Red bean - broccoli salad or the Yum Yum salad

  
This is an amazing simple salad that looks just delicious and inviting.
We had the pleasure of being introduced to each other by our friend Daria, who prepared this and also a few other dishes with nearly no effort. That kind is my kind :)
The colors are so pretty, especially shown in a clear glass dish.

Type of dish: salad, side
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Time: 20min
Prep time: 15min


You'll need:
a cutting board, small knife, collander, large clear shallow dish, tablespoon, a large cup, garlic crusher, medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 2 cans drained and rinsed red beans
•  1 broccoli head, divided in small florets
•  1 tbsp mayo
•  2 tbsp greek joghurt
•  1 large garlic clove, crushed
•  salt
•  ground white pepper

How to?

Heat water in saucepan. Fill the colander with the beans and rinse well. Transfer the beans to the dish, making a layer out of them. In a large cup or bowl, mix together the mayonaise, joghurt, crushed garlic and season with some salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside, best in the fridge.
Bring water to a boil in the saucepan, add 1 tsp salt, add the broccoli florets and cook until just tender - 10min is enough - even with frozen broccoli. Transfer to colander and rinse under cold water to make it crisp and to stop the cooking process. When the broccoli is cool, transfer to the dish, layering it on top of the red beans. Then plop over the joghurt- mayo mix. It will look like whipped cream over beans, but that's just the broccoli.
Cover up and chill a bit in the frigde. Serve with fresh baguette or garlic bread.
Great for a party or an appetizer.

Gyros Layered Salad

There is just something about a layered salad or anything layered that really appeals to me. I mean, you can see all the ingredients, and they don't make sense. Then, you have a portion piled on your plate, you try it- and everything makes sense. That's the way good coking works. How could a potato be good with garlic and mayo? Fry the potato, cream the mayop with garlic and it does make sense. Somehow. I love food and the way cooking works. Drool.


You can make this salad dairly mild like this one ( I just added chili), or add crushed garlic, shallots instead of red onion, and add some tabasco or chili sauce to the ketchup. That will suprise your tastebuds :)

Type of dish: main, salad
Serves: many, many happy people
Cost: medium
Difiiculty: easy
Time: 40min
Prep time: 15 min
Cooking time: 10 min

You'll need:
A large clear glass bowl, a tablespoon, a cutting board, sharp knife, 3 bowls, a colander, frying pan, a cup, spatula,


First of all., heat the frying pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and the chili, when hot, add the chicken and fry until the chicken is white, then add the gyros seasoning and a glass of water. Mix well and turn the heat to medium. Place the cabbage in the colander, and add 1 tbsp of vegeta. Toss and set aside on the sink. Dice the vegetables. When the gyros mixture in the chicken is thick like cream, turn of the heat and let it cool down completely.  Then place the chicken in the base of the large glass bowl. On top of the chicken, spread out 2 tbsp mayo. Spread it out evenly- all of the layers need to be or look even- this is the appealing part of this salad. Over the mayo, spread the onions, then the pickles. Then the tomatoes, corn and ketchup. Now, squeeze out as much excess water from the cabbage and fluff it out a bit and place in a layer over the ketchup corn. Spread out nicely, cover up and put in the frigde for at least 3h  for the flavours to mix:)

Easy salmon teriyaki salad

There comes a terrible time, when it's not the holidays, and you don't fit in your pants. That's when you take out the heavy guns and start eating salads in the dead of winter. Don't make it yuck. Make it at least good :)

Easy salad for next day- throw in a baggie and take to work- the sauces will marinate the hard veggies and the salad will be crisp if you put in on top in the baggie.


Type of dish: salad
Cost: medium
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2
Time: 30min
Prep time: 10min
Baking time: 20min
Oven temp: 180C

You'll need:

a shallow baking dish, fork, cutting board, sharp knife, baggie or bowl.

Ingredients:

• lettuce of any kind,
• 2 medium carrots
• black sesame seeds
• 1/2 salmon filet, skinned, cut in large pieces
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced diagonaly
• 3 tbsp terriyaki sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce ( whatever your flavour)
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Preheat your oven, in the baking dish, lay out the salmon pieces, and pour in the terriyaki sauce. Mix around so all is well coated and pop in the oven for 20 min. In the meantime, julienne the carrots, and place it in the baggie or bowl, add the cucumber and add the oil and soy sauce. Sprinkle in some sesame seeds and when the salmon is baked, crumble the pieces on the veggies in the baggie. Let it cool down completely before puttting on top of that the shredded lettuce. Close the baggie and put in the frigde to take out before work. At work, tip the baggie over a plate, so the salad comes out reversed. Mix and eat.
If you plan on eating this at once, place everything the other way round- first in a bowl lettuce, carrots, cucmber, then the salmon, sprinkle with the sesame and pour over the soy sauce and sesame oil.
Serve!

Polish Christmas Salad

This is a typical Polish salad served on Christmas Eve, when we eat only food without meat. We eat a ton of fish, specialty is carp and herrings, in various ways, or the less popular but still very good eel and catfish.
I'm thinking about doing this year just salmon for Christmas Eve- with puree and vegetables, and for dinner, informal sushi or salmon teriyaki.
Or I'll make shrimps with green beans.

I have been making this specific salad for over 15 years, always having each year a lot of fun dicing the damn vegetables (I learnt how to chop with this salad- one year it was too fine, the other- the dice was too big and the salad wasn't that good). So dice small enough (the size of a pea or a bit larger is ok).
The key is to use regular mayonaise. No light mayonaise or a mix of mayo and cream will do the job. Accept the awful truth and just spoon in those 2 heaped table spoons of good mayonaise. I swear it'll be enough.  And you HAVE to add the apple, otherwise it dosen't make any sense at all.
Since you have to cook the vegetables anyway, it's good to slow cook them with a few more ingredients and make vegetable broth, which, by the way, I intend to serve also on Christmas Eve with some noodles and a few carrot slices. If you don't want to have soup, just freeze it in a ice tray or muffin tray- this way you have good quality broth to use in other recipes.


Type of dish : salad
Serves: 4-8
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Time: 1h
Prep time: 20min
Cooking time:

You'll need:
Cutting board, sharp knife, large bowl, medium saucepan with lid, tablespoon, slotted spoon, tongs

Ingredients:

•  3-4 medium carrots
• 1 celery bulb
• 2 parsley root
• 1-2 leek parts
• 2 heaped tbsp  mayonaise
• 2 apples ( green granny, or any sour type)
• 6-7 medium sized brined gherkins
• 1/2 can of peas
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tbsp Vegeta seasoning
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion
• small piece italian cabbage
• small garnish fresh thyme

Dice all the vegetables except for the onion  (which you don't peel, just wash- it'll give a lovely color to the broth), caggabe and leek. Put all the veggies, apart from the gherkins and apples in the saucepan, add the bay leaf and Vegeta, and cover with cold water and add additional 1/2 litre of water (this will evaporate during cooking anyway), and put on medium heat, wait till it boils, then turn down the heat to low for 20 min. In the meantime, add to the large bowl add the peas, diced apples and gherkins and the mayonaise. When the time is up, use the tongs to remove the leek, onion and caggage from the saucepan, and take out the bay leaf and thyme. Use the slotted spoon or a sieve to drain the vegetables from the broth (save it for other purposes), and add to the large bowl. Mix well, taste, add the salt if needed, then cover and put in a cool place (a fridge) and leave overnight for best results.
The taste is great, and kids really like this salad for some reason. I think it's because it's the only alternative to fish on that day. But still, a good way to feed them veggies :)

Baked mushrooms- Crowd pleaser

We had a BBQ a while ago and I wanted to make some sides and salads as everyone else was bringing on the meat and wine. I had a few salads in mind but I got super cute mushrooms and just had to make something with them. While the stove was occupied on all four tops I had only the oven to make something. So I had them baked, and they came out delicious! Seriously, it was the first thing that disappeared from the table. To me, that's a sign that something is GOOD.
Deliciously easy. Make it for any potluck or party or for dinner. GUSH.

Type of dish: side, salad
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4-8
Time: 25min
Preparation time: 5 min
Baking time: 20 min
Oven temp: 180 C

You'll need:
a shallow baking dish, knife, cutting board, spoon, oven

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• mushrooms ( as much as you want)
• butter
• 4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• addional: 1/2 glass of dry white wine
• S&P

Go at heat the oven, chop up the larger mushrooms in 4, leave the smaller ones whole. Drizzle olive oil all over them,add the garlic, parsley, s&p, mix it over nicely and lay on small chunks of the butter over the 'shrooms. If you want the wine version, pour in the wine just before you put it in the oven. I swear to you, this is delicious. Now pop it in the oven for 20 min, just come back in 10 min to mix them so they brown evenly. After that they're ready to serve!
Serve with a fresh baguette to soak up the sauce. I'm hungry again:/

Potato salad german/austrian style- it ROCKS

I love a good pickled flavour. One that has a tangy kick is just perfect for me. This one came from T. who had this many times in Vienna on business trips, that he loves it and please please please, make it.

So, sceptic about any potato salads (apart from one my dad makes- but thats a different story), I had a few potatoes in the fridge and decided to give it a go. Use small potatoes unpeeled or larger peeled. It sounds weird, but actually comes out great!  Loved it! Nailed it! Whatever!
You can serve this badass with fish, or some other stuff or just eat it without anything else. It's gorgeous! You'll know what I'm talking about once you make it.

Get going:
Type of dish: side, salad
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2-4
Time: 30 min
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 15-20 min

Will need to cook:
a large bowl ( preferably a steel/metal one), a spoon, medium saucepan with lid, frying pan, spatula, cutting board, knife, a measure cup, plates to serve


Ingredients:

• 8-10 small potatoes, unpeeled
• 6 medium pickled pickles, diced
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 50 gr bacon sliced
• 30 ml hot/warm broth ( I used the cubed veg stock)
• 30ml white vinegar, but you can also use apple vinegar or white wine V too
• S&P
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

You do this: heat the pan with water, boil it, add the potatoes, boil them for 15 -20 min, depending on their size. Chop up the stuff, and fry up bacon till golden brown. In the bowl, add the onions, broth and vinegar, add a pinch of S&P, but not much. Stir well the mixture, and set aside. When the potatoes are done, drain them, pour cold water over them, peel ( there is a great japanese method I use sometimes ( and looks freakishly cool) here, and cut in slices straight in the bowl with the broth. mix it well, add the bacon, pickles, and parsley. Set aside so the potatoes soak up the mixture and the flavours start mixing together. I swear it's delicious!
Served when not hot anymore. That's about 5-10 min, perfect to clean up :)
Enjoy!

Watermelon salad

You think watermelon is good for a dessert or kids time. I had some more to spare and was in need of a salad that could work as a side or main. Just try to get out as many seeds as you can. Be happy about it! Why not?


Type of dish: salad, side, main
Cost: medium
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4-8
Time: 10 min
Preparation time: 10 min


You need:
cutting board, knife, large bowl, spoon


Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg ripe watermelon, deseeded, diced the size of half a dice
• 1/2 box of feta cheese ( Arla, or the crumbly wet type, doesn't matter as long as it leaves you with pieces that don't melt away)
• 1/2 bunch fresh mint, chopped finely
• thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

How to:
In the bowl, add the watermelon, feta, mint and ginger. Mix well and serve chilled. That's it!


Additional info: you can spice it up a bit by adding a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper, or some minced fresh chilli.

Simple Couscous

There is something amazing about couscous. I think it might be that it takes minutes to prepare, and that you can have it as a main, side or dessert.  Quite versatile, don't you think?
Basicly you do what they tell you to do on the packaging ad you go from there however you want to. Sweet, savory, a combination of both, who knows?
I like doing a salad-esque kind of couscous, savory, but with sligt touches of sweetness, that bring out the rest of the flavours. And you can make this garlic free:) But please use at least a tiny amount of sweet onions:)

Check your chopping skills as there will be some involved. And look after your nails, please. I've lost too many over the years, especially after weeks of growing them, you paint them, feel awfully proud of them, then you start chopping and BAM! Half a nail gone. S#(*)T!


Go on, get prepared:

Type of dish: main, side, salad
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2 or more
Time: 20 min
Preparation time: 20min
Cooking time : 3-5 min

You'll need:
Cutting board ( no, really?), sharp knife, tablespoon, fork, large bowl ( easier for mixing), something to cover the bowl with.

Ingredients: ( for 2 servings)

• half a small red onion, finely chopped
• 100 gr couscous
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• curry powder
• half an apple, finely diced 
• half a yellow ball pepper, finely diced
• a small hand of dried apricots, diced
• half a cucumber, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 small hand of any kind of nuts, chopped roughly
• fresh or dried herbs: parsley, basil, corriander, dill, chopped well
• lemon juice ( a few good squeezes)

So, the how to:
Set up your chopping station. Fill the bowl with the amount of couscous you need, pour hot water over it according to instructions ( tractor instructor- where did that come from?), drizzle in some olive oil, a pinch of salt, cover it up and chop away. When you chop, put it aside on the board so you seehow much of everything you have. Should be around a handfull of everything. So, now that you're all chopped up, the couscous is done, fluff it up with a fork, add everything you have to it, mix well, taste for seasoning ( S&P), add the lemon juice, mix up again and set in fridge to let the flavours work through and do their thang. This is great for a party, or picnic, or a fast lunch at the office ( just chop the stuff at home and add it to couscous cooed at work.)
There. Done!

Oh, you can add dates, pistacios, walnuts, almonds, figs, olives and other stuff too.  Or spice it up with some chilli powder or fresh stuff chopped, of course.

Caprese Salad

We're not going to write here about the origins of this salad, because you can Wiki that. We love this salad, as it's fresh, flavourful, and brings out the best of basil, ripe tomatoes and chewy mozzarella cheese. Classic stuff.

Type of dish: snack, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  5 min

Serves: 1-2

Preparation time: 5min

What you need to make this dish:

Cutting board, plate , sharp knife

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato
• 1 mozzarella
• Colored pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 3-4 basil leaves
• Olive oil

How to prepare:

Wash the tomato, and slice in 3-4 mm slices. Cut the cheese same way. On the plate, lay one slice of tomato, on it a mozzarella slice,  continue with rest until you have your plate set. Drizzle over some olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Now roll up the basil leaves so they look like a cigar, and cut them rolled. Sprinkle the plate with this and serve!

Additional information:

You may use dried tomatoes for a different taste, or spread a tsp of pesto on the plate before laying out the tomato and cheese. If you have a rectangular plate, serve up in a line, with chopped basil leaves on the tomatoes and mozzarella.

Basic tomato and cucumber salad

Basic tomato cucumber salad. If you have any leftover cucumber and tomatoes, you can make this simple salad as a side or a quick snack. It’s easy and really good. 

Type of dish: snack, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  5 min

Serves: 1-4

Preparation time: 5min

What you need to make this dish:

Cutting board, small bowl, sharp knife, spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato
• 1/4 cucumber
• Colored pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 squeeze of lemon juice

How to prepare:

Wash the veggies and dice them. Put in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add the olive oil and lemon juice, mix and serve. 

Additional information:

You can add some lettuce if you have some. Additional are: red onion or shallots, black pitted olives, feta cheese. You can serve this in a glass or on a plate with a lettuce leaf underneath.

Colorful arugula salad

This one is a beauty. And of course, quite simple to make. Color up your table!

Type of dish: salad

Cost: medium

Difficulty: easy

Time:  10 min

Serves:4

Preparation time: 10 min

What you need to make this dish:

Spoon, sharp knife, cutting board, medium bowl, salad spinner (or use a large cloth and go outside)

Ingredients:

• 50 gr cream goat cheese
• 2 small bell peppers (red and yellow)
• 1 packet fresh arugula
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• pinch salt
• pinch pepper
• olive oil
• lemon

How to prepare:
Wash the veggies and arugula. Put the arugula in the salad spinner to dry it up. If you don't have one, put the leaves in a large cloth and catch the corners and sides firmly, go outside and spin in wildly around (it will splash, so don't do this inside). Place the spinned arugula in the bowl, cut the tomatoes in quarters and put them in the bowl. Slice half of each pepper into thin pieces and put that in the bowl. Add salt and pepper, a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and toss the salad gently. Using a spoon, put the cream cheese in spots on top of the salad. Now, you can serve!

Additional information:
If you have lime, you can use lime juice to give the salad a nice kick. Also, any fresh raspberries are also nice.

Serve with:
Croutons or buttered toast. Also, delicious on it's own.

Tuna corn rice salad

I was first introduced to this salad by my BFF, Justyna (Cherie, it's been 8 years!). We had this kind of unspoken deal in the early days, she'd come over, we'd cook something good to eat, watch SATC, drink a bottle of wine and eat, then go out to town. Oh yeah, we're crazy:) That's how we roll.
Every now and then I still make this salad, as it's easy, good and healthy. Great for parties too.

Type of dish: main, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  20 min

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 5 min

What you need to make this dish:

Large bowl, can opener, spoon, medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna
• 1 can of corn
• 1 bag of rice
• 2 tbsp mayonaise
• 1 flat tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 medium onion

How to prepare:

Heat water in the saucepan, when boiling, put in the rice to cook (according to the time on the package). Dice the onion into small pieces and put in the bowl. Open the cans with tuna and corn, drain from the liquid and put the contents of the cans in the bowl. Add the mayonaise, salt and pepper. When the rice has cooked, cool it down and add to the bowl. Mix well and cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour. After that, ready to eat! 

Simple salad

I'm a sucker for salads, I think most of you know that by now. This is the easiest of all salads known to mankind. Once you get hooked on it, there's no going back. Use lambs lettuce, it has more body, is fairly crunchy and mixes well with other ingredients. You'll fall in love with the delicate flavour.  All you need apart from the lettuce is good quality olive oil, I used black truffle oil that my darling brought me from a truffle specialized shop in Paris. I love it when he remembers what I need:)

Type of dish: salad, side

Cost: medium

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  3 min

Serves: 2-4

Preparation time: 3 min

What you need to make this dish:

a large bowl, salad spoons

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of lambs lettuce
• 1 tbsp of the best olive oil you have

How to prepare:

Pour the olive oil in the bowl and swish it around the bowl, so it coats the sides. Toss in the salad, mix gently and serve. HA! That SIMPLE!

Additional information:
We got the hint that Maille (which makes great french mustard) makes raspberry vinegar. When you serve yourself some salad, have a few drops of this vinegar over it. D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. And we seriously recomend having some truffle olive oil. So good. Oh.

Chicken curry salad

Don't believe everything you read. This is not a curry, it's a salad with curry powder, but it's a favorite amongst friends and family.  I think I had some regular chicken salad somewhere, called Hawaian, but it didn't taste right. It lacked a flavourfull kick that the curry adds. The celery is a crunchy addition to this salad. Besides, I know you wanted this recipe. Badly. Come on, admit it!

Type of dish: salad, main

Cost: medium

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  20 min

Serves: 4-8

Preparation time: 10 min

What you need to make this dish:

Cutting board, a large bowl, a spoon, colander, medium saucepan, knife

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of celery
• 1 packet of raisins
• 1 can of pineapple
• 1 chicken breast, deboned and skinned
• 2 tbsp mayonaise
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 tbsp curry powder (taste a little, should have a kick to it)

How to prepare:

Heat water in saucepan. Wash the chicken, set aside to drain. Wash celery and cut into 3-4 mm thick slices and put in a bowl. Cut the pineapple into bite sized pieces and put in bowl along with the raisins, mayonaise and curry powder. Now, cut the chicken in small dice and throw at once all in the boiling water. Let it cook for 8 min, until white and cooked. Drain and let it cool before adding to the bowl. Give the stuff in the bowl a good mix, try some and add salt and pepper as desired. I know it's good, but once it cools down in the fridge for a couple of hours, it gets better. Put in frigde and mix every hour or so. After at least 3h it great to eat. Drool, but not into the bowl! 

Serve with ideas: I'm not going to be creative here, but serve with pieces of fresh baguette. The sauce is delicious!

Salsa baby!

I was having my girlfriends yesterday for the evening and I wanted to make it tortilla night. So I made some salsa and guacamole. I bought some tortilla wraps and greek yoghurt. Marinated some chicken. I even made some flavourfull cheese on crackers so they wouldn't be hungry. I went to town. And guess what? We finished the crackers and had no more space for tortilla. But the salsa was good either way so I'm posting it here. It's soo simple, just try it out, serve it with supper or casual lunch ( casual, as it's got garlic in it:) )

Type of dish: side, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:easy

Time:  10 min

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 min

What you need to make this dish:

cutting board, sharp knife, bowl, spoon, garlic crusher

Ingredients:

•  2 yellow tomatoes
• 2 red tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper
• olive oil
• half a small chili pepper
• 1/2 small red onion
• 2 tbsp lime juice

How to prepare:

Dice the tomatoes, dice the onion, crush the garlic into the bowl, put in the tomatoes and onion. Cut the chili into thin slices then cut diagonal, so you have tiny cubes in the end. Add it to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix with spoon and chill in fridge for 20-30 min. Ready to serve! 


Additional info: 
You can use lemon juice instead of lime, and cut out the chili,but then it won;t be real salsa. You can garnish the salsa with some roughy chopped coriander, but it's up to you.


Serve with ideas:
yogurt, or cream ( if you dare!), and of course, guacamole.