Crunchy Salad-tons

Since going gluten-free, I've been having a lot of salads.

Naked salads to be exact.

Let me define what a naked salad is. It is lettuce. On a plate. There is usually some other stuff on it, but it is always missing the one thing that takes a mediocre salad and catapults it to greatness.

The croutons. 

The word crouton is derived from the French croûton, itself derived from croûte, meaning "crust". Being gluten-free doesn't leave a lot of room for anything with a crust.Which leads me to obsess about anything pertaining to crusts. Like pie. And pizza. And volcanoes. Recently, my need for crust became so bad that I actually caved and purchased a loaf of gluten-free bread. I salivated at the thought of having a toasted cheese sandwich again. 

Then I actually tasted a toasted cheese sandwich with gluten-free bread. 

Now before anybody starts telling me that I must have purchased a bad loaf, or that there are other brands out there that are actually edible, let me just say, I don't care. No offense, but a loaf of "bread," any bread,  should never, ever, ever have an expiration date that is one year away from the date of purchase. Especially if the "bread" was sitting on a regular grocery shelf and not in a freezer case. That is not bread and it is not a whole food. It's a science-experiment-pseudo-food. Because it had absolutely no flavor at all, it was very hard for me to eat it "as is". Considering the almost $5 price tag, it was also very difficult for me to just throw it to the chickens.

So I fixed it.

Now I'm back to enjoying salad greatness instead of salad mediocrity. 

Ahhhh...it's good to be back.☺

~Homemade Gluten-Free Croutons~

 ~The Players~

12-14 slices g.f. bread (I used EnerG/Seattle Brown Bread.)

1/2 c. plus 2 Tb. extra virgin olive oil

1 t. sea salt

fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. dried thyme

2 Tb. Parmesan cheese (from the can)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Put cubes into a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil while mixing with a wooden spoon, making sure to lightly coat all the cubes. Add the spices and Parmesan cheese. Stir until all the pieces look seasoned.

 Spread croutons onto cookie sheet or broiler pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes, stirring often. When the croutons are crispy, remove from oven and allow to cool.

Store in an air-tight container.

The finished color of the croutons will depend upon the type of bread used. Mine ended up fairly dark, but they were so very tasty!

*This recipe will also work for regular bread too.

Enjoy!

Pear & Hazelnut Salad with Creamy Cranberry Dressing

After consuming 2 entire bowls of this salad, I've decided that change is good.

Of course, I've come to this conclusion after only 1 day of this new lifestyle change, but so far, it's good. REAL GOOD.

My photography skills are another matter altogether, so I'll just clarify right now that this is not ketchup, cottage cheese, and leftover greens.

This in fact, is pure bliss.

Salad bliss.

This salad is fairly easy to put together, but if you purchase hazelnuts still in the shell like I did, you'll need to skin the nuts first. (See below.) If hazelnuts aren't your thing, try substituting walnuts or pecans instead. Which is what I ended up doing since somebody used up all the hazelnuts in some chocolate chips cookies without letting me know.

Somehow the cookies got past me too.☺

This recipe was adapted from the book, "The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook".

~The Players~

Salad:
1 head of leaf lettuce (I used romaine.)
1 firm ripe pear, cored and sliced thin (Do not peel!)
1/4 red onion, sliced thin in rounds (I cut them smaller.)
1 cup raw hazelnuts, toasted
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
2 t. plus 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (Found next to the fresh garlic or onions in the produce dept.)
1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen, but let them thaw in a colander.)
zest from 1 orange
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 Tb. balsamic vinegar
3-4 Tb. maple syrup (Grade B)
1/2 t. sea salt

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, heat a small skillet over medium heat and add the 2 teaspoons olive oil and sliced shallots. Saute' shallots for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add cranberries and continue to saute' until berries are soft and have "popped."

Place shallot & cranberry mixture into food processor or blender with the orange juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, vinegar, zest, maple syrup, and sea salt. Blend on high until creamy. Add a few tablespoons of water for a thinner consistency and blend again. (I skipped this step.)

Drizzle dressing over salad and serve immediately. Extra dressing can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

~Skinning & Roasting Hazelnuts~

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place shelled nuts on cookie sheet. Roast for 10-12 minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times during cooking time.

Pour the nuts into the center of a clean towel. Gather the edges of the towel to bundle the nuts up and rub the nuts against each other inside the towel for quite a while until the skins come off.

Now get to crackin'!

Enjoy!

Mango & Black Bean Confetti Salad

Recently, I attended my first Pampered Chef party. One of the tasty treats we sampled was Mango Confetti Salsa.

I may have doubled dipped.

Okay, I'm sure I did.

And I have no guilt. Or shame. Because it was amazing.

After I purchased the mango slicer, I booked my first party.

Because of that salsa.

Before the mango slicer came into my life, I was one of those crazy people who would gnaw and gnash, like a rabid dog with a meaty bone, trying desperately to get the mango flesh off of the pit. The pittance of mango that I actually ate was nothing in comparison to the amount of juice, and probably slobber, that dripped from my chin. But still I would try. Until one day when someone actually caught me gnawing and gnashing.

Remember, I have no guilt and certainly no shame, but for the sake of the children, we relocated.

And until now, none of my new neighbors knew about my shady mango past.

Now that I have the mango slicer, mangoes are back on the menu, and because one can't live on salsa alone (or so I've been informed), I came up with my own version in a salad form. Complete with protein.

Gnawing and gnashing are optional.☺

~The Players~

2 mangoes, diced

1 large, sweet red pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (use gloves!)

1 cup sweet corn (if using frozen, thaw by running under water in a colander)

1 cup tomato, diced (I used grape)

zest and juice of 3 limes

2 Tb. olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

sea salt & pepper, to taste

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Can serve immediately, but flavors intensify if refrigerated for 1 hour first.

I've made this several times now and each time is different. Try adding grilled chicken, or taco meat with olives for a different version of taco salad. Or use it as a topping for some fresh caught, grilled salmon.

Guess it's going back on the menu again!☺

Enjoy!

Classic Caesar Salad

First, let me just tell you, I love Caesar salads. Always have. What I don't care for is the bottled dressing that comes "fresh" from the grocery store shelves.

Second, until I started making my own dressing, I had no idea that Caesar salad dressing had anchovies in it.

As a child, I swore that as long as there was breath in my body, I would "never, ever, ever" eat an anchovy. Actually, I swore that I would "never, ever, ever" eat any kind of tiny little fish-in-a-can. Especially if it still looked like a fish. 

Well, I'm still breathing, and I ate an anchovy. In fact, I have eaten many, as this is our new favorite salad. And as anyone knows, (except me, apparently) anchovies make the dressing.

Just don't ask me to eat a sardine.

Classic Caesar Salad

~The Players~

Remember to use organic ingredients!

4 large cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 2 lemons (I used Meyer lemons)

1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

6 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil (a 2-oz. tin)

2 large egg yolks, from pastured eggs only

5 t. extra virgin olive oil

1/3 C. sunflower oil (the best you can find)

3/4 C. Parmesan cheese, finely grated

3 romaine hearts, cut into slices (about 1/2-3/4 inch wide)

fresh ground pepper

2 cups croutons (homemade or store-bought)

Mix garlic and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside for 10-15 minutes. This helps to tone down the harshness of the raw garlic.

Pat the anchovies dry, before chopping them up.

Put anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, egg yolks and lemon/garlic mixture into a food processor.

Pulse a few times to blend it all together.

Pre-measure the oils into a pourable measuring cup.

With the food processor on, very slowly start adding the oils in a steady stream, until fully emulsified. When finished, pour dressing into a salad bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and stir it in.

Make sure that the romaine lettuce is dry before adding it to the bowl or the dressing won't stick. Toss gently to coat. Add croutons. Season with fresh ground black pepper before serving.

Enjoy!



Spinach Chicken Salad

While I like the sunshine, I am not a fan of hot kitchens.

A great way to keep the kitchen cool is to make salads that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until needed. My family knows that when there are pots on the stove of potatoes, noodles and eggs, that a heatwave is imminent.

This is one of my favorite make-ahead salads that keeps well for several days. It also uses fresh, in-season produce that you probably already have on hand.

Hot kitchen? Not me!

Of course, I still don't have my kitchen, but that's another story.

Spinach Chicken Salad

5 cups cubed, cooked chicken (about 3 whole breasts)

2 cups green grapes, halved

2 cups packed, torn spinach

12 oz. brown rice corkscrew pasta, cooked and drained

1 jar (6 oz.) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

1/2 large cucumber, sliced

3 green onions with tops, sliced

Dressing

1/2 cup EVOO

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tb. champagne vinegar

1 t. sea salt

1/2 t. dried minced onion

1 t. lemon juice

1 Tb. dried parsley or 2 Tb. fresh parsley, chopped fine

In a large bowl, combine chicken, grapes, spinach, pasta, artichokes, cucumber and green onions. Cover and refrigerate. Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl; mix well and refrigerate. Just before serving, pour dressing over salad and toss.

Serves 8-10

Enjoy!

Easy Summer Curried Chicken Salad

We got another blast of summer here in the Pacific Northwest. They don't come often, but when they do, we take full advantage of the beautiful weather! More often than not, we are under a "marine layer"...which translate to "cloudy with a very slim chance of sunshine". I'm only slightly exaggerating, but you get my point.

When we do get warmer weather, I try to keep the house cool by not using the oven/stove. (We have wood stoves here, not air conditioning units!) Summer heat is a good time to experiment with salads! And sometimes, the kids even like them!

Summer Curried Chicken Salad

3 (12.5 oz.) cans of white chicken meat
1/2 large, sweet, red pepper; diced
2 stalks celery; diced small
1-2 cups red grapes; halved (personal preference)
1/2 cup chopped pecans; toasted
mayonnaise (I used approx. 3/4 cup, use what you like)
2 tsp. curry powder
sea salt, to taste
lettuce of your choice (I used baby romaine)

Mix everything, except the lettuce, together in large bowl. Place cut-up lettuce on individual plates and put a scoop (or 2) on top of lettuce. (I used an ice-cream scoop.) Serves 8.

I thought the kids would want some ranch dressing on it too, but decided to wait until they asked for it. They never did! They did ask that I make this again tomorrow! Score 1 for Mom!