'Salads to Go' make a great lunch for school kids or the worker's desk
I love bargains. When I go shopping, I search the sale papers and map out my plan of attack.
I am not alone in this. My friend Esther Tidwell does the same thing. She is so dedicated that she will call me asking if I saw a particular good sale. We set off, papers in hand, on grocery or whatever shopping we are doing that day.
I do the same thing with online shopping, whether it be gourmet foods, clothes, toys or books, and last week, I did especially well with an e-book that most readers will find useful. "Salads To Go" by Arnel Ricafranca and Jesse Vince-Cruz works for back-to-school lunches, lunches at a work desk or on a fun picnic, and right now the price is right -- free.
Since readers shared several cool, literally, recipes for these hot, summer days, I thought I would offer a few recipes from my new "find" and my files that limit time in the kitchen and are cool and healthy.
Readers can search the online bookstores for "Salads To Go." It is an e-reader book that I purchased for free on Amazon. Besides being free, the salad recipes are made in canning jars and will last for up to 7 days with no preservatives. The secret, the authors say, is knowing how to layer the ingredients properly. Color photos of the salads show how the recipes should look.
This is perfect for brown bag lunches, kids' school lunches or even meals on the go when the kids are involved in all sorts of extracurricular activities.
Readers, if you follow the authors' layering suggestions, the possibilities are limited only to the imagination. Here are the three layers: Dressing goes on the bottom layer; the middle layer is harder dense ingredients, such as carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, peas, oranges, beans, grains and bell peppers. If you want to add protein, add on top of the harder ingredients; and lastly, the top layer is leafy vegetables, like lettuce, kale, spinach or
mixed greens. Be sure not to keep the jar upright, so the dressing is separate from the greens. This will preserve the salad for 3 to 4 days and up to 7 days if vacuum sealed.
"Before closing the jar, place a folded paper towel on top of the salad," the authors say. "Make sure to leave enough room in the jar. The paper towel will help absorb excess moisture to keep the leafy vegetables from wilting. Screw on both parts of the lids tightly and store in your refrigerator."
When ready to eat, simply grab a fork, shake the jar, open the lid and dig in.
My daughter's vegetable garden did not fare so well this summer, but some of the herbs did. We have a bounty of basil. This recipe from "Salads to Go" makes use of the basil.
CRUNCHY BASIL SALAD
Bottom layer:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 clove garlic, minced
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk it. Then pour it in your Mason jar.
Middle layer:
Cherry tomatoes
Orange bell peppers
Red bell peppers
Cucumber
Shredded carrots
Avocado
Pine nuts
Sliced steak
Top layer:
Baby spinach
Add all three layers starting with your homemade salad dressing at the bottom. Shake and enjoy. Recipe from "Salads To Go"
Asian food lovers, this salad is for you. I love the flavors in this one.
KOREAN SESAME SALAD
Bottom layer:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk it. Then pour it in your Mason jar.
Middle layer:
Baby carrots
Onion
Cucumber
Sugar snap peas
Orange bell pepper
Cherry tomatoes
Top layer:
Lettuce
Red cabbage
Add all three layers starting with your homemade salad dressing at the bottom. Shake and enjoy. Recipe from "Salads To Go."
What goes better with a salad than a bowl of chilled soup? As readers know, I love cold soups. I frequently make them. My husband loves them, and even my still-picky daughter likes the cold fruit soups. This week I have been doing some cold vegetable soups.
As husbands will do, mine gently said, "We haven't had cold avocado soup in a long time. You know, that's my favorite."
I can take a hint, so I made cold avocado soup to accompany the crunchy basil salad from "Salads To Go."
CHILLED AVOCADO SOUP
3 ripe avocados, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
White pepper to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Lemon slices to garnish
Purple onion slices to garnish
Combine avocado and chicken broth in blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Remove from blender and stir in half and half, salt, onion salt and white pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Stir in lemon juice before serving. Garnish with lemon and purple onion slices. Serves 4 to 6. Recipe from "Lone Star Legacy"
Here is another favorite of mine. This is great with a fruity chicken salad or as the soup course for a sit-down dinner.
CHILLED CUCUMBER SOUP
3 medium cucumbers, peeled, chopped and seeded
3 tablespoons chopped green pepper
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dill weed
Combine all ingredients and puree in blender. Chill and serve. Serves 6 to 8. Recipe from "Lone Star Legacy"
This cold soup recipe is from one of the many recipe newsletters that show up in my e-mail. I do not usually share other e-mail recipes, but this one makes use of fresh tomatoes, avocados and fresh Gulf shrimp, a great seasonal recipe for my readers from Texas to Florida.
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SOUP WITH SHRIMP AND AVOCADO
5 medium heirloom tomatoes, seeded and chopped, divided
3 avocados, chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon.fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon extra light virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup tomato juice
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on
1 tablespoon regular olive oil
1/2.teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Dash of sweet paprika
Combine half the tomatoes, avocado, red onion, basil, thyme, Bertolli Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in large bowl; set aside.
Process remaining tomatoes, vegetable broth and tomato juice in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into avocado mixture. Season, if desired, with salt and black pepper. Chill, if desired.
Combine shrimp, Bertolli Classico Olive Oil, red pepper flakes, remaining lemon juice and paprika. Thread shrimp on skewers. Grill, turning once, 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp from skewers.
Ladle soup into serving bowls and top with shrimp. Garnish, if desired, with additional fresh basil leaves.
If using wooden skewers, soak in water at least 30 minutes prior to use.
-- Recipe from www.recipe4living.com
What's a gentilly cake?
A Biloxi, Miss., reader asked for a recipe for a Gentilly Cake. She said it has coconut and almonds and possibly fruit in the icing and cake. Readers, have you heard of this recipe or have the recipe? If so, please send it to me.
Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net and takes contributions or requests at Cook's Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567.
This story was originally published August 6, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "'Salads to Go' make a great lunch for school kids or the worker's desk ."