Food Lush

Gettin' Real at the Whole Foods Salad Bar

By Nora

I generally don't shop at Whole Foods regularly (because omigod i'd be broke), but I am here to admit that I am completely, utterly OBSESSED with their salad bar. It's becoming a problem. But honestly, as far as salad bars go, it's a work of art. I have never seen a wilted lettuce leaf, or a cucumber in the tomato section, or so much as a crouton or a sunflower seed out of place. And I love that they have my "usuals" all the time (stuffed grape leaves, balsamic roasted vegetables, cous cous with cranberries and walnuts), but that there's almost always something new and delicious for me to discover too, like a new tofu dish or pasta salad. When I say it's like Christmas morning every time I go there, i'm not lying. And I thought that I was one of the few people who felt so strongly about the WF salad bar until I mentioned it to my friend Robin when we were having dinner one night and she FREAKED OUT about it, too.  So I figured there must be more of you out there. I'm going to give you a glimpse of what my salad looks like, and then perhaps you can get a glimpse of my soul, too.  Know my salad, know me.

 

Okay WF Salad Bar addicts, time to come out of the woodwork.  What is your favorite salad bar combo?

Orange Poppyseed Dressing: Vegan, Paleo, Whole30 Approved!

by Caitlin

Have you heard of the Whole30? In a nutshell (mmm, nuts, Whole30 approved!) it's 30 days of clean eating and whole foods; essentially just produce, meat, seafood, and certain nuts, oils, seeds, and fats. No wheat, no dairy, no legumes, no grains, no alcohol, no added sugar -- not even natural sugars like maple syrup. Fruit and sweet potatoes are okay, but no white potatoes. Zach and I are doing it January 2 - February 2, along with half the internet. 

At first glance you'd think the focus would be restriction, but there's just so much delicious food you can eat. And having done a strict allergy elimination diet earlier in the year, this seems easier in some ways. It's certainly a bit healthier (I miiiiiiiiight have turned to sugar to cope with that diet). Grassfed pot roast, smoothies, salads, shepherd's pie, grilled salmon, crab cakes, avocado on everything, lots of green vegetables, sliced pears with cashew butter: All things my body is thrilled to see after the past two months Zach and I have had of holiday indulging and stress, long hours, surgery, and too many convenience foods. It has actually been fun for me not to have an excuse to take shortcuts as it's forcing me to come up with things I've been meaning to try for a while. Like this orange poppyseed dressing.

I first made this for New Year's Eve (pre-Whole30), wherein I tossed it with mesclun/baby greens and added red grapes, toasted pecans, feta, and dried sour cherries. For Whole30 I think this would be delightful tossed with mixed greens, grilled chicken, avocado, and some grapes or fresh orange segments. Maybe cucumber and red bell pepper, too. It came together quickly and was fun and different from my normal default of olive oil & balsamic vinvegar.

Whole30 Orange Poppyseed Dressing

Juice & zest of an orange
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
small-medium shallot. (I had a huge one and used a quarter of it.)
1 T good mustard. (If doing Whole30 it should be free of sugar and wine.)
salt & pepper to taste
1-2 teaspoons poppyseeds. (I added a little at a time until it looked right.)

Wizz everything but the poppyseeds in the blender or food processor. When it's emulsified, add the poppyseeds and pulse once, just to mix. Taste it, add more salt and pepper and poppy seeds if necessary. If it needs more brightness or acidity, add a sploosh more red wine vinegar. With natural ingedients, your mileage may vary.

Mediterranean-ish Quinoa Salad

by Elissa

I am a big fan of this Eggplant and Barley salad, but making it requires a lot of time.  The other day I found myself with most of the ingredients, but lacking the 45-50 minutes that it takes to cook barley. So I improvised, and I think I may like my new version better than the original. Plus, since I substituted quinoa for the barley, this has enough protein to stand on its own as a one-dish dinner.

This is a great time of year to make this recipe, as it should be easy to get your hands on fresh eggplant, zucchini and summer squash. And I took this picture before I added a generous sprinkling of feta cheese. The feta really made the salad sing, so don't skip it!

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 medium eggplant, cut into 1-in. cubes
2 medium zucchin and 1 medium yellow squashi, cut into 1-in. pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1-in. chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional--this makes things fairly spicy)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 425. Begin by making the quinoa: combine with 2 cups water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. After it's done cooking, fluff with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl to let it cool. Once the quinoa is underway, begin roasting the vegetables. Toss the eggplant with 2 tablespoons olive oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Toss the zucchini, squash, and onion with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes, swithching the pans halfway through. Let the vegetables cool a bit while you make the dressing. Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne (if using), sugar, a generous pinch of salt, and pepper to taste. Combine the vegetables, quinoa, and cherry tomatoes and toss with the dressing. Sprinkle feta cheese on top and serve.

Really Easy Three Bean Salad

by Maura

I hate to even post this salad because it's so easy. Even Semi-Homemade-Sandra would be embarrassed by this recipe. Despite my misgivings, I'm sharing because I've been eating this for years, it is just so good and, well, fool-proof. You can eat it cold, hot, with a spoon, with tortilla chips, plain, or with cheese and sour cream.

What is this super simple recipe? Three kinds of beans and a jar of salsa.

Now you're laughing at me. Really, though, it is delicious, filling and easy. I've used chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, white beans and navy beans. I dump in a jar of my favorite salsa (whatever is on sale!) and VOILA. To make it a little fancier, you could add some chopped cilantro, but otherwise this recipe is pretty much as simple and tasty as you can get. The beans are a good source of protein, and it is a great summer side dish or party dip for vegetarian and vegan guests. I've eaten it for lunch every day this week!

Italian Salad

by Tara

A week or so ago a lovely and talented friend posted a beautiful picture on Instagram of "Ravioli Pasta Salad" in the works. She had mushrooms and olives and tomatoes and red onions and mozzarella and broccoli and salami all chopped up together, and it looked delicious. And inspired me.

Since I'm still trying to eat fewer carbs and legumes, I put together a whole mess of stuff in a bowl, and, man, was it delicious. And easy. And delicious. So good, seriously.

Italian Salad

(Photo of my second helping)

Ingredients:
-Pepperoni, approx. 16-20, quartered
-Salami, approx. 16-20, quartered
-Tomatoes, 1 large or about 12, quartered
-Broccoli, one head
-Mushrooms, 8 oz, sliced
-Red Onion, half of one large or one small, sliced
-Green Olives, about half a can, halved
-Pepproncinis, about 12, halved or quartered
-Mozzarella, about 4 oz, shredded
-Crushed Red Pepper to taste
-Garlic salt to taste
-Minced or pressed garlic (about 2 cloves or 1 tsp) 
-Extra virgin olive oil, about 1 tsp for sauteeing veggies, plus additional for dressing
-Balsamic vinegar for dressing 

Directions:

1. Steam saute broccoli with garlic and crushed red pepper. Add to big bowl.

2. Saute mushrooms with red onions in olive oil. Add garlic salt and crushed red pepper to taste. Add to big bowl.

3. Add all other veggies and meat to big bowl and stir up to mix.

4. Top each serving with shredded mozzarella and oil/vinegar to taste.

5. Pour a large glass of red wine to go with your meal and enjoy!

This would be such a versatile dish for different tastes and preferences. If you want to add pasta or some sort of sauce, go ahead! Garbanzo beans would be a delicious addition! No cheese, different peppers? Go for it! Also, since I just sort of threw a bunch of stuff into a bowl, it would be really easy to make the dish smaller or larger depending on your household size.

What's your favorite inspired concoction?

Mandarin and Almond Shrimp Salad

By Ariel

This is a timely recipe, as Elsha was just talking about all the random places to get recipes. I happened to find this one in my Sunday paper while I was happily clipping my coupons. I talked about my love of Almond Accents just a little over a year ago (and really? A year already?) and I love when I find coupons for them. The original recipe is currently attached to the side of my refrigerator, but I found the original here.

I'm usually more of a chicken salad person, but shrimp might be my new favorite. I tweaked the recipe very slightly by omitting the dressing they called for and creating my own shrimp marinade. I also decided to forgo buying uncooked shrimp in favor of the lazy, already shelled and devined way. I didn't want the shrimp hot, so I defrosted them and plucked them straight into the marinade. 

(For one pound of shrimp)
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
1.5 Tbs. Cocktail Sauce
1 Tbs. Raspberry Vinaigrette
1 tsp. Soy Sauce

I mixed the marinade together and covered the shrimp for about 45 minutes. As for the rest of the salad I stuck pretty close to the original recipe, but added a lot of fresh baby spinach.  
 
3 cups baby spinach
2 cups bagged Spring Mix
1 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 cup chopped green pepper (about 4-5 stalks)
1 cup Mandarin Oranges
1/2 cup Almond Accents
1/2 tsp. black pepper 

This makes two very generous dinner-sized servings, or four side dish sized servings. According to My Fitness Pal, the generous size will set you back about 280-300 calories. For a dressing, I just drizzled some lemon juice over everything, it really didn't need anything more. This was perfect for warm weather and filling enough for a post-workout dinner. Next time I'm going to add avacados and maybe a little turkey bacon for a more savory swing.  

What else sounds good? 

What Your Salad Is Missing

by Slynnro

As I am wont to do, I'm currently in a Major Phase with a certain salad from a local restaurant, Cafe Express. The salad I'm obsessed with is not particularly unique, but damn it's good. After spending, no kidding, $65.00 eating this salad six times last week, I decided to stage an intervention. On myself. And start making it at home. As I've mentioned before, I tend to think everything I make is gross. Not because it is, but because It's Not the Restaurant's DAMMIT. But really, $65. On Salad. In One Week.

So I loaded up my cart this morning at Whole Foods with the following:

Grilled Chicken
Bacon
Parmesan Cheese
Pecans
Hearts of Romaine

AND THE PIECE DE RESISTANCE:

Wing Time Buffalo Wing Sauce

Yes, I cook the chicken in it. BUT ALSO! I use it as a salad dressing.

Sounds weird, but just trust. And it's low-fat. And Wing Time is superior to something like Frank's, because it has an added thickness more similar to regular old salad dressing.  

ENJOY!

Writer Helping Writer(s): Vegetarian Meals

By Jessica

Our dear Kristie is coming up on a particularly grueling part of her day job wherein she will be spending many long hours at work for MANY MONTHS and when I say many, I mean that she'll be eating her meals at work. The majority of her meals. That sort of schedule can make meal planning difficult (what am I talking about? *I* have difficulty meal planning on my best day) and eating vegetarian (or vegan) can add an extra layer of complication.

I offered to take on the task of suggesting some quick and easy veg friendly meals that she could tote along to work. Note: I eat vegetarian, not vegan but usually it's not hard for her to tweak my stuff to her liking. 

I tried to come up with things that would use similar ingredients in multiple ways to make shopping more streamlined without the meals being identical to prevent boredom. I also went mainly for real foods that she could cook on a day off and take as leftovers during her working week so that the kids would have real foods as well, not just salads (but there are a couple of salads in there too) or pre-packaged convenience foods which would obviously be the simplest option.

Main ingredients: Chickpeas, Zucchini

Chickpea salad (essentially as a replacement for tuna or egg salad) which could be eaten in a wrap, on a sandwich or stuffed into a tomato. I used mayo in mine and I also pulsed mine in the food processor briefly to make it more like tuna salad and easier to eat in a sandwich or stuffed into a tomato. You could obviously stick with the original recipe or use veganaise, either way. I really didn't use the recipe for anything more than the idea, honestly, I made it exactly as I would my own tuna salad and well,  I am ADDICTED TO THIS.

Stuffed Zucchini 

Marinated Garbanzo Beans I LOVE these. Seriously, I make them all the time. My suggestion to make them into a meal is to take zucchini and run it through a mandoline so it comes out like spaghetti pasta ribbons. Slap the ribbons into a mason jar, top with the marinated ceci and eat as a cold pasta dish. YUM.

Braised Coconut Spinach & Chickpeas with Lemon

Main Ingredients: Quinoa and Black Beans

Veggie burgers I've already posted about these but I love them.

Quinoa salad with black beans

Barbados Black Bean Cakes with Mango Salsa

Quinoa wrap

Personally I also just like to spice up some black beans with traditional taco seasonings, mustard seeds, nutritional yeast and some turmeric and cook them down with a bit of veg stock. I then slap that mixture into a soft tortilla (your choice) and top it with some cabbage, shredded carrots and avocado tomatillo dressing.

You could use the leftover cabbage and carrots to make a coleslaw, make some baked beans, a cheese sauce and throw the whole thing over tortilla chips with the dressing or salsa of your for nachos.

Main Ingredients: Lentils, Kale (or Spinach) and Tomatoes

Red Lentil and Spinach Soup 

Crispy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese (I know, you could maybe sub the cheese)

Lentil Meatballs in Lemon Pesto

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and White Beans (I subbed kale for the chard when I made this)

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup (I'd sub veg stock for the chicken stock listed in the recipe)

Here's an idea I have for something that could be "cooked" in tandem at home and at work. Roast up some veg at home (whatever veg you prefer, I love the frozen Normandy mix from Costco and always have it in my chest freezer in the garage) keep a container of couscous at your desk and some veg stock in the work fridge. When you are hungry just heat up the correct amount of broth in the microwave and pour it over your measured amount of couscous, slap a cover on it and let it sit while you reheat your roasted veg. Once everything is ready, mix together and bam! Dinner!

I have a ton more ideas, but hopefully this helps! 

{Photo credit: me}

My favorite lunch spot: Sweetgreen (and the hunt for baked falafel recipes)

by Caitlin

I've written here before about what I usually eat for breakfast, and last week I talked about some dinner ideas. So, that leaves lunch. I have mentioned it before, and I do try to regularly bring my lunch to work with me (there are also some great ideas in the comments of this post). I'm fairly good about that, but I usually buy once lunch a week (sometimes more, if I can't get it together at home to think about and pack lunches. It seems to go in cycles depending on how busy life is.).

Lucky for me, DC boasts some pretty healthy lunch options, including my absolute favorite: Sweetgreen. 

Sweetgreen is a local salad and frozen yogurt chain, started by some University students who were fed up with a lack of quick, healthy meal options. They source from local farms and purveyors wherever possible, and they post a list of which items are local and where they're from in each restaurant. Their decor is modern and sustainable, fresh and light. (As is their food.) They use compostable materials, and as a bonus have fun social media campaigns and even threw a music festival last summer. Did I mention that their food is delicious?

You can choose from a pre-set menu, or construct your own from their huge array of lettuces, vegetables, fruit, cheeses, nuts, crunchy toppings, and proteins. They have great options for everyone, whether omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan. They also recently introduced a warm grain base in place of greens, which I'm eager to try.

It's not exactly cheap, but it's average lunch prices for DC ($8-10 for a salad), and in this case you get what you pay for. Great quality, organic and local where possible, supporting a small business: It's basically hippie heaven.

That's my favorite salad pictured just up there: The Chic P. Their description of it is "mesclun & baby spinach with baked falafel, chickpeas, cucumbers, fresh peppers, pita chips; topped with a lemon hummus tahini dressing. vegan"

I'd love to recreate this at home, and have been searching for baked falafel and lemon hummus tahini dressing recipes. For me they don't have to be vegan, and some of these recipes aren't. This falafel recipe looks good and this post features baked (vegan) falafel and a lemon tahini recipe. I might be able to turn that sauce into a dressing. There's also a good looking dressing recipe here. 

Tell me, do you have a favorite DC lunch spot? Or recipes for baked falafel or lemon hummus tahini dressing?

All photos from sweetgreen.com

Blackening Seasoning: Big on Flavor, Not on Calories

By Caitlin

Okay! Brisk clap!

Well thank god THAT'S over. 

And by "that," I mean the trainwreck of crappy eating and too much drinking that's been going on, oh, about since the Halloween candy was out. Like everyone else in the world, I am now back into a healthy eating situation blah blah exercise blah blah my pants are too tight. 

I'm generally not one to lament the lack of tasty, healthy, low-cal whole foods out there, but like anyone I often have a hard time coming up with new and exciting ways to put them together. So what better way than crowd sourcing? I'm going to share with you one of my favorite ways of getting in a lot of flavor for not a lot of calories, and in return, tell me: What healthy stuff are you eating these days?

One of my favorite ways to spice up (no pun intended) a savory meal is to blacken the protein. There are many variations of it, but blackening seasoning can generally be made from a few simple herbs and spices that you probably have in your cabinet. Here is one version, and you can find others here and here. Most versions seem to have cayenne, thyme, paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic and onion powders in common.

I've had blackened chicken, salmon, and shrimp, and I'm sure it would also be great on tofu, pork, beef, turkey, and other types of fish. Once your blackening is prepped and ready to go, use it to coat your protein. If the protein is a little dry and it's not sticking, rub with a bit of olive oil to help it stick. You can grill it, pan sear it (cast iron adds an extra nice layer of flavor), or broil it. Versatility!

A few ideas for ways to eat your blackened protein:

- Make a ceasar vinaigrette, toss with romaine, a little strong Parmesan Reggiano (adds a lot of flavor, and you don't need much), and service with chicken, shrimp, or salmon. 

I'm ignorning those delicious homemade croutons and you should, too. 

- Check out this great list of vinaigrettes to get some more salad inspiration. How about blackened chicken with strawberries, feta, spinach, and strawberry vinaigrette? Or a southwest inspired salad with blackened beef, black beans, avocado, corn, greens and a little lime-cilantro vinaigrette?

- Serve with a fruit salsa and cilantro-lime rice or quinoa.

Blackened salmon, tropical fruit salsa, salad.

- A "burrito bowl" with brown rice, black beans, tomatoes, peppers, and salsa.

- Put it in a sandwich and pile it with veggies and even some hummus. 

- The shrimp are especially good with polenta or grits, and your favorite veggies.

 

Okay, your turn! What are your favorite healthy meals lately?  

PS - My favorite breakfast is still oatmeal with fruit and nut butters: protein, fiber, and whole grains a million different ways. There are some great healthy meal ideas in the comments of this post.

All photos: Me.