Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad (preventionrd version)

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad (half baked harvest version)

Two versions of this delicious salad before I even give you my version.  It's funny...I saw this on Nicole's blog from preventionrd but went to the original to print it.  I ended up making my version much closer to preventionrd's.  Basically, we both increased the vegetables and decreased the oil just a bit.  I rate this really high and thought it was fabulous.  

I made a batch and took it to work for lunches....I was in a good mood all morning thinking about this...and it didn't disappoint.  It had the great Buffalo chicken flavor but none of the mess of wings and the good health benefits of quinoa and vegetables.  I really think I could sell bowls and bowls of this stuff.  It's just that good.  

Tieghan, from halfbakedharvest, really figured out a good one in this recipe.  I'm excited to look around her blog a bit more since anything even close to this would have to rank pretty high on my list. 

Salad
• 1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa)
• 2 cups water
• 1 grilled boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
• chives, to tast
Dressing
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup wing sauce (I recommend Franks)

Instructions

1. In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse quinoa well and drain. In a medium pot, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork.
2. Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat Add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the broccoli for about 5 minutes. You want it to just start to soften, but still be crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
3. When the quinoa is ready add the chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage and as much of the dressing as desired (I ended up using all of the dressing, but we like things extra saucy) toss well. Add the blue cheese and chives. Toss again and serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles and green onions.

Red Quinoa Salad

Red Quinoa Salad......great flavors from a recipe off the Trader Joe's red quinoa bag.  I have to admit that I feel a bit torn about using quinoa since reading about the devastation the harvesting of it for Americans is causing....it's just that I really do like it so I think I will have to invest in the  fair trade option. 

Now that I have cleared my conscince about eating red quinoa I can talk about this recipe.  It really wasn't anything amazing or unusual or special...yet the end result was really good. 

The original result had some grape tomatoes which I omitted and called for cilantro dressing.  I prefer a lighter dressing so the other flavors come through, so I made it as outlined below:

Ingredients
1 c red quiona, rinsed
2 c chicken broth

Cook until the quinoa is done and the broth is absorbed.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Fluff with a fork and add about 1 T olive oil.

2 c corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
juice of 2 limes
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced

Roast corn in a skillet until it is cooked and add to the quinoa. 
Add the other ingredients, stir, and serve.

I think this would also be good with mango or feta or red pepper.  It's just a good all around idea for something pretty nice to have in the refrigerator.  And now with a fair trade option I can feel even better about eating this.

Main Dish Cole Slaw

Asian Chicken And Cabbage Salad
I love everything about this recipe....lots of healthy vegetables and some Asian flavors.  I liked the description in Bon Appetit....kind of a detox from vacation and heavy eating salad...light flavors work great.  The authors in the magazine call it Redemption salad.  Well, whatever you want to call it, it makes a great quick and healthy dinner.

I made it on on warm spring day and we all loved it.  I made it fairly close to the original recipe; however, I took the shortcut of using already shredded cabbage from the grocery store as a time saver.  Gee, add that and rotisserie chicken and making the dressing in the morning and it was a dinner that came together in just a few minutes.

Recipe:
1 chile, chopped, with some seeds
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/4 c lime juice
2 T soy sauce
2 t brown sugar
1 t fish sauce
1 t grated and peeled ginger
5 c shredded cabbage
2 medium carrots, shredded
handful chives
2 c rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 c baby spinach, thinly sliced
1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c chopped dry roasted peanuts
1 t sesame seeds

Whisk chile, oil, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, and ginger in a bowl.  In a large bowl add cabbage, carrots, chives, chicken, spinach, and cilantro.  Toss with the dressing.  Top with peanuts and sesame seeds. 

Crockpot Potato Salad

Potato Salad

Don't put away the crockpot yet!  I was thinking that as we usher in spring we can forget about hearty stews and the crockpot; however, the crockpot does have some summer value as well.  That is, make potato salad without heating the kitchen.

As I have mentioned, our slow spring really is arriving in the upper midwest.  And with our great appreciation for warmth and sunshine comes our craving for summer-ish foods.  Like grilled salmon.  And potato salad.  I figured it would be a good time to put the crockpot to spring use by trying out this recipe.

Potato salad...it just kind of says summer doesn't it?  I recognize that potato salad can be a bit of a personal statement.  My friend, Jean, shared her mom's potato salad with us...and let me assure you that it's top notch.  Likely there is not a recipe since her mom is a farm woman...but it's got some vinegary flavors that are unique.  I crave it at times and Eleanor has begged Jean to bring just a tiny bit back after Jean visits her mom in rural Wisconsin.

Paul had two roommates when I met him.  And they were two opposites for sure.  In fact, one of them said that they only agreed on three things.
1.  The Graduate was a good movie.
2.  Ingrown toenails hurt.
3.  Potato salad should be creamy.

Here's my response.....Agree on #1.  Don't know on #2.  Disagree on #3.  I think there's room for all types of potato salad in the potato salad repertoire.  While I was making this I was hoping for a bit of the vinegary goodness, because that just may be my poato salad rule. 

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Yes, Nicole does it again with a great quick and healthy recipe.  Have I told you how much I love this woman's blog?  Do you like how I call her Nicole even though I never met her?  I always have to chuckle when people call a television or radio personality by his/her first name even though they have never met.  You know, like "Katie (Couric) said blah blah blah"  or "Brian (Williams) mentioned blah blah blah".  So, here I am mentioning my virtual friend, Nicole!  I do think I want to be her...although maybe I like her because she is the younger version of me...cooking up a storm, climbing the work ladder, and working out a bit.  I'm just the older more tired version of that person!!!!

Enough of the envy, I just really love the recipes and her pictures.  Her blog is my go to place when I'm in the mood to try a new recipe, especially during the week.  They are healthy, quick and have been tasty.  Ah, all the things I need.  This one sounded great....and was a MUST MAKE when the romaine heads arrived in the CSA box last week.  We grilled bratwurst on Sunday (during the Packers victory...hooray) and I threw on 2 chicken breasts in anticipation of this dinner.  We were having it after a high school swim meet and had to have a dinner that could be thrown together quickly when we arrived home.  I made the dressing the night before, so all I had to do was boil the water and cook the pasta!
Chicken Caesar with a Twist from www.preventionrd

Dressing:
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
Mix all ingredients together.

Salad:
12 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 oz dry rotini
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Greek seasoning
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2 heads Romaine lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
2 oz Parmesan, shredded

When the pasta is cooked; drain and return to the pot. Toss with olive oil, salt, seasoning, and grated Parmesan.

Toss the lettuce with the dressing and shredded Parmesan. Divide salad among 4 plates and top with 1/4 of the pasta and 1/4 of the chicken. 

I think I'm back!

Cucumber Salad

A violin camp recipe.  I didn't have this since I had left for the week; however, Eleanor requested the recipe. She said that the kids devoured this in the communal food that takes place at ASI; guess that was a big score for the family with all the cucumbers in their garden!  She was raving about this and asked me to get the recipe from our Madison friends.  I have just made it the one time and didn't really get measurements.

I do have some fresh mint growing in my yard.  I would like to say garden; however, it really is in my yard...just a couple plants but that's all I need!

Cucumber Salad
2 cucumbers, chopped
fresh dill, chopped
fresh mint, chopped
rice vinegar
sprinkling of sea salt

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Quinoa Salad

Salad:
1 c quinoa, cooked in chicken broth
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 c diced cucumber
can garbanzo beans, drained
4 oz feta, crumbled
Place all above ingredients in a bowl.

Dressing:
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 olive oil
1 t dried oregano
few grinds black pepper
Mix together and stir over salad ingredients.

Guess we can't get enough quinoa this summer.  We're keeping meals fairly simple due to the heat; and quinoa salad has been a favorite around here.  I'm still looking for black quinoa......


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Corn Chowder Salad

Corn Chowder Salad

While paging through People magazine, I discovered this recipe.  Yes, I read People magazine proudly and really enjoy it!  It was a gift for Eleanor for Christmas last year...and I have to say it's a great gift for a teenager.  A friend of mine had cancer and said a subscription to People was the best gift she got!  She said forget about dinners and candles and lotion and scarves....People magazine rocked!

No surprise to anyone who reads this blog, but I adapted the recipe linked above into the one listed below.  It cut out some of the fat and we liked my version.

3 slices bacon (about 2 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
1 potato, preferably Yukon gold, about 8 ounces,  cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 poblano pepper, ribs and seeds discarded, cut into 1/2 inch dice
Coarse salt
3 cups corn
1 small red onion, diced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet, add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel to drain. Measure the fat remaining in the skillet: You need 1 tablespoons.

Add potato to the skillet and cook, tossing occasionally until it is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, season with salt and cook, tossing occasionally until the pepper and potato are tender, about 5 minutes longer.

Add the corn and cook until piping hot, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add the onion, vinegar, season with salt and red pepper and stir to combine. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

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Quinoa Salad

I often end up with odds and ends of things, so it's good to combine them into a new dish.  That's what happened with this salad recipe.
Quinoa Salad
Cook 2 cups quinoa in 4 cups water. 
After it is cooked add:
handful chopped peas, in the pod
2 bell peppers, chopped
1/2 red onion (mine had been roasted on the grill)
handful of golden raisins
3 apricots, chopped
leftover cooked chicken
sprinkle with salt and pepper and olive oil...and drizzle with raspberry vinegar
goat cheese(didn't use it for the photo above...but did for some of the days at work

There was not a recipe for this at all...just trying to use up bits of things in the refrigerator without it seeming like leftovers.   I ate this for lunch a number of days at work and found it filling.  Interesting that I had picked up a couple packages of quinoa...then read in Bon Appetit that it's the "in" food.  That's me...a trendsetter!
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Sarah's Quinoa Salad

Imagine opening your email to the recipe below!
That's just what happened to me the other day.  It's from my neighbor whose name is.....gee....wanna guess?  The title has the hint:)
There was a bit of a beet craving in this house recently...and then this came along.  My substitutions are in red.  Although I had good intentions of using kale, I already had a huge bag of spinach for green smoothies...and....I just couldn't buy more greens at the same time I'm trying to use up this humongo/giganto bag of spinach.   She did mention hers was a bit salty, so I didn't add any salt when roasting the vegetables but instead adding it at the end (my fine Sicilian salts made it incredible). 

QUINOA & GOLDEN BEET SALAD

1.5 C quinoa

3C vegetable broth

2 golden beets (~2C total), diced into 1/2" pieces regular pink beets

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 bunch kale chopped, tough stems removed spinach

1/4 C pine nuts omitted (just didn't have any)

1/2 C shelled edamame I always almost always have some in the freezer...but did not this time so it was omitted

1 tsp tarragon

Dressing

Raspberry vinegar

Olive oil

1/4 lemon

1 clove garlic, crushed

1)  Preheat oven to 400.

2)  Soak quinoa for 15 min.  Rinse, drain, and add to 3 C vegetable broth.  Bring to boil, simmer for 15 min.

3)  *If edamame is frozen:  When quinoa is nearly done, add frozen shelled edamame to cooking quinoa.

4)  As quinoa soaks and then cooks, toss diced beets with olive oil and  pepper.  Place on cookie sheet and roast for ~15 minutes.  

5)  When beets are almost done, add kale to baking sheet and toss with beets to get coated in oil and pepper.  Roast for another 10 minutes or so.

6)  When veggies are nearly done, add pine nuts to a corner of the cookie sheet.  Roast for another 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring around occasionally.

7)  To make the dressing, I added 2 Tbsp or so vinegar, plus about 1/2 C olive oil, garlic, and squeezed the 1/4 lemon into a vinaigrette shaker and shook to mix.

8)  Add quinoa to a large bowl.  Toss w/ vegetable mixture.  Season with tarragon and add as much dressing as you wish ( I ended up using about half).

Sarah's note: Enjoy!  Even the kids loved it!  Eric loved the edamame.

A couple things I did:
Added a handful of golden raisins and a sprinkle of feta. This is a great base for many vegetables, so it will appear on this blog again!  Way to go, Sarah!

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Another Strawberry Salad

We love strawberries on salad....good with poppy seed dressing......good with bleu cheese....good with goat cheese.

Here's another strawberry salad recipe:

Dressing:
2 TBSP sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white sugar
2 TBSP white vinegar

Mix all together and serve over greens.
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Strawberry Salad

An old recipe received from a coworker in a past life.  I burned out on this a number of years ago, but this year was thinking about it and...after making it....remembered that I love this!  Eleanor didn't have a memory of eating this before, so it has been awhile. 

Salad:
1 head romaine
1/2 med red onion, sliced (rinsed in cold water to remove a bit of the "bite")
1-2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced

Dressing:
1/2 c mayo
2 T vinegar
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c milk
1 T poppy seeds

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Saigon Chicken Salad

This has been on my list of things to try for quite awhile; since I first saw the recipe in Bon Appetit a few months ago. While at the Asian grocery store recently I bought some long beans and was ready to experiment. It seems like it is a green papaya salad recipe with chicken, so I did adapt it a bit and used green papaya instead of the cabbage mentioned in the recipe. I didn't use daikon radish either but instead used some sweet radish that I found on that same trip so I bought a package of it for using in Pad Thai. It would be fine without this too.

I didn't use the kaffir lime leaves or the lemongrass but substituted lemon juice and lime juice and a bit of zest. I didn't use the cucumbers or celery leaves either.

There is a long list of ingredients, so I really needed to be in the mood to make this. Even so, I did heave a big sigh before starting this but found once I got going it wasn't too bad.

The chicken....I will make that portion of the recipe again! For the rest of the salad, I may just go with my green papaya salad recipe since that pretty much sums up the taste. I think it's always a bit fun to experiment, so I'm glad I tried this. Even if the entire recipe seems like too much work, I would recommend the chicken marinade.

I would make this again...not soon, but sometime it would be good to have again.


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Beans and Barley Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad

There's a slight aversion in this house to peanut butter mixed with anything and served as a meal. I created that problem with THE SOUP (see 1/13/11 post). I seem to be the only one here without that problem....sometimes I crave spicy, gingery, garlicky, peanutty noodles. I hadn't made this version before but thought I would try it to get the entire serving bowl to myself.

I have made other versions of this but had the clipping from the newspaper in my pile, so I thought I would give this one a try. I added some diced cucumber and used fresh chives from the pot on my patio instead of scallions called for in the recipe. I had some cilantro from my garden as well, so I threw that in. I used 2 T soy sauce total...not worrying about the ingredients shoyu and soy sauce.

I like this and will have it for lunch at work a couple days this week. The recipe is from one of my favorite places to eat near work...Beans and Barley. I don't think I have ever eaten something I don't like from the restaurant or deli. There's a Whole Foods across the street, which I like also, but I'm glad to see that this smaller place is still really busy as well.

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Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Fresh Herbs

I ran across this recipe in the recent Bon Appetit and liked the variations mentioned in the article, so be sure to check that out in the link also.

Chickpeas are a canned item I like to have in the pantry since it is a good quick addition to pasta for a meal. Combine chickpeas with lemon juice and noodles and Parmesan or feta....yum!

I threw together this salad the other morning just to have something in the fridge for a snack. I used the ever present (right now anyway) arugula instead of basil and parsley.

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Chicken Caesar Pasta

The first time I made this is for this post. I came across the recipe while posting about the Cafe Latte chicken chili and knew that this would be a good dinner idea when the weather got a bit warmer and we were in the mood for a non-hot dinner. Although spring has been a long (very long) time in coming to Wisconsin, it may finally be here...and we appreciate it.

I prepped this a bit on my day off. I made the dressing, cooked the noodles, and chopped the romaine, onion, and mushrooms. I even thought ahead a bit and had Paul grill the chicken on Sunday when he was grilling our dinner. I combined the chopped chicken, pasta and dressing and kept that in a bowl in the refrigerator. I chopped the onion, lettuce, and mushrooms and kept those in a separate bowl.

I have never had this salad at Cafe Latte restaurant, so I'm not sure what kind of wide noodles are used by the cooks there. I used malfaldine noodles and broke them into thirds or so before adding to the boiling water. I was glad to have the recipe prepped, so it came together very quickly after swim practice.

To say this makes A LOT is an understatement. We'll be eating this for lunches this week....and that's a positive.

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Mexican Cobb Salad with Chipotle Herb Dressing

My job has changed a bit in the last year...different boss, new duties, changed work area. It's been a good change, and I feel happy that I landed here when things got shuffled around a bit. One thing I used to do is go to various clinics and meet with providers....positives and negatives to that as with everything.

One of the parts that was fun was that my former boss didn't want to distribute laptops to us, so it meant that we had to sit in clinic waiting rooms without anything to do to look busy. As I said...positives and negatives....we weren't productive while waiting for doctors, but we were able to peruse the magazines.

My new boss is a bit better on the time management, so I don't read magazines on work time anymore. Nor do I need to drive and wait for a quick meeting. All in all, it's been a good change.

I found this recipe in a waiting room magazine. And, no, I didn't rip out the page. I asked the manager of the clinic to copy it for me.

I do enjoy a nice crisp dinner salad when the weather starts to get warm. This is a good one since (as with most, I guess), the dressing can be made ahead and then everything assembled before dinner. The presentation is nice.....and it's good.

Dried marjoram works fine in the dressing, but fresh cilantro is probably a requirement. At times I have added a sprinkle of feta cheese and some crumbled tortilla chips as well but used some roasted pumpkin seeds here. I'm glad for chives from the pot on my patio for this one. I do like a main dish salad for dinner as the weather gets warmer.

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Summer Grain Salad

Bulgur

Vegetables before grain added

Summer is slowly arriving and so are all the CSA vegetables...in the past two weeks I have gotten lots of radishes and greens, including summer sorrell. Radishes are not a big hit in our house and I had no idea what to do with the sorrell, so I made something up! My daughter loves pasta salads but has recently really fallen in love with Quinoa.  I made two different versions of this salad this week and learned that anything goes! One version had Quinoa as the grain, the other had Bulgur.  The vegetables were pretty much the same, but I think anything crunchy would work...

Quinoa

1-11/2 cups uncooked grain(pasta, quinoa, bulgur etc) cooked in water or chicken broth according to directions
approximately 1/4 cup each finely diced...
garlic leek
scallion
radish
carrot
red, yellow peppers
celery
or whatever you have on hand

finely chopped herbs (I used fresh oregano and chive)
2-3 sorrell leaves finely chopped

Dressing

Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Mix everything together, toss in some feta cheese(if desired) and enjoy!

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Green Papaya Salad

The thought of this makes my mouth water. If you haven't had it, I admit that it may sound unusual or not appetizing, BUT it is delicious...and after you try it I bet you'll get a craving for it as I do!

I saw the recipe linked from the title in Bon Appetit last summer and was intrigued. After making it my only question was, "what took me so long to try this?". It's just so good to have the tart and sweet and salty tastes together. When I went to an Asian grocery store with my Thai friend she pointed out the sign that it can be ordered there as well.

The green papaya in the picture on the left is how this looks before any shredding. Even if you aren't a papaya fan I would still recommend trying this salad since green papaya tastes nothing like the ripe fruit. It is more refreshing....kind of like cucumber.

I would say that having a food processor is just about a necessity with this recipe...especially if you don't have a mandolin. I hate to say a necessity because I bet it was made without a food processor for longer than it has been made with one...but it would be very labor intensive without it.

If you haven't made this before, try it. It's delicious.

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Red Cabbage, Cranberry and Apple Slaw

 Believe it or not, I am still using vegetables I received from my CSA and my last delivery was in mid-october! For this recipe I used the last red cabbage I had received. I haven't ever found any recipe for cooked red cabbage that my family would enjoy, so I was thrilled when I came across this slaw recipe at, you guessed it, myrecipes.com!

Once again, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, mainly due to the fact that I didn't have the right ingredients! I substituted apple cider vinegar for the  rice vinegar and I substituted red wine vinegar for the white wine vinegar...otherwise I followed the recipe.  I served the pecans on the side for two reasons...first, I knew we would have leftovers and I didn't want the pecans to get mushuy and second, I didn't think everyone would want the pecans...half the family added them, the other half didn't.

This is a winner, I will make it again and again...

If anyone does have a good recipe for cooked red cabbage, let me know, I would love to try it!


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