salad - Related Content

Ingredients: 

Dressing:

¼  C olive oil
2 T fresh lemon juice, fresh is best
2 T red wine or other vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp honey or sugar

Salad:      5 C kale chopped or torn into 1' bite-sized pieces 
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt

Optional Additions:
2 C broccoli chopped
½ C nuts:  sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, or chopped walnuts
¼ - ½ C shredded carrots or radishes
½ C chopped or shredded apple
¼ C sliced scallions or red onions
¼ C raisins or dried cranberries
½ C cheese (cheddar pieces or shreds, crumbled Feta, parmesan or other favorite)
Leftover cooked chicken or bacon pieces
Your favorite leftover cooked grain:  wild rice, quinoa, bulgar, brown rice
croutons

Instructions: 

1.Combine dressing ingredients in a lidded jar or bowl.  Shake or whisk well to combine. Dip a piece of kale in the dressing.  Taste and adjust sweetener, salt, and pepper as you like.

2.Rinse kale leaves in cool water.  With one hand, hold on to the thick stem at the end and with the other hand, strip the leaves from the stem.  Compost stems or store in water to saute in a few days with spices!

3. Tear or chop dried kale into bit-sized pieces.  Spin it dry in a salad spinner OR shake dry and place in a dry kitchen towel. Massage the chopped kale with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingers until leaves look darker in color.

4.In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients. Stir or shake the dressing once more.  Pour about ? of the dressing on the salad. Toss.  Add extra dressing, as you like.  There should not be dressing “pooled” in the bottom of the bowl.

Preparing Kale:

Rinse kale leaves in cool water to remove all the dirt and dust. 

Hold on to the thick stem end and with the other hand, strip the leaves from the stem.  Discard the stems OR put in a tall container with a small amount of water and keep refrigerated to chop and saute a day or two later.

Tear or chop the dried kale into 1 inch (bite-sized) pieces. 

Spin it dry in a salad spinner OR shake dry and place in a dry kitchen towel.  Fold in the ends of the towel and hold tightly while you spin the whole thing.  The towel will absorb most of the water.

(Optional)  For a more tender raw kale salad, massage the chopped kale with a little olive oil or lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Rub with your fingers until leaves look a bit darker in color.  It really makes a difference and kids love "massaging" the greens".

Story: 

This recipe for “’Massaged’ Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing” is full of nutrients, packed with flavor and may make you into a kale lover. Even kids liked it!  It can be made ahead as the hardy leaves keep well, even with dressing. 

Another recipes made with grade schoolers, it was also demonstrated with younger kids at a local school garden.  They got their hands in the bowl to massage the greens!  Helping kids of all ages grow and/or prepare vegetables and fruit encourages openness to new foods.  Don't we all enjoy getting some coaching in the garden or the kitchen?  If you are curious about a certain food or cuisine, baking bread or fixing your favorite restaurant dish, find someone to "coach" you, even if it's an online cook or a TV chef. 

The recipe and photo above come from Holly, a Canadian mom of 4 who loves to add to her site called "Spend with Pennies".  She suggests we check out how versatile kale can be, saying, "Leftover kale can be stirred into pasta, blended into pesto, and even baked into crispy kale chips, if the craving strikes! The possibilities are endless. I even love a little kale on my pizza when I have it handy."  Holly's other kale recipes include kale with rice, Mexican kale salad, kale pesto, kale chips, kale and sausage soup, and kale mango smoothies. 

Speaking of smoothies, I put blanched kale in a high speed blender with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon. I added blanched seasonal produce like squash, apples, carrots or pears for baby/toddler food my grandkids liked.

ITALIAN STYLE SALAD DRESSING

Ingredients and Directions:

1.    Measure 2/3 C olive or vegetable oil into bowl or pint jar with a cover.
2.    Add 1/3 C of your favorite vinegar or other acid of your choice, such as lemon juice
3.    Add ½ tsp Dijon mustard and 1/8 tsp each of salt, pepper, dried basil, oregano and garlic powder OR 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning mix.
4.    Whisk with a whisk or fork or shake a covered jar vigorously to help the dressing emulsify.  
5.    Taste and adjust your ingredients.
6.    Pour a small amount over greens and toss with two forks or spoons.  You want the greens to be coated, but not “swimming” in dressing with no puddle at the bottom of the salad bowl!  Add more, as needed. 
7.    Label the container and store any leftovers in the fridge.  You may need to shake it before using to remix the oil and vinegar.  Double or triple the recipe to have extra on hand!  This also makes a good dip or a marinade for roasting vegetables.

BASIC CREAMY STYLE SALAD DRESSING RANCH STYLE

Ingredients and Directions:
1.    Combine 1/4 C each of mayo and sour cream, 2 T milk, 1 tsp lemon juice into bowl or jar with a cover.
2.    Whisk or shake covered jar vigorously to help the dressing emulsify.  
3.    Add seasonings (1/4 tsp dry dill weed, 1/8 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Repeat step 2, taste and adjust your ingredients!
4.     Pour a small amount over greens and toss with two forks or spoons.  You want the greens to be coated, but not “swimming” in dressing with no puddle at the bottom of the salad bowl!  Add more, as needed. 
5.    Label the container and store in the fridge.  You will need to shake it before using.
This also makes a great dip or addition to baked potatoes!  Add more sour cream and / or mayo to make it thicker, if you like!

Note:  The photo above come from Victoria of Mason Jar Recipe whose site also features Mason Jars as gifts, decorations and other crafts.

Variations:  The Ranch above can be improvised with salsa and taco seasonings to make a Fiesta Dressing.  Sweeteners like honey, various mustards, fruit puree or various vinegars with one with complex flavor like balsamic can make the vinaigrette your own.

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Story:

Making salad dressing from scratch is a pretty quick, healthy, economical way to add taste to the variety of greens we now enjoy from the garden, the farmer's market or the produce aisle.  Reusing the jars makes sense, too!  You can do so for a special occasion or make home made part of your routine.

Tamra Dickinson and I shared these recipes with our after school cooking class students at Hillside Elementary in spring 2022.  It was fun to watch them wash greens and spin them dry in make-shift kitchen towel salad spinners.  They shook jars of dressing ingredients with every muscle they had and we all enjoyed a spring kale salad!

I don't recall bottled salad dressing on the table until I was college age.  They taste good, but the ingredient list often includes high fructose corn syrup and ingredients far too hard to pronounce.  For our family, salad was usually spring garden lettuce or iceberg lettuce with a vinegar and oil dressing made in the bowl right before dinner.  More bitter greens like endive and chard were for the adults.  The few times we visited a restaurant, one treat was serving yourself from one of the 3 offerings of salad dressing, typically French, Bleu Cheese and Vinegar and Oil in those cool decanters we passed around the table.  One legendary Italian restaurant in Hurley, Wisconsin swore its staff to secrecy when making their signature Caesar salad dressing!  

What are your salad and dressing habits or memories?   What's Cooking America? shares histories of famous dressing makers like "Marzetti", "Hellmann", Kraft Cheese Company; dressings like Thousand Island, Green Goddess and Russian; and salads like Caesar, Cobb, King Louis, Panzanella and Nicoise.

Ingredients:
1 C farro (or substitute other grains and veggies as described in Notes below.)
    Found in whole grain or bulk section of store or co-op.
3 C water (or substitute vegetable or chicken stock)
6 stalks asparagus
1 C cherry tomatoes
1 C sugar snap peas
¼ C crumbled feta cheese
2 T chopped, fresh parsley
2 T chopped, fresh dill
1 small shallot, diced (~¼ cup) May substitute green onions or chives.
1 small garlic clove, minced
¼ C homemade or store-bought balsamic (or your favorite) vinaigrette
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1.    Rinse and drain farro. Place in a pot and add water or stock. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes or until al dente (tender but firm). Drain off any excess liquid. Place in a large bowl to cool slightly.
2.    Cut 1” off ends of asparagus.  If ends still seem “woody”, use a vegetable peeler to remove outer later a couple of inches up.  Cut into 1” pieces. Slice cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas in half.
3.    Bring a pot of water to boil. Add asparagus and sugar snap peas. Cook for 2 minutes. Immediately drain and submerge vegetables in an ice bath. Once cool, drain.
4.    Place vegetables, feta cheese, chopped herbs, shallot, and garlic in the bowl with the slightly cooled farro. Add dressing. Using a spatula, fold until well-combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe and picture above come from To Taste – developed by a team of registered dietitians, chefs, and culinary medicine specialists.  Their helpful website offers grain and other plant-based recipes, basic cooking techniques and plenty of substitutions to satisfy different tastes.

Notes:
For added nuttiness, toast the farro in the pot for a minute or two before adding the liquid.

Other intact whole grains that keep their shape like brown rice, farro, quinoa, barley, and spelt are also good in salads like Greek Tabouli. If you want your grain salad to hold well all week, choose hearty vegetables that won’t get mushy or spoil quickly. 
 
You may find quick cooking varieties of farro (done in 10 minutes) and other whole grains at your local grocery store. 

For added protein, add some rinsed and drained canned navy or garbanzo beans.

The "blanching" method described in step 3 can be used to prepare most vegetables for salads or go freeze them. The National Center for Home Food Preparation offers specific blanching times for many veggies.

If you would like to be notified when we share new recipes, be sure to scroll to the bottom, provide your email address, check the box confirming you are not a robot, click on a few photos to prove it and click subscribe! You will then receive an email after each new post. Remember, we're always looking for new recipes, so keep sending them to ecopact@fspa.org!

Story:    
A classmate used to create delicious lunch salads from what was found in our college cafeteria!  To her plate of greens, veggies, nuts or seeds, she often added beans, cheese, brown rice or other whole grains.  This kind of plate - mostly plant foods – is featured in this recipe for “Warm Farro Salad with Spring Veggies”. 
Grain salads are easy to make and often last for days, and their flexibility means you can do a lot of improvising with whatever tasty in-season produce you have on hand.  
Whole grains like farro are often a forgotten source of plant protein and other nutrients. It "is a grain with nutty flavor, and it's popular in the Mediterranean type of cuisine," says  Anya Guy, a Mayo Clinic dietitian. The dense ancient grain is rich in nutrition with a plethora of health benefits.
In her Mayo Clinic Minute video, Guy also tells us that “farro is a great source of fiber, iron, protein and magnesium.  One serving (2/3 Cup) provides about 200 calories, 7 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber. The fiber content is really important because it improves digestive health” and satisfies hunger longer.  
Farro and other whole grains can be used in salads, as a warm breakfast cereal, in risotto, soups or as a pilaf-like side dish. My Food Data from the US Deptartment of Agriculture offers nutrition information about using other high protein grains like kamut, spelt, amaranth, teff, quinoa, wild rice, bulgur, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, and barley.  Many also have an interesting history going back to ancient foragers and farmers, as described by the The Whole Grains Council.
 
 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C cooked wild rice  (See below)
1 small onion, chopped, about 1 C
1 C roasted mushrooms
1 red or green pepper, diced
1 small green apple, diced
1 ½ C salad greens of your choice
1 C roasted nuts or seeds (walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Berry Maple Dressing (See below) or your favorite vinaigrette

Directions: 
Toss all ingredients together in a serving bowl and serve.

Cooked Wild Rice:
Heid E. Erdrich recommends: 1 C rinsed wild rice in 2 C water or stock brought to a boil in a heavy medium size pot with a lid.  Turn down the heat to a simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.  Extra cooked wild rice freezes and thaws well in an airtight container or freezer bag four soup, pilaf and other recipes!

Dressing Ingredients:
2 T raspberry jam or another favorite flavor
1 T maple syrup
1/3 C raspberry vinegar.  You may substitute other fruit vinegar (cider) or balsamic
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp dried tarragon 
1 tsp minced chives, optional
1C oil (sunflower, extra virgin olive or oil of your choice)

Dressing Directions:  Whisk together jam, syrup, seasonings. Continue to whisk and add the oil until completely mixed.  Taste to adjust seasonings.  Use this to dress this salad or as a marinade.

About the author:  Heid E. Erdrich is author of a cookbook called Original Local:  Indigenous foods, stories, and recipes from the Upper Midwest.  She gathered sketches, photos, recipes and stories from many family members.  She group up in the Red River Valley in NW Minnesota and her foods represent tribes from throughout the Upper Midwest.  Her book is published by MN Historical Society Press and is a gem!

If you would like to be notified when we share new recipes, be sure to scroll to the bottom, provide your email address, check the box confirming you are not a robot, click on a few photos to prove it and click subscribe! You will then receive an email after each new post. Remember, we're always looking for new recipes, so keep sending them to ecopact@fspa.org!

Story:  This fall Wild Rice Salad is refreshing and full of colorful nutrients. In this Season of Creation, Native people and have much to teach about the sacredness of food, such as their beloved sister Wild Rice, aka manoomin or good berry.  As the ricing season comes to an end, we can reflect on how Wisconsin’s unique wild rice beds depend on WATER.  These beds in lakes and rivers are being adversely affected by climate change and pollution.  Wild rice is designed for clean water and a cold, northern climate. he mild winters, heavy spring rains and warmer water associated with climate change, threaten her existence.

The St. Louis River in both Wisconsin and Minnesota and its Estuary near the popular Duluth/Superior area has been an environmental Area Of Concern (AOC) since 1987.  Before modern environmental laws were in place, pollution created much damage.  Area citizens, government agencies, tribes, non-profits, universities and others formed the St. Louis River Alliance. Their goal is to restore 275 self-sustaining acres of wild rice beds in this AOC, along with restoration of wildlife habitat, recreation areas, clean water and more. 

A short video entitled: Restoring Wild Rice in the St. Louis River Estuary describes the sacred nature of wild rice to the Ojibwe and the work of St. Louis River Alliance partners to help the river and wild rice recover.  For if the wild rice goes away, so do her people.  

We can't ignore that another huge task we humans face is to hold back on rising water temperatures that also threaten wild rice, fish, habitat, weather patterns and people on the earth, our Common Home.

To learn more about Indigenous Affairs in Wisconsin, follow Frank Vaisvilas, Indigenous affairs reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  His work raises awareness!

Also, Monday, October 9 is Indigenous People's Day.  Check out the activities going on in La Crosse and many other communities on that day!

Fall Apple Salad

Ingredients:
Salad:
1 large bunch kale
2 apples that are crisp
1/3 C dried cranberries
1/3 C toasted pumpkin seeds
¾ C goat cheese, crumbled.  (Feta is a good alternative, if you prefer.)

Dressing:
1 small shallot, minced
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
3 T vinegar, apple cider vinegar is best!
1 T local honey or maple syrup 
2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove tough ribs from kale. Tear or chop leaves into bite-sized pieces. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with half the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and use your hands to massage kale leaves until tender.
2. Prepare the dressing by whisking together the remaining extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Core 1 apple. (Peeling is optional as the peel contains good nutrition.) Chop it into bite-sized pieces. With the second apple, core and quarter it. Use a cheese grater to make apple "snow." Add to the salad bowl.
4. Add dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds (see note below). Drizzle dressing over the ingredients.Toss to combine and thoroughly coat each item with dressing.
5. Crumble cheese over the top and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Optional: Add shredded carrots, broccoli or cauliflower flowerets, leftover chicken, etc. to the salad if you are in the mood to clean out the fridge!

Story:
In September and October, local Apples are at their peak in most of North America and non-farm kids of all ages (like our grandkids!) can enjoy markets for "pick your own" and bagged apples. 

Freezing apples:
Years ago, I acquired an apple peeler-corer-slicer that earns its place in our tool drawer when apples are in season. Your great-grandma may have had one. Most orchard shops and hardware stores sell them. Here are some apple freezing tips.

Prepare what is called "acidulated" water: a fancy name for water plus acid. Use about 1/4 cup lemon juice to 1 quart of cold water. As soon as you clean, peel, core and slice your fruit, with a gadget or by hand, let the slices swim in a bowl of lemon water to prevent them from browning. At this point, you could can them, but since freezers came on the scene in the 1950s, it is another simple way.

Strain (do not rinse) and pack apples tightly in freezer bags and label. It's a very good practice to keep records of what, when and where any food goes in your freezer (and your fridge and pantry) to reduce waste and aid in meal planning. Plan on wintertime apple crisp, applesauce, apple bread or pie!

If you would like to be notified when we share new recipes, be sure to scroll to the bottom, provide your email address, check the box confirming you are not a robot, click on a few photos to prove it and click subscribe! You will then receive an email after each new post. Remember, we're always looking for new recipes, so keep sending them to ecopact@fspa.org!