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green papaya and carrot salad

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It seems like everyone lately has been spiralizing their veggies. Who could blame them? Any way to make veggies a little more exciting, especially to the kiddos, is always welcomed around here.

I received the Microplane Spiral Cutter recently and was excited to play with my food.  It was like a big sharpener but for your veggies. Zucchini made nice long noodles to substitute for pasta. Long strands of carrots were more fun to eat than a big carrot stick.

This is my submission for their blogger recipe contest. This green papaya and carrot salad makes the perfect side to accompany pretty much anything. We paired it with some bbq’d beef and it was fresh and flavourful.

Green Papaya and Carrot Salad

1/2 green papaya, spiralized
3 large carrots, spiralized
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup green beans
1 1/2 TB fish sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1 lime, juiced
2 TB palm sugar
1/4 cup peanuts

In a large bowl, combine the spiralized papaya, carrots, tomatoes and green beans. In a separate bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, lime juice and sugar. Pour over the vegetables and combine until incorporated. Top with peanuts and enjoy!

chicken salad

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Every couple of weeks, I always try and pick up a rotisserie chicken on my shopping trip. The rotisserie chickens are so versatile – you can eat them as is or use the chicken in so many ways. From sandwiches, to soups to stock, one chicken can go a long way!

One way to use the chicken is to make chicken salad. The creaminess of the mayo, the crunch of the green onions and that distinct kick from the Dijon make this the perfect lunch. Sandwiched between bread or scooped up with crackers, its a great way to use leftovers.

Chicken Salad

1 cup shredded chicken
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp oregano
1 green onion
salt
pepper

Sweet and simple – put everything into a bowl and mix.

pulo lemongrass chicken salad rolls

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I was so excited to receive to receive a package of  Pulo Cuisine sauces and marinades to participate in the Pulo Recipe Challenge. Pulo is an authentic collection of sauces and marinades inspired by the 7000 Islands of the Philippines. With three marinades and two cooking sauces, each loaded with amazing flavours, the possibilities on how to use them were endless.

For dinner tonight, Q and I decided to make Lemongrass Chicken Salad Rolls using the Pulo Lemongrass Marinade. The sauce itself is packed with so many complex notes that nothing else needed to be added to marinate the chicken.

The chicken was soaked in the marinade for half an hour, quickly stir fried and then added to rice paper with mint, carrots, spinach and vermicelli noodles. Q loved the process of dipping the rice paper in water until it was pliable and assembling the rolls. My picky little boy loved the flavours of the chicken; I was ecstatic that he was nibbling on the chicken without any prompting – that speaks volumes!

This was a hit with everyone and is definitely something I will be making again and again. I have so many ideas for the other sauces!

Pulo Lemongrass Chicken Salad Rolls

8 chicken thighs, cut into strips
1/2 cup Pulo Lemongrass Marinade

Mint
Carrots
Spinach
Vermicelli Noodles
Rice Paper

Cut the chicken into strips and cover with Pulo Lemongrass Marinade for at least half an hour. Stir fry until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Dip the rice paper into hot water until pliable. Lay on a flat surface and fill with the cooked chicken, mint, carrots, spinach and noodles. Roll and enjoy!

strawberry edamame salad

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Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there! Hope everyone had a great time celebrating the men in their lives. We had a family potluck and my job was salad and dessert.

Since we were initially going to have a picnic, I decided that cupcakes were the way to go. They’re portable and everyone could have their own. Although we skipped out on the picnic, I stuck with the original plan and made some mini coconut cupcakes.

I know some people think that being in charge of salad can be kind of boring. I think if it is, the salad is just not worth eating. It’s always fun to play with textures and tastes and make a salad that everyone goes back for.

I started with the greens, both spinach and baby romaine.  I also wanted to add a few of Q’s favourite things, so that he would be enticed to eat his veggies. One thing he can’t seem to get enough of, at the moment, is edamame. These were cooked for less than five minutes and cooled.  Added to the mix were crisp rings of sweet peppers, sweet slices of strawberries, tangy goat cheese and crispy fried onions.

I thought a balsamic dressing would be great to go with the strawberries and goat cheese. The tangy balsamic was cut with a bit of sweet honey and the salad went perfect with our Father’s Day meal of ribs, chicken, rice, corn and potatoes.

Balsamic Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp honey
salt
pepper

Combine and drizzle as needed.

som tam – thai green papaya salad

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It was only recently that I tried Som Tam, thai green papaya salad. It was at White Elephant a couple of months ago and both hubby and I were pleasantly surprised at the flavours. I bought a green papaya to use as a tenderizer but then I recalled the fabulous salad so had to try and make it myself.

I used the recipe from Thai Table as a reference but had to make a few changes based on what I had in the house.  Dried shrimp was replaced with shrimp paste and palm sugar was replaced with granulated sugar. To shred the papaya, you make cuts into the peeled papaya and then slice off the shreds. This is what I did the first time I made the salad. Subsequent times, I just grated it using my food processor. So much easier!

I’ve been eating this salad for the past few days.  It’s a great mix of salty from the peanuts, sweet from the sugar, sour from the lime and savoury from the fish sauce and shrimp paste. It’s quite addictive!

Som Tam – Green Papaya Salad
(Adapted from Thai Table)

5 Cherry Tomatoes
2 chili peppers or hot sauce
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
1 1/2 TB fish sauce
1 clove garlic
2 cups shredded green papaya
3/4 lime, juiced
1 1/2 TB sugar
2 TB toasted peanuts

Crush the peanuts using a mortar and pestle and keep aside. In the mortar, smash the clove of garlic.  Add the tomatoes, chili peppers, shrimp paste, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and peanuts and crush.  Add the papaya and mix it well with the rest of the ingredients.

potato and green bean salad

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We had a barbecue awhile back and it included a lot of meat!  We really needed to balance out the meal with some carbs and veggies and this was the perfect dish for it – Potato and Green Bean Salad.  It didn’t take long to make and the crisp beans with the cooked potatoes provided great texture.  I served this warm but it can easily be served cold, perfect for taking along to a potluck.

Potato and Green Bean Salad

2 large potatoes
1 pound green beans
2 green onions
1/2 cup mayonaise
2 TB grainy mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  Blanch the green beans for one minute and immediately place in some ice water.  Combine the mayo, mustard and vinegar and season well.  Add the potatoes, green beans and onions until well coated with the dressing.

guest blogger: sweety’s quinoa and veggie salad

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I’m so happy to have a good friend of mine guest blog today.  Sweety Sull Tumber is a wonderful mother to two gorgeous kids, J and S.

It’s a snow day today and I was feeling hungry.  Too lazy to run out in the blistering weather to purchase some groceries, I decided to test my culinary skills and come up with something to eat with existing ingredients in my pantry.  For months now, I had been intentionally ignoring the jar of quinoa that I purchased on one of my ‘today is the day that I will eat healthy and instantly lose a million pounds’ type outings.  So I thought… Maybe I should learn how to prepare this, how bad could it taste? I’ll just jazz it up with some fresh veggies and lemon.  On a side note, up until today I really had no idea what quinoa even was! Well, after some snooping around in my fridge and throwing some simple veggies together,  I enjoyed the most healthiest, tastiest and filling salad ever! Quinoa is an amazing grain full of fiber and all nine amino acids.  It’s also a complete protein making this an excellent choice for those who are trying to lower their weekly meat intake.  It’s also gluten free.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. My 2 year old sure did.

Quinoa and Veggie Salad

1 cup dry quinoa , cooked and drained
1 long english cucumber, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup of diced celery
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
5 green onions, diced
2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1/4 cup parsley
2 cups of canned cooked chickpeas, rinse well
2-4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
I also added 2 tablespoons of low fat italian dressing that I found in my fridge just for fun

Toss together and enjoy!

celebrating eid – tomato and bocconcini salad

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Today is Eid, a festival which marks the end of Ramadan and a month of fasting.  On this joyful day, people celebrate by going to mosque and sharing a feast with friends and family.  This year’s dinner consisted of a fabulous meal made by my mother-in-law which consisted of biryani (a rice and meat dish), and freshly fried samosa. 

My contribution to the meal was a Tomato and Bocconcini salad made into an appetizer by placing the cherry tomato and cheese on a toothpick.  This is one of my favorite salads – the combination of the lemon, garlic and basil adds so much flavour to the otherwise flat-tasting cheese.

This is a ridiculously easy to make salad and a great way to use up those summer tomatoes.  Its packed with so much flavour, and is a hit everytime it is served.

Tomato and Bocconcini Salad

200 grams mini bocconcini
1 pint cherry tomatoes
zest and juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
basil bunch, chopped
2 TB parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
pepper

Combine lemon, garlic, basil, parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add cheese and tomatoes and toss.

lots of summer flavours in couscous salad

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Yay…summer’s here!  Lets hope that sunshine is here to stay.  Time for patios and barbecues and fresh summer flavours.  We’ve been trying to eat more grains and veggies.  Unlike hubby, I can’t eat a bag of celery and carrot sticks – its just too boring!  This is the perfect salad that incorporates veggies and beans and with the addition of lemon zest, no one can call this boring. 

Couscous Salad
1 cup couscous, cooked
1 cucumber, cubed
1 tomato, diced
1 bell pepper, cubed
2 green onions
1/2 red onion, diced
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
cilantro
2 TB olive oil
salt
pepper
Just toss everything together and enjoy!

easy shrimp salad rolls

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Anyone who knows me knows how much I like Vietnamese food. At least once a week, I venture out to a great Vietnamese shop a couple of blocks from work. Sate beef with vermicelli and spring rolls makes for a very satisfying meal. One of my favorite things to eat at home are the Shrimp Salad Rolls. It is the easiest thing to make and, you can have the perfect appetizer or snack in minutes.

Shrimp Salad RollsCooked shrimp, approximately 3 per rolls
Rice wrappers
Cooked vermicelli
Mint
Lettuce or Spinach

Place the rice wrapper in a bowl of warm water until soft and transparent. Line up 3 shrimp in the middle followed by a mint leaf, greens and vermicelli. Fold in the two ends and roll.

Serve with hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce.