Dayrecipe Food Community

To keep the “pop” in this salad I use frozen green peas that aren’t cooked but just quickly defrosted. It’s great as a summer side but is just as delicious in the winter.

MAKES: 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS:

• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen peas
• 4-5 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
• 3/4 cup low fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup low fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion or chives
• salt and pepper, to taste
• mint or tarragon, as desired, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the frozen peas in a colander defrost with cold running water (it’s ok if they aren’t completely defrosted).
2. Drain well and chill.
3. Gently combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

TIPS:

• Serve on lettuce.
• Use as a pita filling.
• Serve as a side dish.
• Add a cup of cooked pasta and 1 tsp more of mayo and sour cream toss together for pasta salad.
• Use small diced ham in place of the bacon.

Don’t be put off making this deliciously unusual salad because it is called double fried! The first ‘frying’ is just to remove the skin & par cook – the second is more just sauteeing in a little olive oil with some garlic! I love this dish & you can serve it as a salad or as a mezze dish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large green bell peppers
• 2 vine ripened tomatoes
• 1-2 large cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (good quality) 
• salt to taste, I like sea salt in this 
• vinegar – I use malt, to taste (you can leave this out if you prefer but it does enhance the flavours!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Deep fry the peppers & tomatoes until the skin is dark, wrinkled & beginning to split.
2. Remove from the fryer, drain then place in a bag or plastic container for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, peel the peppers, cut in half & discard the seeds. Peel the tomatoes. Next, chop them into pieces approx. 1″ x 1/2 “.
3. Peel then mince the garlic.
4. Gently heat the olive oil in a frying pan & add the peppers, tomatoes & garlic. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes then add the water & salt to taste.
5. Cook gently, stirring occasionaly for 15 minutes or until the peppers are soft & the tomato has almost completely disintergrated.
6. Remove from the heat, mix in a little vinegar, re-season if required & serve either warm or room temperature.

TIP:

• If you really don’t like the idea of double frying, try grilling/broiling the peppers & tomatoes. Alternatively you could just plunge them into scalding water to remove the skins then sautee them for a while longer until softened.

A lovely salad that features green batons of asparagus. Be sure not to skip the marinating step as it’s the key to adding all of the great flavor. Served with crusty bread and fresh fruit for dessert you have a light but satisfying meal. If you want something more substantial than just the egg I think tuna would be ideal with it.

MAKES: 6 side servings or 4 entree servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs fresh asparagus
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda sugar substitute
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 4 cups baby mixed greens or baby spinach leaves
• 2 ounces roasted red peppers, chopped (fresh chopped peppers work well also)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped or quartered
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook fresh asparagus spears in small amount of salted boiling water till crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain, and rinse in cold water, and drain again.
3. Combine the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and garlic in a small bowl.
4. Place asparagus in shallow dish and pour your vinegar mixture over it.
5. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
6. Remove asparagus, reserving the liquid.
7. On large plate layer baby greens or spinach leaves, red pepper, asparagus, green onions, chopped eggs, and parsley.
8. Drizzle with reserved vinegar mixture.
9. Serve at once and enjoy.

Here is a perfect summer salad that is both refreshing and healthy. It’s very easy to make and is wonderful when served with a tall glass of iced tea (oolong tea would be a great choice). You can make the dressing early in the day and keep it refrigerated until ready to use. This can be either a full vegetarian meal or a wonderful side salad served with grilled meats. Using it as a side salad would give you more than 4 servings.

MAKES: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
Dressing:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used fat free)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons honey, liquid (warm it if need be so that it will mix easily)
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder or ras el hanout
• lettuce or spinach leaf, as needed

Salad:

• /4 cup unsalted pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
• 3 medium tart apples, cored and diced (peel the apples only if they have a tough thick skin)
• 1/4 cup raisins or mixed dried fruit
• 3 cups celery with leaves, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Toast pistachio nuts and set aside to cool.
2. Once you’ve cooled and chopped the pistachios, combine them with the remaining salad ingredients.
3. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a non-reactive bowl.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
5. Divide and place a serving on a bed of lettuce or spinach leaves.

I really try to avoid ground beef in my diet as much as possible. The only problem with that is that I really enjoy many things that use it. For me, the solution is T.V.P. (textured vegetable protein) or veggie crumbles. It’s much healthier than beef in that it has almost no fat (one ounce of it has 0.3g of total fat) and the ability to take on the flavors that you want. In this case it’s taco beef to make a very healthy and hearty Mexi salad without the meat.

SERVES: 1

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 1/2 cups torn or chopped baby spinach leaves
2. 1/2 cup vegetarian “ground beef”
3. 1/3 cup water
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning
5. 8 grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
6. a green onion, chopped
7. 3 tablespoons fat free sour cream
8. 1 slice fat free cheddar cheese, diced
9. Black olives (optional)
10. Salsa (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Place the veggie burger, water and taco seasoning in a skillet and bring to a simmer adding more water if needed. 

2. Simmer on med low heat until any onion bits soften and the dry seasoning has blended well with the veggie burger.

3. If  it’s too saucy simmer for for your liking continue to cook until it reduces some or if it’s too dry for you add more water by tablespoons until you like it.

4. Place the spinach on a plate, add the cooked and seasoned veggie burger and top with the tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, green onion (olives, salsa if desired)

5. Enjoy 

TIP:

These amounts are very easily adjusted to suite your appetite or number of people that you are feeding. It will double, triple or quadruple with no proble