Category Archives: Amazing Salads

Seasonal Bulgur Pilaf

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I love this bulgur salad recipe I found in a grocery store magazine some years back. I renamed it my Harvest Bulgur Salad. I think it’s more apt. I also deviate from the recipe where produce and spices are concerned since I’m not to big on cumin. I just don’t like it as much as everyone tells me I should. Meh.

I can easily adapt for all four months with a simple swap of the sweet potato for other vegetables that make sense at the time, for whatever is in season at that time. I did a summer version using corn that I smoked on the cobb in my backyard. That was so delicious.

For the Spring version, I use apple chunks or dried cranberries. And for winter, I might use pomegranate seeds or something else that catches my eye.

I love to roast the sweet potato chunks in my air fryer after rolling it around in a bit of oil, s&p, and smoked paprika.

I sent this to my husband’s office pot luck where more than half of the staff are hardcore vegetarians, and it went over well. Give it a try in its base form, and tweak it from there. It’s a lovely, filling meal. One I love to make over and over.

Shawarma Salad

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I ordered a Chicken Sharwarma on the Rox from Osmosa’s awhile ago, and they added a salad portion in the corner of the takeout box, so when I moved it over to the plate, I set up the salad first, and then scooped the rice over top and dropped the shawarma overtop as I pulled them off the skewer sticks. I think I some kind of garlicy salad dressing over it, but I can’t recall which one at this point. And of course I dropped some of my beloved pickled red onions on the side. It would be a crime if I didn’t. 🙂

I think this is a very pretty salad plate. I think about it often. And it was good and yummy.

Rice Bowl Upcycling

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So, the other day I made this lovely quasi Tex-Mex rice bowl for our Taco Tuesday dinner. The next night I still had so many materials leftover, plus all of the other ingredients I forgot to prep and add (salsa, cheese, deep fried onions), so I made another better version to make the true taco rice bowl I envisioned all week.

Both looked great, but the second one worked better because it had some moisture and heat the first attempt didn’t. Oh, and I found a squeeze bottle of some cheesy chipotle sauce I bought specifically for this taco meal and had forgot all about, the following Friday in my pantry. D-oh!

So, what was in my taco bowls?

Rice
Lettuce shredded up
Ground Chorizo Meat
Pinto Beans
Homemade Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
Cilantro Leaves
Lime Juice squeezes
Cheese shredded up
Deep Fried Onions

That’s just a list of what I had on hand prepped to use in them. Your list might be different, and that’s ok. Cooked chicken shred or cooked ground beef also works, as does pickled onions and pickled jalapenos. You can use some Mexican cheese if you have it, as well as some broken up tortilla chips if you like.

Go crazy, or keep it pared down to five items. It’s your bowl, your way.

My BLT Salad Love Affair

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There was a time where all I ate was this salad at work. I got away from it when tomatoes were out of season, but we are getting close to being right back in that saddle, kids. Giddy-up!

It’s a simple salad made using shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped bacon, and grated cheese (when I have it). I top mine with Ranch, but I’ve also used a few other creamy dressings from my fridge as I needed to use them up.

Tilapia & Chopped Corn Salad

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As the last breath of summer days gasp out (for me, at least), I’m still obsessed with my corn salad. Today I made what might be the last one of the season (we’ll see), and I paired it with some delicate tilapia white fish. Perfectly seasoned and cooked, it flaked into lovely chunks easily before I tossed it with my beloved chopped corn salad for a nice summer lunch with the husband.

I swear, this is going to be the last meal I request on my deathbed. 🙂

Bacon Corn Salad

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This is some bbq chicken, peppers and corn salad I made a few weeks. It was delicious. I can’t stop making each of these things. But that corn salad…? I couldn’t not put bacon in it, so that’s what I did. 🙂 (See below pix for that version.)

Grilled Bacon Corn Salad:
2-3 Bacon Strips, 1/2″ cuts
2 Smoked corn cobbs in the husks, cooled enough to hold
1/4 Red Onion (can be raw or pickled – I use what I have on hand)
1 Jalapeno, seeded, fine diced
1/4 Smoked Sweet Pepper, fine diced
2 tbsp BBQ Dry Rub (of choice)

3-4 tbsp Italian Dressing
1 small bunch Parsley, chopped
Parm grated or Queso crumbled

In a pan or on a griddle, heat up bit of oil and lay the bacon over it to render out the fat. Add the veg and shuffle it around so nothing sticks to the surface and it gets cooked evenly. Add the dry rub and keep cooking the mix until the bacon gets crispy and the veg softens, about 5-8 mins.

Off the heat, dump it into a big bowl and roll it around with the dressing and parsley. Plate with the cheese of choice on top. Serve room temp or warm.

If making ahead of time, lay the corn salad in one even layer on a big sheet pan to rapid cool for up to 20 mins before storing in the fridge.

 

Bulgar Corn Salad

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I love this salad. I discovered it a few weeks back while cleaning out my fridge at the end of a week eating all of the bbq food we smoked a few weekends ago. I also had a bit of Italian dressing kicking around in my fridge door, so I added it to the veg and grains to provide some moisture. Great decision. Tasty.

Corn Salad:
3-4 Corn, cooked and cut off the cob
1 Shallot, thin slices
1/4 Red Pepper, small dice
6″ Cucumber section, hauled out and fine dice
1 Celery Rib, fine dice
1/2 Roma Tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 C (or less) Italian Dressing
S & P to taste
Pinch Smoked Paprika (optional)

The above alone would be lovely with some blue cheese or feta crumble on top, too. But, as I said, I morphed this into a grain salad using what was leftover for a lunch.

Bulgar Corn Salad:
Corn Salad (above recipe)
1-2 Leaf Green leaves, torn up small
1/4 C Bulgar, cooked and cold
Drizzles of more Italian Seasoning (if needed to moisturize everything)
Small pinch Salt (if needed to wake up all of the flavours)

I love this salad. This is one I will keep going back to during all of the good weather months. Without a doubt.

Shawarma Salad

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I love me a great rice bowl. I also love me a great entre salad. So, I combined the two into a shawarma ‘on the rocks’ salad. I cut out the pita (or naan if you’re used to eating donairs), and I didn’t miss it one little bit.

This salad starts on a bed of greens (arugula this time) and it’s topped with some spicy rice (optional if you simply use more greens instead), shawarma style chicken, diced tomatoes, pickled red onions, and some spicy cream sauce of choice. (I’m still in love with the sriracha ranch sauce I bought a few weeks ago, so that’s what I used. It was quite good and quite filling.

Shawarma Chicken:
1 Chicken Breast (makes enough for two servs)
1 Garlic, minced
1/2 Lime, juice + rind
1/4 Lemon, juice
1 tbsp Yogurt, thick + plain
1 tbsp Oregano, dry
1/2 tea each S & P

Cut up meat into 1″ cubes. Toss them with the dry and wet ingredients in a glass bowl. Mix it up well to fully coat the meat. Throw in the spent lime rind. Cover and chill 30-45 mins.

Discard the lime rind and skewer the meat chunks as the oven or grill heats up. (You will need 4 small skewers, or 3 long ones.) Cook each side 3 mins on the grill, or oven cook for 12 mins, turning once halfway. Cook to the full 165F degrees.

Steak Entree Salad

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We had some leftover steak that needed to be used up tonight, and some other veg that was on the cusp, so in a big entree salad they went after I reheated the meat. I topped it with this groovy dressing I found at Walmart. Very tasty. It made a believer out of the husband who isn’t into salad.

Steak Entree Salad:
3-4 oz Steak, cooked / cut on bias 1/4″ slices
3 C Leaf Green
Salt
1/4 Pepper: Green & Red, diced
1/2 Roma Tomato, diced
Pickled Red Onions (for colour, texture, and tart taste)
Any dressing (mine is creamy and zippy, but balsamic glaze would be great, too)

Wash the greens, spin dry, and toss lightly with salt. Divide greens into two large plates or bowls, top with diced veg and picked onions. Add small drizzles of the dressing and top with the rested sliced up steak.

Note: Warm pan friend mushrooms would be lovely in this salad, too.