss everything together with pre-washed spinach, topping it all with a bit of crumbled hard-boiled egg (another refrigerator staple). It is hearty, satisfying, tasty, and so good for you.

This recipe is adapted from Epicurious’s new cookbook, COOK90: The 30-Day Plan for Faster, Healthier, Happier Meal. You can grab your copy here. 

Lemony Salmon and Spiced Chickpeas

1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 (¾ - 1-lb.) salmon fillet

½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more

Onion powder

Paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

1 9-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Peeled & Steamed Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), rinsed, patted dry

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1½ tsp. za’atar

2 T. fresh lemon juice

4 cups baby spinach

4 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced

Flaky sea salt

Crumbled hard boiled egg (optional)

Thinly sliced red onion (optional)

Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 300°F. Toss lemon slices in a large bowl with a drizzle of oil. Arrange slices in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Set salmon on lemons. Season salmon all over with kosher salt, pepper, onion powder, and paprika, and then drizzle and rub with some oil (about ¼ cup). Roast until salmon is just barely opaque in the middle, 12–17 minutes, depending on thickness. If you like your salmon well-done, cook it a few minutes longer. Let salmon cool, and then flake into medium-size pieces with a fork.

Meanwhile, bring chickpeas, garlic, za’atar, and remaining ¼ cup oil to a bare simmer in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if needed, 8-10 minutes. Stir in ½ tsp. kosher salt and remove skillet from heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chickpeas to a medium bowl, leaving oil behind. Whisk lemon juice into oil; taste dressing and season with more kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper if needed.

Toss spinach in a large bowl with 1 tsp. dressing. Divide among bowls along with radishes, chickpeas, and salmon (and lemons if desired); drizzle with more dressing. Sprinkle with sea salt and more pepper. 

Makes 2 main dish servings.

PRINT RECIPE

A lighter salad using chickpeas is this delicious and refreshing Chickpea, Avocado, and Feta Salad. I could eat this stuff every day.

This post contains affiliate links.

Italian Chopped Salad

As I mentioned earlier in the week, this past weekend I spent a lot of time making a variety of salads. I love it when I have a salad already prepared waiting for me in the fridge, to just pull out and nosh on for lunch.

I have a lot of salad recipes that I've been wanting to try, this one, for Italian Chopped Salad among them. I changed it up a bit by adding fresh corn cut from the cob. You probably think that's a strange addition to a chopped salad, but it isn't at all. Here is a picture (not a good one because it was taken before digital cameras) of a salad that I had in Venice, Italy back in the summer of 2001. Look at all of the corn on top. Prior to this trip I had never eaten fresh corn on a salad, but now I love it, and so does my dad, who has a salad every day, and most of the time that salad is topped with fresh corn.

The slightly adapted recipe below is from bellyful.net, and can be changed up to suit your interests, likes, and what you have in the fridge. I made two changes, one, as I mentioned, was to add corn in place of the green olives, because I didn't have any of those on hand. The other was to swap out the scallions for red onion, because I happen to love red onion in a salad.

Italian Chopped Salad
Slightly adapted from bellyful.net

1 cup ditalini pasta, cooked according to package directions
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 9-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Peeled and Steamed Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup cubed summer sausage
1 cup cubed provolone
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup fresh corn

Dressing:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
Two cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

This salad can be prepared in one of two ways. Either you can combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss it together with the dressing, and then serve, or, if using it as a main dish, you can put it together, attractively, in a pasta bowl (like I have used here) or on a plate. It's your choice.

To make the dressing - in a medium bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except for the olive oil. Slowly pour in olive oil, whisking constantly to emulsify*. Drizzle over the salad and gently toss to coat

*I swear by bullet blenders for making vinaigrette salad dressings. I toss everything in together, and pulse it until it is combined. Using a bullet blender your salad dressing is going to beautifully emulsify, and stay emulsified for as long as it's in your fridge.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday
Grace at Home

Coffee and Conversation

Friday at the Fire Station
Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Create, Bake, Grow and Gather
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

A Bouquet of Talent

Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

This post contains affiliate links.

Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Today I tried Napa cabbage for the first time, and I am in love! It is a beautiful combination of cabbage, iceberg lettuce, and celery, all rolled into one. It washes and separates like lettuce, slices easily like cabbage, and has a wonderful light, rather than overbearing, cabbage/celery flavor.

As you all know, the deck project was finished last week, and it's a good thing because I am near collapse. Bear in mind, my carpenter, Joe Rogers, did all of the work, but those early hours proved to be way too much for me. As a consequence, I haven't felt a whole lot like cooking, stumbling around in my bleary-eyed haze, but a girl’s got to eat! This fresh, summery salad with spicy peanut dressing, was the result of, yet again, cleaning out what I had in the crisper in the fridge. It turned out to be absolutely delicious! I added some mandarin oranges and toffee almonds (both of which are main ingredients in a mandarin orange salad that my mother used to make back in the 70s). It proved to be a great combination, along with the cabbage, flavorful chicken, and colorful peppers. It came together in a flash, and I'm glad I made a lot of it, because I'm going to be wanting more. It's the perfect cool summer salad that eats like a meal.

Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

1 Melissa’s Napa cabbage, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, grated

½ yellow pepper, cut into thin slices

½ red pepper, cut into thin slices

1 small can mandarin oranges, drained

3 green onions, thinly sliced

¼ cup minced cilantro

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast

3 Tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted (I used Toffee Almonds, recipe coming!)

In a large bowl, combine above ingredients; toss with dressing. 

Garnish with the toasted almonds. Serve.

​Dressing

1 lime, juiced

3 Tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1-1/2 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

Combine ingredients in a small bowl, whisking until smooth. (I used my bullet blender.)

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate Your Story

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Grace at Home

Coffee and Conversation

Friday at the Fire Station
Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Create, Bake, Grow and Gather
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

A Bouquet of Talent

Mexican Cobb Salad

There are some nights when I just don’t feel like cooking (a lot of them actually), and last night was one. On such nights when leftovers are not left over, I tend to turn to salads. During the winter months a salad seems so cold, unless it is kicked up with some spice and a bit of zing. Enter the Mexican Cobb Salad, a zippy take on a traditional favorite. You really don’t need a recipe to put this together, just envision all of the things that you like about Mexican food, plus what suits you in a salad, and layer it in rows across the top of the bed of lettuce (or lettuces) of your choice.

Mexican Cobb Salad

½ pound ground chuck
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
1 head Romaine Lettuce, torn

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup corn
1 avocado, cubed
1 tomato, cubed
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Pinch of cumin

In a 9-inch saute pan over medium heat, cook ground chuck, crumbling as you do, until done; drain. Put meat back into pan and add half a packet of taco seasoning (or use your own, as I did), and half a cup of water and simmer until the liquid has absorbed; set aside.

Assemble your salad with a bed of chopped romaine lettuce on the bottom, and then each topping, in whatever order you see fit, laid out in rows: egg, tomato, cheese, avocado, taco meat, corn.  Sprinkle the hardboiled eggs with cumin (chili powder or cayenne), and the corn with the cilantro.

Drizzle with your favorite dressing or salsa. I used a cilantro ranch dressing, made from my own mixture (recipe coming soon), but you can use plain ranch, or blend a half of an avocado into your ranch dressing for an avocado ranch. Season it with cumin, cilantro, lime juice, avocado, cayenne pepper, whatever you see fit and in any amount that suits you. It is very forgiving.

Makes 2 main dish salads.

PRINT RECIPE

 This post is linked to:

Five Star Frou-Frou,

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Fridays Flash Blog