DIYEats How to; Live Deliciously

Archive for the ‘Salads’ Category

I’ve been looking for something light and satisfying for summer dinners and this salad is just that. Light, fresh and satisfying. We love cucumbers and green onions, so this is a good recipe if you’re looking for something different and yet fresh this is a great way to go. This also a quick and easy recipe to put together.

I started with the dressing. I added sour cream, white vinegar, dill, milk, and some mustard and then I gave it good stirring…..mmm, love this stuff!

Then I cut up the cucumbers and the onions. Here are the onions…..just waiting to dive into the salad and make it heavenly!

Super easy and oh so yummy, let it chill for at least an hour before serving so that those flavors have time to develop.

Great served with grilled chicken and rice.

Creamy Cucumber Salad
Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced

Dressing:

• 1/4 C sour cream
• 1 tsp prepared mustard
• 1 tsp minced fresh dill
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp milk

Directions

• In a bowl, combine cucumbers and onions. Combine dressing ingredients; pour over cucumber mixture and toss gently. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.  4 servings.

I really hope that everyone had a Happy New Year! With everyone out of school and off work all week long, it’s been nice to be able to relax a little and let our hair down for a bit. Alas, it’s time to get into the groove again and move forward into 2012.

A few years ago, there was a kid who was dating my daughter and his Mom was from Mexico and he would make ceviche from time when he came over to the house. It’s such a nice refreshing salad/salsa kind of thing! I love the fresh lime and cilantro together, it’s like they were meant to be with one another on just about any type of Mexican dish and this is no exception. And what better way to start that New Year’s resolution with something not only healthy and low cal, but also really tasty!

I started with a couple of cucumbers and diced them up.

And then half of a red onion.

Then a jalapeno pepper, I removed the seeds and spines, but if you like heat then add them in there too, it’s completely up to you!

Then I chopped some cilantro up.

Some shrimp cut into small pieces, pretty consistent with the size of the cucumbers.

And finally some fresh squeezed limes.

Stir that all up and serve on tortilla chips or just plain. Either way, it’s really awesome!

Shrimp Ceviche

Ingredients:
2 cucumbers diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, diced with the spines and seeds removed
1/3 C cilantro, chopped
15 medium shrimp, cut into small pieces
3 limes, squeezed

Directions:
Dice and chop all ingredients and combine. Cut limes into fourths and squeeze into vegetables and shrimp. Stir and serve on tortilla chips. Enjoy!!!!

I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I’ve had so many sweets and really good, fattening foods that I sometimes feel the need to just sit down to a light meal…….just to take a break for a minute. Between the 12 days of Christmas at work (this is where three people sign up to bring something festive each day) and then my own baking and making, I’m seriously in overload when it comes to the sweets department. So today as I’m working away at work, I had a brain storm…..yeah, it really happened! Ok, maybe not quite that dramatic. But it was a good thing!

Salad is always a good way to lighten up and then the addition of fruit and cranberries makes it still festive, but still light and tasty.

Now, the players for the salad are as follows: Romaine lettuce, kiwi fruit, an orange, cranberries and a little love.

Peel and cut up the segments of the orange

Peel and cut the kiwi fruit up into small pieces

Throw in about 1/2 C cranberries

Chop some of that Romaine lettuce

And give it all a toss……do the hokey pokey and shake yourself about……….yeah, that’s better!

Then for the Citrus Dressing, the players are: Green onions, sour cream, honey, frozen orange juice, Sesame oil, salt and pepper

Throw all that stuff in the blender and give it a good buzz. Throw it into a serving container and there you have it!

A wonderful bowl of salad, lots of vitamin C among other things and some festive flavors!

Cranberry and Citrus Salad

Ingredients:
1 navel orange, peeled and segments chopped.
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries
2 stalks romaine lettuce, chopped

Directions:
Chop the fruit and lettuce and toss together, set aside.

Honey Citrus Salad Dressing
Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons frozen (thawed) orange juice concentrate
2 teaspoons green onion, chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until well combined and creamy.

I hope and that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There are so many things for us to be thankful for, and yet at times it’s so easy to overlook our blessings for the rough spots that seem to pop up at the most inopportune times. Many blessings to everyone through this holiday season!

Thanksgiving this year was spent in idaho Falls with family and tons of fun! Two wonderful traditional dinners, awesome conversation and company, one couldn’t ask for better!

I kind of figure that since we’re in the heat of the season (no pun intended) that I would post something with cranberries in it, yet it needs to be on the lighter side because of the many delicious comfort foods and traditional yummy foods that we all love to partake of this time of year. This salad is easy, fast and contains some of the more festive flavors as well.

The items that you’ll need: Cranberries, romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese, vidalia onion salad dressing.

Start by copping the lettuce, that just looks so crisp and green and crunchy!

Then add the Parmesan cheese and cranberries,

Toss with the Vidalia onion salad dressing, serve that up with some chicken and you’ve got yourself some pretty dang good grub!

Cranberry Parmesan Salad

Ingredients:
3 Stalks romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C Vidalia onion salad dressing

Directions:
Chop romaine lettuce, add remaining ingredients and toss. Serve immediately.

As I was rummaging through the fridge a couple of days ago, I remembered that I had some grilled pineapple that I needed to use and after a few minutes deliberation, I decided to mix up some coleslaw. I’m really trying to draw the end of the summer out for a long as possible.

I started with coleslaw mix, and grilled pineapple that I cut up.

Mix up the mayo, mustard, sugar, vinegar and pepper……whalla, toss that stuff up together so that it’s all happy and nice in that there bowl and serve.

Pile this on high, it’s just super good!

Coleslaw

Ingredients:
1 package cabbage mix
1/2 C mayonnaise
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 C pineapple chunks (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, and sugar. Toss into cabbage mix and serve.

I’m always looking for new recipes for summer BBQs that are simple, healthy and nutritious so after someone made this for us this summer I had to have the recipe. It’s just simple and full of flavor, but still loaded with tons of really good nutrition…..but don’t tell the kids. LOL

Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
1 pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
1 fruit cup of blueberries
1 fruit cup of strawberries, cut into pieces
2 vanilla beans (seeds removed and incorporated through the fruit
1/4 C sugar

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients and allow to sit refrigerated for 2 to 4 hours, serve.

Okay, so I am completely loving basalmic vinegar, this stuff is just awesome! Add a little brown sugar and some olive oil and you’ve got yourself a very tasty and healthy salad dressing. This can be added to just about any fresh raw veggies really.

What I did today was I cut up some miniature cucumbers and then I gave the vinegar mixture a quick stir and put it all together. It’s just perfect with cucumbers, it’s slightly sweet, nicely tangy and awesomely yummy!

Balsamic Cucumbers

Ingredients:
1/3 C dark balsamic vinegar
2 – 3 tsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 – 6 miniature cucumbers

Directions:
Combine the first 3 ingredients, then pour over cucumbers and stir to coat. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes. Serve.

I have decided that balsamic vinegar is just the ultimate vinegar, it’s wonderul taste is just impossible to beat.

Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sour cream
span style=”font-family: ‘Georgia’, ‘serif’;”>1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and enjoy.

A friend gave me this recipe a long time ago and since, it’s been one our favorites for a weekend lunch. It’s so simple and quick and yet so tasty, it’s really hard to just have one bowl.