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Massaged Kale and Sweet Potato Salad

by mj on May 2, 2012

A couple of years ago I came across a Massaged Kale Salad by Aarti Sequeira, one of the Food Network Star winners. It looked interesting so I made it and loved it, and now I make it all of the time. Ripe, juicy mango combined with fresh kale massaged with olive oil and lemon, then toasted pepitas is such a unique combination. Since I first made Aarti’s salad, I have been playing around with massaged kale because, personally – I now prefer it over cooked kale. I’ve made this salad with oranges, apples, oranges and apples, sweet potatoes, and a few other ingredients – some worked, some didn’t. Sweet potato and yam definitely worked!

This massaged kale and sweet potato salad uses the same dressing and method for massaging the kale as Aarti’s, but the other salad ingredients are different. This particular salad can be a meal or a side. No matter how you serve it, you’ll love it!

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Spicy Bean Salad

by mj on March 2, 2012

Now this is what I call a salad! We love salads and some of our favorite salads have beans as a primary ingredient. This Spicy Bean Salad was made with chipotle seasoned bolita beans that I cooked up last weekend; however, pinto beans or black beans could also be used. Below is a recipe for this wonderful Spicy Bean Salad as well as a recipe for Spicy Bolita (or Pinto) Beans.

(If you aren’t familiar with bolita beans, keep reading. I talk more about them later on in this post.)

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Sweet and Spicy Citrus Salad

by mj on January 19, 2012

Remember those sweet and spicy pepitas in my last post? Well, here’s a great way to use them to add a little spice to some sweet oranges, tangerines or grapefruit. The oranges in the picture are Cara Cara’s, a type of naval orange and my favorite orange. They’re almost the color of grapefruit aren’t they? If you haven’t tried one, you don’t know what you’re missing! I can find them at my local co-op only during December and January so I try to eat as many as I can. They make great afternoon snacks and salads.

This is a simple salad of orange slices, sweet and spicy pepitas, an herb or two and a simple dressing.

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Green Beans and Persimmons

by mj on January 8, 2012

After all of the massive amounts of food and sweets around the holidays and a week of business travel, I need to get back to my lighter and healthier way of eating. Here’s a healthy light lunch that I threw together with some green beans and a persimmon that I had leftover in the fridge. Both of these recipes reinforce the fact that keeping it simple can yield some of the tastiest results.
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Mango and Jicama Salad

by mj on August 5, 2011

I’m sure many of you can relate when I say that some of the best dishes come about when there’s “nothing in the fridge”. How many times have you heard those words spoken by someone in your household? Home cooks know that there is ALWAYS something in the fridge! And that’s how this salad come to be. I have to admit that it was time to go to the co-op and restock, but I still had some “halves” of this and that in the crispers – a half of a red bell pepper, a piece of Jicama, some pickled cucumbers from the night before, and a mango that had been waiting a while to be chosen. So I sliced it all up and tossed it together in a salad bowl with some fresh mint and a touch of onion. The dressing came from using some of the vinegar marinade from the cucumbers (nothing goes to waste) with a little oil and – voilá – a wonderful, refreshing summer salad.

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Chicken and Cantaloupe Salad

by mj on July 9, 2011

It’s hot, it’s dry and all we feel like eating is something cool and refreshing. So when the co-op had organic cantaloupe on sale , I couldn’t resist buying a few. There’s nothing more refreshing than cold, sweet melon. My favorite way to eat cantaloupe is to get it really cold, cut the melon in half, scoop out the seeds, add a touch of salt, and eat it right out of the rind. However, there are so many other ways to eat cantaloupe.

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Pasta Salad for Parties, Potlucks, and Picnics

by mj on June 29, 2011

A Lemony Orzo Salad

This recipe makes a huge bowl of pasta! This salad can be served hot, cold or at room temperature making it a great dish for parties, potlucks, and picnics, or really – just anytime you want it. There’s no meat, mayo, egg or anything to go bad if it sits out for a few hours.

When I make it for the two of us, we usually get two meals and a couple of lunches. Yes – we can make a meal out of it, it’s so good! Bobby eats the leftovers cold. I prefer them warm or at room temperature so I’ll microwave mine for about a minute. Sometimes we’ll add a little more protein to the salad by sauteing a few Creole seasoned shrimp in some butter and serving on top of the pasta.

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Strawberry, Coconut and Pinon Salad

by mj on May 10, 2011

It really doesn’t take much to make a tasty salad and this is one example. There are a few substitutions you could use, but don’t compromise on the star ingredient – the strawberries. Use the tastiest strawberries you can find. The other ingredients add different textures and complementary flavors.

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