salads

white bean, artichoke, tuna, and egg salad :: by radish*rose

white bean, artichoke, tuna, and egg salad

radish*rose 0 comment

If I might make an observation, IT’S FULL-ON SUMMER here!  So maybe you don’t feel like cranking up the oven. Instead, you might want a light but hearty, protein-filled salad for dinner. And wouldn’t it be great if you could make it from items you can keep handy in the pantry, with a few fresh ingredients to liven things up?  A tip: put all your canned ingredients in the fridge before you leave for work.  Then when you get home, throw this together, and it will already be chilled and you can nom-nom it right away!  This is a super-flexible recipe, so if you haven’t got hard-cooked eggs or artichoke hearts already at hand, just leave them out or sub in something else you do have that you think would be nice.  It will be OK. Promise. Continue reading

spinach, quinoa, and feta salad with dried cranberries

radish*rose 2 Comments

Quinoa is fun to say (KEEN-wah… I like to sing it) and it’s definitely having a moment, due to being delicious *and* high in amino acids and protein. I make this salad at least once a week for a quick and scrumptious dinner for two.  If you make the quinoa and vinaigrette ahead (or buy pre-made), you can throw this together in a few minutes – no big deal.  It’s still pretty fast even if you make everything from scratch (quinoa takes about 20 minutes).  If your quinoa is still warm, you can still put it right into the salad and you’ll have a nice wilted spinach effect, if you like that sort of thing (if you don’t, just wait for it to cool). Continue reading

addictive avocado and lemon kale salad :: by radish*rose

addictive avocado-lemon kale salad

radish*rose 4 Comments

So, apparently kale becomes a different thing altogether, and much more likable, if you *massage* it.  Really.  (I am sure the same could be said of certain people, self included.)

The avocado becomes the dressing, so you don’t need much oil.  If there’s an unsuspecting, uncertain-about-kale person around, you should give them the job of doing the  massaging.  Just put everything in the bowl, tell your friend to wash their hands and massage the salad. This is what will happen:

Friend (dubious expression): Really?

You: Really.  Just rub the avocado into the kale.  OK?  (turn away and become busy with another very important kitchen task)

Friend (massaging away): Um, OK… Hey, this is fun.  Oh… my hands are all avocado-y.  (turns towards kitchen sink, licks fingers on the way) – YUMMMM!!  OMG. Wait, what did you say was in this??

You: *secret smirk* Continue reading