Sunday, November 6, 2011

Dressing-less Salad

Two recipes in one.  Beefy Lettuce Tacos for lunch and Beefy Eggs for breakfast!

I love to go to the Farmer's Market on Sunday's to buy Thai chili peppers and to load up on food for the week.  I also go to sample all the fruit in season from different farms.  Last Sunday a farm brought in a large variety of apples.  The apples were so good!!!  I really wanted to get some, but I did not want to end up eating like five apples a day so I quickly started brainstorming what recipes I could make with apples.  Luckily, I ran into Sally who gave me the idea to make an apple salad with arugula.


While shopping for arugula, I noticed that the farm had all different kinds of spinach for sale.  One of the owners was nice enough to explain the differences between all the spinach.  The one I liked the most was this purple spinach called Orach because it had this natural salty flavor.  Viola, I knew what I was going to make for dinner: a dressing-less salad with ingredients so full of flavor that they can be eaten plain... and all the ingredients would be from the Farmer's market!

This salad serves 2 people.

Tools:

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 bag of each: regular spinach, bloomsdale spinach, and arugula (optional)
  • 1 bag of Orach spinach (usually purple in color)
  • Different kinds of Apples.  I used one of each: honeycrisp, mutsu, and cameo.  It's apple season!
  • 1/2 pint of Cherry Tomatoes
  • 4 Hard Boiled Eggs
  • 2 Avocados
  • 1 Free-Range Rotisserie Chicken
  • 2 handfuls of Toasted Walnuts

Feel free to use different leaves or fruit.  Add additional veggies, or leftover veggies as you please.  We had leftover peppers so I added those.

Instructions:
  1. Gather all ingredients.  Wash leaves using the Salad Spinner.  Chop or slice up apples, hard boiled eggs, avocado, and any additional vegetables.
    2. Top: Bloomsdale spinach, arugula, regular spinach.  Bottom: Orach spinach.. this has a natural salty flavor!


    3. Washing the leaves.


    4. Honeycrisp, Mutsu, and Cameo apples.


    5. Free-Range Rotisserie Chicken.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all vegetables and fruit.  Mix well.  I like to put the egg, avocado, nuts, and chicken in last so it doesn't get wet and mushy.  
    3. Washed leaves.
  3. Add in the egg, avocado, walnuts, and chicken.  Enjoy!  I also added Smoked Paprika Pecans.  Feel free to add cheese (great with brie or goat cheese) if you want.
    4. Farmer's market salad!
My boyfriend who needs salad dressing with his salad ate this plain and enjoyed it!  


And for kicks, here's a photo of all the meat I bought last Sunday.  20lb, baby.


5. MEAT!