Salad – Page 3

Harvest Salad

Published on September 30, 2013September 29, 2013 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

Fall is one of T.W.O.’s favorite seasons because of the weather and the harvest foods! To kick off the season, T.W.O. decided to make a dish with butternut squash. The weather has been quite warm, so a fresh salad with all the Fall ingredients was put on the T.W.O. menu.

Ingredients

Roasted Butternut Squash:

-Butternut Squash
-Olive Oil
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Salt and Pepper

For the Salad:

-Roasted butternut squash
-Spinach
-Apple (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith)
– Cucumber
-Crimini mushrooms
-Dried Cranberries
-Pepitas
-Goat Cheese

For the Dressing:

-1/4 cup olive oil
-3/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
-2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
-1 ½ Tablespoons Greek yogurt
-I tablespoon honey
-Cinnamon
-Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 415°. Cut butternut squash in half and remove seeds. Place butternut squash on a foil-lined cookie sheet and brush the squash with olive oil. Next, season the squash with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Put the squash into oven and roast for 45 minutes to one hour.

For the dressing, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, yogurt, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill. Ten minutes before the butternut squash is ready, prepare salad. Dice apple, mushrooms, and cucumber and place on platted spinach. Next, add your cranberries, pepitas and crumbled goat cheese.

When the squash is done, take out of oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes to cool. Cut the squash into cubes (removing the skin) and put on salad. Drizzle the dressing over salad and mix. Now it’s time to enjoy this gastronomical, fall inspired salad!

Sriracha Glazed Chicken Mango Salad

Published on September 11, 2013September 10, 2013 by twinswithoriginalityLeave a comment

Remember that Sriracha Glazed Chicken Kebab recipe posted by T.W.O on Monday? Have you had the chance to try the recipe out? If you haven’t- you better get on it! And if you have, there are most likely leftovers! Hooray! T.W.O. decided to mix it up with the sriracha glazed chicken and add it to a salad! This dish is so refreshing, light, and has a nice balance of a sweet, but spicy kick to it!

Ingredients

–Sriracha Glazed Chicken, diced (link the post here)
-Lettuce*
-Mango, cubed
-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Crimini mushrooms
-Cilantro Dressing**

*T.W.O. used romaine lettuce
**If you don’t feel like making your own dressing recipe, T.W.O. has discovered a great Cilantro dressing from Trader Joe’s.

First, wash and chop up the lettuce, mango, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mushrooms. Next dice your chicken into cubes. T.W.O. heated up their chicken just a bit before tossing into salad, but it can also be served at room temperature. After all the ingredients are platted, drizzle the dressing on the salad. Easy as that!

Bon Appetite!

T.W.O. Good Potato Salad

Published on September 4, 2013September 4, 2013 by twinswithoriginalityLeave a comment

T.W.O.’s Labor Day weekend was filled with family, fun, beach, sun, and some gastronomical food! One of which was the famous family potato salad! T.W.O. is not a fan of mayonnaise, so potato salad was never made until this recipe was created! The recipe calls for very little mayonnaise, but is still extremely moist and full of flavor. This salad is a must for your next BBQ!

Ingredients

– 5 lbs red potatoes
– Celery, chopped
– Red onion, chopped
– 5-6 dill pickles, chopped
– 1-1 ½ cups Mayonnaise**
– 1 cup sweet relish
– Krazy salt
– Garlic powder
– Ground pepper

**T.W.O. uses the Best Foods Light Mayonnaise

First, wash the potatoes, keeping the skins on. Place potatoes into a large pot and fill with water so that about ½ to ¾ of the potatoes are covered. Cover pot with lid and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, bring to a low-medium temperature.

While potatoes are cooking, chop up your celery, onions, and pickles. After about 15 minutes, check the potatoes. If you can stick a butter knife through the potatoes, then they are done. (You don’t want the potatoes to be too soft, nor too hard!) Drain the water from the pot and let the potatoes sit for about 3 minutes just to cool a little so you don’t burn your fingers. While the potatoes are still very warm, cut the potatoes (with the skins on) into chucks and place into a bowl. Add the celery, onions, pickles, mayonnaise and relish to the potatoes and mix. Next season the salad with salt, garlic powder and ground pepper to your desire. Once everything is mixed, place in the refrigerator to chill. After a few hours, the salad is ready to be served! (You might want to check your salad a ½ hour before serving it just to make sure there is enough mayonnaise to your liking. Sometimes the potatoes absorb the mayonnaise during the chilling process.)

Bon appetite!

Grilled Peach Caprese Chicken Salad

Published on August 30, 2013August 30, 2013 by twinswithoriginalityLeave a comment

Labor Day weekend is almost here, so get that BBQ fired up because T.W.O. is ready to grill a Peach Caprese Chicken Salad with you! T.W.O. decided to put a little spin to the traditional caprese salad and add grilled peaches for some sweetness and chicken for extra protein. It is a healthy, refreshing dish that everyone can enjoy!

Grilled Peach Caprese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

– Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– Fresh peaches
– Fresh buffalo mozzarella
– Tomatoes
– Cucumbers
– Crimini Mushrooms
– Lettuce of your choice
– Balsamic dressing

First, season your chicken breast with your choice of spices. T.W.O. used Krazy salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Let the chicken season for about 8-10 minutes.

In the meantime, fire up your grill and wash your lettuce, vegetables and peaches. Cut your peaches in half and remove the pit. Next, place your chicken on a clean grill and turn the temperature down to low-medium, depending on how hot your grill gets. While the chicken is grilling, start chopping up your lettuce, cucumbers, and mushrooms. After the chicken has been grilling for about 8 minutes, place your peaches on the grill, cut side down. Keep a close eye on the peaches and chicken because you don’t want them to burn! Assemble your tomato and cheese stacks.

When the chicken and peaches are done, cut the chicken into strips and the peaches into slices. Alternate the chicken and peaches in between the cheese stacks to create your “caprese” salad. Next place the caprese salad on top of the bed of lettuce with cucumber and mushrooms. Finish the dish with a balsamic dressing of your choice. Wah-lah! Now you can enjoy this original, gastronomical dish this holiday weekend with your family and friends.

Wine Pairing: T.W.O. suggests a Rosé

Zucchini Noodles

Published on August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

When in Rome, you eat pasta. When cooking with T.W.O, you make zucchini noodles! This is such an easy dish that can be transformed into a snack, a summer salad or an entrée. The most important part of this dish is the peeler….a julienne peeler! You can find it at SUR LA TABLE or even TARGET.

Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients:

– 4 zucchini
– 1 clove garlic, diced
– 1 lemon; juiced
– Olive oil
– Krazy Salt

After washing the vegetables, place the zucchini flat on a cutting board. Hold with one hand the top of the zucchini that is furthest from you, while holding the zucchini peeler in the other hand. The key to creating “noodles” is to peel the zucchini using only one stroke. From top to bottom, peel the zucchini in a straight line. This will form your perfect “noodles”. Continue until the zucchini is all peeled.

Place all the “noodles” in a bowl and add lemon juice, diced garlic, olive oil and Crazy Salt to your desire. Let the noodles marinate for about 10 minutes.

Once the “noodles” have marinated, squeeze the excess juice out of the “noodles” so your meal isn’t soggy. Now comes the question….What can I do with these “noodles?” T.W.O decided to make a summer salad. To make this, you will need the following ingredients:

Summer Salad

– Zucchini noodles
-8 to 10 mini balls of fresh mozzarella
-1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
– 4 Tablespoons fresh basil
-Balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Add the mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil to the noodles. Finish the dish by drizzling the noodle mixture with balsamic vinegar. Now it’s time to enjoy this tasty, light summer salad poolside!

Toasted Quinoa

Published on August 22, 2013August 22, 2013 by twinswithoriginality1 Comment

Quinoa. A superfood, high in protein and dietary fiber. By now, everyone has either heard about it, cooked with it, or both! It is a great addition to any breakfast, lunch or dinner! But most of the recipes out there are just so similar- so soft!! So T.W.O. has decided to change up the texture of this superfood and “crunch it up!” Toasted Quinoa! It is a great addition to any dish you would like to add some crunch and protein without the added fat or gluten.

Toasted Quinoa

Ingredients:

-2 cups of water
-1 cup of Quinoa, rinsed
–Crazy Salt
-Garlic powder
-Cayenne pepper powder
-1 tablespoon of olive oil

Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Once boiling, pour quinoa, crazy salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper into water. (Please note that seasonings can be added to your liking!) Bring water to a boil once again, then reduce to low-medium temperature and cover pan. Allow quinoa to cook for about 10-12 minutes. When complete, use a fork to “fluff” quinoa and transfer to a cookie sheet to cool down. Once quinoa is cooled, heat up a sauté pan with olive oil. When pan is hot, place quinoa in pan and reduce heat to medium. Make sure to mix the quinoa often so it doesn’t burn. Toast the quinoa for about 6 minutes or until golden brown. Wah lah- it’s done! Toasted quinoa can be eaten hot or cold and can be stored in an air-tight container for about 5 days. Just make sure that the quinoa is cool before placing the lid on the container- you don’t want it to get soggy!

T.W.O. decided to add the warm, toasted quinoa to a salad. It added not only crunch, but protein to this gastronomical meal.

T.W.O. has also added the toasted quinoa to Greek yogurt and fruit. It was just like granola, but better! If you are planning on using it with yogurt, T.W.O. would suggest eliminating the seasonings above (salt, garlic and cayenne) and add cinnamon or nutmeg!

Enjoy “crunching” it up!