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Healthy Salad Ideas

Here are two healthy salads I made recently. This first one is mostly cold/raw – the only cooked ingredient is an egg.

Ingredients – healthy salad #1

  • base: chopped romaine lettuce
  • fatty topping: avocado
  • veggie topping: tomato, cucumber
  • fun topping: takuan (yellow pickled daikon – Japanese)
  • protein topping: scrambled egg (with oil)
  • dressing: chipotle ranch (I think)

I cooked the egg in peanut oil, which is probably my newest cooking obsession. It’s fabulous.

This next salad is another hot-cold salad and it did not disappoint. (This was actually one of the best salads I’ve ever made, believe it or not!)

Ingredients – healthy salad #2

  • base: romaine lettuce
  • cooked veggie toppings: cabbage, brussels sprouts, green beans
  • protein toppings (with cooked veggies): imitation crab meat
  • dressing: peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, splash of water

Again, I used peanut oil for the veggies. About 1 tablespoon of it. If you use enough oil your veggies get nice and crispy. I also added a splash of soy sauce to the veggies at the end when they were just about done. I added the imitation crab meat (sealegs! why are they called that?) while I was cooking the veggies too. I think the dressing was what made it so tasty though!

What’s your favorite cooking oil?

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Recipe: Fresh Vietnamese Rolls (Spring? Summer?)

I served these on Sunday night (according to my menu plan) alongside the Vietnamese Shrimp Salad. It was a lovely Asian meal… better than in a restaurant, and cheaper too. These rolls are a great compliment to any meal, not just a Vietnamese one! Making these rolls (wraps) with rice paper is a really fun activity – might be a good project for kids who want to learn how to cook.

Maggie’s Fresh Vietnamese Rolls

Ingredients

  • rice paper (large or small circles) (I used small this time)
  • bean sprouts
  • green beans
  • cooked noodles (I used ramen leftover from my salad)
  • cilantro, chopped
  • iceberg lettuce, chopped
  • anything else you want! – shredded carrot, shrimp, crab, pork, pickled radish, etc…

Directions

  1. Prep all the ingredients – lay them out so they are easily accessible.
  2. Soak a rice paper in a bowl of water for 10 seconds. Lay the paper on a clean towel. Stuff with the goodies (put them in the middle). Wrap up like a burrito. Repeat!
  3. Dip in…

Dressing (per 1 serving)

  • 1 tablespoon peanut butter
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar

Mix dressing ingredients together with a fork. Adjust ingredients to your liking (I usually add more peanut butter). Dip the rolls in the dressing.

I made 3 rolls with the noodles and 3 without. I prefer them without, but with the noodles it is easier to burrito-wrap them. I guess it’s a tradeoff.

What’s your favorite kind of wrap?