Saturday, June 02, 2007

Salad Daze

This cold salad meal turned out to be the correct call Friday night when Chase found himself without air conditioning in his new apartment. He couldn’t leave Smokey and come over, so I took a sampling of these delicious salads to him. I’ve included my recipes, but they are perfectly suited to adapting to your own tastes. I made them a day ahead and let them sit overnight for maximum flavor.

Sesame Ginger Slaw. This slaw is so easy to put together using store bought ingredients.




Mix together one package broccoli slaw, ½ cup alfalfa sprouts, a handful of grapes, and ¼ cup Litehouse Sesame Ginger Dressing (which as best I can determine is vegan).


Millet Salad. The was my favorite. The key to this flavorful salad is to toast the millet before cooking it in vegetable broth.



Mix together 1 cup cooked and cooled millet, 1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, ½ cup fresh greens, and ¼ cup chopped onion. Make a dressing of equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil (I used 1 tablespoon), and a pinch of salt, and pour over the millet mixture. Top with mashed avocado (or sliced, if yours isn’t too mushy!) and serve over a bed of more greens. I think some olives and tofu feta would be a nice addition. Quinoa instead of millet would work well too.


3 Bean Salad. Another simple recipe that is so filling and flavorful.


Mix together ½ pound steamed green beans, 1 can red beans, 1 can chickpeas, chopped onion, and fresh parsley. Make a dressing of 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons agave nectar, salt and pepper and pour over beans. Serve chilled.


Tofu Salad . Everyone has their own favorite version of this one. Chase and I don’t like celery or mayo, so here’s my spicy version.



Mix together 1 pound crumbled firm tofu, 4 or 5 chopped green onions, and ½ cup grated carrots. For the dressing I mixed together approximately 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon wasabi mustard, 2 tablespoons tahini, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, salt, and black and crushed red pepper. Serve on bread with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

I made these into sandwiches on whole grain buns, then made my delivery.




It was 90 degrees today, but Chase’s balcony was nice and cool with a pleasant breeze. Smokey has spent plenty of time out there too. I came home and made myself a salad plate.




Here’s one more salad for you to try. Raw Tabbouleh from Dr. Stonielove. This is seriously good and lends itself to lots of variations as well. I added carrots, and later added cilantro and used it as a green salad topping.




We’re up early this morning for repair work on Chase’s car. Hopefully his apartment a/c will be fixed sometime today. Things aren’t going so well for him, huh? I’ll have to come up with a great Sunday dinner to cheer him up.

Stay cool!

30 comments:

Mary Worrell said...

MMM...the salads look delicious!

I have a question I've been meaning to ask....I know you have a slicer that turns carrots and zucchini into strips, but what kind do you use? I have one and it doesn't work very well.

aTxVegn said...

Hi, Mary! I use an OXO julienne peeler. I think I got it at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Try this link for a picture, or google julienne peeler - http://www.kitchenkapers.com/15667.html.

laura k said...

Ooh, thanks so much for posting these recipes! I'm so used to cooking that I sometimes forget about cool, fresh salads like this--even when it's 90+ degrees outside! I'm sure Chase appreciates having someone as thoughtful and caring as you to whip up such yumminess for him! You'll probably see at least one of these salads on my blog before the weekend's out. :)

urban vegan said...

'Tis the season to eat salad--what a gorgeous array you've presented her. I admire how consistently healthy you eat.

Suddenly, it's sumemr here and sizzlin' hot. We are putting off turning on the AC.

Sheree' said...

You are such a good mom! These salads look delish! I am off to make your bean salad.

I wish you and Chase good luck on the car repairs and *fingers crossed* that the air conditioning gets fixed.

Hang in there Chase!

Jul said...

Mmmm, all of them look delicious! I am bookmarking this for summer cooking ideas - as soon as it gets hot, I stop using the oven (I'm lucky that it's still mild this week).

Anonymous said...

looks great!!

Anonymous said...

Your salads are a wonderful inspiration. They are so colorful and perfect for summer weather. Marty loves 3 bean salad so I will definitely be making that very very soon. The one problem with salads is that it is quite time consuming and I rarely feel inclined. I'd love to have someone make me these 3 salads and then just have them ready to go for the rest of the week.

Webly said...

Grapes! That's something I always forget I can add to my salads. I've been making a lot of cold salads lately too - I'll need to post them.

Douglas said...

man they all look soo good and HEALTHY!!!

thats what i love about your cooking, its good for you. you have inspired me to make some compund salads in the next week or so......

thanks a lot and i am dying to see some of the tattoos that the men in your life have. I am going to cover my left arm in veggies and fruit and I want inspiration.....

Anonymous said...

Your salads look so refreshing. I tried your avocado and strawberry salad and it was quite good. I've had it a few times now.

I'm going to have to try your tofu salad. I'm not a big fan of tofu but had some tofu salad at a work potluck and it was really good and it sounds a lot like yours.

Anonymous said...

It's me again. Forgot to add that I hope the AC in Chase's apartment gets fixed quickly. His little bunny is so cute!

Your a good mom to take him some tasty food (and you've raised Chase to be a good daddy to his bunny not to leave him alone in the hot apartment).

Have a great week.

Judy said...

What a perfect summer post, with all those cool, crunchy salads. You're such a good mom!

Jackie said...

What great salads. I shall have a look at them again in Spring as the winter is really on us now and I am sitting wrapped up in a blanket :)

Candi said...

You're such a great mom! What a nice way to suffer through the lack of A/C - to have perfect salads and a tofu sandwich delivered to you! Sounds really nice. Thanks for the recipes too! I love the raw tabbouleh salad too, and thanks for the link to that!

Oh wow, Smokey is the cutest little bunny! Maybe the next salad can have the dressing on the side so Smokey can join in with dinner!! ;)

Candi said...

PS> I just made a bean salad just like yours because your photo had me wanting it so badly! :) It's really good and is the perfect dinner!!!!

aTxVegn said...

Hi, everyone! I'm glad to see so many of you enjoying salads. I've been running around like a crazy woman trying to help Chase out. He and Smokey will be moving in with me today until the a/c is fixed. I'll be by your blogs as soon as I can!

- Diann

Teresa said...

These salads all look great. You inspired me to make a bean salad today for lunch and thank you because it was good.

The raw tabbouleh sounds interesting- I'll have to give it a try.

Good luck with all the moving and running around!

-Teresa

bazu said...

I love it. It's 90 degrees outside, and your warm weather raw salads are like a breath of fresh air. Hope Chase gets his A/C back soon!

Brooke said...

A plethora of salads! Now, which one to make first.....

Anonymous said...

mmm...those grapes in your salad look great.

JENNA said...

what a great mom you are!! bringing over those delicious and healthy salads. hope all is well with Chase's car and a/c...why does everything seem to need to be fixed all at the same time? it happens to me all the time.

JENNA

scottishvegan said...

More super healthy food! I always feel inspired by your blog to eat a little healthier… Hope the AC gets fixed before Chase and little Somkey melt…!

erica said...

Yum Salads!
Why can't Smokey be at home alone? Heat stroke?

erica said...

I forgot - for raw tabouli you can put the cauliflower in a food processor, it makes perfect little "bulgar" looking bits. Also sprouted quinoa works well.

Kati said...

Oh wow - look at all these beautiful salads! This is just what we need this time of year, and I love millet.

Dori said...

What a great mom, Sunday dinner, if that is what you posted above looks excellent. The picture of your adult son with the pet bunny says alot of good things about him. :)

Karen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen said...

In Austin, TX, where do you get Litehouse Sesame Ginger dressing/sauce? I used to buy it at my local Costco, but they stopped carrying it, and I really don't want to have to pay for refrigerated shipping. I look forward to hearing from you!

aTxVegn said...

Karen, I haven't bought it in a while, but I always got my Litehouse at HEB in the produce section. As far as I know they still have it.

- Diann