Category — Dinner Salads

I have a little kitchen crisis every year when the weather turns nice.  I want to maximize time outside goofing off and I don’t feel inspired to cook.  Or at least I don’t want to cook complicated, heavy food.  I develop a yen for convenience food (hello, Trader Joe’s?) and a devil-may-care attitude that leads me to consider feeding my kid dinner from the ice cream truck.  But I know I need to get it together, because I feel crappy when I eat out too often, and frankly, I even find take-out to be boring after too many nights.  So as I resolved to eat more soup this winter (and sure ‘nuf, I’m souped out), I resolve to find more quick-but-delicious items for this spring and summer. 

This salad’s a start.  This is a salad that’ll make you psyched to eat salad.  It’s got a unique collection of ingredients and a tangy yogurt dressing.  It’ll all go together in 40 minutes or fewer, and it won’t mess up your kitchen too much.  I’d put this in the springtime category, though, because you need to use your oven . . . and who wants to do that when the weather gets hot?

 Baby Greens Salad With Roasted Sweet Potatoes (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

Preheat the oven to 450.  Toss together the potatoes, onion and oil and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet that’s been covered in foil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the beans and the walnuts to the potato mixture and toss to incorporate.  Roast about 5 more minutes, or until the beans are tender.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, vinegar and garlic.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. 

Top the lettuce with the roasted veggies and drizzle with the dressing.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Do you have some protein lovers who might feel snubbed by this as a main course?  It’d pair nicely with some pre-cooked chicken sausages – choose a mild flavor – apple, cherry and apple, etc.  Or if you’re veggie, you could bake some tofu steaks alongside your potatoes and serve those alongside.

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Last night’s recipe was a winner.  Less of a salad and more of a happy mix-up, the tangy mango chutney dressing and pinch of cayenne turn every-night chicken and potatoes into something a lot more memorable.  This’ll take you about 45 minutes from counter to table if you roast your potatoes, but if you need to shorten it up, see my directions for steaming the potatoes following the recipe.  Two thumbs up from D. on this one!

Roasted Potato Salad With Chicken & Chutney (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Scrub the potatoes and quarter them.  Combine the potatoes and 2 T. of the oil in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Roast, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, rub the chicken with 1 T. of the oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and curry powder to taste.  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 10 minutes each side.  Remove from heat, let rest 5 minutes.  Cut into bite-sized chunks.

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  Measure the chutney, cutting up any large pieces (kitchen shears work well for this).  In a small bowl combine the chutney, 1 T. olive oil, the cayenne pepper, lemon juice and 1 t. curry powder. 

Place the spinach in a large bowl.  Add the hot potatoes and chicken to the spinach and toss gently to wilt the spinach.  Stir in the chutney dressing (you may not want to use all of it – use some and add more to taste).  Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.

Serves 4.

If you wanted to short-cut the potatoes, I think this would be just as good if you quartered the potatoes and steamed them for 20 minutes or so over hot water.  For richer flavor, you could toss them with a little olive oil after steaming, and definitely don’t skip the salt and pepper.

By the way, are you buying conventional (i.e., non-organic) potatoes?  You might want to spring for organic.  A potato get its nutrients through its skin, so it’s like a little sponge for any toxic chemicals that come down the food and water pipeline – and there are lots.  Taters are treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.  That’s a lot of crud for you and yours to ingest . . . and since organic potatoes are only slightly more expensive than conventional, why take the risk?

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You’ll remember that I’ve made a foray into the world of wheat berries before, without success.  I’m not one to give up, so I took a second try last night, and it was a success.  Wheat berries are something we should like – they’re whole, unprocessed wheat kernels – you can’t get any more “whole grain” than that.  They’re high in fiber, protein and iron, and they’ve got a chewy texture and a nutty taste.  This recipe, adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, makes enough for 4 servings . . . which if you’re us, means that you can have it for lunch the next day.

Wheat Berry Salad (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Combine the water and the wheat berries in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook until tender, about 1 hour.  Drain and let cool. (Note, this can be done ahead of time and the cooked berries can be stored in the fridge ‘til you’re ready to assemble the salad).

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet, cool and chop.

In a large bowl, combine the wheat berries, toasted walnuts, celery, dried cherries, scallion, olive oil and 5 t. vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.  This salad keeps up to 5 days in the fridge.

Cumin-Dusted Chicken (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Rub the chicken with the olive oil, then sprinkle salt, pepper and cumin.  Spray a large skillet (cast iron will give you a nice crust) with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.  Once pan is hot, add the chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 10 minutes each side.  Remove from heat, let rest 5 minutes.  Slice.  The chicken will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.

To Serve

Place 1 c. spinach leaves on each of 4 plates.  Sprinkle each mound of spinach with 1 t. of the vinegar.  Mound ¾ c. of the wheat berry salad on top of each serving and top that with slices of the chicken. 

Serves 4.

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