Many years ago when I was a young lass in my late 30s, a colleague's young daughter got severely burned; blood was needed. Six of us co-workers went to give blood. Out of all the women between 25-45, I was the only one who could give because I had enough iron in my blood; none of the others did. Eating your greens is a natural way to get the iron your body needs to function.
I've always loved the green leafies and ate them 2-5 times a week cut up raw, in salads or sauteed; still do. They are good for you, fairly easy to put together, will last in the fridge for a few days, and you can fix them to your liking! What's not to love? The older I get, the better I like a little bigger salad and less meat (if any) on the plate.
These are some of the green leafy salads I go to again and again. They are sturdy, can travel well and are easy to make.
CORN/BEAN/FRISEE SALAD
I've been making a salad sorta like this for many years without the green stuff. One day it dawned on me that adding some greens would actually lighten the salad and add more good stuff to eat. Frisee is also called chicory or endive.
I took this to a gathering of mostly 20 somethings recently. I sat it down, turned my back and it was gone in 5 minutes!
Makes 8-10 servings
2-3 C frozen roasted corn (Trader Joe's frozen grilled corn is great) or regular yellow corn or even some canned and drained yellow and white corn, let sit until room temp
1 1/2 C canned black beans, drained well
1/2 lg red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 lg red onion, chopped
3-4 lg cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C cilantro leaves, torn in pieces
Dressing:
3 TBSP dark balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP white balsamic vinegar (I used Trader Joe’s)
2 tsp good extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes (or to taste)
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and let sit for 30 minutes to overnight. Adjust taste. Pour over veggies and mix well. Let sit for about an hour. Adjust taste.
3 C frisee washed and dried, torn into bite sized pieces
Add greens at the last minute to the vegetable/dressing mixture, toss well and serve.
If you are not eating the whole salad at once, combine greens and veggies together as needed.
FULL MOON SPINACH SALAD
This salad originally came from a website of recipes and beautiful china, Once Upon a Plate. She has a lovely, graphic intensive website. Her hand painted cookies are incredible. This is the Blue Moon Salad, and I have modified it so we can have it MORE than once a year! (The original recipe called for specialty blue cheese and walnut oil and at $2.00/oz that is not an option for us.)
Salad for 8 as a first course/side
2 bunches fresh spinach, washed 3 times, drained, stems removed and spun dry, leaves torn in bite-sized pieces
1 C dried cranberries
1 C dry Blue Cheese, crumbled
(or feta or another crumbly white cheese you like)
1/2 C chopped walnuts, toasted
2 tomatoes, cored, chopped and thoroughly drained
2 avocados, seeded, peeled, chopped and tossed in a little lemon juice
1 red onion, quartered and sliced thinly from pole to pole
Dressing:
1/3 C red raspberry freezer jam (the alternative would be fresh or frozen red raspberries, lemon juice and sugar to taste OR some low sugar red raspberry jam with seeds like “Simply Fruit”)
1/3 C good red wine vinegar OR equal parts red wine and cider vinegar
1/3 - 2/3 C Saffola oil
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Toss salad together and blend dressing in a blender or food processor, then add dressing to salad, toss and serve. I usually let my guests serve their own dressing. That way I can preserve the salad without dressing for another time.
A small trick...if your tomatoes are not tasty, add a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a little salt and toss and let marinate for a few minutes before adding to the salad. Or anything, actually. It brings out the tomato flavor and they do last longer. I especially like it on cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced.
RAMEN SALAD
I've had this recipe for 20 years and it has changed a little over those years. I was in a "Girls Night Out" once a month dinner gathering when I lived in Austin, Texas. We had great times, lots of laughs, lovely outings in Central Texas and great meals and conversations. This recipe came out of those wonderful times.
Makes 4-8 servings
3 C at least of a large package cole slaw (either regular or broccoli) or savoy or napa cabbage cut thinly crosswise and then in half longwise
6-8 scallions cleaned and sliced thinly
cilantro
Dressing:
1/3 C equal parts Japanese sesame oil and peanut oil
1/3 C equal parts apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg's) and good balsamic vinegar
1/3 C sugar (or less)
1/3 of the flavor packet from the Ramen (optional)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Toppings:
toasted Ramen noodles from either chicken or vegetable package
toasted slivered almonds
toasted sesame seeds
raw black sesame seeds
raw sunflower seeds
Preheat oven to 325º
Break up the ramen noodles into chunks and reserve the seasoning packet. Place the noodles and almond slivers on a baking sheet in one layer and bake for 6-10 minutes. Add the white sesame seeds during the last 2 minutes. Watch it! Toss. The noodles and nuts will continue to cook after taking out of the oven. Toss again and let cool.
Make the dressing, whisk well and let sit for 45-60 minutes. Taste and adjust to your liking.
The brand of Japanese sesame oil I like is Shirakiku. Japanese sesame oil is lighter and "less toasty" flavor than some other brands like Yeo's. You can use more peanut oil and less sesame oil until you get the mix you like...this is all "more like guidelines".
Add-ons: garlic and/or onion powder, crushed red pepper, finely minced ginger, chiffoniered basil or other herby things
Toss together the cabbage, scallions and cilantro. Add the toppings and dressing as needed. Sometimes I just let my guests add what they want.
Tonight my Sweetie is making me one of my very favorite dinners, a belated Birthday Dinner so to speak. It is coconut shrimp as ONLY he can make it. With a nice....YES, salad! and yummy roasted new potato chunks tossed in olive oil, salt & black pepper and rosemary.
What's for dinner at your place?