Category Archives: Salad

Salad with Fresh Figs, Cheese and Nuts

Recipe coming from: My romancing of fresh figs and all the recipes out there that I tried to find a perfect combination

fresh fig salad

If I were to be given three wishes, one of them, naturally, would be to make fresh figs available all year around.  Ridiculous, I know.  I have a car that tells me how to get to new places and a robot that sweeps and mops the floor.  Yet we still have not figured out how we can produce this most delicious fruit throughout the year?  I mean, I see bean sprouts any time of the year, and everybody I know seems to hate them.  Seriously, people… PRIORITIES.

With the promise of the 21st century science failing me, I have no choice but continue to obsess and have as many of these little gems as possible from the moment they hit the fresh produce section mid to late summer until the end of September when the short season ends.  That means – A few more trips to Trader Joe’s, and I have to endure many figless months all over again. Continue reading

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Favorite Winter Salad – Orange, Avocado and Pomegranate

Recipe inspired by: John’s pomegranate and the trick I learned to get the seeds out

orange and pomegranate saladOne usual hectic morning, I was in my office frenetically dialing in for the next conference call that I was already late for when a big, red, round object suddenly appeared between me and my phone. I looked up, and it was my co-worker John who just walked in to join the call, with his signature gentle smile, reaching out to offer me a gorgeous pomegranate that came from his backyard. “Pomegranate!” I squeaked. “You said you like it,” said John. “Um… hello?” perplexed voice came out of the speaker phone.

John remembered correctly. I enjoy eating all kinds of fruits but have particular appreciation for seasonal ones. Among winter fruits, a pomegranate is such a bright star – I cannot get enough of juicy, zesty, sweet, crunchy goodness of this salad, but I would also eat the seeds as is, sprinkle over yogurt, or mix in with couscous and nuts for pilaf. I love how they make everything a little bit more special, and the experience starts the moment you break the fruit – Seeing the creamy white inside filled with those sparkling garnet gems overflowing out of it virtually unleashes my inner princess, although in reality I’m most likely standing by the kitchen sink in my sweat pants with Hello Kitty slipper socks. Continue reading

Marinated Kale and Avocado Salad

Recipe adapted from: The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book (by Mike Snyder with Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH and Lorena Novak Bull, RD)

marinated kale and avocado saladI’m a Trader Joe’s kind of gal but there are two reasons I go to Whole Foods Market for. One is a bunch of organic carrots that still have green top (I discovered carrots greens a while ago and it is utterly, utterly delicious) and the other is dinosaur kale. Strongly flavored and textured kale is my favorite out of all dark leafy greens and I do love common, curly kind. But some recipes like this one call for crinkly dinosaur kale which is a bit softer and milder.

The only problem is that I seem to be able to get them only at Whole Foods. Even my trusted Asian and Middle Eastern markets that usually carry every obscure vegetable don’t seem to have this type of kale regularly. Suppose I could just include Whole Foods in my weekly grocery shopping route to spend every Saturday afternoon driving around the valley to get what I need for the following week. I would, for this salad. But I had the strategy last year. Continue reading

Curried Quinoa Salad

Recipe adapted from: Simple Vegetarian Pleasures (by Jeanne Lemlin)

curried quinoa saladOriginally, this recipe was for a rice salad, but I took liberty to make slight modifications as the recipe is so versatile with many of ingredients interchangeable. The curry-flavored dressing is simple but genius – It is so accommodating that whatever the tweaks you may try, it will most likely tie everything together nicely. I made a few variations depending on what I had in freezer/refrigerator at the time, and this is my favorite combination so far.

Please note that there will be a bit of planning involved, as you are supposed to leave it for 1-8 hours for flavors to be mixed and develop after you have combined all the ingredients.  For this reason, it has become one of my lunch staples when I don’t have any left-over from the night before. Continue reading