Welcome to Sarah's Adventures in Culinary Experimentation

This blog is for posting recipes I've experimented with while teaching myself to cook. Some I have taken from my favorite recipe books, others are purely my own experimentations. My audience is usually just my husband, my toddler daughter, and I and we are living on a tight budget. Sometimes you might find a splurge.

Hopefully you'll find something here that you like!
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Egg Salad

With all these leftover Easter eggs, I knew salads would be in the future. So I located a low calorie egg salad recipe and tweaked it up a bit. It only came down to about 210 calories a serving.

Enlightened Egg Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients
  • 6 large hard boiled eggs (pealed and cubed)
  • 2 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 slices pumpernickel bread
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients, except for the bread and egg in a bowl. 
  2. Once the dressing is mixed, add in the chopped eggs and mix to coat.
  3. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add salad to bread and serve.

Note: Add an additional tablespoon of mayonnaise if it tastes too yogurt, but just adjust the calories for it. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Zesty Pork Chop and Cucumber Salad Wraps

Zesty Pork Chop and Cucumber Salad Wraps
Serves 5-6

We wanted a fresh and new recipe that was quick and easy to make for dinner. For some reason, we thought pork chop and cucumber salad in a wrap. Go figure! It was delicious! These might be great on the grill. Will definitely try it when it's not raining.


Ingredients
  • 4 boneless pork chops
  • 1 bottle zesty Italian Dressing
  • 1 large cucumber
  • 1 large red onion
  • 1 bag of fresh spinach
  • 3 large tomatoes
  • preferred wrap or tortilla shell (Flat Out Healthy Grain Harvest Wheat)


Instructions
  1. Heat a skillet. Marinate the Pork Chops in a bowl of ziploc bag for 30 minutes in the Italian Dressing, saving 1 cup for the salad.
  2. Peal and slice the cucumbers in half and then slice them into thin strips. 
  3. De-seed and slice the tomatoes into chunks.
  4. Slice the red onion in half and then into 1mm strips.
  5. Mix the cucumber, onion, and tomatoes in a large bowl. Add the Italian Dressing and pepper to taste. 
  6. Now cook the marinated pork chops in the skillet until cooked through. Let them rest for 5 minutes before slicing into thin strips.
  7. Next, take a wrap and put down a layer of spinach. Make sure it has been rinsed and dried, first.
  8. After putting down a layer of spinach leaves, put some pork chop strips in the middle and then a spoonful or two or cucumber salad. 
  9. Wrap and enjoy!





Oriental Beef Salad

Oriental Beef Salad



 
Ingredients
  • 1 bag of coleslaw mix, shredded 
  • 2 packages of Ramen noodles (chicken flavor)
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  •  2-3 TBSP sesame seeds
  • 1 seasoning packet from Ramen Noodles
  • 1 cup rice vinegar 
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 TBSP sesame oil
  • 4 TBSP sugar
  • 1 flank steak
  • 2 cups soy sauce 
  •  salt/pepper
Instructions
  1. Marinade the flank steak in the soy sauce for 30 minutes or more in the fridge. 
  2. Season the steak with salt and pepper. In a grill pan, sear the steak over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes per side for medium rare; transfer to a plate to rest.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, vegetable oil, sesame oil, sugar, and Ramen seasoning packet. 
  4. In a large bowl, combine the slaw mix and dressing and toss. 
  5. Crush the Ramen noodles into small pieces and spread out on a baking sheet with the almonds and sesame seeds. Broil until medium brown.
  6. Add the dry Ramen noodles (right before serving) and toss again. Divide evenly among 4 shallow bowls.
  7. Cut the steak into thin slices and distribute among the salads.

 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

My Outback Classic Wedge Salad

My Outback Classic Wedge Salad
Serves 4

I live in a place where the closest Outback Steakhouse is, or at least feels, like farther away than I want to travel for a salad. I was really craving one, so I made a list of all the things that were familiar about the salad and this is what I came up with. This is the closest taste I have ever had to the salad I've been craving. Sans prime rib.

Ingredients
  • 1 head of lettuce cut into 4 wedges.
  • 1 cup real bacon bits
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 red onion sliced thin
  • 4 TBSP balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 cups Ken's Steakhouse Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing
  • 3/4 cup Ken's Steakhouse Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing

Instructions
  1. Mix the two dressings in a bowl together until they are thoroughly mixed together.
  2. In 4 bowls, put the 1 lettuce wedge, 1/4 of the onions, and 1/4 of the cherry tomatoes.
  3. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the walnuts, blue cheese crumble, and bacon bits on each wedge.
  4. Drizzle 1/4 of the dressing onto each wedge. Then drizzle 1 TBSP of the balsamic vinegar on each.
  5. Serve and enjoy!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Refreshing Shrimp Salad

Refreshing Shrimp Salad
Serves 2-4 (depending on how you serve it)



This recipe was inspired by one I saw for a Shrimp Salad from Ina Garten. Her recipe is for an enormous amount of shrimp, so I tried to make adjustments. It was great on a roll  for lunch and could easily make 3-4 sandwiches. As a salad topping or alone, I'd say it would feed closer to two people. Depends on how you want to use it. It turned out to be incredibly refreshing and would do 

Ingredients
Boiled Shrimp
  • 2 cups water
  • 1.5 cups white wine vinegar
  • 4 TBSP Old Bay with Lemon and Herb Seasoning
  • 1/2 - 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon juiced)
  • 1 lbs uncooked medium-large shrimp in shell

Dressing
  • 1/3 cup red onion minced
  • 1 cup minced celery
  • 1 TBSP fresh dill minced
  • 2 TBSP pepper
  • 1 TBSP horseradish
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 TBSP ground stone mustard
  • 1 TBSP white wine vinegar

Instructions
  1. In a large pot, bring the water, white vinegar, lemon juice, and Old Bay Seasoning to boil. Add in shrimp. Cook them for 3-5 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from pot and put aside to cool.
  2. Combine the Dressing ingredients and stir.
  3. In a separate bowl, put the peeled shrimp after cutting them in halves or thirds depending on size.
  4. When shrimp are cooled and ready in the separate bowl, spoon your preferred amount of dressing over the shrimp. Mix one spoonful in before adding another to make sure the shrimp are thoroughly coated. 
  5. Refrigerate, covered or in a tupperware container, for 30 minutes or more.
  6. Serve over lettuce, as a sandwich or by itself.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad

Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad
Serves 6

Ingredients
  • 3 Vine Ripe Tomatoes
  • 1 large Cucumber
  • 1 large Red or Vidalia onion
  • 1.5 cups Zesty Italian Dressing
  • Salt and Pepper


Instructions
  1. Wash your tomatoes and cucumber. Then skin the cucumber and cut into chunky slices. Then quarter the slices and put into a larger seal-able bowl. 
  2. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Then cut each quarter in half and cut each section into three pieces. Put into bowl with cucumber.
  3. Cut and peel onion and cut each half into quarter inch slices, then halve the slices (so you have a quartered onion with each section cut into quarter inch slices). Add to bowl with cucumber and tomatoes.
  4. Add 1.5 cups Zesty Italian Dressing to the bowl. Add a little sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cover and shake the container to mix. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  5. Put into refrigerator to chill. Best served the same day. Not as good after 2 days.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Randomly Desperate Vegetable Medley

Randomly Desperate Vegetable Medley

INGREDIENTS:
1 TBSP butter or margarine
1 can sweet corn nibblets
1 head broccoli
1 zucchini
1 red onion
1 package of cherry tomatoes
270 g package of 3 bean salad (borolotti, kidney, and cannelloni beans) - I used a Sainsbury 3 Bean Salad
1 sweet pepper
1 tsp minced mint
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

On a cookie sheet or broiling pan put the sliced (or chunked) zucchini, the chunk cut red onion, the cherry tomatoes (whole) and the sweet pepper (chunked). Put them under the broiler until tender. Splash with a little bit of olive oil (specifically the tomatoes, sweet pepper and onion. Also add a little salt and pepper for flavor.


In a small pan on the stove combine the corn and three bean salad with the butter. Heat until tender.

Cook the broccoli however you prefer. Try to use mostly tops and not have long stems on the bottom. Cut the flourettes in half in they’re too big.

As each component finishes cooking, throw into a large mixing bowl. Get some fresh mint and mince and toss with the salad.

Serve with whatever meat you like. It’s just a hearty salad and can also be eaten on its own. Eat bite is its own flavor explosion and its really delicious!



We paired the veggie medley with some lamb and chicken kabobs from a local kabob place. This, combined with a pita, was absolutely delicious. And since the kabobs are grilled, it was relatively healthy as well.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Delia's Waldorf Chicken Salad

Delia is a British chef who has her own popular website. This salad was made for Ray for the first time by his boss, Andrew. Ray decided to make it for dinner tonight.

Ingredients
1 x 2 lb 4 oz (1 kg) cooked chicken
4 sticks of celery (4 oz/110 g), chopped
8 spring onions,chopped (including the green parts)
2 oz (50 g) walnut halves, roughly chopped
6 oz (175 g) seedless black grapes, halved (however many you want)
a few lettuce leaves
sprigs of watercress, to garnish

For the dressing:
1 teaspoon sea salt (half that if you are using regular salt)
2 cloves garlic (1 tsp minced garlic)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 rounded tablespoons mayonnaise
2 heaped dessertspoons natural yoghurt (greek natural yoghurt)
freshly milled black pepper

Begin by stripping the skin from the chicken and discarding it. Then remove the flesh from the bones and slice it into longish, 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick pieces, and place these in a large bowl. Next, add the chopped celery to the bowl, together with the spring onions and chopped walnuts.

Now for the dressing: place the salt in a mortar and crush it quite coarsely, then add the garlic and, as you begin to crush it and it comes into contact with the salt, it will quickly break down to a puree. Next add the tarragon, mayonnaise and yoghurt with a few twists of freshly milled pepper and blend everything together thoroughly. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together well to get a good coating of the dressing. Arrange some lettuce leaves in a large, shallow serving dish, pile the chicken salad on top, sprinkle the grapes all over, and, if you like, garnish with sprigs of watercress.

Note: We doubled the dressing, but not the salt. It was really delicious. We just used a whole pack of chicken too. I did the assembly, but this was something my husband, Ray, put together. It was so delicious I said we need to eat this like 1-2 times a week. It was fresh, filling, and easy to make.

Sorry no pictures. Maybe next time.

This recipe is from deliaonline.com as recommended by Andrew.