Salad has been my lunch life for about twenty years. That’s a long time! Why salad? It has been the easiest way for me to pack fresh vegetables into my diet every day. For as long as I have been teaching I have always packed my lunch. My routine has been and still is even though I am finished at noon everyday is to make three salads on Sunday night which includes whatever protein is available, baked ham, roasted turkey, grilled chicken, or canned tuna. Then on Wednesday night I make two more for the end of the week. Making them ahead of time keeps me out of the bag of chips or from the easy to make grilled sandwich. So by lunch I have usually had five servings of fruits and vegetables. So why don’t you try salad for lunch at least a month? Take the challenge. You’ll be healthier and a few pounds lighter!
Category Archives: Salad
Salad with Grilled Chicken, Apples, and Glazed Walnuts
Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken
A couple of weeks ago our family went to a long time friend’s wedding in Greenville, SC. It was a beautiful wedding and a really fun time. We arrived on Thursday and had dinner downtown. I was awestruck at the downtown area. It is just absolutely beautiful. Big oak trees line the street making a cool walk even on a hot summer day. The sidewalks are large enough for restaurants to have outside dining. And who doesn’t love outside dining? I just loved the atmosphere in the area. On Friday we were doing a little window shopping and walked by a group of young men having what looked like a business lunch and the food looked absolutely wonderful. So we got a table for two under one of the huge oak trees and enjoyed the cool breeze. And this is when I had the best Greek Salad with grilled chicken I have ever had. In fact I enjoyed it so much I ordered it again on Saturday for lunch. I knew than that I had to make this at home. How could I live without such a mixture of goodness?
Filed under Main dish, Salad, salad dressing
Chicken Salad for a Hot Summer Day
I love summer for the obvious reason. I don’t have to work. I can for the most part do whatever I want to whenever I want to. Who would not love this? It’s a great perk for the teaching profession! Teachers are so busy during the year it is not so easy to do many big projects around the house. So every teacher that I know has a to do list just for the summer. And I am one of them. This summer my list is short. I have two that I would like to have accomplished before school starts August 1. We have lived in our new home for six years and I cannot believe how much I have accumulated in that time. My pantry and my closet need a complete over haul. Those two projects are at the top of my list. Okay, let’s see what’s cooking in my house on the lazy hazy days of summer!
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Salad is my life. For lunch most everyday of my adult life I have eaten a salad along with some protein whether it might be grilled chicken or a hard-cooked egg. I just love them! Salads are the perfect way to include all the servings of vegetables and fruit that are needed daily. Don’t get me wrong that’s not the only reason I love them. There’s just so many ways to make salad. You can never get tired of them. The downside to salads for some people is the addition of too much dressing turning a very healthy choice into a heart attack. I made this Balsamic Vinaigrette for my students. They loved it!
Filed under Salad
Bacon Mandarin Orange Salad
I am perfectly happy having a salad for lunch or dinner. GI Joe and The Athlete just sit back and roll their eyes if we’re at a restaurant and I order just a salad. I love all kinds of salads, hot, cold, fruit, pasta, vegetables. Then add to that nuts, goat cheese, blue cheese, feta cheese, mozzarella. I will take any of the above. Oh my gosh, what about dressings? The options are endless, but the one I’m sharing today is one of my favorites. Continue reading
Filed under Salad, salad dressing
Grilled Caesar Salad from Pacci created by Chef Kiera
Last Saturday I spent an amazing two hours at Pacci Restorante with Chef Kiera Moritz and her staff. I love this sort of thing. Think of it as a field trip for your mind, soul and your taste buds! Pacci is located in Midtown. It is a gorgeous restaurant. Elegant, upscale, classy just choose any of these adjectives to describe it. I was so impressed when I met Chef Kiera. She is very personable, easy to talk to, witty, cute and she really knows her stuff! And she is a Georgia girl. She is a natural in front of an audience explaining each step of the recipe and adding all the do’s and don’ts to make the outcome a success. It was a fun afternoon to say the least. Here’s the three courses she prepared for us with an added dessert and drinks. It was fantastic!
Filed under Salad
Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts
These walnuts are really good! I mean that they are fantastic, irresistible and purely addictive. Try them and you will not be disappointed in fact you will love the results or either hate me for posting this recipe that you will not be able to stop eating even if you wanted to. Continue reading
Arugula Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese
I am a big lover of all kinds salads. When I go out to eat I am extremely adventurous, but at home not so. I’m ready to change all that. The main reason is boredom, but right now with fall greens that are filling my CSA box I need to venture out more. Last week a large bag of arugula appeared. After doing a little research on the web I found two great salads.
Filed under Salad, salad dressing
San Francisco Salad
For about six years GI Joe traveled to Savannah once a month for National Guard duty for the Air Force. Many of those weekends I traveled with him and spent the time on Tybee Island. One of our favorite restaurants to visit was the Sundae Cafe. It is a little funny how we found out about this restaurant. I was buying gas at the local BP station and when I paid I asked the clerk if she knew of some good places to eat. She said, ” Well the place next door must be good because there is always a crowd there.” I would never chosen the restaurant unless someone had recommended it. It is located within a a strip of four stores. The local liquor store is on one side and the BP on the other. We became frequent customers because the food is excellent and it is very nice and elegant on the inside. So you can’t judge a restaurant by the cover! One of my favorite dishes to order is the spring salad. I have tried many times to duplicate it, but failed. Thanks to Anna, I have found the recipe !!
Last weekend we had dinner with our long time friends. It was a fantastic meal! Anna served this San Francisco Salad that was extraordinary! I love the flavors of the feta and the tart cranraisins with the texture of the toasted walnuts. Together with the salad dressing adding the right amount of sweet and tangy and red onion gives it the little kick. So thanks to Anna we can all enjoy this scrumptious salad!
San Franciso Salad
- 1 cup walnuts
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup cranraisins
- 8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 1 bag of mixed greens (or enough for 8 servings)
Melt butter. Saute walnuts 5 minutes or until golden. Drain. Mix sugar and pepper together and roll walnuts in the mixture. Cool.
Place cheese and nuts over mixed greens and pour dressing over salad.
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup oil
Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake until mixed well. If preferred, dressing can be served separately and spooned over each salad.
Recipe can easily be halved for four servings.
Enjoy!
The Teacher Cooks
Tuna Salad with Pasta
On any given day you’re in a rush, right? Need a very easy and quick meal that you can make from staples found in your pantry? There is no excuse to order pizza out. It is expensive and calorie laden. Here is the answer – pasta salad. Most anything added to pasta will make a good meal. Another good point about pasta is that most people who can boil water can do pasta. So in the time that it will take you to boil water plus another 10 minutes dinner can then be served.
Pasta does not always have to come with a sauce that takes time to make. Just a little oil, seasonings, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry,or beans in any combination will work. You can’t get any easier than that! Be creative! If you don’t trust your creativity check out the recipes on the pasta boxes. I have found most of them very good.
Tuna salad with pasta is a standby in my house. Start with just a tuna salad. I love this and often have it along side a tossed salad and Italian dressing. The Athlete prefers a Panini which is very good with Havarti cheese with dill. Yummy!
Bring the water to boil and then put in pasta. Cook according to directions on the box. Now assemble the tuna. This is what I use:
Mayonnaise, Sliced green olives, Pasta shells, dill relish, Tuna, mustard
Tuna Salad with Pasta
- 2 cups of uncooked pasta shells ( or pasta of choice)
- 12 oz. can of Solid White Albacore Tuna- drained
- 1 teaspoon of mustard
- 2 teaspoons of dill relish
- 1/4 cup sliced green olives
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon of mayonnaise ( you could need a little more depending on amount of liquid added with pickles and olives)
- 2 cups of pasta shells according to directions. Drain.
Mix drained tuna with the remaining ingredients and stir in the hot pasta. Enjoy right out of the bowl or wait and serve with crisp greens or a side salad. Serves 4
Enjoy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
The Teacher Cooks 