Shaved Cauliflower Salad

I had this salad at Americano last week and knew immediately I had to recreate it. My friend Jordan and I walked down to the restaurant at The Joule after meeting Serena Wolf at her book signing downtown. It only made since to have Jordan back over for dinner to test out my recreation.

Y’all. This salad is just great. Despite just being cauliflower it’s filling and satisfying. Would be killer with some salmon on it or as a side with barbecue or anything grilled. It’s heavy on the lemon which I personally love for the dead of winter (citrus is so good for you in cold months), but will be just as good this summer.

The key to the salad is the shaved cauliflower. You can use a mandolin, but if you know me, you know my experience with mandolins has not been pleasant…However it will work. I suggest using a food processor fitted with the slicing attachment. It makes this salad incredibly easing by just forcing the cauliflower florets through the food tube. To be honest I had actually never used the slicing attachment, until I made this. I’ve had my food processor for mmm 4 years now and had to take the protective sticker off the slicer. It has now ben christened and I plan to use it far more.

Shaved Cauliflower Salad adapted from Americano
yields 3-4 as a main or 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:
3 cups white cauliflower florets (about one small head of cauliflower)
2 cups of purple cauliflower florets
2 cups of orange cauliflower florets
½ cup raw shelled pistachios
½ cup plump golden raisins
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1¼ salt, divided
¼ tsp. red chili flakes
1 tbsp. chopped chives, plus more for serving

Directions:
In a cereal sized bowl, pour hot water over golden raisins and let set aside to “plump" for 10-15 minutes. While the raisins are plumping, add pistachios and ¼ tsp. salt in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast your pistachios, stirring them around often for about 3-4 minutes, keeping a close eye on them as they can burn easily.

Thinly shave your cauliflower in your food processor with the slicing disk attached or on a mandolin. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and toss with lemon juice and 1 tbsp. of salt. Let sit for 5 minutes to marinate.

Drain your raisins. Into the cauliflower, stir in the olive oil, pistachios, plump raisins, chives and chili flakes. Garnish with extra chives and salt.

Best if made at least 30 minutes before serving so the flavors have time to come together. Will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days.

TBH cauliflower is hard to measure. The recipe calls for 2-3 cups of florets that will then be shredded. Don’t stress, just eyeball what looks like about 2-3 cups and you can adjust seasonings as needed.

Annie

Wintergreen Salad

I got the inspiration to make this salad from an airport. Yes, an airport. It’s based on a salad from Modern Market I had in the Denver Airport a few months ago. I had never heard of Modern Market, but after an indulgent weekend in Vail for my friend Trinian’s bachelorette party, it was an airport restaurant with salads on the menu, and a salad was necessary.

The salad exceeded expectations, I knew I had to recreate it. With the name Wintergreen Salad, I’ve been waiting until the holidays to get this post together. It’s hearty with the roasted fingerlings, but light with the citrus basil vinegarette. It also includes one of my favorite salad ingredients - dates!

Make it for lunch, make it for dinner, make it as a side for your Christmas dinner, I love love love this salad!

Wintergreen Salad adapted from Modern Market
Yields 6-8 for a side salad, 3-4 as an entree

Ingredients:
5 oz pre-washed box of mixed greens
3/4 lb. fingerling potatoes
1/4 cup green onions, chopped on a bias (2 stems)
1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped (about 8 large dates)
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
2 medium Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 bunch of fresh basil
large pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Start by roasting your potatoes. Slice them in half lengthwise and widthwise. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until they tender.

While the potatoes are roasting, toast your walnuts in a saute pan over medium heat. Shake the nuts around in the pan to toast evenly, about 5 minutes. Don’t take your eye off of then, nuts can burn very quickly. Take off the heat and set aside.

Then, make the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients in a small food processor or blender until the basil is finely chopped. Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.

To assemble, toss the greens with the goat cheese, walnuts, dates, apples, roasted potatoes and enough dressing to your liking. There will likely be leftover dressing! Top with chopped green onion and some fresh cracked black pepper.

*would be great with chicken or roasted salmon if serving as an entree

Annie

3-Bean Salad

One of my best friends has been following a vegan diet for the past few months and claims she has never felt better. I eat vegetarian accidentally all the time and have tried eating vegan once before. There is a ton of information out there about the benefits of veganism, so I thought I’d challenge my self to eat plant based last week. I prepped some delicious overnight oats, and this delicious 3-bean salad, but dinner got away from me when I ended up at a new Dallas hot spot and dove into enchiladas completely forgetting about my “vegan” diet. OOPS!

Anyway, back to this salad. I love beans, but I feel like they can get a bad rap. For vegans and vegetarians, beans are an incredible source of protein. Even for meat eaters, I think we should all love a bean now and then. There was a little sandwich spot at OU that my friends and I loved to go to. I’d almost always order a 1/2 sandwich and salad combo with my salad choice being their 3-bean salad. It wasn’t a popular opinion amongst my fellow 20 year olds, but I loved the kidney bean, green bean and chickpea salad they served.

I’m going down a rabbit hole and I’m not surprised if I lost you, but if you are still here, I’m basically just here to tell you that this 3-bean salad is great. Great for lunch balanced with some berries or apple on the side, would be great as a side at a barbecue or could even make a great dip with Fritos or tortilla chips kind of like a Texas Caviar situation.

3-Bean Salad
yields about 4, 1 cup servings

Ingredients:
1 -15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, cubed
2-3 Tbsps. olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste (I use a decent amount)

In a large mixing bowl add first six ingredients. If serving immediately add avocado. If serving later, wait to add avocado until time to eat. Add in olive oil, lime juice and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Serve as an entree with fruit, a side dish or with chips for a dip!

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Will stay good for 5-7 days (without avocado). I take this salad as lunch and divide amongst 4 of my favorite jars and take 1/4 of an avocado with me to add day of right before I eat.

Annie

Lite Bite: Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Summer BBQ, party or potluck? Look no further than this recipe. I have a thing for watermelon feta salads because I actually already have two (here and here) recipes on my site, but this one. THIS ONE!!

Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 medium seedless watermelon, cut into small cubes
16 oz mini heirloom tomatoes (found at Trader Joe's), sliced in half
8 oz feta cheese block, cut into small cubes
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
flakey salt and fresh crackd pepper
small bunch of fresh basil

Directions:
In a large bowl gently toss cubed watermelon, cubed feta and sliced mini tomatoes. Drizzle over olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Not too much, you can always add more later. Sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper and maldon salt if you have it. Any flakey salt will do. Tear the basil over the top. Tear instead of cut. Tearing will lend to better overall flavor and not brown the basil! Toss gently again and sprinkle a bit more salt, pepper and basil over the top to serve!

P.S. this makes great leftovers and is wonderful paired with grilled chicken (seen below).

Italian Chopped Salad

Recipe posts are BACK! After a two and half month hiatus, I come back with a recipe for non other than...a salad. This chick loves a good salad though, so be it.

I used to eat wimpy, non-protein, rabbit food salads. That just won't cut it now. I'm not sure if I'm still growing or that I'm working out more, but I want all the protein, healthy fats and goodies in my salads. With sliced salami, salty artichokes and kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes and protein packed chickpeas, I'm crushing on this Italian Chopped salad! 

Once you marinate the chickpeas and artichokes the rest of this salad comes together in under 10 minutes. Serve it as a hearty main salad or divide amongst your friends and fam with grilled chicken or fish as a side! Skip to the bottom to see how I stretched this salad out over a week to eat for lunches. 

Italian Chopped Salad adapted from Foodie Crush
serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side*

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
14 tsp. pepper
1, 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1, 14 oz can plain artichoke hearts
4 cups chopped romain lettuce (2 large romaine hearts)
8-10 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup kalamata olives
4 oz salami, sliced into strips
Maldon salt, to finish

Directions:
In a small bowl or mason jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Shake or whisk to mix. 

Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas. Pat dry then place in a medium bowl. Drain your can of artichokes and chop into quarters, then add to the chickpeas. Pour 2 tablespoons of the dressing on the chickpeas and artichokes to marinated for 30 minutes. Reserve the rest of the dressing for later.

Add the chopped romaine to a large bowl. Add your tomatoes, olives, and sliced salami. Add the chickpeas and artichokes in the dressing to the lettuce mixture. Pour the reserved dressing over the salad then toss to coat. Sprinkle over some Maldon salt and fresh cracked pepper to finish.

*I have been eating this all week for lunch. To preserve the lettuce, keep each component in separate Ziplocks and Tupperware, including the dressing. Each morning I toss it all together with a drizzle of dressing and it is still fresh at lunch time! I got 4 days of salad from this recipe. 

Annie