Easy, Basic, Chunky Garden Salad

I had, quite possibly, the most basic and NON-blog-worthy lunch today.

But it wasn't boring. In fact it was quite lovely and delicious - and actually pretty too! Best of all, it was cheap, because all but the bell pepper came from my Mom's or my gardens.

This tends to be my default when I'm bored with cooking or just can't think what else to make for lunch. Cut up whatever's in the 'fridge. Add dressing. Call it salad. I like the texture of the large chunks here, but cut things up however you like.

Here ya go:

Chunky Garden Salad

• 1 cucumber, cut into chunks
• 3 new potatoes, cooked, cooled and cut into chunks or cubed
• 6 radishes, cut into chunks or sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped sweet white onion
• 6 - 8 black olives, halved (optional)
• several large handfuls of lettuce or other greens

Toss chilled, cut up veggies together, place on bed of torn lettuce greens. Add dressing of choice and serve. I tend to like this with a vinaigrette but a creamy dressing would be good too!

Easy Vinaigrette Dressing (not pictured)

• 1 1/4 cups olive oil
• 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp. fresh rosemary
• pinch each; Sea salt and black pepper

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until thick and completely blended. Taste and adjust by adding more salt, pepper, sugar or vinegar if needed.

Quinoa and Spring Mint Salad

YAY! My mint has returned after a long, cold winter and spring. I could hardly wait to put the first green leaves in something cool and refreshing and salad-like!

If you've never tried quinoa, this is a super-easy recipe to start with and SOO good! Quinoa is a lovely (and very nutritious) grain, or seed really, that's tasty and fast to cook. Follow the directions on the box, that's all there is to it! Find it in the grains or Natural Foods sections of most grocery stores.
Quinoa-Mint Salad

• 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions. I do mine in my rice-cooker with excellent results.

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 green onions, sliced with as much of the green part as is tender
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh peppermint leaves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed in garlic press
• Salt and lemon-pepper to taste
• chopped nuts (optional)

Cook quinoa according to package instructions until light and fluffy. Remove from heat and cool on a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, mix olive oil, garlic and lemon juice into quinoa. Add mint, salt and lemon-pepper, and mix well.

Sprinkle with chopped almonds or other nuts if you so desire. I just happened to have them on hand today.

Serve chilled or at room temp.

Build-Your-Own-Taco-Salad better known as HayStacks

OK, that's a long, wordy title.

During the summer, we go through phenomenal vats of Taco Salad but the leftovers always get soggy and inevitably there's someone *cough*children*cough* who has to pick out the onions, or the tomatoes or the olives I laboriously chopped because they're picky that way...

So we do a sort of "Taco Salad Buffet" where I set all the ingredients out buffet style and everyone gets to pile all their favorite ingredients in a stack on their plate. Messy but fun. And everyone's happy.

These are known as "Haystacks" in our house, but they could also be described as sort-of a "Frito-Pie-Taco-Salad" (I know it's sacrilege to mess with Frito Pie, but yeah...).
That's all well and good, I mean, vegan chili is pretty good for you, right? Throw in a few whole-grain chips and we're still good... But, as a Mom, I have the fantasy that my offspring might actually WANT a few more veggies than the lone tomato or two in the chili...

'Well', I thought to myself, 'they like Taco Salad, let's just do all those ingredients in a great big "design-your-own" pile!'

I'll give you our ingredients, you can mix or match, use what you like, add something new. There's no recipe, just pile your favorite ingredients on your plate and enjoy.

Haystacks/'Build-Your-Own-Taco-Salad'

• 1 head lettuce, shredded or chopped small mixed with:
• 1 cup shredded green or purple cabbage (I use green so it blends in - but purple is prettier)
• 1 large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped and mixed with:
• 1 bunch green onions/scallions, chopped
• 1 chopped red bell pepper
• 2 minced jalapeno peppers (pickled or fresh, your choice)
• 1 can sliced olives
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• salsa
• Vegan 'sour cream' (homemade or Tofutti)
• shredded vegan cheese if you want (if you freeze Vegan Gourmet you can shred it very finely and it's almost tasty this way!!)
• 2 cups chili (homemade or canned) mixed with 1 cup pinto or black beans
• 2 cups crumbled 'burger', whatever kind you like, mixed with Taco Seasoning and a little salsa
• 1 bag Fritos or your favorite chips

Set all ingredients out in serving bowls.

Pick and choose and make your own Taco Salad.
We like to start with chips first.
My kids like the burger and chili on the chips, I prefer the chili on top the salad greens and salsa as 'dressing'....

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And no - I have no idea why comments are 'disabled' on Blogger when I specifically checked to make sure they were not? See? Blogger hates me in October, happens every year!!

Thai Sweet-and-Hot Cole Slaw

Time to use up the cabbage!

(I swear, not everything I make is fried!) OK, so today I had several heads of cabbage from the winter farmer's market, as well as some cilantro I'd been meaning to use, so I made this wonderful spicy "sort-of-Thai" coleslaw! It keeps well for several days, which is great, since only one of my Sprouts is helping me get through it... usually I make it in the summer but two heads of cabbage took up too much 'fridge room so I had to do SOMETHING!

I love the bright colors as you assemble this salad, the purple cabbage and orange carrots especially, are such a pretty contrast!

Thai Style Cole-Slaw

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (from 3 to 4 limes - oh please use fresh! I have issues with that bottled stuff!)

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated (less if you're not crazy about ginger)

1 or 2 jalapeno chiles, minced or to taste

1 small green cabbage, cored and very thinly sliced or coarsley shredded (or use 1/2 red and 1/2 green)

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced or 4 green onions (scallions) sliced thin as far up into the green part as possible

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Dressing: Pour the soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice into a small bowl, add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapenos. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

1/2 hour or so before serving, put the cabbage, carrots and red onion into a large bowl and mix together. Pour the dressing over, toss again, cover and refrigerate.

To serve, toss the cabbage mixture in the dressing and put on serving platter. Add half the cilantro, toss with tongs and scatter the remaining cilantro on top.

I could eat this stuff for days on end but it never lasts that long! It gets a little "wilted" and juicy the second or third day but it is still really good! It's GREAT in a taco shell with crispy tempeh too!