Creamy Orzo Salad
- At July 4, 2009
- By megan
- In beans, caramelized onion, Feta Cheese, Orzo, Peppers, salad, Spinach
0
This orzo salad, served cold, is a nice change from the typical pasta salad eaten in the summer.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Orzo
- 2-3 cups fresh, raw spinach
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped or sliced
- 1 red pepper, chopped or sliced
- 1 can rinsed and drained kidney beans
- 1 yellow or sweet onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 1 TB honey
- 1 TB cider vinegar
- fresh ground black pepper
Slice the onion. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and start to cook the onion on medium low heat until it turns a nice golden brown and caramelizes. This could take 40 minutes or more, so plan for this time lag in advance. When the onion is done, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon to keep most of the olive oil in the pan. Place the onion in a dish to cool.
Start to boil water and cook the orzo just like you prepare pasta. Drain and rinse in cold water.
While the onion caramelizes and the orzo boils, chop the spinach and the peppers. As soon as the caramelized onion is removed from the pan, add the peppers and cook them for a few minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon to reserve the rest of the olive oil for the spinach. Saute the spinach for one minute or so, just until it wilts.
In a large bowl, combine the orzo, spinach, peppers, and kidney beans. Then, turn to the food processor. Combine the caramelized onion, feta, honey, vinegar, and fresh ground pepper. Puree this into a creamy sauce and mix into the orzo salad.
Sweet Potato Salad
- At June 3, 2009
- By megan
- In beans, Corn, salad, sweet potato
- 0
I prefer to eat sweet potatoes (the actual true, white ones) or yams instead of most other potatoes. I hardly ever touch Russet potatoes, which is a long, arduous story, and sometimes use Yukon Gold, Red, Blue, or even Fingerling potatoes. But, yams are so healthy and delicious, I usually have them in the kitchen. Here’s a summer salad.
Main Ingredients:
- 1 large yam
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
Ingredients for Dressing
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 TB cider vinegar
- 1 TB honey
- 1 TB stone ground mustard (or honey mustard…or whatever mustard you have)
- 1/2 TB Worcestershire sauce
- pinch of sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 1 TB freshly chopped chives
- 1 TB freshly chopped parsley
Peel, cube, and boil the yams until a fork easily pierces them. Drain and rinse with cold water. While the yams are boiling, sauté the onion in olive oil until soft. Combine the yams, rinsed kidney beans, onion, and corn.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and mix into the sweet potato salad. Fast, easy, and healthy.
Salad with Spicy Tempeh
- At April 17, 2009
- By megan
- In salad, tempeh
- 0
Rather than add grilled chicken to a salad, I prefer grilled tempeh. It is much easier, tastes great, and there is no post-chicken kitchen clean-up. This salad has my Spicy Grilled Tempeh on top.
The salad is simple- mixed organic greens, a seeded tomato, grilled red pepper, and shaved carrot. That’s all I had in the house at the time. I gilled the red pepper right after grilling the tempeh, but this, of course, is optional. I dressed the lettuce, tomato, and pepper in rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil to give a simple flavor to the salad. Then I shaved a carrot on top, and finally added the tempeh. Add cucumber for a cool, refreshing bite in between a mouth-full of hot, spicy tempeh.
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