Tag: salad

Plant Based Potato Salad

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My mother in law used to make the most fabulous potato salad, the kind that is so rich and creamy it just melts in your mouth.  But alas, it was far from plant-based with its mayo and eggs.  So this is the substitute, not as creamy but certainly as tasty.  We test made this over the Labor Day holiday weekend, when all my kid’s were home.  They are always good taste testers.  They agreed it passed and could be added in to those family gatherings where we used to enjoy grandmas potato salad.  It’s fairly quick and easy to pull together and best yet, it can sit outside at the family picnic without any worries about whats going on with the mayo sitting in the sunshine.  We chose to leave the skin on the potatoes but you can certainly peel them if you want.  Potato skins are actually quite healthy.  One whole baked potato amazingly has more potassium than a banana. Spuds are also rich in iron, magnesium, and fiber, and fiber my friends is only found in plant food, and is a must have for our bodies to run efficiently.  Enjoy!

Plant Based Potato Salad

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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A flavorful salad, rich with herbs and packed with nutrients

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs medium red potatoes, cubed
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups diced celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup minced scallions
  • 1/4 c. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 Tbsp chopped dill

Directions

  1. Put potatoes in a saucepan full of water.  Bring to a boil and cook 5-8  minutes, until just tender.  Drain and set aside.
  2. Whisk apple sauce, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the hot potatoes and toss to coat.
  3. Add celery, parsley, scallions, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped dill.  Stir.
  4. Serve immediately while still warm or refrigerate to serve chilled.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh

This recipe is a great way to use up any extra quinoa you may have on hand.  If you are making fresh quinoa for this recipe please refer to my previous post and try your hand at making quinoa in your rice cooker.   Remember quinoa is gluten-free and packed with protein!  I usually have a big bag of regular quinoa from Costco in my pantry.  I also have small bags of multi colored quinoa that have found at my local Kroger grocery store. Tabbouleh is traditionally a vegetarian salad made of mostly finely chopped, parsley with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.   This as you will see is an adaptation of the traditional, absolutely oil free.   I am sure there are numerous ways you can play with this recipe and make it your own.  For now this is what our family enjoys, however each time I think we tweak it just a little, so tweak away.  I serve this cold as a side salad.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh

  • Servings: 5-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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a delicious side salad best served cold.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa (7 1/2 cups cooked quinoa chilled)
  • 3 1/4 cups water ( if using uncooked quinoa)
  • 1 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cups minced fresh cilantro
  • 2 cups cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
  • leaves from 3 stalks of mint, minced
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (ACV)

Directions

  1. If you are using uncooked quinoa, combine the quinoa with the water in a pan and bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit covered for 5 min., fluff with a fork and refrigerate until chilled, approximately 2 hours.
  2. Combine chilled quinoa, parsley, cilantro, cucumber, mint, red onion, salt and ACV, mix together and serve immediately or chill.

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Tuesday Tidbit – Quinoa

I have been using a rice cookers for several years and I am currently on my second one.  The one I  have has two setting, one for white rice and one for brown rice.  I have consistently cooked either brown or white rice and nothing else, it does have a steaming basket but I have yet to try it.  A few weeks ago my son purchased a rice cooker for his apartment and read the instruction book, something I had neglected to do since mine only had two buttons and I think I can tell if its brown or white rice.  He informed me that his rice cooker could also cook quinoa and had a button specifically for that purpose.  I curiously went to my stash of instruction manuals and fished out the one for my rice cooker, but there was no mention of quinoa or any other grains that could be cooked in there.  Having  burned quinoa on my stove top before I was anxious to give my rice cooker a try.   Using a 2/1 ratio, 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, I clicked the white rice button and waited.IMG_5939

Quinoa is a seed related to the beet and chard families that looks and tastes like a grain but packs as much protein as meat. It is versatile and can go almost anywhere a grain can go.   It can replace rice in a stir-fry or couscous in a salad.  You can even eat it in the morning instead of oatmeal. Quinoa is gluten free and easy to digest. Quinoa is native to Andean cultures and the Incas referred to is as “mother of all grains”.

 

The light on my rice cooker clicked from red to green indicating that it was finished.  Tentatively opening the lid I found to my delight that it was fluffy and steamy, and a success.  No longer will I accidentally burn quinoa to the bottom of my pans, my rice cooker has a new purpose.IMG_5943

“Chicken” Salad

 

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Chicken Salad

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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A lite chicken salad substitute, with a crisp celery crunch. We have eaten this on 100% whole grain buns, as a dip with Marys crackers, or as a salad topping.

Ingredients

  • 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • 2 Tbsp. tahini
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of dill pickles, chopped
  • sprinkling of hemp seeds
  • pepper to taste
  • sea salt, optional

Directions

  1. Drain and rinse chickpeas
  2. In a medium bowl mash chickpeas with a fork or potato masher
  3. Add tahini, mustard, maple syrup, red onion, celery, pickles, hemp seeds, pepper and optional salt. Stir until well mixed
  4. Eat as desired, as a sandwich salad, as a dip, or as a salad topper

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