Curried Millet and Veggie Salad

At the beginning of May, the health food store that I work for (Goodness Me!) ran a Community Cleanse Challenge, both for the community to join in, as well as staff. (my store won for best overall store participation...woot woot team Brantford!!!)

Anyhoo, both my husband and I jumped on the cleanse bandwagon, and for two weeks have been eating clean and healthy. Our diet is already pretty clean, but its sometimes good to check in on all the little habits that creep back into your diet and linger. A cleanse is a great reset...it gives your digestive system a great spring cleaning!! 

I was looking for something different to cook for dinner one night, and saw millet listed on the chart  of "ok" foods. So I cooked a big batch pot of this delicious little seed (yes, it is technically a seed, not a grain!) for dinner and then had to come up with a use for the rest. I had a fridge full of veggies for eating on the cleanse, so I started chopping and this salad was born!

It keeps really well in the fridge for 3-4 days, and is great warm or cold. We  topped it with both salmon and chicken to add some protein, and I think it would be great with chickpeas for a vegan version. It makes enough for a crowd, or for several meals during the week. Definitely a keeper recipe, cleansing or not!! If you don't have any millet, cooked quinoa would be a great alternative!! 

Curried Millet and Veggie Salad

3 cups cooked millet (I toasted mine first, follow this link for cooking instructions! )   

3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

4 cups chopped kale (green, red, black or a combo!)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup diced red pepper (red, yellow, orange…mix it up!!)
1 cup diced zucchini ¼ - ½  cup cilantro, chopped (optional if you hate it!!)

Dressing:

1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed if you can!)

4 Tbsp avocado or olive oil

1-2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp herbamare or sea salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix veggies, seeds and millet in a large mixing bowl.

Measure dressing ingredients into a mason jar, shake well and toss with other ingredients. 

Eat as is, or add your choice of protein (pre-cooked chicken, salmon, beans...the choice is yours!)

(Its also delicious heated!!!)

Store covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. 

All ready for lunch with some leftover salmon!

Creamy Broccoli Salad with Bacon

I had a craving for broccoli salad, and decided to make a batch for lunch one day last week. The particular salad I was hankering for uses mayonnaise. But being Thursday, I didn’t want to make a whole jar of mayo because of its short shelf life. (My recipe uses a whole raw egg, and it only lasts in the fridge for about 5 days. We don’t go thru enough mayonnaise to use it up quickly, especially on the weekends when we are not packing lunches for the household).  I did have a jar of cashew butter in the fridge though, so I came up with this scrumptious dressing to top the crunchy broccoli. I added some chopped carrots, leftover bacon (I know, leftover bacon???) and some dried cranberries, and this little bit of deliciousness was born. The sriracha in the sauce adds flavor, but not a lot of heat. Adjust if you want it more or less spicy.

Creamy Broccoli Salad with Bacon

Optional: lightly toast your cashews

Dressing:

½ cup cashew butter

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup water

½-1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, increase or decrease for desired heat!)

Salad:

1 head broccoli, chopped (peel stems, chop and use too)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped small

1 cup chopped cooked bacon

1 cup chopped cashews (I toasted mine J )

½ cup dried cranberries (fruit juice sweetened)

----------

2 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)

Handy chopper is great for
chopping the carrots

Measure dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until well mixed and creamy.  Set aside.

(Alternatively, measure into a wide mouth mason jar, and blend with a stick blender)

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Top with dressing and mix well. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds if using and serve immediately. Store leftovers in fridge for 2-3 days.

Shown without black sesame  seeds,
I realized after I took the pictures
that I hadn't added them!

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Pecans and Avocado

When I plant my garden in the spring, I tend to be an over planter, which is all fine and dandy, until later in the season...when the plants go wild and you cannot even begin to wade thru the greenery without stepping on something. But, in the early summer, when everything is behaving well, my garden is a lovely calm place to while away the time pulling weeds,  and thinning the rows of beautiful greens. Which leads us to this salad. Instead of thinning and tossing, I like to use the thinning in salads like this, kind of a waste-not-want-not kind of thing. It makes me feel less guilty about pulling out perfectly good plants :)

Baby Kale against a backdrop
of carrots, that need to be thinned
as well!

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Pecans and Avocado

6 cups chopped baby Kale (packaged or picked from your garden!)

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

2 avocados, diced

2 cups strawberries, hulls removed and sliced

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or white balsamic

Zest and juice of one organic lemon

1 tsp sea salt or herbamare

1 Tbsp honey

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

½ cup chopped garlic chives (optional, you can sub regular chives if desired)

Toss the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine the dressing ingredients into a 2c mason jar. Place lid on snuggly and shake well to combine.

Toss together well and serve immediately, or chill in refrigerator for up to a day if desired.

Squeeze lemon into your jar

use rasp to grate the zest BEFORE
squeezing the lemons...much easier!

to cool your quinoa quickly,
spread on a large plate and
set in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Perfect side dish for BBQ Chicken 

Light and Lemony Poppy Seed Dressing

This simple dressing goes together in the blink of an eye, and is perfect for any light summer salad. It will keep in your fridge for up to a week with no problem. 

Light and Lemony Poppy Seed Dressing

½ cup olive oil

2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Tbsp Maple syrup

1 tsp Herbamare or sea salt

2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Measure all ingredients into a 2 cup mason jar. Screw on Metal lid, shake well, and use on salad of choice. 

Pictured on fresh garden lettuce and baby
kale, avocado and tomato

Pictured on a quick salad of grapefruit, avocado
and chiffonade-ed basil. A quick and tasty lunch!

How to "chiffonade" basil: 

stack basil leaves in a pile...

roll them up like a cigar
as best you can...

thinly slice with knife, ta da! Basil Chiffonade!

Creamy Probiotic Rich Salad Dressing

This batch is made with garlic chives
and parsley

Gardening season is in full swing and our lettuce is growing like crazy…giving salads a starring role on our daily menus!  I love it when we can pick lettuce straight from the garden and have it in a salad within minutes. Although we never seem to get bored with salads, I do like to change up the dressings we use to keep it fresh and fun. This has become one of my favourite dressings lately to top these lovely fresh greens.  I like to use both kefir and yogurt in it. Kefir and yogurt, although both fermented milk products, vary in the bacterial cultures they contain. If you want to read more on the differences between the two, this article is great. Cultured/fermented food consumption dates back to ancient times. Great for immunity, gut health, digestion and more, I try and incorporate fermented foods in our diet on a regular basis. (Click here for a great article on fermented foods from Cheeseslave.)   Using kefir and yogurt gives this dressing a big Probiotic punch. Add some fresh herbs from the garden, and you have an awesome nutritional powerhouse to top your fresh greens.

This batch is made with fresh dill

Creamy Probiotic Rich Salad Dressing

¾ cup full fat dairy kefir

¾ cup full fat non-homogenized yogurt

1/3 cup avocado oil

1 tsp Herbamare, or other sea salt of choice

1 tsp coarsely ground fresh black pepper

1 clove minced garlic

½ cup chopped herbs: dill, basil, parsley, chives, cilantro, garlic chives, etc!(pick one or a combo of your choice!)

Measure all ingredients into a 2 cup mason jar. Screw on a metal lid, shake well. Serve on salad of choice. Store leftovers in fridge for 4-5 days.

My Garden :)

Creamy Vegetable Salad with Fresh Dill

The sense of smell is amazing. It can transport us back to another place and time with one small whiff of a certain scent or smell. Like the first time I smelled bottled white grape juice. All of a sudden I was standing (in my mind, no teleporting involved) in my grandparents’ back yard, under their grape arbor, surrounded by the tart green grapes that grew so heavy on those vines. One sniff and I was back in a childhood memory so vivid, I could picture every detail of their yard and garden, and taste the sweet tartness of those grapes.

This recipe has nothing to do with grapes, but it does involve another scent that brought back a memory, and made me create this recipe. We were shopping this week at Oakridge Acres in Ayr, Ontario and they had these little bags of fresh organic dill, the delicate feathery kind that is so aromatic. As I brought the bag up to my nose, I was suddenly transported (again, no teleporting!) to a vegetarian restaurant that we used to go to in Guelph years ago. The name escapes me, but on this particular visit, I ordered a crisp vegetable salad that was bursting with fresh dill. The tangy bright flavor of the dill was perfectly balanced by the crunch of the veggies and the creamy dressing; it lodged itself deeply in the flavor vaults of my brain. At that time of my life, not being the foodie I am now, I simply enjoyed the salad and moved on. The thought of getting the recipe never crossed my mind.  One whiff of this dill though, and I knew I had to recreate the salad that left such an impression on my taste buds all those years ago.

Although this dressing is very creamy, there is no dairy involved.  I have been using cashews a lot more in the kitchen lately, and they were the perfect base for this salad. They have the ability, when blended, to create a velvety thick dressing without the need for dairy. They also add protein (18 grams in a full cup), healthy fat and decent amounts of magnesium, iron and B-6, among other things!

This salad keeps well in the fridge for a few days; just give a stir if it has been sitting.

 Creamy Vegetable Salad with Dill

Dressing:

1 cup raw cashews

2 small cloves of garlic

½ tsp Herbamare or other sea salt

2/3 cup water

Veggies:

2 -3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

3 cups chopped cauliflower

2 small zucchini, chopped

½ of a red pepper, seeded and chopped

½ cup chopped fresh dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing: 

Place dressing ingredients into a blender and whiz until creamy and smooth.  Set aside.

Veggies: 

Prepare all veggies and place in a large bowl. Add dressing and dill, toss to coat. Serve immediately or chill. Store leftovers in fridge for up to a few days.

Orange Sesame Salad Dressing

As promised, here is the orange sesame dressing that I used last week. Be sure to use organic oranges for the zest, as to avoid any nasty pesticides that may reside on the exterior of the orange.

Orange Sesame Salad Dressing

Juice of 2 organic oranges (approx ¾ cup)

2/3 cup olive oil

Zest of 1 organic orange

½ tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp Herbamare

2 Tbsp honey

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

pictured with a salad of fresh garden greens,
pulled grass fed roast beef,
fresh garden peas, shredded carrots,  and
black sesame seeds

Measure all ingredients together in a 2 cup mason jar. Screw the lid on tightly and shake well. Chill before serving.
Use to top any salad greens you like!
Store leftovers in fridge for up to 1 week.

I use my kitchen rasp for grating ginger,
it works great with frozen ginger too!
No need to peel! But, be sure to always
buy organic!!

Herby French Style Dressing

We are having a very slow start to spring here, but my herbs are coming along nicely. They are usually the first green thing that we can eat from the garden, and I use them all thru the growing season. This dressing needed some perking up, and the handful of herbs from the garden was perfect. I used chives, garlic chives and thyme here, just be sure to remove any tough stems before chopping. You could substitute any other fresh herb that you like, basil and oregano would be lovely!

Herby French Style Dressing

½ cup olive oil

½ cup apple cider vinegar (one that is raw and unpasteurized, with the “mother” like Filsingers or Braggs)

2 T Hemp Oil (optional, see the benefits of hemp oil here)

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp coconut sugar

1 tsp Herbamare

¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

Juice of ½ organic lemon

4-5 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped

Pictured in a patio  pot of salad greens 

Measure all ingredients into a two cup mason jar. Shake well to combine. Serve over greens of choice.  Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Mushroom Quinoa Burgers with Cilantro Tahini Sauce

This is a tasty alternative to a traditional burger, when you are wanting a lighter meal, or are entertaining vegetarian guests. I upped the nutritional punch of these by using some Arame, a sea vegetable that is rich in many minerals, including iodine, which is lacking in all of our diets. It has many other health benefits as well, and you can read more about it here.  Sea vegetables are really quite tasty, and we have been adding them to anything and everything lately. They can be found in many grocery stores and health food stores. Give them a try, I think you will love them like we do!

We served our burgers on a lettuce leaf “bun”, topped with the Tahini Cilantro Sauce that follows this recipe. My eldest teenager (who isn't fond of quinoa or mushrooms...) ate 5 of them…I think that means they were good!

Mushroom Quinoa Burgers with Cilantro Tahini Sauce

1 med onion, diced (approx 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1 ½ cups diced mushrooms (used 6 crimini)

½ cup diced yellow peppers

½ cup Arame, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes to soften,

1 tsp Miso Paste

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 cups precooked and cooled quinoa

¾ tsp Herbamare

1 egg

4 Tbsp ground Chia seeds

Preheat oven to 350F

Sauté the mushrooms, peppers and onions in the coconut oil for approx 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they soften and just start to brown.

Drain your Arame, chop it up and add it to the pan. Sauté for another 3-4 minutes. Scrape into mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix together the Miso paste and sesame oil to loosen up the Miso.

Add to the veggie mixture and stir well to incorporate. Add your pre-cooked quinoa, the Herbamare, the egg and the ground Chia powder. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes for Chia to absorb and bind the patties.

Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.

Scoop out ¼ cup of mixture onto the parchment and shape into a patty, rounding and compressing slightly as you go. Repeat with remaining mixture, with this size it should make approx 10 patties.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, flip gently and cook for 10 minutes more.

Serve hot on a lettuce leaf bun, with avocado slices sprouts and the tahini sauce. (recipe below)

Tahini Cilantro Sauce

4 tbsp tahini

6 tbsp kefir or thin yogurt (not Greek!)

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Herbamare to taste

Mix all ingredients well in a small mixing bowl. Use as a sauce for burgers or as a salad dressing too!

Warm Spinach Salad

I love the days when Jim plays hooky for the afternoon when I have a day off. That gives me time to put a bit of extra effort into lunch, instead of our typical salads and leftovers that we pack for lunch on a daily basis. This is still a salad, but with a bit of a fun twist. The sautéed vegetables are combined in the hot pan with vinegar to make up the dressing, which is then tossed with the cooked bacon and the cool greens. It all goes together in a flash as well, and would make an awesome side dish for a summer bbq!
We buy our beef bacon here. If you visit, be sure to tell Mark and Cindy we said "Hi!"!

Warm Spinach Salad

6 slices beef bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces (substitute nitrate free pork bacon if you wish)

½ cup organic shallots, coarsely chopped

1 cup of chopped fresh organic tomato

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

4 cups baby organic spinach

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup toasted organic walnuts (optional)

Place your spinach in a large bowl and set aside.

Sauté your bacon in a medium to large cast iron pan. When it is just starting to crisp up, remove from pan leaving the fat remaining in the pan. You will want about 2 tbsp, so if your bacon is really fatty, remove all but that amount.

Sauté the shallots in the bacon fat until they just start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and sauté for a minute more, until it starts to soften and release the juices. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and season with some fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Add the bacon and toasted walnuts, if using, to the bowl of spinach, and then pour the contents of the hot pan, juices and all on top, and toss well to combine.

Serve immediately.

Maple Balsamic Dressing with Cracked Pepper

Salads are a staple in our house. But the bottled dressings that you find in most grocery stores are not. I am always baffled by the amount of ingredients that are listed on the labels, most of which are impossible to pronounce.  Fresh salad dressings are so easy to throw together, and you are guaranteed to be able to pronounce every ingredient. Using a mason jar eliminates the fuss of extra dishes, too. Measure everything into your jar, screw on the lid and shake. You can then serve and store from the same jar. I try and keep a variety of different oils and vinegar's on hand to change things up. This dressing is a favourite, and is made often! Most pepper grinders are adjustable, so you can create a coarser grind than you would generally use.

Maple Balsamic Dressing with Cracked Pepper

½ c organic Olive Oil

1/3 cup organic Balsamic Vinegar

Mixed greens, leftover chicken, sprouts
and a half of a granny smith apple +
this yummy dressing = one delicious lunch!

1 Tbsp organic Maple syrup

1 Tbsp organic Old Fashioned Grainy Mustard

½ tsp Herbamare or sea salt of choice

1 tsp coarsely ground organic black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Put the lid on and shake well.  Alternatively, use a small mixing bowl and mix all ingredients well to combine. Serve over organic salad greens of choice.

Easy Avocado Lime Salad Dressing

Served here on a bed of lettuce, cucumbers,
leftover bbq chicken and sprouts :)

This is one of my favourite salad dressings. Tangy and creamy, perfect for any spring salad! If you need to keep it dairy free, you can add more water in place of the kefir or yogurt.  This makes enough to dress a large salad, and keeps well for a day or two in the fridge.

Easy Avocado Lime Salad Dressing

1 ripe avocado, halved, pit and skin removed,

1 lime, juiced (approx 2 tbsp juice)

1/3 cup plain kefir or yogurt

1 clove garlic

½ tsp Herbamare or other sea salt

¼ cup water or more

Optional:  few dashes of hot sauce

Place all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth.  (we have the Cuisinart Blender with the individual cups, they work well for this dressing) Add more water if needed to thin to desired consistency.

Serve over salad of choice!