Green Carrot Club

With over 100 recipes now we’re going back and making some oldies but goodies.  We originally made this one last November, remember the nutritional yeast?  I decided to post a new picture, but the recipe is still linked here.  Enjoy!

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Vacation’s over….back to posting.  The middle of summer means fresh corn on the cob.  I made use of 6 cobs here.  I thought I may have over cooked the corn, since it sort of just looked like canned corn after I was done, but it still had quite of bit of crunch left.  Here’s a hint on how to de-cob corn.  Place a small bowl upside down inside a larger bowl.  Place the corn cob vertically on top of the small bowl and then use your knife to cut off the kernels.  The larger bowl keeps the kernels from flying everywhere all over the counter.  If you have a gas stove you can roast the jalapeno right on a burner.  Cut the top off and then using a chopstick stuck through the middle or tongs, hold the pepper over the open flame of a burner.  Do this until the outside if completely blackened.  Then place the pepper inside a sealed paper bag for a few minutes.  This will trap in humidity and make the skin easy to peel off.

Adapted from Love and Lemons.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 6 ears of corn, kernels cut from cob
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 jalapeno, roasted, peeled and chopped (de-seeded depending on desired heat level)
• 3 chopped scallions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a big handful of cilantro
• 1 zucchini chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup crumbled cotija (or feta) cheese
• green leaf lettuce, cut into strips

Dressing:

• juice from 2 limes
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• pinch of salt

Add oil to a large saute pan and add garlic.  Once softened, add corn kernels and cook ~5 minutes.  Mine didn’t brown, and I was afraid I was cooking it too long, so 5 minutes should be sufficient.  Add the chopped jalapeno, scallion, salt and paprika to the corn and cook a few more minutes.  Allow corn mixture to cool.

Chop cilantro, zucchini, and red peppers.  Once corn is cool, mix with these veggies and dress with oil/lime mixture.

Serve corn & veggies on top of green leaf lettuce and top with cotija cheese.  A side of tortilla works well with this.

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Sorry for not posting in forever.  Things got busy and posting got pushed to the back burner.  We’re still making/eating salads though.  We’ve modified our schedule a bit so we’re not actually doing 4 salads a week anymore.  Everyone makes every other week, so we have 3 one week and 2 the following week….  It’s a nice break from having to stress and think about making it every week.  Although eating cafeteria food the rest of the days is not as good.

We’ve had some good salads the past few weeks that I wish I had posted.  Strawberries have made an appearance, I did a nice green bean and cucumber on soba noodles, and today I did what I thought would be a strange one, but it turned out alright:  sweet potato, tomato, pasta, and feta.

With summer vacations and just pure busy-ness at work, I’ll probably be posting less until the Fall.  I’ll try and post the especially good ones though.  Like this one.  The roasted chickpeas are amazing.  Could eat these alone as a snack.

Adapted from Oh She Glows.

Ingredients:

makes 5 servings

• 2 medium cucumbers
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish
• Roasted spiced chickpeas:

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1.5-2 tablespoons natural cane sugar, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Prepare the roasted chickpeas:

Preheat oven to 400F and line a medium baking sheet with a couple pieces of paper towel. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and place onto paper towel. Add a couple paper towels on top and roll the chickpeas around until completely dry. This helps them crisp up in the oven.  Add the chickpeas into a medium mixing bowl and stir in the oil until coated. Now stir in the rest of the seasonings. Discard paper towel and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Add chickpeas back onto the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes. Give the pan a gentle shake to stir the chickpeas and roast for another 15-20 minutes, until golden and lightly charred on the bottom. Cool for 5 minutes then top on your salad. They will lose their crispness quickly so these are best enjoyed immediately.  They are still good a day later, but just not crispy.

Whisk together dressing ingredients.

Peel cucumbers, slice off the ends, and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a small spoon. Slice halves into 1/8-inch “half moons” and toss into a large bowl.  Toss all veggies (including cilantro) with dressing and let sit for at least 30 minutes, this can be done overnight too.  To serve, top with chickpeas and peanuts.

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Ingredients

makes 4 servings

• 3 romaine hearts, sliced
• 1 bunch of radishes, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 4-5 small persian cucumbers, chopped
• 1/2 small tub feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing:

• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• juice from 1 lime
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor (mini one works best), blend dressing ingredients together.  If dressing is too thick, thin out with a little water.

Toss dressing with salad ingredients and serve.

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Adapted from Yummly.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 2-3 cans chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
• 2 red pepper (diced)
• 1 cup corn kernels (from can, frozen/thawed or fresh)
• 2 cups edamame (cooked)
• 4 scallions (white and green parts finely sliced)
• 2 packages mixed greens

Dressing:

• juices from 2 limes
• 1-2 large garlic cloves (minced)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss with vegetables, chickpeas and greens.

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I think this may be the first dressing we made with peanut butter, not sure how that happened.  It was delicious.  When preparing it, be careful not to dilute it too much.  Cucumbers and cilantro might be good additions to this.

Adapted from Vegangela.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

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For this one we used pearled couscous, but regular could also be used.  The dried apricots give this a great texture and sweetness.  It’s been so nice outside lately we’ve been able to eat outside.  Makes for good photos.

Adapted from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

makes 4 serving

• 2 cups cooked couscous (pearled)
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup almond slices , toasted
• 1 container baby spinach

Dressing:

• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil

Cook couscous according to package directions.  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss dressing with chopped ingredients, couscous and spinach.

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I had some ingredients leftover from taco night, so I decided to make a mexican style salad.  These are so easy, but so tasty.  The dressing is literally just salsa (I recommend the brand Casa Sanchez), I added some lemon and olive oil last minute, but not sure it needed it.  Eat up avocados now while they’re good.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 3 hearts of romaine, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 box cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 2 avocados, chopped
• 1/2 cup blue corn tortilla chips, crushed

Dressing:

• fresh salsa (Casa Sanchez)
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Toss all salad ingredients with the salsa.  Squeeze on some fresh lemon and drizzle with olive oil, if desired.

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This salad is super easy and really tasty.  It only involved chopping an onion as long as Trader Joe’s is stocked with kale and the broccoli slaw.

Adapted from Shutterbean.

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

• 1 12 oz. bag broccoli slaw
• 1 bag/head of chopped kale
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup roasted sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup shaved parmesan

Dressing:

• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper

Mix olive oil with balsamic vinegar.  Add salt & pepper to taste,

In a large bowl, toss the broccoli slaw, kale, red onions,dried cranberries, sunflower seeds with dressing until well combined.

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It’s strawberry season!  It’s still early so we can look forward to a few more months of great strawberries.  Enjoy.

This one is from oh she glows.

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

• 1/4 cup Slivered almonds, toasted
• 2-3 Tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
• 1-2 packages of spinach
• 24 oz. of strawberries, chopped
• chiffonade 1 cup fresh basil

Dressing:

• 1 cup fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup packed fresh basil
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tsp pure maple syrup, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon each of fine grain sea salt & black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 300F. Toast the almonds for about 7-8 minutes and then remove and add the coconut. Toast another 2-4 minutes, or until lightly golden, watching closely so the coconut doesn’t burn.  In a food processor, add the strawberries, basil, lemon juice, and oil. Process until smooth. Add in the salt, pepper, and maple syrup to taste and process again.

Toss salad with dressing and serve.

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