Fresh Beet Salad

Photo property of Sister in the Mid-West - Simple Inspirations

Root vegetables are a good way to make a winter salad. This beet and carrot slaw style salad with fresh apples and lemon juice from Sister in the Mid-west sounds like it would be refreshing and very nutrient rich. 

By the way, I was thinking that a handful of fresh cranberries before shredding or a handful of dried ones added afterwards could add a nice flavor variation. Also, if it isn't quite sweet enough for you a bit of honey or your other favorite sweetening could be added. This is a versatile recipe. You can make variations. It would be good served with a variety of meals as well, or added to sandwiches or wraps. The color alone makes it a winner for making winter meals pretty. :-)

Simple Inspirations - Beet Salad Recipe!

Refreshing Cucumber Salad

My mom made this salad often during the summer months when the garden produced a lot of fresh vegetables. It is a light, cold, and refreshing salad for summer. These will keep for a good while in the fridge, gradually becoming more pickles than salad. I am guessing that good probiotics will develop, especially if you use raw apple cider vinegar. You may reduce the water to taste.

Cucumber Salad

2 Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup water
2 Tbs. sugar

Mix all and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Serve cold.

Tabbouleh - A Middle Eastern Salad

Another rerun from the early days of this blog.  This was first posted on the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2009. :-)

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We started making and eating our own Middle Eastern food sometime while I was in my teens. This refreshing parsley salad quickly became a family favorite. We shared it with our church family and it was a hit there too. In fact, one girl who was finicky about "green food" actually found that she loved this salad so much she started making it for herself on a regular basis! :-) That's pretty high praise. Parsley, olive oil, whole grain, and more - what a great tasting, and great looking health food!
[The photo was taken by my friend Elisabeth who also made this bowl of tabbouleh.]

Tabbouleh tastes great served immediately or refrigerated. Leftover tabbouleh should be refrigerated, of course, and eaten up within 4 days or so as it begins to get soggy.  Try adding it to a sandwich in place of lettuce and tomato.  It's really good in a pita bread sandwich, maybe combined with some leftover shishkabob or grilled meat.

Tabbouleh

2 bunches of fresh parsley

2 tablespoons of fresh mint

1 small onion

1 large tomato, diced  (or 2 large Roma tomatoes)

1/2 a small cucumber, diced

1/2 cup bulgur

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

6 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh)

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Soak bulghur in water for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until soft. (This process can be shortened by using hot water. Just be sure it is cooled before adding to the salad.)  Squeeze out excess water using a metal strainer and your hand.

Wash parsley and discard the stems. Finely chop parsley, onion and mint. This can be done in a food processor very quickly.  (Note: if you do not have fresh mint you may use 1 Tbl. of dry mint.)

Combine all the vegetable ingredients and the bulgur in a large serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Adjust the lemon juice and salt to taste.

Spectacular, Simple Layered Salad

 

Here is a super easy layered salad that makes a very pretty presentation.

Bottom layer – lettuce leaves
Second layer – yellow tomato wedges
Third and fourth layers – red tomato wedges
Fifth layer – yellow tomato wedges
Sixth layer – sliced banana peppers
Top layer – carrot slivers (or grated carrot)
Sprinkle over all – feta cheese crumbles (or shredded Monterey Jack), fresh oregano leaves and snipped chives.
Serve with an Italian dressing.

For a smaller salad just reduce the number of tomato layers and use a smaller plate.

Favorite Kitchen Things – Lettuce Spinner

 

When I was younger and foolisher (ahem) I thought my Grandma was a bit silly for liking her lettuce spinner so much.  I didn’t think there was anything wrong with our method, which was shaking the leaves or patting them with paper towel.  Well, it’s a strange, but with at least some things, the older you get the more you think like your mom – and your grandmothers.  Now, I think my lettuce spinner is great!  (I also love watermelon, but that’s off the subject.)

My local sister-in-law bought me this neat little salad spinner (pictured above) and I’ve learned to use and and enjoy it!  Sometimes I do forget to use it still (old habits die hard), but I have remembered a fair amount. 

I also figured out that it works for other things besides lettuce.  I’ve spun baby carrots and blueberries in it as well.  It’s really handy for making smallish fruits and veggies less drippy!  And, the removable basket is useful for rinsing small vegetables and fruit under the faucet, then putting it in the spinner to spin. For something that just needs a surface rinse it works as a colander.

Another cool thing about it?  I can store my lettuce right in the container in the fridge and it stays nice and fresh!  I do drain out the water from the bottom if there’s an excessive amount, but then I just pop the basket holding the lettuce back in and put the lid on and it’s ready for the fridge.

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I also don’t always really wash it after I use it.  I will if I’ve used it to store lettuce for awhile, but if it’s just a short job I usually rinse it and put it in the drainer.  My reasoning is that we’re going to eat the fresh carrots or lettuce or berries just the way they came out of the spinner, so why is the spinner “dirty”?  I only rinse and drain if it’s visibly dirty or been storing something for awhile. :-)  Easy peasy.

(Yeah, I can hear one of my local friends now asking me to please wash the lettuce spinner before they come to dinner if we’re having salad. Haha.)

Garden Fresh -- Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers

 

A couple of years ago or so my dad grew these yummy but somewhat spicy banana peppers in our garden.  I also had basil in the garden that year, so it was an easy matter to cut the pepper lengthwise, remove the seeds, spread with cream cheese and then sprinkle with snipped basil.  Delicious.  A great simple “salad” too. :-)

Other options:
Use non-spicy peppers or spicier peppers
Use cheddar cheese paste instead
Use other fresh herbs: chives, oregano, cilantro, thyme
Add green onions

By the way, the cream cheese helps to moderate the heat.

Wheat Berry Salad

I found the original recipe for this in a magazine, but as usual, I altered it. :-)  It turned out quite well and was a refreshing change for the carbohydrate part of the meal.  Plus, it felt like we were eating something really healthy that was delicious too!  It is a good hearty dish, and leftovers keep pretty well.  I added some smoked white cheese to it later for a light supper and that was good also.  It would probably be quite good in a packed lunch.  Enjoy!

1 1/2 C. wheat berries
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/2 C. chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1/3 C. dried cranberries (or cherries) 
1 Tbs. dried parsley
1 green onion, tops only, chopped
3 Tbs. olive oil
Juice of one lemon (about 2 Tbs.)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. allspice
In a large sauce pan, cover wheat berries with water so that they are covered by about 2 inches.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until the berries are tender enough to chew easily.  Drain and allow to cool completely. (Hint: You can boil and drain them a day ahead and refrigerate them overnight.  This makes a nice cold salad.)
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until well mixed.
Makes 6 servings.

Super Simple Side Salads

Sliced papaya and kiwi fruit with a garnish of fresh mint make a very pretty side salad for a nice dinner.

No dressing required, but you could drizzle the Creamy Citrus Dressing over it if you wanted to.

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Another pretty but simple fruit salad:  fresh mango, strawberries and kiwi fruit – cut and arranged in a white bowl.

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Lettuce, tomato, grated cheese and a drizzle of dressing looks colorful too, as well as being easy.  (Leftover taco toppings make this a breeze.)

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And, the easiest side “salad”?  A bowl of canned fruit, of course. :-)

In a pretty, contrasting bowl it looks very attractive.

Fresh Green Bean Salad

 

This is a refreshing, delicious salad for a hot summer day.  If you have garden fresh beans, so much the better!  I don’t have measurements.  I don’t think we ever used any.  We just made it with however much was available.  It is easily adjusted for special diets too.
Fresh Green Bean Salad
Fresh green beans
Tomatoes, chopped or sliced
Whit onion (optional), diced
Crumbled Feta cheese, or cheese of your choice
Italian salad dressing, or vinegar and oil dressing of your choice
Parboil or steam beans just till tender crisp.  Remove from heat and drain immediately and rinse in cool water.  Refrigerate till ready to make salad.  Arrange beans around the edge of a large plate or small platter.  Place tomatoes in center.  Sprinkle with onions and cheese.  Pour salad dressing over the top.  Serve.
Note: You could substitute green or red onions or chives for the white onions.  Also, if you have fresh basil or oregano, it would be a nice addition snipped and sprinkled on top.
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Make this recipe dairy free by leaving out the cheese.  Make it gluten free by using gluten free dressing and cheese.

Salad Dressing – Creamy Citrus Dressing

Due to health issues and concerns we try to avoid a lot of things in our diet.  It is necessary that we avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is in many store bought salad dressings.  We also make a point of avoiding high fructose corn syrup, which also appears in many store bought foods.  My mom made a lot of homemade dressings when we were growing up (probably because they are cheaper), so it wasn’t a big challenge to us to make all our dressings at home when these things became an issue. 
I enjoy inventing my own dressings.  They may well be repeats of other people’s efforts, but that isn’t surprising since there are so many thousands of recipes available on the internet now! :-)  I hope to post some of my recipes for salad dressing here this summer since summer is a the time of year for fresh fruits and veggies.  Enjoy!
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Creamy Citrus Dressing
1/2 C. sour cream
1 C. mayonnaise
Buttermilk or yogurt if needed to thin
2 Tbl. toasted sesame seeds
Sugar or natural sweetener to taste
1-2 Tbl. lemon or lime juice (fresh is best)
2 Tbl. orange juice
1/2 tsp. ginger paste
Mix all ingredients till smooth.
This dressing is especially good on lettuce salads with fruit in them – think strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, etc.  It might also be good on a fresh fruit salad.
 
You can sprinkle the sesame seeds on top if you prefer.  It is prettier this way. :-)

Caramelized Pecans

I found this recipe on the internet and then made my own adjustments to it.  It was a hit with my family!
1 Tbl. butter
1 heaping Tbl. brown sugar
1 tsp. white sugar
3/4 C. pecans
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
A pinch of salt
Pre-measure all ingredients.  You will need to add the sugars, nuts, etc. quickly before the butter browns.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Add sugar, cinnamon and nuts and increase heat to medium-high.  Stir constantly until sugar loses its grainy appearance – about 5 minutes.  Pour nuts onto sheet of aluminum foil and let cool about 15 minutes.  Store in an airtight container.
These nuts are very good added to a salad of lettuce and fresh strawberries with a sweet-sour dressing!

Four Salads

Do you get hungry for salad in the spring?  I do!  I think our bodies want the fresh green lettuce and veggies as part the clearing out process after winter.  That’s my theory, anyway.  But, I know that the fresh fruits and veggies taste extra good in the spring time, especially when you have homegrown lettuce! :-)
Here are four salads that I especially like.  Three are very simple.  If you sometimes forget or struggle to eat fresh fruit, three of these salads might be some help to you.
Blueberry-Melon Salad
This is a summer salad and probably my favorite.  I love the colors and the fresh berries!

As you can see, it only has three ingredients – leafy green lettuce, blueberries and cantaloupe.  I usually serve it with a sweet-sour dressing, honey-lemon is the best.  (I will try to share some dressing recipes later.)
Festive Banana Melon Salad

This salad is quite pretty.  It isn’t much different from the one above.  It has bananas instead of blueberries, and a maraschino cherry is put on top to decorate it.  This, of course, is optional.  (It’s hard to find maraschino cherries here that don’t have high fructose corn syrup in them.)  I serve this with similar dressings as I do the blueberry one.
Another variation of this is to leave out the bananas and add plain cooked chicken breast.  This then becomes a “main dish” salad.

This was an interesting one, but it was actually quite good.  As you can see I sprinkled some toasted sesame over the top of the sweet-sour dressing.  This would be so refreshing on a late winter day, I think! :-)
Chef Salad

This is one to two servings.

This salad is the not-so-easy one.  But, it is almost an entire meal.  All you need to add is some carbohydrate of some sort – bread, chips, biscuits, etc.  How about croutons?
When I make this I layer it.  Lettuce on the bottom.  Next some mixed veggies – cucumbers, carrots, etc.  Then the “julienned” ham slices and the grated cheese.  On that I sprinkled some black pepper.  The tomatoes (cherry or wedges of a larger one) and quartered boiled eggs look decorative around the edges.  Black olives rings would make a nice addition to the top as well.  If you don’t eat ham, try turkey or roast beef deli meat.  It’s good served with a savory dressing – Ranch, bleu cheese, Russian, Italian, Thousand Island, etc.
By the way, with attention to the ingredients these can all be made gluten free.  :-)  Just use a safe dressing and adjust some things in the Chef Salad.

Vinegar Cucumber Salad

Here’s an old family favorite of ours. My mom and grandma both used to make this light, tangy salad in the summer. It is almost more like pickles than salad. Since it’s served cold it is refreshing during hot weather.
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2 Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup water
2 Tbs sugar
Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Serve cold.