Tag Archives: salad

Feb9

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Pomegranate

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I guess you know you’re a grown up when you can say with a straight face that you like brussels sprouts. Because I’ll tell you, even just a few years ago, I would have never even wanted to try them. Now I love these little guys so much…especially roasted.

Discovering the wonderful world of vegetables has been such a fun process for me. I started this journey about 15 years ago when I decided not to eat meat anymore. I haven’t missed it a bit. But for years, I still ate eggs and dairy and many of my meals centered around cheese.

Then about 5 years ago, I thought I’d try eating a vegan diet for health reasons. I have never felt better in my life and now I can’t wait to try new veggies whenever I get the chance. And luckily for me, there are so many more choices available at restaurants for vegetarians and vegans today.

The idea for this recipe came from a lunch I had recently with my friend Missy at True Food Kitchen. The concept behind this restaurant (which has locations in Texas, California, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona and Virginia) is an anti-inflammatory menu based on the work of Dr. Andrew Weil. The omnivore menu changes seasonally and identifies items that are vegan, vegetarian and gluten free.

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Dec22

Festive Cranberry Wild Rice Salad

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Tis the season for hosting gatherings, sharing meals and savoring moments. I brought this simple salad to a holiday party recently and it was a hit. I knew I wanted to use fresh cranberries, but honestly didn’t really know how it was going to turn out. Well, it worked and I was asked by several guests for the recipe, so here you go.

I cooked some Lundberg Countrywild rice according to the package directions, but you could use any wild rice really. Then while the rice was still warm, I added chopped fresh cranberries so they would soften but not be too cooked. I chopped celery, apple and pecans to add. The whole thing was pulled together with a simple cranberry vinaigrette. I found the most amazing cranberry vinegar here in Houston at an oil and vinegar store called Vom Fass. If you can’t find that flavor, simply use a plain balsamic vinegar.

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Jan3

Kale Cabbage Salad

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You know how sometimes you make a salad and you just nail it. The taste is just right. The texture is perfect. The vegetables and dressing co-mingle like they were meant to be together. This is the salad you have been looking for your whole life. The love of your life salad, if you will.

Well, I made that salad tonight. I’m a huge fan of kale salads, but I’ve made many that have fallen flat. The kale tastes too bitter or something just isn’t quite right. But tonight, ah tonight, the kale salad sang and it was a beautiful thing.

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Jun17

Moroccan Quinoa Confetti Salad

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So, I graduated from 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training last weekend. Yay for me and my amazing classmates!!! And how do all good yogis celebrate, with a vegan potluck, of course. Everyone brought in the yummiest food and we all sat around in our circle of gratitude and chowed down. I brought this Moroccan quinoa salad.

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Jun12

BBQ Tofu Salad With Cornbread Croutons

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If I ever write a cookbook, I so want this recipe to be in it. There is a lot going on with this little salad and it’s all super delicious. For starters, I made my own BBQ sauce…without sugar, corn syrup, preservatives, additives, flavoring, coloring or any of the other junky junk that you’ll find on the labels of most store bought barbecue sauces. To sweeten the sauce, I used only a handful of medjool dates and the taste is amazing.

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Apr29

Vegan Caesar Pasta Salad

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I’ve been making variations of this salad forever. It’s so great to take to a potluck because it can feed a lot of people. When the weather warms up (it’s pretty much summer here in Houston now), this salad is just what I’m in the mood to eat.

Traditional Caesar salads include parmesan cheese and anchovies. To make it vegan, I include nutritional yeast to get the cheesy taste and kelp powder to mimic the fish flavor. You should be able to find kelp powder at Whole Foods and maybe even your local grocery store in the organic spice section. (Houston peeps, I got mine at HEB.)  Most Caesar salads also include croutons which I skipped this time, but if you like that, make a batch using day old bread cut into cubes and sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

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