Posted on

Recipe: Grilled Portobello Kale Salad

I saw a recipe for a vegan surf & turf the other day and knew I had to make my own version – here’s my take!

Grilled Portobello Kale Salad

Ingredients (serves 1 hungry Maggie)

  • 2 portobello caps
  • bragg’s liquid aminos
  • a little more than 1 bunch of kale
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • dash of sea salt
  • 5-10 spritzes of bragg’s liquid aminos
  • 1 teaspoon honey/sweetener
  • liberal spoonfuls of nooch! (nutritional yeast)

Method

  1. Slice the portobellos into strips. Spray with bragg’s. Grill (I used a George Foreman) until tender (10 minutes).
  2. Massage the kale with the avocado, lemon juice, salt, and more bragg’s. I also like to add honey at this point. Massage for maybe 1-2 minutes.
  3. Top the kale with the portobellos and lots of nooch.
  4. EAT. Repeat.

I have made this for both dinner and lunch. It’s quite filling though I usually like to have something else with it. It holds up well in a tupperware and it can definitely last in the fridge overnight. It’s amazing fresh, of course.

Even better – it’s packed with powerhouse nutrients (kale, nooch, avocado). The portobellos taste almost meaty when grilled. Portobellos are definitely a favorite for me. I should try making the non-veg version too, but I’m not that experienced at non-veg cooking.

Hope you get to try this! I’ll leave you with this cat cutie:

What’s your favorite veggie?

Posted on

A Filling Salad

I like to think I’m a pro at making salads. I posted 2 of my new yums yesterday – salads really can be wholesome and filling (not just greens and no oil!) and they can be for lunch or dinner.

They key is adding things like kabocha or squash or other root veggies (beets, sweet potatoes, etc…), healthy fats (avocados, olive oil, bacon, butter), and other extras. I am currently *not* vegetarian or vegan, so I definitely enjoy meaty add-ons like bacon, lunch meat, cheese, and eggs.

(I am a vegetarian/vegan enthusiast but that strict lifestyle is not for me!)

(Picture is not today’s salad, but quite similar. I thought I had uploaded the picture but I hadn’t!) Today my lunch salad consisted of:

  • base: massaged kale with avocado, lemon juice, bragg’s liquid aminos, and salt + chopped romaine
  • toppings: organic nitrate/nitrite-free turkey bologna, shredded cheddar, thinly sliced celery (mandoline)
  • dressing: annie’s light honey mustard

I addition to salads, I like bringing sauteed veggies (with more filling toppings) to work for lunch as well. I’m not usually a fan of processed foods, but some of the frozen options at Trader Joe’s have served me well for toppings.

This is:

  • base: purple cabbage and beets sauteed in organic butter + cilantro
  • toppings: half of a vegetarian frozen lasagna from Trader Joe’s

It was delicious and held me through the afternoon… with a few nuggets of dark chocolate that I had for lunch dessert.

When I do dinner salads (often) I abide by the same rules. A base of healthy greens, and I add on healthy fats and carbs (kabocha, squash, root veggies) and maybe some extras (organic meat).

What’s your favorite lunch to bring to work/school/on a plane/wherever? What are your salad tips?

Posted on

Salad Tuesday and Flat Bread

I added a tab on the blog called “Operation Wedding“. I’ll be tracking my workouts and progress over the next 2.5 months… July 24th is quickly approaching! Operation Wedding is well underway – I am very sore this morning.

In other wedding news, I got a caterer. It’s going to be a secret though. You will just have to wait and see because I feel like being secretive. At least for now.

I wanted to share two yummy salads that I have made recently. I always eat more salads in the summer – I just crave them. And I have decided that $2.99 for a bunch of kale is not so terrible. It’s cheaper than eating out, I suppose.

Salad numero uno:

  • base: romaine; massaged kale with avocado, lemon juice, salt, and bragg’s liquid aminos
  • toppings: tomatoes, cucumbers, uncured organic turkey bologna (nitrate/nitrite-free)
  • dressing: pear-feta dressing from trader joe’s

Salad numero dos:

  • base: romaine; massaged kale with avocado, lemon juice, salt, and bragg’s liquid aminos
  • toppings: beets sauteed in butter + some cilantro, uncured organic turkey bologna (nitrate/nitrite-free), shredded cheddar cheese
  • dressing: annie’s lite honey mustard dressing

They were delicious. Reminds me of doing Leng’s salad challenges last year. I hear RhodeyGirl is doing a salad challenge right now too, and so is Lara. I adore salad, and I probably have a salad almost every day without even trying. Don’t forget, I am The Salad Girl.

In non-salad news, I had this amazing flatbread from Trader Joe’s this weekend:

It was called the “Tarte aux Champignons” – a French style flat bread with mushrooms, emmental, and parmesan (love!) cheese. I ate half and Bobby ate half… but I stole his crust. It was amazing. I actually wish the whole thing was just crust. We’ll definitely be buying this again if we can ever get into Trader Joe’s. I had to get this when I was in New Jersey because the Union Square Trader Joe’s lines are always too long.

What’s your favorite salad dressing? Mine is certainly honey mustard! I get it 99% of the time.

Posted on

Chunky PB & Raw Salad

Do you like chunky peanut butter or smooth and creamy? Every time I get chunky, I end up with this…

01 chunky pb

I don’t know how it happens, but I unconsciously avoid the chunks and am left with a jar of peanut bits and a little bit of creamy peanut butter. Just one of my quirks, I suppose. I don’t know what to do with the bits besides eat them plain; I’m not complaining though. But I really should only buy creamy.

When I’m not desiccating (= removing moisture from) nut butters, I like to make raw salads.

02 raw salad

This is:

  • kale (1/2 bunch or so, maybe a little more) – massaged with 1/2 avocado and my own version of liquid gold elixir (olive oil, rice vinegar, bragg’s liquid aminos)
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • white onion, chopped
  • 1/2 ear of raw corn
  • salsa (taco bell brand… not exactly raw! but you could use raw salsa)

I massaged the kale with the avocado and dressing, then topped it with the other goodies. As soon as I was done I made a repeat salad; do you ever do that? Sometimes after I have a salad I go back and make the exact same salad for seconds.

03 raw salad

In this case it was nice because I was able to use the rest of the kale head, the other 1/2 ear of corn, and the other 1/2 avocado. It works out. Maybe the reason I make the repeat is to use up the leftovers from the first one!

04 raw salad

Here are some word origins for y’all…

  • vegetable (Dori) – vegetables comes from a base in proto-indo-european (PIE = basically what preceded all of the european languages) that means “be strong, lively”. It’s also related to watch, vigor, velocity, and possibly witch. after PIE it went through Latin and French before it came to English.
  • shampoo (Heather) – this comes from Hindi (champo) where it meant, “to massage”, or “to press, knead the muscles”.
  • massage – this is from French, and before French it probably came from Arabic (massa = to touch, feel, handle). If it did come from Arabic it was probably picked up in Egypt when Napoleon was there. If it didn’t come from Arabic, it probably came from India (the French colonized it) from the word amassar (to knead), which came from Latin massa (mass, dough).

Gotta go grade… Have a great night/morning!

P.S. I’m in the middle of The Time Traveler’s Wife. So freakin’ good. Have you read it? I’m going to see the movie so I have to read it first.

Posted on

Kale and Seaweed Salad Recipe

I made this last night to accompany my Garlic and Chili Tilapia. I always get the Kale and Seaweed Salad at Zen Palate, a vegetarian restaurant in Princeton, and I wanted to try to make something similar. I have no idea what the recipe is for the Zen Palate salad, but I tried to guess at what the dressing is – soy based, and it tastes like a vinaigrette. I sweetened it with a little honey.

The salad at Zen Palate is a bit denser than mine came out to be – I think they just chop their veggies more. Either method tastes good; do what you prefer. I also decided to add some toasted sesame seeds.

Another good addition would be diced silken tofu on top, and maybe some lemon juice.

Kale and Seaweed Salad Recipe

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 4-5 cups of washed, chopped kale
  • 1/2 cup dried seaweed (wakame here)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons oil (I used grapeseed)
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Directions

  1. Wilt the kale in a pan on the stove: make sure the kale is damp and heat, covered, in a pan on low for about 10 minutes.
  2. Soak the dried seaweed in water for about 5 minutes. When it finishes hydrating, you should chop it into bite-sized pieces.
  3. Make the dressing: mix together soy sauce, vinegar, honey and oil in a Tupperware container and shake.
  4. Broil the sesame seeds for about 5 minutes.
  5. Drain the seaweed and mix together with the kale. Add as much dressing as you’d like and toss in the sesame seeds.

If you add tofu, this could be a meal in itself. Otherwise, it makes a great side dish or appetizer.