Vegetable Bulgur Salad

I was in the mood for a light, healthy lunch and ended up making this salad. I started out with this recipe and just tweaked a few things. I adjusted the dressing (upped the lime and used less oil), nixed the shrimp, and added a bunch of colorful vegetables instead. It tasted so good and is packed full of good stuff!

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
3 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1/8 cup canola oil

Salad:
1 cup uncooked bulgur
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1 English cucumber, diced
1 cup matchstick carrots
2 scallions, chopped
1 avocado, diced

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Set aside.

Cook bulgur according to package instructions. In a large bowl, toss together cooked bulgur, red pepper, cucumber, carrots, and scallions. Add dressing and toss. Top with diced avocado.

Crab Cake Salad

I have been craving the crab cake salad at Desert's Edge Brewery for the last little while. But instead of going to the restaurant, I decided to make my own version of what might be my favorite salad. I have tried crab cake salads at other restaurants but none of them have beat the one from Desert's Edge. It has a lot of different flavors that work really well together and I think I might have come up with the perfect imitation :) The recipe makes about 16 small crab cakes (enough for 7 or 8 dinner sized salads). I mixed up the meat, dressing, salsa, and aioli, and chopped all the vegetables and then cooked the crab cakes last so that I could serve them warm.

Crab Cakes with Chiptole Aioli

Ingredients:
8 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
3 6-ounce cans crabmeat, drained (**make sure you drain it as much as you can, the drier the better)
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 T mayonaise
1 1/2 t dry mustard
9 ounces Ritz crackers (about 30 crackers), crushed
3/4 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t garlic powder
3/4 t Old Bay Seasoning
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) or regular dry bread crumbs
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves minced garlic
2 1/2 T lemon juice
3/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 t finely chopped chipotle in adobo sauce (you can adjust this amount depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions:
Combine crabmeat, green onions, eggs, mayo, dry mustard, crushed crackers, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper. Form into 1/2 inch thick patties (**I found that they stayed together better if I made them smaller and thicker, rather than flatter and bigger). Coat the patties with breadcrumbs.

Heat 1/2 cup oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook cakes until golden brown on each side. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve hot.

For the aioli, stir together the mayo, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chipotle pepper and chill until ready to serve.

Corn and Jicama Salsa

Ingredients:
2 cups corn kernels (about 4 ears)
1 cup finely chopped tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped peeled jicama
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 T minced fresh cilantro
1/4 t salt
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t black pepper
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained

Directions:
Stir ingredients together and chill until ready to serve

Citrus Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
4 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 c fresh lime juice
4 T frozen orange juice concentrate
4 t red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlice minced or pressed
1/2 t sugar
1 t salt
black pepper to taste
3/4 c olive oil

Directions:
Whisk together all ingredients and set aside

Crab Cake Salad

Ingredients:
mixed greens
citrus vinaigrette
chopped tomato
chopped red pepper
chopped avocado
corn and jicama salsa
crab cakes
chiptole aioli

Directions:
Toss mixed greens with citrus vinaigrette. Divide equally among plates. Top each salad with chopped tomato, red pepper, avocado, corn and jicama salsa, and 2-3 crab cakes. Put chipotle aioli in a plastic baggie and cut the tip off. Pipe aioli across crab cakes and serve.

Quinoa Salad With Lime Ginger Dressing and Shrimp

I've been making an effort to look for healthier recipes lately and I came across this one from NYTimes.com(their healthy recipes section is awesome by the way!) I made a full recipe, enjoyed some that day, and put the rest into 3 containers so now I have healthy lunches for the next few days! This salad tasted so fresh and had so much flavor and wasn't too hard to make! Oh and apparently quinoa is pretty expensive so I swapped it out for some bulgur, but I'm sure you could use any sort of healthy whole grain. I also left out the buttermilk in the dressing because I didn't have any, and it tasted fine to me. You could also make this vegetarian by leaving out the shrimp and substituting avocado instead. SO good and SO good for you:)

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (more to taste)
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil or walnut oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk (** I left this out)

For the salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 cup uncooked) (** I used bulgur instead)
4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin
1 small cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 to 16 cooked medium shrimp, peeled (**I tossed the raw shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasted them for 5 min. in the oven at 400 degrees)

Directions:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lime juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne, sesame oil, canola oil, and buttermilk.

In a salad bowl, combine the quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro. Toss with the dressing and divide among salad plates. Top each portion with 3 or 4 shrimp, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. You can make the dressing and prep the ingredients for the salad a few hours ahead.

Greek Dressing

The night I was making the greek nachos, I wanted to find a recipe for something to serve with them that would not be too overpowering. I decided to make a greek salad. I just chopped up some lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and black olives. Added some thinly sliced red onion, a sprinkle of feta, and used this recipe for the dressing. I loved the flavor of the dressing. It might be one of my favorites. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the dressing but I did get one of the salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/4 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:

Mix together the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Dijon-style mustard. Pour in the vinegar and mix vigorously until well blended. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Asian Rotisserie Chicken Salad

I found this recipe on Martha's website and thought it sounded light and refreshing but still substantial enough to have for dinner. The dressing is basically just lime and cilantro, so if that's not your thing then beware haha! Next time I might switch it up and instead of the cashews, add black beans and corn instead. We all loved it and I will definitely be making it again this summer!

Asian Rotisserie Chicken Salad (I thought it tasted more mexican than asian, but whatever!)

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cilantro leaves and soft stems
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin and bones removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
1/4 medium red cabbage (8 ounces), cored and thinly sliced crosswise
1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup cashews

Directions:
1. Make dressing: In a blender, combine cilantro, lime juice, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, bell pepper, and scallions; season with salt and pepper. In another large bowl, toss lettuce with 1/2 cup dressing. Divide among four bowls, and top with chicken mixture. Drizzle all with remaining dressing, and sprinkle with cashews.