salad Archives - Happy Healthy RD

Golden Beet Salad

August 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Beets were never my favorite vegetable. I really didn’t like them as a kid but I finally acquired a taste for them as an adult because I knew they were such a nutritional powerhouse. I actually overdid it with pickled beets during my dietetic internship. During one of my rotations we were able to eat from the hospital salad bar free of charge so everyday I had a salad with canned pickled beets. When you’re a poor graduate student, you don’t turn down free food but I don’t think I’ve had a canned pickled beet since.

Luckily I am still loving fresh beets. I got these beauties at the farmers’ market and was thinking about roasting them but the thought of having the oven on for an hour in the middle of summer just didn’t seem right. So this salad uses fresh beets – no cooking required!

Poor beets are so crazy looking on the outside but once you peel off that ruddy skin and cut off the creepy tail they are so beautiful. I always wonder how amazed the first person was to cut into a beet and see all the beauty inside. What a wonderful surprise it must have been. Does anyone else think about that kind of thing? Maybe just me…

I used a mandolin to slice these beets pretty thin. You could also cut them up by hand. If using a mandolin, please be careful! Those things are dangerous. No fingers should be harmed in making this salad!

My go to dressing ingredients (lemon, olive oil, and honey) plus some fresh basil make the earthy beets taste fresh and light. Top with some goat cheese for a little creaminess and it’s done and delicious.

Plus this salad definitely gets better with age. It would be perfect to make ahead or to take to a potluck.

Golden Beet Salad

Serves 4

3 medium beets*, peeled and sliced thin

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon salt

Handful of fresh basil, chopped finely

1/4 cup goat cheese (optional)

Mix lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt, and basil together until well combined (easiest way for me is to shake it up in a small mason jar). Place sliced beets in a large bowl, pour dressing over beets and stir well. Crumble goat cheese on salad right before serving if you would like but it is good without cheese too.

*Any color beet would work but to me golden beets have a bit more subtle flavor so when going the raw route I tend to pick golden over red.

Be Happy, Be Healthy!

Spring Salad with Asaparagus and Mint

March 26, 2015 by 1 Comment

Spring is here and I’m not looking back. My sweaters are packed away and the snow is (almost) melted away. Bring on the spring foods!
We recently took a quick trip to Chicago and had a great dinner at Farmhouse. I ordered the winter salad which had all kinds of good ingredients including fresh mint. It was such an expected but wonderful surprise, I knew I wanted to recreate it as soon as possible. I always forget how much I love the smell of fresh mint until I buy some. I might just have to start buying it for the aromatherapy properties. Anyways, back to the salad. I decided to use asaparagus since that’s what I think of when I think of spring foods. I kept the other ingredients pretty simple. But I think this salad would be great with grilled shrimp or chicken.

Spring Salad with Mint and Asparagus

Makes about 4 side salads or 2 entrée sized salads

1 small head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped finely
1/2 bunch (~1/2 lb) of asparagus, lightly steamed and chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons of goat cheese

Homemade dressing:

1 teaspoon of honey
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt to taste

Instructions:

Lightly steam the asparagus for about 5 minutes in a stove top or microwave steamer. But you could also sauté or roast in this case. Just leave a little bite to the asparagus.

While the asparagus is cooking, combine the dressing ingredients and whisk together or I always make dressing in a small jar and just shake away. Taste the dressing as you go along, this is a very mild so if you prefer more tang add more lemon juice, or if you like more sweetness add a little more honey.

Once the asaparagus is done, chop into small pieces. Add romaine, asparagus, and mint to large bowl and toss together. Top with crumbled goat cheese and sunflower seeds. Add dressing right before eating. Enjoy!

Since you’ll likely have some leftover mint, here’s a few ideas to use it up:

-Add it to a smoothie. This one sounds pretty darn good.

-Use it to flavor water. I have a jar of water with mint in the fridge right now. Maybe add a little cucumber and oh, man it’s so refreshing!

-Rip up the mint leaves and then poor hot water over the bruised leaves to make your own tea. Let sit for a few minutes and then strain before drinking!

-One word – mojitos!

I hope spring is on its way wherever you may be.

Be Happy, Be Healthy!

End of Summer Tabbouleh

September 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Summer may be winding down but it doesn’t mean we can’t squeeze in a few more summery recipes. Our basil is kaput but the parsley in our garden is still going strong. It was just calling out to be made into a tabbouleh salad. I believe authentic tabbouleh has a few more ingredients but I worked with what I had on hand. I perused a couple of recipes and then got to work. Bulgur wheat, mint, tomatoes, garlic and lemon were all invited to play along with parsley at this party. I only had curly leaf parsley but it seems like flat leaf or Italian parsley is typically used. Curly worked just fine.

This was my first time cooking bulgur. Bulgur is popular grain used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Bulgur is a whole wheat grain that has been cooked, dried and then ground into pieces. Like most whole grains it is very high in fiber and minerals such as magnesium and manganese. It also clocks in with 6 grams of protein per cup of cooked bulgur. Interesting fact: bulgur in Turkish translates to ‘bruised grain’ which makes perfect sense!

I found a quick cooking version that was done in about 10 minutes. The texture reminds me of a cross between quinoa and cous cous. It a little bit chewy with a very mild flavor.

This salad comes together pretty easily. Tomatoes and cucumbers are chopped. Herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic go in the mini food processor. Bulgur gets cooked. Put it all together and you have yourself a tasty salad!

I think this would pair well with chicken or fish or could be added to a pita sandwich. Or just eaten out of the bowl straight from the fridge which I think happened with the majority of this salad at our house.

End of Summer Tabbouleh

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup mint, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lemon, juice squeezed

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

Salt to taste

1 cup bulgur wheat, cooked

Mix herbs, oil, lemon juice, and garlic in a mini food processor. (Or chop by hand if you desire.) Mix herb mixture, tomatoes, cucumber, and bulgur. Enjoy!