Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

Back when I was in AmeriCorps we had potlucks ALL THE TIME. People were pretty serious about them, too. Since then, I've learned that potlucks are not quite so frequent in your average office environment. However, we did have a potluck recently when our group of AmeriCorps members finished their one-year term. I made this almost-store-bought pasta salad after work the day before. 

This is pretty much a combo of a few things I picked up at Trader Joe's, so I'll write it up as I made it. Obviously, this is not sponsored by Trader Joe's. I wish!!

Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

1 bag vegetable radiatore pasta (the multi-colored spiral-y one)

1 container pre-cut Healthy 8 chopped vegetable mix (or do the chopping yourself: red and green cabbages, carrots, broccoli, jicama, bell peppers, radishes and celery)

1 container crumbled feta

1 small can sliced black olives

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

Combine the pasta, veggies, feta and olives in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, dill and olive oil. Pour over the pasta and mix well.

Burrito Bowl

On my way home I was really tempted to go to Chipotle but I stopped myself because 1.) Chipotle is kind of expensive and I've been eating out more than usual and 2.) I might as well make that stuff at home. I thought about making a copycat version of their burrito bowl, but I ended up making my own simple version that's more like a normal-ish salad, mostly by cutting out the cilantro rice and adding a scrambled egg.

Burrito Bowl

Serves 1

Handful of salad greens (I used baby kale)

1 chicken thigh

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp veg oil

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, rough chopped

1/2 avocado, cut up

1/4 cup pinto beans

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shedded

1 egg, scrambled

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp salsa or hot sauce (I used Trader Joe's Hatch Valley Salsa)

Maybe a squeeze of lime?

Season both sides of the chicken thigh with the cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and salt. Saute the chicken thigh in the oil over medium high heat for a few minutes, until cooked through. Cut it into bitesize pieces.

Combine the salad greens, cilantro, avocado, pinto beans, cheese, scrambled egg, black pepper and salsa. 

2 Salads: Lime/Shrimp/Avocado & Blood Orange/Sweet Potato/Kale

I am just about ready to kidnap Michelle & baby and fly to Ecuador and stay in airbnb places and Alandaluz, a beach ecoresort. (Michelle, look.) Brittany, you can change your flight back from Mexico and come join us. I just think that I shouldn't have to be around snow right now. See:

Instead, I will make bright, pretty salads.

Lime/Shrimp/Avocado Salad

Adapted from Skinny Taste

1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled & deveined, rough chopped (I sautéed mine in olive oil)

1 avocado, cubed

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, chopped

2 limes, juiced

salt & pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Toss the onion, lime juice, olive oil and salt & pepper in a small bowl. Let that sit for about five minutes to mellow out the onion. Combine with pepper, jalapeno, avocado and shrimp. Add pomegranate seeds if they're laying around from something you made yesterday. Serve.

Note: You can add cilantro if you want. I like cilantro, and I bought some for this salad but it smelled really bad when I opened it so I tossed it. It's so good without the cilantro that I won't use it when I make this again.

Blood Orange/Sweet Potato/Kale

Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is

1 sweet potato, rough chopped

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

6 cups salad greens (I used chopped dino kale)

2 blood oranges, chopped or sliced sideways

1/4 cup pomegranate arils

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

2 blood oranges, juiced

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Roast the sweet potato in the oven at 400 in the maple syrup, oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Roast for about 20 minutes or until a little soft. Let cool.

Mix the greens with the sweet potatoes, orange pieces, pomegranate arils and feta cheese. Combine the orange juice, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour in the olive oil while whisking. Pour as much as you want to use into the greens and save the rest in the fridge for other salads. Serve.

"Fiesta Bean Salad"

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Vince and I have been trying to budget, including packing lunches.  I made this salad for the first time within my first couple weeks living together.  I've found the key to packing lunches is packing food you actually want to eat.  Many a time at my old job, my packed lunch would get pushed further back in the fridge as my coworkers' ideas for takeout sounded more enticing. Vin mentioned different salads sounding good and I thought of a recipe of Jackie's from college.  I couldn't track that down, but as always I found my way on Pinterest.  I get the feeling Vince's coworkers were a little impressed to see Vince actually bringing lunch, rather than going out for lunch every day as he was before.  They were also impressed with my over-doing the garlic, with the smell of garlic filling the room whenever Vince opened his container at lunchtime.  Though he loves garlic, I've since cut back for the sake of our containers and Vin not getting sick of the salad.  The original recipe recommends to eat it right away, but it's fine through the week, though the avocado gets soft.  I think maybe next time I'll add some black pepper.

Avocado & Steak Salad with Balsamic Basil Dressing

Today I went to the first First Friday at the Frick concert of 2014 with my sister, mom and grandparents. My family's been going since I was in elementary school, and I've tried to go at least once every summer. So many more people go now! The whole Frick property is packed with people and their crazy fancy picnics. The headliner concert of the Three Rivers Arts Festival was the same night, and the place was still packed.

Citrus Habanero Salad

My birthday was last Tuesday! Certain friends of mine told me I had to do something, so I made dinner. I picked out some Ecuadorian recipes from Laylita's amazing food blog, including a spicy citrus salad.

CITRUS HABANERO SALSA
From Laylita's Recipes

5-6 citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruits, blood oranges, kumquats. mandarins, tangerines)
1/2 onion (white or red), sliced or diced
2-3 habanero peppers, seeded and veins removed (use gloves), finely diced
juice from 1 lime
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
salad greens (optional)

Greek Orzo Salad

I got asparagus at Stan's in the Strip District because I'm ready to start pretending that it's spring. It has to happen eventually. 

The other day I went over to my grandparents' house for dinner and my grandma made open-face sandwiches with sliced ham, hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, asparagus and cheese sauce. So good!! She says she's been making it for years and years. I'll definitely make it sometime for a quick dinner. 

GREEK ORZO SALAD

1/2 cup peas

1/2 cup feta, diced or crumbled

1/4 cup raisins and/or craisins

1/4 cup dried apricots, diced

1/2 can chickpeas

1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 2 inch pieces

2 cups orzo

kalamata olives

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

pinch salt & pepper

Birthday Salad

It was my grandpa's 88th birthday last week! We had a little family and friends potluck party, and I brought this very tasty salad, which had to stand up beside classics like ham loaf and corn pudding. This salad is nothing that original, but the beet-red vinaigrette makes it relatively fancy-looking for a simple homemade salad, and it has got some great combinations: beets, red onions, bacon, goat cheese...

Birthday Salad

Serves 8-10 as a side salad, 4-5 as dinner salad

1 lb fresh spinach or your favorite leaf mix (I got a mix from Sam's Club that had baby kale & swiss chard leave plus Spinach)
1 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
4 small beets, steamed or roasted, peeled, and cut into wedges
6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 6 inch pieces
1 mini-log (? oz) goat cheese, crumbled

Pink Vinaigrette
1 small beet, steamed or roasted, peeled, and cut into wedges
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
pinch sea salt
pinch pepper

Noodle Salad Bowl

It's way too cold today, so I tried to counter all the never-ending wintery terribleness with this light summery noodle-y salad bowl. Like the even simpler Rice Noodles, Fried Egg & Stuff that I posted almost a year ago, this is based on my favorite dish at Tram's, a Vietnamese place in Bloomfield. It's cheap and easy and full of great fresh flavor. 

Also, Michelle & Nick are in Vietnam!!!! They are probably eating the actual authentic version of this right now. 

Noodle Salad Bowls

(Serves 3-4)

I'm listing all the ingredients that ideally I would use to make this dish. I always seem to be missing a couple things, but this is what I aim for. This time I was missing thai basil, cucumber and peanuts, and it was still great.

2 handfuls rice noodles (when I buy them at Lotus, they normally come in bundles within a package)

4-5 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped 

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup diced cucumber 

1/4 loosely packed cup mint - roughly chopped right before serving

1/4 loosely packed cup thai basil - roughly chopped right before serving

5-6 frozen egg rolls, baked and cut into about 1" thick slices

hoisin sauce & Sriracha (for squirting on top)

1/4 cup peanuts, crushed into little pieces (put them in a bag and smash with the bottom of a mug)

Nuoc mam cham for dressing (see below for recipe)

Prepare the rice noodles - I usually boil a pot of water, pop the noodles in for just a couple minutes and then turn off the heat. Drain the noodles and run cold water over them. 

Build the bowl - start with a base of romaine lettuce, then top with the noodles. Pour a couple tablespoons of nuoc mam cham on the noodles. Then add the other toppings (bean sprouts, carrot, cucumber, mint, thai basil, egg roll slices, peanuts, hoisin and Sriracha). I usually spread them out on top and them mix it all together when I'm ready to eat.

Twilly's "Before" pic - he got a haircut yesterday! I need to take a picture of his new look.

Nuoc mam cham (dressing or spring roll dipping sauce)

1 ½ cup water

8 Tbsp fish sauce

6 Tbsp fresh lime juice

6 tsp rice vinegar

6 Tbsp sugar

1 deseeded and finely chopped fresh red chili

4 cloves of finely chopped garlic

¼ cup finely sliced carrots (optional)

1. Combine water, rice vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Remove from heat and cool.
3. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, chili, garlic and carrots.
4. Note: If you have any leftovers, just put it into a container and freeze it for another meal.

Carrot Couscous Salad

I've been really terrible at remembering to bring a packed lunch to work, so this salad was supposed to inspire me to actually take it with me to the office. It worked! This couscous-based mix is so flavorful and definitely exciting enough to look forward to for lunch. And it holds up well in the fridge since there's no lettuce involved. 

 I made this salad after looking at a few recipes for Moroccan carrot salads. My version is nice and simple and does not include a dressing since I wanted it to be able to sit in the fridge for a couple days. Here are two other examples of Moroccan carrot salads: Smitten Kitchen's carrot salad and a couscous carrot salad from The Wright Recipes. And I just saw (after having made this salad about a week ago) that 101 Cookbooks posted an amazing-looking Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad yesterday! 

I have a bunch of lunch salads bookmarked to try in the next few weeks. I also have a lot of recipes for thing I made in the last few weeks when my camera was MIA (like a raspberry jam and brie pizza and a caper and rosemary focaccia-type bread), so hopefully I'll be making those thing again soon! 

Chickpea Salad with Minty Yogurt Dressing

I made this chickpea salad from the Kitchn along with chicken salad to make pita sandwiches. This would also make an easy healthy packed lunch as either a sandwich or salad, but I think it would be best to keep the yogurt dressing separate from the salad until ready to eat.

CHICKPEA SALAD WITH MINTED YOGURT DRESSING

Adapted from the Kitchn

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

3 cups drained chickpeas 

1 cup plain yogurt, preferable Greek

2 tbsp mint, chopped

Lemon & Dill Chicken Salad

I originally made chicken salad this way, with lemon and dill, for my friend Angela's baby shower, and I made it again for Halloween to serve in pitas! We wanted to make sure we all had some real dinner in addition to the huge amounts of sweets we scarfed while handing candy out to trick or treaters. (The recipe took a while before making it to the blog since I lost my camera charger for the millionth time.)

You can either make this very lemony or just a little lemony, but either way it's a great lunch and a crowd-pleaser! This is just a slight variation on the chicken salad I usually make, which is a little more traditional, without the lemon and herbs and with walnuts. I think I usually use some white vinegar instead of lemon juice in the sauce when I made it the other way.

LEMON & DILL CHICKEN SALAD

5-6 chicken breasts

1 cup green onions (or white onion), diced

1/2 cup raisins (or halved grapes)

1 cup apple, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh dill, trimmed and packed (or one very full handful)

1/2 cup mayonaise 

1/2 plain yogurt or sour cream 

juice of 1 lemon
as much zest as you want (1 whole lemon's zest if you want it real lemony)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
pepper

Couscous Winter Salad

This week my grandpa's sister and her two daughters visited from Texas, so we had a big family dinner on Saturday before they headed back south. The last time they had visited was about twenty years ago, so it was good to see them.

Linda took this picture of Great Aunt Margie, Grandpa and Grandma, and, of course, Twilly.

My mom had a lot of food and I brought this salad, which is a winter version of the summer salad I posted a few months ago. Instead of blueberries and basil, this salad's got roasted butternut squash ad dried apricots and cranberries. I used spinach this time because I didn't know how the family would do with a kale salad, but normally I would have made it with "massaged" kale.

My mom bringing the salad to the table.

COUSCOUS WINTER SALAD

2 cups couscous (I used whole wheat ones this time)

2 cups water

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Bring the water to boil with the turmeric, cinnamon, olive oil and salt. Once it's boiling, turn off the heat and add in the couscous. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.

Raw & Roasted Beet Salad

I know not everybody loves beets as much as I do, but I think those people should give beets another chance. They are amazing, especially roasted, as most of the beets are in this salad. A couple of the beets are grated raw for texture.

WARNING: You may get a bit of vampire teeth after eating this. Also, eating beets makes your poop look bloody! Don't panic. Enjoy your beets.

---

RAW & ROASTED BEET SALAD

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens 

7-8 small and/or medium beets

1 clove garlic

Olive oil

2-3 tbsp water

Salt

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

ground pepper

8 oz crumbled blue cheese

2 oz toasted almonds

1 tbsp parsley, if you have it

Raw Beet and Summer Squash Salad

In our community house, we sometimes all cook at the same time. This results in glorious impromptu dinner parties and the occasional epic brunch. While biking back from work, I stopped at the East Liberty farmer's market (one of the best in the city, I think!). I picked up some heirloom beets and yellow squash from One Woman Farm. Nick chopped vegetables while I made dressing. Laura and Brittany were cooking over the stove. Linda contributed some delicous wine and Twilly did Twilly-like things. Laura's friend joined us and made some delicious fruit compote to go over vanilla ice cream. Overall, it was a successful night!

1 bunch beets with greens

1 medium yellow squash
2 cloves garlics, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Wash the beets well. Don't worry about peeling them if they are fresh. The skins are thin if the beets are younger. Chop the beet root into small cubes. You can eat the stems but I left them out here. Chop the beet greens thinly. Cut the zucchini, skin and all, into small cubes. Sprinkle the vegetables with some salt in a large bowl. Set aside while making dressing.
For the dressing:
In a mason jar, add the thyme and oregano leaves. Add the garlic, lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar, and dijon mustard. Add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Shake well. Then add the olive oil and shake even more! Add more of each seasoning as desired. Pour over the salad and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with extra thyme and plenty of black pepper.

Couscous Summer Salad

This salad has got blueberries that we picked at a farm, kale and basil from the backyard and couscous, so it's perfect. It's also vaguely red, white and blue for Independence Day or Bastille Day.

COUSCOUS SUMMER SALAD
Adapted quite a bit from Two Peas & Their Pod

10 oz uncooked couscous 
2 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Cook the couscous! Bring the water, olive oil and salt to a boil. Take it off the heat and mix in the couscous. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.

1-2 cups blueberries
1-2 cups fresh kale, cut up into little pieces
1 cup basil, cut up
1 cup kalamata olives, seeded and halved
1 cup feta, crumbled
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Mix it all up. Eat outside.

Mango Curry Chicken Salad

I love egg salad, potato salad and chicken salad. (And dips and pretty much anything you can spread on bread or crackers.) This mango curry chicken salad is a simpler version of the one Linda made a while ago for her Downton Abbey Extravaganza, the “coronation” chicken salad. 

That version was very tasty and we will be making it again someday, but today I just wanted to use fresh mango rather than make it into a chutney. I used a pretty green mango, which I like because I ate millions of them in Costa Rica, but Linda thinks most people would prefer this chicken salad with a riper mango. 

Mango Curry Chicken Salad

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

1 cup light mayo

1 heaping tsp (or more) curry powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp to 1 tbsp honey (esp. if the mango is on the green side)

a few drops to 1 tsp Sriracha (optional, for spiciness)

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

1/4 cup thai basil

1/3 cup golden (or regular) raisins, soaked to restore moisture, drained & patted dry

1 mango, roughly diced

salt & pepper to taste

Simple Cilantro Salad

When I saw this post on 101 Cookbooks, I had to make this salad as it is cilantro season. Pretty soon, it will be too hot for cilantro to grow so make it now! I actually liked it so much, I made it as the salad for Mother's Day too. We have an abundance of cilantro at the farm from the winter.

makes about 6 servings
1 cup high heat canola oil
1 cup thinly sliced shallots, about 6
1 large bunch of cilantro with stems (the freshest you can find)
1 tablespoon soy sauce or liquid aminos
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

To make the shallot oil, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. turn down the heat to medium, sprinkle in the shallots, and cook slowly until they are golden brown for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain the oil off into a mason jar. Place the shallots on a paper towel and allow them to cool and crisp. Toast the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, watching closely to make sure you don't burn them.

Cut off any tough, thick stems from the cilantro. Keep the tender ones. Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, sea salt, and shallot oil to make the dressing. Place the cilantro, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing on top and garnish with the crispy shallots.

From the farm:

Sesame Kale Salad

After yoga, my friend Rachel made me this salad and it was so refreshing. I know the recipe is from online but I could not remember where from. I added some roasted sweet potatoes for some extra flavor.

Salad:
1 bunch lacinato kale leaves, sliced thinly
4 carrots, grated
2 shallots, sliced thinly
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
Dressing:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Bragg's liquid aminos to taste
salt and pepper

Spread the cubed sweet potatoes over a baking tray and drizzle with sesame oil. Then season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Bake at 375 degrees until a fork can be inserted into the potato pretty easily. Let cool.
Mix the dressing together and chop the vegetables. Toss the salad together and enjoy! We served this with sunny side up eggs for some extra sustenance.