Making Good Choices Blog » Salads

Lunch Play Date: Lentil, Carrot, Celery & Scallion Salad

Nicole — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:09:31 +0000

A recipe! I know…crazy.

We had a playdate today. I always try to throw together some type of lunch when I do. I really enjoy making food for other people, so any chance I get I kind of jump at it!

I didn’t have that much time and I had made lentils last night, so I figured that would be perfect to go with a green salad.

The salad I put together was:

butter lettuce & mixed spring greens
cherry tomatoes
cucumbers
candied walnuts
feta
avocado
baked balsamic chicken (marinated it in equal parts olive oil & balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper & garlic powder, baked for 20 minutes, flipping halfway at 350 degrees)

Super easy, delicious green salad. I made a simple dressing with fresh garlic, balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, S & P.

Lentil, Carrot, Celery & Scallion Salad

1 cup dry lentils (cooked as per instructions. I cooked mine in rice maker.)
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped scallions (not packed in)
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
1 tbs dried parsley
1-2 tbs red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

After cooking the lentils, let them cool completely. Combine lentils, carrots, celery and scallions. Mix to combine. Add in 1 tbs red wine vinegar, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix together. Taste to see if you need to add more vinegar. Adjust salt and pepper according to taste.

Off to start bedtime routine and watch Nurse Jackie! Have a great night!

Lunch Idea: Tri Color Goddess Quinoa Salad

Nicole — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:39:14 +0000

Morning! We just finished night 6 of sleep training and besides a few hiccups, we’re doing very well over here. I plan on writing about it at the end of the week after we’ve had a couple of more nights of it.

I’ve been doing some meal planning work, which is always fun for me. I love helping people eat healthy, delicious meals. So often people think that they need to eat boring, bland meals in order to be healthy or lose weight…and that’s so not the case.

I came across one of my favorite quinoa recipes. I haven’t made this in a long time. It’s so delicious, I need to make this a lunch staple again.

Tri Color Goddess Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked according to directions (I used tricolor, but any kind will do)
10 grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup lentils
1/3 cup feta
8-10 black olives, chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced very thinly (or chopped)

After quinoa cooks, let it completely cool. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add quinoa. Make dressing and drizzle dressing over salad. (You most likely do not need all of the dressing. Add 2-3 tbsp to entire bowl, mix and then adjust according to taste!)

Tahini Goddess Dressing

1 garlic clove
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 heaping tbsp tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
2 tsp dried basil
pinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender, food processor or using an immersion blender.

By the way….where is the spring weather?

Also: want to try Blissful Eats granola? We’re so excited for May to come we made a coupon for it! Enter code “MAYFLOWERS” at checkout for 15% off!

We’re still looking for someone to work the Islip Farmers market on Saturdays this summer. It’s a really FUN (paid!) job! Contact us if you’re interested!

Have a great day!

Eat Kiwi and Win Coach change purse!

Nicole — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:38:07 +0000

Hi everyone! I just got back from Boston just now and am excited to share this really fun giveaway with you!

This week we’re celebrating a more exotic fruit: ZESPRI Kiwifruit, a great source of vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin E, carotenoids and other antioxidants. Kiwifruit have a low glycemic index (GI) and are low in fat, a perfect dietary addition to children’s lunches, snacks, and fruit salads.

ZESPRI Kiwifruit is sponsoring a giveaway on here, that involves giving my readers a chance to win a Coach change purse valued at $100!

To enter, please post your favorite way to eat ZESPRI Kiwifruit by Monday, August 13^th at 11:59PM PST. I will randomly pick a winner (chosen by Random Number Generator) and the winner receives the Coach change purse. Here’s one of my favorite recipes:

Roasted Corn and Zesty KiwiFruit Salad
INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups (250 g) whole kernel corn, fresh or frozen
1 small red onion, sliced
3-4 ZESPRI® GREEN Kiwifruit
1 sweet red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 fresh chili pepper, seeded and diced
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 cup (180 g) cooked and drained cannellini or pinto beans

METHOD:

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, until browned. Place corn in a large bowl.
Slice kiwis into halves and spoon fruit out into 2 cm chunks.
Gently combine all the ingredients and serve.

What’s your favorite way to eat kiwi fruit?

Leave a comment with your favorite way to be entered into Coach change purse giveaway!

Good luck everyone!!

2 Summer Salads: Southwestern Harvest Grains & Summer Blueberry Salad!

Nicole — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:56:50 +0000

Another weekend, another set of home projects near completion. I’m sure you’ll all be super glad when we’re done with this bathroom so I can STOP talking about this. We’re about 2 weeks from completion, I think and then maybe 3 weeks from final, final touches.

We did a lot around the house this weekend, including almost finishing the front landscaping of our house. I’ll have to post some pictures, but it really does look like night and day. It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint on the door, a new mailbox, some plants and mulch will do to make a house look so much better. My mom is really the designer out there, so has a vision and I basically just sit and watch. MAJOR thanks to her!

Danny and I also tended to our garden in the back. Hopefully it will start producing some veggies soon!

Over the weekend I got in a 4.5 mile run very early Saturday to beat the heat. During the day, while running errands, the heat really got the best of me and I tried to lay down as much as I could. I felt good enough to head to a small BBQ to celebrate the engagement of my friends Meg & Tim.

For the BBQ I made a Southwestern harvest grains salad and a blueberry, walnut & goat cheese salad. Both delicious and super, super easy.

Blueberry Summer Salad

Ingredients

2 bags baby romaine lettuce
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup goat cheese
balsamic vinegrette

Combine lettuce, blueberries, walnuts and goat cheese in a large bowl. Toss with a balsamic vinegrette dressing.

SouthWestern Harvest Grain Salad (serves 15)

based on recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Ingredients

1 package Harvest Grains (from Trader Joe’s or 2/5 cups dry quinoa)
1 red pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Dressing

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (I used about 2 limes)
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Cook harvest grains according to package and let cool. Dice red pepper and rinse black beans. Add to large bowl. Combine with harvest grains. In a small bowl combine ingredients for dressing and whisk together. Pour dressing over grain salad and toss to combine!

There ya have it, 2 super easy salads to bring to a BBQ this summer!

Have a great day!

Just to keep you updated: Integrative Nutrition is offering $1000 off tuition to those who enroll between today and Wednesday, July 4th! If you’re interested in helping people get healthy and become a health counselor then email me!