Caprese Salad

I'm on a basil kick lately. One afternoon, Cancy went to Austin Homebrew and ended up coming back with a mozzarella cheese kit too. So, we made fresh mozzarella and had an easy dinner. We grilled some hot italian chicken sausages and made a great salad to go with it.

Caprese Salad

2 tomatoes per person, sliced
fresh mozzarella, cut into bite sized pieces
basil, chiffonade into strips
Balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Layer the tomato, mozzarella, and basil around the plate
Sprinkle with salt & pepper
Drizzle with a bit of Balsamic vinegar

Enjoy!

Grilled Smokey Skirt Steak with Cucumber Mango Salad

So the lesson to be learned here is that paprika = magic on steak. :)
I found this recipe on Health-Bent which by the way is quickly becoming my favorite place for Paleo recipes. Skirt Steak is such an easy piece of meat to work with and it's pretty inexpensive at the grocery store so it's a win all around. We really liked this recipe. I had to add avocado to the salad... we had some, i love it, and it went perfectly with the other flavors.

Grilled Smokey Skirt Steak with Cucumber Mango Salad

For the steak:
2 1/2 lbs. skirt or flank steak
4 T smoked paprika
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Rub the ingredients on both sides of the steak. Place on a preheated grill and let cook for about 12 minutes…that’ll get you a nice medium rare.

For the salad:
2 mangoes, cubed
1 English cucumber, cubed
1/2 red onion, finely diced
* ½ an avocado, cubed
2 limes, juiced
handful of mint, chopped
S&P

Combine all ingredients. Let marinate in the fridge for a few hours or eat immediately.

Deconstructed Hamburger ( salad )

Since going primal, we're really not missing bread as much as I thought we would. While I was in Minnesota last week, Cancy created this yummy little salad. We recreated it last night. It tastes just like a delicious hamburger without the heaviness of a giant bun.

Deconstructed Hamburger ( for 2 )

For the burger:

3/4 lb of ground beef, grass fed preferred

coconut aminos, S&P

For the salad:

1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded

vine-on tomato, diced

red onion, sliced into rings

dill pickle slices

1/2 an avocado

Mix up your burger meat and form into two patties.

Grill to your desired doneness.

While your burgers are grilling, cut up your vegetables for the salad.

Assemble and drizzle mustard over the top... Even better, add some homemade mayo, yum!

Crockpot Carnitas ( Carnita Salad )

My very favorite fast food is the Carnitas Salad from Chipotle. Thanks to Erin @ Nourished Meadow, I have finally found a recipe for Carnitas that comes very close and makes an amazing dinner ( with tons of leftovers ). 

Crockpot Carnitas

4-5lb pork roast (I use a bone in shoulder)
8 oz diced roasted green chilies (2 small cans)
2-4 garlic cloves minced

Dry rub seasoning (measurements are approx, adjust for your own preferences)
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-1 tablespoon cumin
-1 tablespoon powdered chili (I used Chili Molido for this batch, you can just increase chili powder instead)
-1 tablespoon kosher salt, or less (check salt just before serving)
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

(note, if you do anything less then a 4lb roast be sure to reduce salt)

Mix together seasoning, green chilies, and garlic until you have a paste. Coat roast on all sides, no need to make it pretty.

Place roast in crockpot, if you would like more liquid for serving later add about 1/2-1 cup of chicken stock when you put the roast in.

A 5lb roast will need a good 10 hrs plus on low, you can increase heat to high for the last hour or two to speed this up if necessary.

When roast is done, transfer to a large platter or 9×13 glass pan. Using two forks shred the meat and remove any large remaining pieces of fat. If you like your meat a bit crispy, using an oven safe platter place under a broiler for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning.

Using a ladle or large spoon skim some of the fat from the juices remaining in the crockpot (they should have settled on the top). This will leave you with less oily liquid to pour over your meat before serving.

* When your carnitas  are finished, for a super yummy salad, chop up some romaine, place the carnitas on top. serve with fresh guacamole, homemade pico, and sour cream ( if you are eating dairy ).

Creamy Mediterranean Style Pasta Salad

I found this Ronzoni/Classico recipe featured in our Sunday paper and it looked fantastic. I modified it a bit to cut calories and up the nutrients.

Creamy Mediterranean Style Pasta Salad

1 Cup dried Ronzoni Garden Delight Penne

1 Cup Classico Light Creamy Alfredo

1/4 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 tsp Italian Seasoning blend

2 Cups fresh baby spinach, torn into bite size pieces.

1 Cup Grape Tomatoes, halved

1 medium Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped

1/2 Cup black olives, halved

about 2 ounces of Reduced Fat Feta

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, & rinse with cold water

In a large bowl, whisk together Alfredo sauce, vinegar, and seasoning blend. Season with salt & pepper to taste

Add cooked pasta, veggies, and feta

Cover & refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. serve chilled.

Serving Size: Makes 4 larger servings

Grilled Steak, Mushroom, and Green Bean Salad

One of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of fresh vegetables and the weekend Farmer’s Markets. You can find almost everything in this recipe at your local Farmer’s Market. With the addition of the steak, Cancy actually really enjoyed this. He’s not normally a big salad person but he ate every bit of this. Get yourself to the Farmer’s Market before the season ends and enjoy this delicious salad.


Grilled Steak, Mushroom, and Green Bean Salad

1/2 pound large white mushrooms, halved
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
1 red onion, cut into 1⁄2-inch-thick rounds
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound skirt steak, cut crosswise into 4 pieces
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 bunch watercress, thick stems removed (about 4 cups)

Heat grill to medium-high. In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms, green beans, onion, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Season the steak with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Grill the vegetables (place the beans on the grill perpendicular to the grates to prevent them from falling through), turning occasionally, and removing them as they become tender, 8 to 12 minutes. At the same time, grill the steak, brushing occasionally with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Divide the watercress, grilled vegetables, and steak among bowls. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Around here, we love Alton Brown. We also had a ton of spinach that needed to be used. Food Network to the rescue. We saw this Alton Brown recipe and had everything on hand. It was a really great salad. Even Cancy, who’s not generally big on vegetables, seemed to like this. I hope you like it too!!!

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
8 ounces young spinach
2 large eggs
8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large white mushrooms, sliced
3 ounces red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside.

While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.

Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.

Wedge Salad

This is definitely not much of a recipe, but it’s my current favorite salad. You can adjust the toppings to your taste. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Wedge Salad

1 head of iceberg lettuce, cut into quarters
Your favorite blue cheese dressing
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion, diced small
1/2 Cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 Cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
Balsamic vinegar

Place a quarter of iceberg lettuce on a dish. Pour blue cheese dressing over top. Top with tomatoes, onion, blue cheese, & bacon. Drizzle Balsamic vinegar over top. Delish!

Antipasta Chopped Salad

I’ve been craving artichokes lately. They seem to go good with just about everything. I made this salad one night to go with some grilled chicken. Cancy really liked it as well. You really could add whatever you like to this. I will probably add some Kalamata olives next time. I hope you like it.

Antipasta Chopped Salad

1 heart of romaine, chopped
about 6 ounces mozzarella, diced
6 ouces of salami or pepperoni, chopped small
banana peppers, diced
12 ounce jar of marinated artichokes, drained & chopped

Combine lettuce, cheese, meat, peppers, & artichokes into a bowl. Toss to combine.

Use a little bit of the reserved liquid from the artichoke jar to dress the salad. Season with salt & pepper.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

I was in the mood for taco salad and ended up coming across this recipe. I’m so glad I did too. It looks like a lot of steps but really, it comes together super easy. Make your dressing at least an hour before you start the rest of it. Take care of the steak and while the steak is grilling & resting, prep the rest of your veggies. In this link, you’ll find the main recipe with links to the dressing and steak rub.

Cancy & I both really liked this. It’s definitely going to be put on the menu again soon.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

1 1/2 lb flank steak, cooked with lime-chile rub and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 recipe Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing
1 large head romaine lettuce
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water
1-2 avocados, sliced
cilantro for garnish

Start with a nice bed of cold, crunchy lettuce, top with steak, tomatoes, onion, black beans, and avocado.  Top with cilantro and fried tortilla strips if desired.  Serve with lime-cilantro dressing

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (ignore directions on the packet)
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce

Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

Lime-Chili Steak Rub

1 t chili powder
1 t granulated garlic
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t oregano
1/8- 1/4 t cayenne pepper*
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
*If you have chipotle chili powder, you can substitute it for the cayenne or just add a little in addition
1 lime (about 2 T lime juice)
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Juice the lime into a small bowl. Add spices and stir to combine. Some limes have more juice than others, so sometimes the mixture will be more liquid-y and sometimes it will be more pasty. If you find you're a little short on lime juice, just add a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil to stretch it out.

Place the steak in a shallow dish and pour the spice mixture on top. Use your hands to massage it in there.

Let it sit for 15 minutes. During that time preheat your grill.

Place meat on hot grill. If you're using flank steak it should take about 5-7 minutes on each side.

When steak is finished, remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into it.  Slice in strips against the grain.

Greek Pasta Salad

This really shouldn’t even be called a recipe. I threw this together for Girl’s Night and it went over pretty well. I love all the flavors used in Greek cooking so I tried to pull them all together in this pasta salad.



Greek Pasta Salad

1 lb of small shaped pasta (I used rainbow Rotini)

1 bottle of Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 container of reduced fat Feta cheese

1/2 Cup chopped Kalamata Olives

handful of grape tomatoes, quartered

1/2 of a cucumber, seeded & diced

1 bag of baby spinach, chopped

handful of banana peppers, chopped

1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Cook and drain pasta while you chop vegetables

In a large bowl, combine cooled drained pasta, vegetables, lemon juice, cheese, and dressing

Let sit for at least an hour for the flavors to come together.

Fandango Salad from Panera

The other day I was driving back from Whole Foods and saw that there was a Panera Bread being built in the shopping center. I am a big fan of Panera and hadn’t seen one since we moved from Minnesota. I remembered my favorite salad from there and had to make it. I didn’t see this listed on their online menu anymore but back in the day, this was my favorite thing to get at Panera. I hope you like it.



Fandango Salad from Panera

1 pkg of mixed field greens

1 small bag of walnuts

1 pkg of Gorgonzola (or Blue cheese)

1 small can of Mandarin oranges, drained

Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette

Combine above ingredients and toss. This will make 2 large salads

Frito Salad

This recipe came from a blog called “My Baking Heart”. She posted this recipe and I’ve had it save for ages now and finally decided it was time to try it. The Fritos have got to be a Texas thing. I’ve never cooked with them before moving here. Cancy is a huge fan of Frito Pie (we might make & post that sometime soon), but then this Frito Salad recipe came up and Cancy said he remembers eating something like this when he was younger. It must be a Southern thing. So grab yourself a bag of Fritos and serve up a really easy, quick weeknight dinner.

Frito Salad

1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water
1 can corn, drained
2 tomatoes, chopped (remove seeds & juice)
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 sm. bottle fat-free Catalina dressing
1 sm. bag of original Fritos
1/2 lb. cooked hamburger (optional - I used it this time)
shredded lettuce
shredded carrots (I didn’t use any carrots)
shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Top with fat-free sour cream if desired.

 

Greek Salad & dressing

This isn’t really a recipe, more of a rough guide. This is my favorite salad in the world. I really just have a love for all things Greek. So here is my go-to salad that I love.

Greek Salad & dressing

 

Salad

 

Romaine lettuce

Tomato

Cucumber

Red onion

Pitted Kalamata olives

Pepperoncini peppers

Feta Cheese

 

Do the ingredients in whatever quantity you like. Just chop everything and combine.

 

Dressing

 

Red Wine Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lemon Juice

Greek Seasoning (should be able to find this at your normal grocery)

 

I usually do 1:1 ratio on the vinegar & olive oil. Add the lemon juice & Greek seasoning to taste.

 

I just throw it all in a Ziploc bag and shake around to coat everything.

 

taco salad in tortilla bowls with super easy spanish rice

Tonight’s dinner had to be easy. Cancy is helping his brother move out of our house and into an apartment of his own. So, I made dinner for the 3 of us while they were out. Needing to use up some lettuce before we forget, I figured Taco Salad would be a good way to go. I’ve been seeing these taco bowls made out of tortillas on a few of the blogs out there, so I thought I’d give it a try. I made some Spanish rice to go with it & we had a complete easy meal. Plus the rice makes a lot so I have lunch to take to work tomorrow.



Taco Salad in Tortilla Bowls

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 jalapeno, diced (You can take the seeds out if you want it more mild)

Taco Seasoning from a packet or make your own (red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper)

1 bag of lettuce (we had romaine on hand)

1C sliced cherry tomatoes (for my lovely husband, you have to use tomatoes that have the vine attached)

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

1/2 C beef broth 

3 10" tortillas

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make three balls out of aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Place tortillas over aluminum foil balls and spray with cooking spray. These should bake for about 10 minutes or until brown.

Heat a skillet on the stove. Add chopped onion & diced jalapeno to the ground turkey. Cook until turkey is done & onions are transparent. Drain. Add your taco seasoning and 1/2 cup beef broth. Stir to combine. Let this cook another couple minutes to heat through.

Place salad greens in the taco shell. Top with meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, tomatoes, & whatever else your little heart desires. Enjoy!!  

*** I think this would also be good if you had spicy refried beans spread on the inside of the shell before you layer in the salad.

Super Easy Spanish Rice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Cup Spicy V-8 (You can use normal V-8 to keep it mild)

1 Cup chicken broth  

In a medium saucepan, sauté rice, onion, green pepper and garlic in hot oil until the rice is golden. 

Stir in remaining ingredients; heat to a boil. 

Reduce heat and cover; simmer for 30 minutes.  Serves 6.