Chicken Cobb Salad

It's almost summer, so that means more salads! I swear it's the only time when I actually crave salads and can eat them without a grimace. This one is pretty darn good too. And filling. Until I realize I'm missing carbs. You see...I have a problem; if there aren't a lot of carbs in a meal, I'll believe I'm hungry until I eat a lot of carbs. But at least now I'm mixing in brown rice, red rice and black rice in with my Jasmine rice so it's healthier. :D

Anywho, this is an awesome salad. Definitely one of the staples we're going to have more often of.


Chicken Cobb Salad
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 2 medium avocados, diced
• 1 341ml (12oz) can of corn niblets
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts, rinsed and chopped
• 4 eggs, hard boil and diced/chopped
• 4 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 1/2 - 1 cup ranch dressing
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook bacon over medium high heat until crisp. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
2. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Brown in the skillet with the bacon fat. Cook for about 6-7 minutes each side until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through in the middle.
3. Meanwhile, divide romaine lettuce into 4 large bowls (or plates). Divide avocados, corn, tomatoes, black beans and eggs and arrange on top of the lettuce, leaving space for the chicken.
4. Once chicken is cooked, let it rest for 5 minutes before chopping into bite size pieces. Divide and add to the salad.
5. Sprinkle the bacon bits and green onions on top of salad.
6. Drizzle with ranch dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve alone or with garlic bread.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers are awesome as a side in the summer when you're having some sort of Asian dinner with rice and some stir fries or whatever. It's refreshing and so good for you if you've had a lot of deep fried junk like how I normally do in the summers. :P


Spicy Cucumber Salad
(serves 2-4 as a side dish)

Ingredients:

• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 1/2 tsp garlic chili
• 2 Tbsps white vinegar
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Place the cucumbers into a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, squeeze out as much of the cucumber juice as possible and return back to the bowl.
2. Add garlic chili, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss until well coated.
3. Let the cucumbers marinate in the sauce for 15 minutes before serving.
4. Serve as a side with rice and another okazu, or alone.

Bean Sprout Salad

This is so simple yet it's so yummy to eat as a side with rice and some sort of protein (stir fry, stew, anything Asian, etc.).

K actually likes to eat it on its own. He uses his fingers to pick up everything. He's going through a phase where he likes to use his hands instead of a fork or spoon. OH WELL. Hopefully it'll end soon :P


Bean Sprout Salad
(serves 4-6 as a small side)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bean sprouts, rinsed
• 1 English cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
• 1 green onion, finely diced
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss cucumbers with a pinch of salt. Set aside for 5 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch bean sprouts. Rinse under cold water and squeeze out as much water as possible. 
3. Add bean sprouts to cucumbers. Mix in green onion, sesame oil and garlic. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. (Optional) top with sesame seeds. 
5. Serve with rice and some sort of Asian okazu or alone.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad

I'm a sucker for buying the big bags of lemons at the grocery store. It's silly because I almost never use up all of them unless I'm making lemonade, which means I'll almost have to throw away a few. It's sad when I have to. I know I can do other things with it and one of those things is to make a lemony vinaigrette. It's the easiest way for me to use up anything citrus: to make a vinaigrette. Lol.

This vinaigrette can be used on any salad with strawberries and/or sweet greens. If not using on a salad with sweet ingredients, I'd add more honey.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp honey
• A pinch each of salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic infused virgin olive oil
• 150g mixed greens
• 6-8 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Drizzle in 2/3 of the olive oil while whisking vigorously. Taste and add more olive oil if the vinaigrette is too acidic.
2. In a large salad bowl or mixing bowl, combine mixed greens, strawberries and pistachios. Drizzle dressing over greens and gently toss. 
3. Serve with a creamy/rich entree.

Pineapple Cucumber Salad

CRAZY simple. This is definitely one of my favorite summer dishes. I learned this from my mother in law. She makes it for every potluck event and I gobble as much of it down as I can without looking too much like a piggy. :)

Depending on the dried plums, you may need to add some vinegar or lime juice and sugar. There's this specific kind that my mother in law brings back from Malaysia that just makes this dish superb. I have no clue what the brand is, so I can't even Google it. She always brings it back in a clear bag. Like the ones you use for bulk foods....oh well!

As you can tell by the top picture, clearly, I forgot the carrots. But I do have a picture below that my MIL made just last weekend. :)

Pineapple Cucumber Salad
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 small fresh pineapple, cubed (3-4 cups)
• 1 cucumber, cut into 2 inch pieces or cubed
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3 dried plums
• Salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• Sugar (optional)
• 1 red chili pepper, finely diced (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sprinkle two pinches of salt over the cucumbers and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Rinse and place back into the mixing bowl.
2. Add pineapple chunks, carrots, the dried plums, vinegar and chili pepper, if using. Mix well. 
3. Chill in the fridge overnight before serving. 
4. If the salad is too sour, add some sugar. If not sour enough, add more vinegar.
5. Serve as a side to any (spicy) Asian dish or eat alone.

Black Bean Salad

You know, I cannot believe I haven't made a post about this recipe yet. This is one of the salads that I make every summer because Hubby and I both love it so much. It's stupid easy and filling. It's better with the lemon juice (or even lime juice) but we don't always use it if we don't have it. It still tastes good but the acid from the lemon/lime juice really makes the salad scrumptious. :)


Black Bean Salad
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 540ml (19oz) can of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 311g (11oz) can of corn niblets, rinsed and drained
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 2 small or medium avocados, chopped
• 2 Tbsps garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon or lime
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss everything, except the avocado, and a pinch of salt together. Season with more salt if necessary. Just before serving, toss in avocado chunks.
2. Serve with grilled chicken or steak.

Asian Steak Salad

Okay, so the picture is not all that pretty and the steak isn't nicely arranged. Who cares? It was a yummy salad and I love the dressing. I can use that dressing for almost any salads I make...including the ones where I just use the spring greens and add roast beef and cheese. Yum.

The picture you see is of a whole steak with only half of the salad . We were craving meat, so yeah. Otherwise it'd look better and we wouldn't have been so overstuffed. :x


Asian Steak Salad
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsps lime juice
• 3 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsps sugar
• 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp Sesame seeds
• 2 1 inch thick striploin steaks, excess fat trimmed
• 1 300g package of mixed spring greens

Directions:

1. Combine canola oil, vinegar, lime juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper in a mason jar to make dressing. Close the lid and shake hard. Set aside.
2. Place steaks in a large Ziploc bag and pour 1/3 or 1/2 of the dressing in the bag. Squeeze out all the air and let marinade for 10 minutes.
3. Heat up a hot grill pan until smoking hot. Take steaks out of bag and grill on grill pan until medium rare, about 2 minutes per side. Grill more if you like it more cooked and grill less if you like it rare. Transfer to a rack or the cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, toss spring greens in a large mixing bowl with the dressing and sesame seeds. Add more dressing if necessary. Transfer salad on a big serving platter or on individual plates. Set aside.
5. Slice steaks into strips and lay on top of the salad.
6. Serve on its own or with a wedge of garlic toast, or a baked potato.

Greekish Salad

I have fallen in love with Greek Salad. Not really, but it's so yummy and simple. Hubby doesn't like feta nor olives, so it's hard to get my fix some days. Luckily, I had a pot luck to go to sans Hubby and K, so I made some! I forgot to get bell peppers, so hence the "Greekish" vs "Greek" salad name. So just add the green bell peppers to make it a Greek salad! :)

No matter though, since it was still super yummy. If the other foods at the potluck weren't so good, I'd probably have polished this all off. :P


Greekish Salad
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber, diced
• 3 large roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup katamala olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced/shaved
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the red onions under some cold water and dry off with paper towels or in a salad spinner.
2. Combine everything in a large salad bowl. Go easy on the salt in case your feta is super salty. Using tongs or your hands, mix well. Season with more salt & pepper, if necessary.
3. Serve (with more feta cheese if you're a fanatic) as a side. It can be served immediately or made an hour or two ahead.

Rinsing the onion cuts the sharpness and drying it off makes the "dressing" less watery.

Update: So I decided to make this again. Only this time I added orange bell peppers and baby spinach. Yum!! 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

This has got to be the world's easiest vinaigrette. I remember a time when balsamic was all the rage. I don't know why it ended. That stuff is awesome. I always use it on some spring greens for a quick salad. Apparently it's pretty good as a dipping sauce for garlic toast. Who knew?


Balsamic Vinaigrette
(makes ~3/4 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsps honey
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Add everything into a mason jar. Shake well until the honey has dissolved. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.
2. Serve over mixed greens or pout into a small plate as dip for bread.

Sometimes I'll use garlic infused extra virgin olive oil if I'm too lazy to mince up some garlic. It's less potent but still really good. Measurements are approximate since some balsamic vinegars are sweeter than others. I had a bottle that was so super sweet I only used about half the amount of honey. :)

Creamy Coleslaw

So I was told that there are 2 types of coleslaw. The type with a creamy dressing and the type with a vinaigrette dressing. I did not know that! I've always had the creamy one and it's the on that Hubby loves. Needless to say, I had to go make a creamy one for Hubby. If he loves something that involves veggies, I try to make it lots so he actually gets SOME sort of veggies intake. Lol. Sometimes I think all wives do this to their Hubbies. :)

Creamy Coleslaw
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 green cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 bunch green onions, finely shredded or diced on a bias
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• Sat & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, sugar, vinegar and oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
2. Add in shredded veggies. Mix until well coated. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

You can always salt your cabbage to remove the water content in the cabbage. This'll help make the dressing less watery. We don't care though because we just strain the last bits. It's too much of a hassle to salt the cabbage and then rinse and dry the cabbage thoroughly before actually combining everything together.

Mom's "Cocktail" Salad

Really, I have no clue what to call this. All I know is that it's a salad and it's a childhood favourite of mine. Every summer, my mom would make this for us and it'd be gone by the next day. Dad sometimes would MAYBE get a bowl and that was it. She'd keep it in a 4L ice cream bucket so it was easy for us to get to without spilling/breaking anything. :)

Be warned, it contains (GASP) canned cocktail fruit! I know I know...It's summer and I'm using CANNED fruit????? It just makes no sense! But I don't care because it tastes awesome and it's how my mom always made it so it's how I'm going to always make it for Kayden. The best part is that we get to put cucumbers in it. Mom had to take it out after a while because my sis didn't like cucumbers. Those were some sad times...


Mom's "Cocktail" Salad
(serves 8-12)

Ingredients:

• 2 large cooked & cooled russet potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
• 5 cooled hard boiled eggs
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1 796ml (28oz) can of cocktail fruit, drained
• 2 red delicious apples, diced
• 2/3 cup Miracle Whip
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Crumble/mash the egg yolks with a fork in a small bowl. Chop up the egg whites. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients until everything is well covered with Miracle Whip and egg yolk.
3. Chill in the fridge at least 2 hours before serving.

Potato & Egg Salad

AAhh...potato salad...I love making this in the summer. It's so crazy filling and it's summer friendly (read: very little stove time). This is very similar to the one with bacon. The big difference is that it's vegetarian, but i'st still really yummy.


Potato & Egg Salad

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb russet potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 green onion, finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsps horseradish Dijon mustard
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and season with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Strain and lay on a cookie sheet to cool. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix everything together. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Potato & Egg Salad with Bacon

Father's Day BBQ at the in-laws. I'd feel bad if I don't bring something so I decide on potato and egg salad. I've been meaning to make this anyway and this was the perfect excuse. Heehee. It's totally yummy I thought a pound of bacon would be too much, but it totally isn't. There was none left at the end of the night! Or at least that's what it looked like. I wasn't feeling well so I couldn't really eat much. Hence I didn't hang out at the food table as much as I normally would have.

Potato & Egg Salad with Bacon

(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 3 lb russet potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
• 4 green onions, finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 1 lb bacon, chopped
• 6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsps horseradish Dijon mustard
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and season with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Strain and lay on a cookie sheet to cool. 
2. In a large sauce pan, cook bacon bits until crispy. Spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil. Set aside to cool for a few minutes. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix everything together. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Updated: Changed the name of the recipe since it has yummy bacon in it and my other totally vegetarian one doesn't. :)

Caesar Salad Dressing & Homemade Garlicky Croutons

Apparently this dressing brings all the boys to the yard. Haha. I just had to try it. It's a family recipe. My sister's soon to be mom in law's recipe. I'm glad she's one of those people who share all her recipes. Cuz this was yummy. Even Hubby likes it and the only Caesars he likes are the alcoholic kind. Definitely not the salad type. Which I adore.

The dressing is even better after it's been sitting in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. So it's perfect to make ahead. :)


Caesar Salad Dressing
(Makes 1/2 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 + 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/4 + 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine mayonnaise and olive oil in a mason jar. Cap and shake well until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Cap and shake until well blended. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Homemade Garlicky Croutons
(Makes 2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of whole wheat bread, cubed
• 2 Tbsp garlic salt
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine everything in a large bowl and toss until cubed bread is thoroughly coated.
3. Spread in one layer on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly toasted. If using a toaster oven, just put tray in and start toasting on level 4 on the bottom rack.

I like to have everything bite sized, so I always cut my romaine lettuce into bite size pieces or as close to it as possible without it looking like small little dices. Add as much or as little dressing and croutons as you'd like. I don't particularly care whether there's Parmesan cheese or not in my salad so I don't bother. Bacon is always nice but I like my salad simple. Maybe I'll add an egg or grilled chicken or salmon or something for protein but that'll have to be next time. :)

Tuna Salad Wrap

It seems like I'm always in need of a quick dinner. Sure, I have some frozen meals to dump into the slow cooker but I haven't been able to find anything I REALLY like (although I did find something I REALLY didn't like). Maybe I'm just not a fan of slow cooking? I know, right? The horror! It's like me and roast beef. I tried making it at least 5 different times with different recipes and always failed. Then I actually had some during a buffet dinner somewhere and decided that it's really just well done steak. So not a fan. So maybe I didn't really fail all those times, but it's just that Hubby and I don't like that kind of taste. So maybe it's the same for slow cooking...????? Who knows, but maybe I'll figure it out in a couple of years or at least after a few more attempts at frozen slow cooker meals.

In any case, I haven't had tuna salad in a while and (as usual) I needed a quick dinner. No bread in the house but I do have a couple of tortilla wraps left. Score! I even made it with some Greek yogurt to increase the protein and decrease the fat. That oughtta offset that box of chocolates I devoured at work earlier today...right? XD


Tuna Salad Wrap
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 170g (7oz) cans of tuna, flaked with a fork
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsps Greek yogurt
• 1 celery rib, finely diced
• 3 Tbsps capers, drained & minced
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 flour tortillas
• Butter/green/red lettuce or spring greens (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine tuna, mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, celery, and capers in a small bowl and mix until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Spread some lettuce (optional) in the center of 1 of the tortillas. Spoon one half of the tuna salad on top of the lettuce. Fold the sides over the filling and roll up into a wrap. Repeat for second wrap.
3. Slice each wrap in half and serve with a side salad and soup. Enjoy!