Category: SALADS, SALSAS & SLAWS

Healthy Helpings – Spinach, Feta & Chick Peas

Sorry for posting this late, this has been a crazy week, one in which I have spent very little time in the kitchen, so I don’t have a new recipe or one with pictures.

This recipe is one that I have made for years and I really love it. I found it in a Prevention Magazine (you know one of those recipes that you clip and you just hang on to it forever?), and from what I found on the internet, it was later published in one of their cook books in 2002.

My favorite thing to serve this with was a nice grilled piece of salmon. It was a favorite meal of mine and my mother’s back when Tara was small.

Spinach, Feta, & Chick Peas

SERVES 5
2 (9 ounce) packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup chick peas (cooked or canned)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 ounce roasted red peppers, minced
Directions
1 Heat the spinach in a skillet or in the microwave.
2 Mix in the chickpeas, feta and peppers and serve.

Do you have a favorite healthy recipe you would like to share? I need to get back into the kitchen this next week!

Sweet & Sour Cucumber Dressing

1 cup dairy sour cream
2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small bunch green onions, minced
1/2 cup small peeled and diced cucumber

  • Whisk sour cream until smooth.
  • Add lemon juice, salt and vinegar and blend well.
  • Add cucumbers and onions.
  • Cover to chill and blend flavors.
  • Serve over tomato and lettuce salads, sliced chicken or chilled salmon.
  • Makes 1 1/2 cups give or take.

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Broccoli Tomato Salad

BROCCOLI TOMATO SALAD
2 crisp broccoli crowns, washed and trimmed into bite sized pieces
1 cup grape tomatoes, washed and halved
1 very small red onion or 1/2 large, trimmed into thin rings
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons hot bacon grease
8 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled*

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add broccoli until crisp, about 8 minutes.
  • Cook bacon until crisp reserving fat for the salad. Any additional bacon fat I store in pyrex in the refrigerator until the next time I make green beans and then add it to the beans for flavor.
  • While bacon is cooking whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
  • Halve tomatoes and slice the onion, tossing them both with the vinegar mixture.
  • Crumbled bacon over the tomato mixture and toss well.
  • Drain the broccoli well.
  • Pour tomato mixture over broccoli and toss well. I like to use my Tupperware marinader so I can turn it frequently to coat everything well.
  • Chill at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

*I make the whole pound and save the extra for BLTs.

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Chicken Salad

CHICKEN SALAD
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 bunch green onions thinly sliced
4 large sweet pickles, minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
a dash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

  • Mix all together and chill.
  • Serve over sliced tomatoes along with fruit and deviled eggs for a complete meal.

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Favorite Ingredient Friday ~ Green Bean Salad


GREEN BEAN SALAD

3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

  • Cook green beans in boiling water until tender crisp.
  • Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
  • Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
  • Toss vegetables together. Pour oil mixture over and toss again.
  • Chill
  • Season with fresh squeezed lemon, salt and pepper just before serving.

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Favorite Ingredient Friday ~ Salad Edition ~ Hot Wilted Greens

HOT WILTED GREENS
1 head green leaf lettuce, washed and shredded
1 large bunch green onion, sliced thin, tops too
1/2 pound bacon, browned and crumbled (save 1/2 cup bacon grease)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
2 Worcestershire sauce

  • Toss together the shredded lettuce, green onion slices and crumbled bacon in a large salad bowl and set aside.
  • In a saucepan bring the remaining ingredients to a boil.
  • Just before serving pour the dressing over the salad and toss.
  • Serve immediately.

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Broccoli Slaw Salad

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 head shredded red cabbage
2 bunches green onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (shelled)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 pound bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar*

In a large mixing bowl toss the broccoli, red cabbage, onions, seeds, raisins and bacon together. In a small mixing bowl, blend the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar together until smooth. Pour over the vegetable mix. Toss well and chill 24-48 hours before serving.

*can use pineapple juice instead