One of my favorite lunches are salads, they are good for a light meal and can be filling depending on what all goes in it, such as nuts, croutons, meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables. They are fresh and packed full of nutrients and antioxidants.
Until recently, I always made salads with lettuce whether it be romaine, bibb, red leaf, etc. The only living creature in my house that ate kale was our rabbit, Opie, who was an 18 lb. French Lop who thought he was one of the dogs.
I start off with freshly washed kale leaves that I separate from the stem by holding the stem firmly in one hand and grab the leaves like a claw on each side of the stem with the other hand then pull down. I chop the leaves into bite size pieces then toss them with a French vinaigrette. Yes, I seem to have lots of recipes with French vinaigrette, it is so versatile, easy to make and works well with so many different salads and makes a good marinade. I try to make a practice of tossing greens with the dressing before adding other ingredients so you use less dressing.
I top the salad with bleu cheese crumbles, walnuts and a sliced pear. This salad has it all, tons of texture, pungent bleu cheese, sweet pear and tart vinaigrette. It is great for a light meal and also a great side salad as well. While the nutritional data provided seems high, the fats in this salad are good fats coming from walnuts and olive oil, saturated fat is low (<9). This salad contains more than 100% of your recommended allowance of Omega-6 oil and nearly 200% of Omega-3 oil. Also over 100% for vitamin A and copper and packs nearly 300% of vitamin K.
- 2 cups kale, chopped
- 1 ripe pear, sliced
- 1 oz. bleu cheese crumbles
- 1 oz. walnuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tsp. whole grain mustard
- Start off my combining all the ingredients for the dressing, mix well.
- Place kale in bowl or plate, toss with dressing.
- Sprinkle top of salad with bleu cheese and walnuts.
- Arrange pear slices on top and serve.
I created this slaw to go on top of pulled pork but it works good with any sort of barbecue or picnic and would be good topped on many different sandwiches, fish tacos and hot dogs. Not only does this slaw have a burst of great flavors; sweet, tart and savory but a great crunch.
This slaw starts out with shredded green cabbage and shredded carrots. If you are short for time or if you prefer, you can use the already shredded cabbage mix in the produce department, most also have red cabbage as well and that will just add more color to this slaw.
Thinly sliced red onion and matchstick size julienned apples are added to the cabbage mix. As far as apples go, you can use sweet or tart or a mix of both. For presentation purposes I would use an apple with reddish skin but it is totally up to you or what you have on hand.
The slaw is then tossed with a simple French vinaigrette which is olive oil, apple cider vinegar, whole grain mustard and a tad bit agave nectar.
I think potatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables there is. Although I know many treat them as a vegetable, I did low carbohydrate for so long I treat potatoes and corn more like a grain. They come in a wide variety; russet, fingerling, Yukon gold, sweet potato, etc. and they all possess their own unique traits for color, taste and texture.
Lima beans have been cultivated since 2000 AD, mainly in Central and South America. They originated in Peru and when they were introduced to Europe and America, the crates were labeled from Lima, and that is how both varieties of these beans got their names.
Pub cheese, also known as beer cheese, is a spreadable, pungent cheese that is always a crowd pleaser. While the name may imply that it is of Irish origins (pub), it actually has its origins in Kentucky where they hold an annual beer cheese festival.
Chili con carne originated in Texas and is recognized as the state’s official dish. Chili stands expanded throughout the United states with a wide variety of different techniques and flavors depending on location such as Cincinnati and Chicago, much like styles of barbecue.
Taquitos are a Mexican treat and are also known by other names; taco dorados, rolled tacos and flautas, although flautas tends to be larger in size and sometimes made with flour tortillas. The name taquito is Spanish for small taco while they may be small in size they are not small in flavor.
Because everyone has different preferences for fillings, I have made four variations of this recipe which will yield 15 taquitos per flavor. If you want all of them the same then you will need to multiply the recipe by four, or if you want half and half then multiply the recipe by two, and so on.
Peanut coleslaw is something I had at a barbecue restaurant, I loved it so much more than regular or traditional coleslaw. It was crunchy, tangy and very satisfying, I looked forward to it more than I did the rest of the meal. Of course the restaurant wouldn’t give out their recipe so I had to play around with it until I could make a copycat version of it, which after some tweaking, I preferred more than theirs.
Normally when I pan sear steaks I do it with a combination of stove top followed by the oven but since these are so thin, they are easy to do just on the stove top.
I heat my grill pan over medium-high heat and once it is hot put the steaks on. They should sizzle as soon as you put them on the grill. I cook each one about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes per side then remove the pan from the heat and they continue to cook, especially in cast iron.