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.
Growing up both my mama and grammy made a lot of recipes that they found on the side of soup cans and boxes. Many were quick and easy fixes, others inexpensive meals and some became family favorites.
To start, I knew I needed it make it healthier than store bought refrigerator rolls so I opted to make my whole wheat biscuits and roll them thin and cut them a little larger than regular biscuits.
The filling has shredded chicken that I boiled in chicken broth for nearly 2 hours over a high simmer until it was falling apart. I shred the chicken and add diced onions, bran cereal which adds extra fiber, chopped walnuts and seasonings including sage and thyme.
I take the biscuit rounds and moisten the edges with water then add the filling and fold over the biscuit and seal the edges. They then go onto a greased baking sheet and into the oven.
While the hand pies are baking, I make the white gravy by first forming a roux with some canola oil and whole wheat flour. I slowly whisk in milk, chicken bouillon for some added flavor and fresh cracked black peppercorns. I continue to whisk the gravy until it 
thickens.
Once the hand pies are removed from the oven and slightly cooled, I place them on a serving platter and spoon the white gravy over the top and garnish with some additional bran cereal, walnuts and fresh parsley.
These can be made larger if you would prefer, like a calzone and served for dinner. In the smaller size they can still be served as a meal and make a great appetizer which you can serve the gravy on the side. They would also be great at brunch as well.
Aside from the great flavor in this casserole, it is prepped and cooked all in the same pan. If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, you can transfer to a casserole dish to bake. It starts with ground turkey that I brown and crumble. You could substitute any ground meat that you have on hand. To that, onion and garlic are added. Spices are added like chili powder, cumin and oregano. Once the ground turkey mixture is fragrant from the aromatics and spices, I add in diced tomatoes and chilies. You can substitute canned petite diced tomatoes for fresh, you can also used canned diced green chilies. Another option would be 2 cans of diced tomatoes and chilies all in one can, such as Rotel. Corn, black beans, cilantro, cornmeal with baking powder are all added and mixed well. This mixture is patted down flat and then goes into the oven to bake. While the turkey is cooked through, this step allows the cornmeal to absorb the liquids and expand and become more like the texture of steamed masa throughout the casserole.
The casserole comes out of the oven and shredded cheese is added to the top. I prefer a pepper Jack cheese but if you want a milder flavor, Jack can be substituted. The casserole is returned to the hot oven, to allow the cheese to melt.
To serve, simply spoon out onto serving plates and dig in.
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.
What’s more American than apple pie? Well, with that being said, apple pie is actually from Western Europe but given that many of the settlers that came to the United States were from there, it makes perfect sense. Do you remember when your mama or gammy would bake apple pie, that aroma would fill the air and it seemed like forever until it was time for dessert after you smelled that sweet cinnamon all day long. Imagine the settlers, they came to America and all we had were tiny, tart crabapple trees so they had to plant apples and wait for the trees to mature and produce fruit, kind of dwarfs the few hours you had to endure to get your slice.
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.
Cornbread is a quick bread, meaning it doesn’t contain yeast and requires no time to rise. It has deep roots with the Native Americans and the colonists that settled in the southern colonies. In the south it is a staple in most households and Southern cornbread is not sweet nor fluffy like a cake. Ours is grainier, more dense and made with delicious buttermilk and served with butter. You may be surprised to know that buttermilk has fewer calories and fat than that of milk.
The main ingredient in cornbread is, you guessed it, cornmeal. Cornmeal comes in a few varieties; white, yellow and even blue. Typically cornbread usually uses the yellow, which tends to me the most common variety. Corn is a cheap grain to grow and there is usually an abundance of it, not only here in the United States but in Mexico as well, where Mayans used the grain to make masa for tortillas and tamales. Here in the South, cornmeal is commonly used not only for cornbread but also corn pone, hushpuppies and Johnnycakes, which are actually a Northern dish. 
Cornbread can be baked or fried and comes in a variety of forms. This recipe is the baked variety which can be baked in molds, muffin tins, skillets or pans.
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.