Over the weekend, we had veggie burgers but no buns. I was not in the mood to cook an elaborate meal and we didn't really have time anyway. Not wanting to eat another box of Annie's Mac & Cheese, we threw some burgers on the George and resigned ourselves to the fact we didn't have buns.
I had Spinach and our Aerogarden was ripe for picking, so I started making myself a salad. We had goat cheese as well and since Mr. Barefoot and I had opted to split a veggie burger, in addition to each having our own, I decided at the last second to cut mine up more and enjoy it with my salad. The back of the box is always recommending I have my veggie burger with a salad, but this was the first time I've tried it. It was delicious, and it made up for both the fact that we didn't have burger buns and we didn't have croutons. You can do this a million ways, I'm sure, but here's mine:
Ingredients:
1 Tomato Basil Pizza Burger or Bruschetta burger
1 cup spinach or mesclun greens
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette (the burger adds a lot of flavor so you really don't need to drown this salad.)
Procedure:
Put burger on grill or in microwave. Wash and spin salad greens, put them in a bowl. Add goat cheese and vinaigrette. When burger is done, cut into bite sized pieces, add to salad.
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Try.
Awhile ago, I realized I wanted to marry Mr. Barefoot. Cuz I love him and think he's really cute and all that.
Now that we are married, I find myself struggling with the gravity of it all and what it means to be married. Over the weekend, while "we" were cooking - by which I mean I was cooking and he was breathing down my neck and nagging me and taking up space in the kitchen, I realized something. We will have this fight that we have semi-regularly, and we will be angry - but we will not leave. We're both going to stay. I'm not going to get a divorce over something as silly as how I stack the dish drainer.
So we're in it. So then I realized that means I might as well try. Since I'm not going anywhere, and neither is he, I might as well try to empty the draining rack and put things away before doing the next load of dishes. (Yes, I usually just load wet dishes on top of dry dishes until something falls out and I admit defeat; or until he puts the dishes away.) I might as well try to clean as I cook, rather than making a big giant mess. I might as well try to use fewer pots and utensils as I cook. I might as well try to make sure the kitchen doesn't look like a war zone when he comes home from work. (And while we're on it, I might as well try to get a job because I suck at being a housewife.)
I promised more pictures and recipes, while I wax philosophic about marriage, so here is a recipe for homemade croutons (made with homemade bread).
Now that we are married, I find myself struggling with the gravity of it all and what it means to be married. Over the weekend, while "we" were cooking - by which I mean I was cooking and he was breathing down my neck and nagging me and taking up space in the kitchen, I realized something. We will have this fight that we have semi-regularly, and we will be angry - but we will not leave. We're both going to stay. I'm not going to get a divorce over something as silly as how I stack the dish drainer.
So we're in it. So then I realized that means I might as well try. Since I'm not going anywhere, and neither is he, I might as well try to empty the draining rack and put things away before doing the next load of dishes. (Yes, I usually just load wet dishes on top of dry dishes until something falls out and I admit defeat; or until he puts the dishes away.) I might as well try to clean as I cook, rather than making a big giant mess. I might as well try to use fewer pots and utensils as I cook. I might as well try to make sure the kitchen doesn't look like a war zone when he comes home from work. (And while we're on it, I might as well try to get a job because I suck at being a housewife.)
I promised more pictures and recipes, while I wax philosophic about marriage, so here is a recipe for homemade croutons (made with homemade bread).
You will need a loaf or so of bread, about a quarter cup of olive oil, some garlic powder, salt, italian seasonings, and an oven at 400 degrees.
Cut the bread into cubes. Put them in a bowl. Mix the olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and seasonings together. Pour over cubes, then stir cubes until they are mostly well coated. Spread on a pan (coat with foil if you really want to avoid cleanup), and then bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
Delicious and cheap, and an excellent use of a loaf of bread that I wasn't a huge fan of. We probably won't buy croutons again.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sharing
Two things:
1. Even without bacon and green onions, this salad is amazing. I'm not sure if I shared it before, but it's really good.
2. Kraft now makes homestyle mac and cheese, which is basically velveeta with breadcrumbs. It's meidocre on it's own but it's fantastic with barbecue sauce and baked in the oven on 425 for 10 minutes.
1. Even without bacon and green onions, this salad is amazing. I'm not sure if I shared it before, but it's really good.
2. Kraft now makes homestyle mac and cheese, which is basically velveeta with breadcrumbs. It's meidocre on it's own but it's fantastic with barbecue sauce and baked in the oven on 425 for 10 minutes.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Salad
So Mr. Barefoot is anti-salad. He doesn't like it. He doesn't like raw foods, generally speaking. But yesterday was his birthday, and I didn't make him a special dinner but I made him a nice salad. Well, I put the fixings for it in the refrigerator.
Because what does a nice salad require, when you are Mr. Barefoot, the anti-salad guy?
Bacon.
Also bleu cheese - but I went with feta for my own.
So I had to start by making bacon - I guess I could have bought those bacon bits, but I didn't. So I bought bacon - lean turkey bacon from Trader Joes - which I put in a pan on the stove, turned it to medium-low, and then let cook, flipped eventually. It looks like bacon, and smells like it. Yum.
My own salad did not have bacon, but was delicious. I used a bag of mixed baby greens, including spinach, and feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. (Plus some croutons.)
We actually each had two salads last week. :)
Because what does a nice salad require, when you are Mr. Barefoot, the anti-salad guy?
Bacon.
Also bleu cheese - but I went with feta for my own.
So I had to start by making bacon - I guess I could have bought those bacon bits, but I didn't. So I bought bacon - lean turkey bacon from Trader Joes - which I put in a pan on the stove, turned it to medium-low, and then let cook, flipped eventually. It looks like bacon, and smells like it. Yum.
My own salad did not have bacon, but was delicious. I used a bag of mixed baby greens, including spinach, and feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. (Plus some croutons.)
We actually each had two salads last week. :)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Salad
Okay, so today is a set of instructions, not so much a recipe. How to make a salad. A real salad - not a bag-o-salad dumped into a bowl with some croutons.
1) Go to Target or Goodwill and spend $3 on a salad spinner. There is a super-cheap one at Target on the dollar shelf - you won't regret it.
2.) Consider what type of salad you want to make. Decide on a dressing first, because a dressing sets the tone of your salad. I alternate between balsamic vinaigrette and Italian. When buying a dressing, consider the fat content. Try to pick a dressing that has 2-6 grams of fat - you need a little bit of fat to reap all of the benefits of salad. Stay away from creamy dressings unless that is the only way you will eat your salad.
3.) Buy some lettuce. Try not to go for iceberg lettuce - go for either a mixed greens that you can buy by-the-pound, or go for two types of lettuce. Since Mr. Barefoot hates salad, I buy one type of lettuce, because it takes me at least two salads to eat it, and it goes bad in a week. I like either romaine or red leaf lettuce - whatever you do, go for a dark lettuce. Also, maybe toss in some spinach or arugula.
4.) Consider what else you would like - tomatoes? red onion? red pepper? I like cucumbers in my salad, if I'm having an Italian dressing salad; sometimes tomatoes, and occasionally red pepper. Some people like thawed/cooked corn in their salads. Beans? Cal Tor has an amazing black bean salad with black beans, tomatoes, corn, and lettuce, but I need to be having a salad with a Mexican type dressing to go for black beans and corn in my salad. If you are doing a ranch salad, go for carrots and Broccoli - yum!
5.) Now that you are done with produce, consider toppings. I require cheese on my salad - parmesean, feta, or goat cheese. Goat and feta are a little lower in fat. Sometimes I like some mozzerella - the little balls - and I cut them up and they are great in a leafy green salad with balsamic dressing. With goat cheese or feta, I like to do the dried cranberries. With parmesean and Ceasar, Italian or balsamic dressing, I like to do croutons. Some people like nuts in their salad, but I'm not one of them.
6.) Protien - I usually don't add any, some people like chicken strips. I keep meaning to try some of the vegetarian salad finishers. Or I could just add some white beans or tofu that has been marinating in italian dressing.
7.) Now that you are done shopping, its time for assembly. Go home and break out your 12" serrated bread knife. If you don't own one, why not? Saw through the lettuce until it is in front of you in 1-1.5 inch strips. Put the salad leaves in the strainer from your salad spinner. Now wash the salad leaves. If you are really afraid of dirt, float the leaves in a bowl of water for 10 minutes, then fish the leaves off the top - the dirt will have sunk to the bottom.
8.) Spin the salad. Let it sit and drain some more while you chop the other vegetables and produce for your salad. Be sure to wash those too.
9.) Dump the leaves into a big mixing bowl. If you have salad scissors, use them now. Add some dressing - probably about half a serving. Using a rubber spatula (a spoonula is even better), toss the leaves with the dressing until each leaf is evenly coated. Add your other produce and toppings and mix them in.
10.) Serve salads into salad bowls. (This is the part where I confess that I skip this set, and sit on the couch, midafternoon, with a giant mixing bowl in my hands and eat straight out of it.) I find that to weigh the salad down enough to fit enough salad in the small salad bowls, I have to coat the leaves in dressing, and I don't like an excess of dressing. So the high walls of the mixing bowl help keep the salad from ending up everywhere.
1) Go to Target or Goodwill and spend $3 on a salad spinner. There is a super-cheap one at Target on the dollar shelf - you won't regret it.
2.) Consider what type of salad you want to make. Decide on a dressing first, because a dressing sets the tone of your salad. I alternate between balsamic vinaigrette and Italian. When buying a dressing, consider the fat content. Try to pick a dressing that has 2-6 grams of fat - you need a little bit of fat to reap all of the benefits of salad. Stay away from creamy dressings unless that is the only way you will eat your salad.
3.) Buy some lettuce. Try not to go for iceberg lettuce - go for either a mixed greens that you can buy by-the-pound, or go for two types of lettuce. Since Mr. Barefoot hates salad, I buy one type of lettuce, because it takes me at least two salads to eat it, and it goes bad in a week. I like either romaine or red leaf lettuce - whatever you do, go for a dark lettuce. Also, maybe toss in some spinach or arugula.
4.) Consider what else you would like - tomatoes? red onion? red pepper? I like cucumbers in my salad, if I'm having an Italian dressing salad; sometimes tomatoes, and occasionally red pepper. Some people like thawed/cooked corn in their salads. Beans? Cal Tor has an amazing black bean salad with black beans, tomatoes, corn, and lettuce, but I need to be having a salad with a Mexican type dressing to go for black beans and corn in my salad. If you are doing a ranch salad, go for carrots and Broccoli - yum!
5.) Now that you are done with produce, consider toppings. I require cheese on my salad - parmesean, feta, or goat cheese. Goat and feta are a little lower in fat. Sometimes I like some mozzerella - the little balls - and I cut them up and they are great in a leafy green salad with balsamic dressing. With goat cheese or feta, I like to do the dried cranberries. With parmesean and Ceasar, Italian or balsamic dressing, I like to do croutons. Some people like nuts in their salad, but I'm not one of them.
6.) Protien - I usually don't add any, some people like chicken strips. I keep meaning to try some of the vegetarian salad finishers. Or I could just add some white beans or tofu that has been marinating in italian dressing.
7.) Now that you are done shopping, its time for assembly. Go home and break out your 12" serrated bread knife. If you don't own one, why not? Saw through the lettuce until it is in front of you in 1-1.5 inch strips. Put the salad leaves in the strainer from your salad spinner. Now wash the salad leaves. If you are really afraid of dirt, float the leaves in a bowl of water for 10 minutes, then fish the leaves off the top - the dirt will have sunk to the bottom.
8.) Spin the salad. Let it sit and drain some more while you chop the other vegetables and produce for your salad. Be sure to wash those too.
9.) Dump the leaves into a big mixing bowl. If you have salad scissors, use them now. Add some dressing - probably about half a serving. Using a rubber spatula (a spoonula is even better), toss the leaves with the dressing until each leaf is evenly coated. Add your other produce and toppings and mix them in.
10.) Serve salads into salad bowls. (This is the part where I confess that I skip this set, and sit on the couch, midafternoon, with a giant mixing bowl in my hands and eat straight out of it.) I find that to weigh the salad down enough to fit enough salad in the small salad bowls, I have to coat the leaves in dressing, and I don't like an excess of dressing. So the high walls of the mixing bowl help keep the salad from ending up everywhere.
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