Salads – INACTIVE – Vanilla Blafer

Roasted Veggie Quinoa

Jessica — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 11:36:40 +0000

2020 is here and that means the gyms will be packed for a few weeks for everyone’s New Year’s resolution to get back into shape and get healthy. Can’t help ya with the working out part (I need some help myself in that department) but I can point you in the direction of this delicious veggie quinoa salad. After all, doesn’t the game plan lean more towards diet? Roasting and Toasting Tip: Give your veggies room to do their thang and crisp up to a nice brown all over.

1 cup organic quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
4 C broccoli chopped
2 pints mushrooms sliced
2 C packed spinach
2 whole shallot finely sliced
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 Tbsp butter (or olive oil for vegans)
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Feta cheese (optional for dairy lovers like me)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle and toss chopped broccoli with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15-20 min or until tops get nice n toasty! Set aside.

Cook quinoa according to package but use vegetable stock instead of water. Add spinach to warm cooked quinoa and stir. Keep to side.

The shallot and mushrooms are a 2 pan process if you want to speed it up. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in each large pan over med heat. Arrange your thinly slices shallots in each pan… don’t overcrowd or overlap. Let sit and cook for several min until edges start to brown. Stir and flip so other sides get browned. Sprinkle with some salt. When fully browned, set aside on a paper towel.

Add 1 tbsp butter (or oil for vegans) to each pan and do the exact same thing for the mushrooms. Sprinkle with thyme and set aside.

Now stir everything together. Add garlic powder, red pepper flakes, drizzle with olive oil and add salt/pepper to taste.

For all you dairy eaters out there… I’d also add some feta to this for an added flavorful bite.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Jessica — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 02:06:43 +0000

I always thought of a Chicken Waldorf salad as being an elderly person’s dish. Maybe it’s just the word Waldorf that throws me off. Waldorf … say it out loud…amiright? Welp, this classic dish just got a facelift. I cleaned up the heavy mayo and added some heart healthy ingredients. It’s light, slightly creamy, sweet, tangy with a beautiful crunch. Throw it on top of some lettuce or spoon into a gluten free tortilla as a wrap for a perfect Fall Lunch.

1 organic rotisserie chicken chopped into cubes
3/4 C sliced organic red grapes
1/2 C thinly sliced organic celery
1/2 C chopped organic apple (I prefer gala)
1/2 C toasted and chopped walnuts
1/4 C finely chopped red onion
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1 Tbsp Hemp seeds

Sauce

1/2 C avocado mayo
1/2 C full fat Greek yogurt
1 organic lemon zested and juiced
1 Tbsp Manuka Honey
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all salad ingredients into a large bowl. Don’t mix yet.

Whisk well all sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Pour sauce over salad. Gently mix so not to break up the chicken.

Mexican Caesar Salad

Jessica — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 20:47:10 +0000

Back in the day I would buy El Torito’s Caesar salad dressing. I would douse my salads with it and dip my veggies in it. Now, I don’t even want to know what oils and preservatives are in it and I will not touch the stuff. But I had a big and I mean HUGE craving for it. I had to have it. And if you know me and food, I let nothing stand in my way. I’ll make it myself. It’s creamy, tangy, cheesy and life altering good. You absolutely have to make this. It’s also so friggin delicious not only on salads but also on fish or chicken tacos. Maybe I’ll make that tomorrow with the leftover dressing!!!

1/2 C cilantro
1/2 C full fat Greek yogurt.
1/2 C full fat avocado mayo
1/2 avocado
1/4 C cotija cheese (Mexican parmesan)
1 tsp dijon
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp anchovy paste (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Blend all ingredients together. Pour over kale and massage in. I also use sweet potato nacho chips instead of croutons. Top off with toasted Pepita seeds and more cojita cheese.

#mexicancaesarsalad #saladdressing

Basil Vinaigrette

Jessica — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 17:59:48 +0000

There’s no excuse to not make your own salad dressings. They are all so simple and usually take only a couple ingredients. Almost all bottled dressings in the market contain sub par oils that may cause inflammation such as soybean oil. Other ingredients such as sugar and preservatives are also very prevalent in grocery store brands. I mean isn’t the whole point of eating a salad to be healthy!? Lucky for you I’ve got this super easy and super delicious basil vinaigrette that pairs perfectly with a juicy peach, creamy burrata, salty prosciutto n pistachios and crisp butter leaf salad.

2 C fresh basil leaves
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2 tsp honey
1 garlic clove
1/2 shallot
1/2 salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a food processor, blender or hand held mixture, blend everything together.

Sesame Ginger Dressing

Jessica — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 17:59:48 +0000

I wanna be bad… real bad. Like PF Chang’s crispy, fried, sweet n sticky chicken bad. But I won’t do it. I just got out of a circuit training class that would make a large man cry (ahem @billysorrentino) So I’ll satisfy my Asian “sweet tooth” with my insane ginger dressing on a salad that is post work out approved. It’s sweet, salty, tangy and rich In umami flavor. Poured it over butter lettuce, mandarin slices, green onion, cucumber and toasted cashews.

1/2 C avocado oil
1/4 C rice vinegar
2 Tbsp tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic

Whisk or blend all ingredients together well. I doubled down also put this dressing over my chicken and rice. #billyapproved