Grilled Peach Salad

This is the last post for Salad Wednesday, here is a list of our other salads from this spring:

Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, Minestrone Salad, Tangerine, Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad, Stacked Apple Peach Salad, Broccoli Salad, Apricot Pineapple Salad, and Tortellini Salad.

Our next Wednesday series will be Grilling Wednesday, perfect for the summer. This recipe is a transition between the two, it was a salad, but it used grilled peaches. Look back every Wednesday where will will try out some interesting vegetarian recipes for the grill!

This idea came from Paula Deen.

Ingredients:

-3 peaches cut into slices
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp salt
-5 cups spinach lettuce mix
-1/2 cup chopped pecans
-1/3 cup mozzarella cheese

I used a raspberry balsamic vinaigrette as dressing, and it went well with this salad.

Make up a plate of the greens, pecans and cheese.

Brush the peaches with a little olive oil and salt.
Put on the grill for about 2 minutes per side.

A few fell apart, but not many.

They got some nice grill marks.

Add the peaches and dressing to the salad.

This was one of the best salads I have made. It is great to be able to use the grill, and grilling the peaches really brought out their flavor. The spinach and the peaches were a good combination too. I would recommend this as a side dish next time you grill.

Apricot Pineapple Salad

This isn't quite a traditional salad, but this side dish was good as a side or on it's own. It was pretty sweet, and could even been used a dessert. I ate this for a side to lunch, but then I ate another one for dessert the next day. Using baby food was easy, rather than using an apricot and having to puree it yourself. The pineapple chunks were a really good match for the peach and apricot flavor.

This recipe comes from the cookbook Storebought to Homemade by Emyl Jenkins.

Other Salad Wednesday recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, Minestrone Salad, Tangerine, Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad, Stacked Apple Peach Salad and Broccoli Salad.

This makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

-1/3 cup of water

-1/3 cup of sugar

-1 packet of peach vegetarian Jell-o substitute

-4 oz cream cheese

-8 oz crushed pineapple

-4 oz apricot baby food, or pureed apricot

-8 oz cool whip

Mix the sugar, water, and jell-o, until it boils.

Take the mixture off the heat, and mix in the cream cheese.

Add the other ingredients.

Stir then serve.

This recipe made 4, so I put them in pretty big cups. It was a lot to eat at once, next time I might put them into smaller containers to have a smaller side.

Broccoli Salad

Happy Salad Wednesday! Today was my last final for this semester, I am so happy to be starting my internship next week and taking a few weeks off from school until summer classes start. 

Today's post is broccoli salad. I think every once in a while it's nice to deviate away from what people view as a traditional salad -- it doesn't need to be all about greens all of the time! And truthfully this recipe couldn't get easier, no cooking, just a little prep.

Other Salad Wednesday recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, Minestrone Salad, Tangerine, Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad and Stacked Apple Peach Salad.

This is adapted from All Recipes.

Ingredients: 
-2 heads fresh broccoli, cut into small peices
-1/2 red onion, diced
-3/4 cup craisins
-3/4 cup sunflower seeds
-1 cup mayonnaise
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar


1.) Cut the broccoli as small as you'd like and mix it with the red onion, craisins and sunflower seeds.
2.) Whisk together the mayo, sugar and vinegar.
3.) Pour over the broccoli mixture and mix to coat.
4.) Let sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

This tasted really good, the dressing tasted a lot like coleslaw dressing. I really liked the addition of the craisins and sunflower seeds, the onion was a little overwhelming I didn't have too much of an issue with it, but I would probably use about 1/4 of an onion next time. My mom suggested leaving it out and adding some  La Choy chow mein noodles right before serving for an added crunch.

Stacked Apple Peach Salad

For a unique spin on a fruit salad, try making one of these stacked salads. This was pretty easy to do, and it is easy to substitute whatever fruit you like. A few weeks ago Alecia made a Stacked Pear Salad similar to this one. Apples and peaches are two of my favorite fruit, so I used them instead. This recipe comes from Tales of a Kitchen. The sauce that went with it really worked with the flavors of the fruit.

Other Salad Wednesday recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, Minestrone Salad, and Tangerine, Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad.

Ingredients:
-Apple

-Peach
-1/4 cup chopped pecans

-4 Tbsp honey

-3 Tbsp lemon juice 

-1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the ingredients for the sauce, the pecans, honey, lemon juice,
 and cinnamon in a bowl.

Cut the peaches and apples into slices. Cut out the middle.

Alternate apples and peaches, putting the sauce in between.

This was a little hard to eat, but it tasted really good. It looks pretty fancy, but was easy to put together, it only took a few minutes to mix the sauce and cut the fruit.

Tangerine, Hazelnut & Goat Cheese Salad

Happy Salad Wednesday! This is a refreshing spring/summer salad and all of the ingredients go perfectly together. I found this recipe in my local paper and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I even made the same salad the next day to use up the leftover vinaigrette.

Adapted from the Akron Beacon Journal 2013 recipe Tangerine, Butter Lettuce and Goat Cheese Salad.
Vinaigrette Recipe from A Hint of Honey.

Check out our other Salad Wednesday recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, Stacked Pear Salad and Minestrone Salad.

Ingredients:Salad-1/2 cup hazelnuts
-1/2 pound tangerines, peeled, segmented and stripped of pith
-1 head of lettuce, torn
-3 oz. crumbled goat cheese

Vinaigrette

-1/4 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice (any type of orange could be used)

-2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

-1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (I used grainy mustard instead)

-1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Mix together all ingredients for the vinaigrette and whisk.

Mix together all salad ingredients. 

Toss with dressing.

As I said in the introduction, this salad was great. The dressing was tangy which I loved (I left out the honey, you can add it if you'd like). The hazelnuts added a nice crunch as opposed to the goat cheese which was very creamy. The tangerines were a nice citrus bite, but more mellow than the tangy vinaigrette. If you're looking for a new way to add variety to your salads, this is the perfect way to do so.

Minestrone Salad

I liked this recipe because I could leave out some of the stuff that I didn't like as much, and add more of the ingredients I like. I added a little extra pasta and cheese to mine, but left out carrots and peppers because I didn't have any on hand. You could always add any other vegetables you like and I think it would work well in this salad. I got the base for this recipe here.

Check out our other Salad Wednesday recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad, Panera Apple Fuji Salad, and Stacked Pear Salad.

Ingredients:

-4 oz pasta

-1 can garbanzo beans

-1 can zucchini (I drained out some of the sauce, since the recipe called for fresh zucchini. I thought the extra tomato sauce was good though for a dressing, so I didn't make separate dressing from vinaigrette) 

-1/4 cup shredded mozzerlla cheese.

-1 small tomato

-1 tsp dried basil
-spinach leaves for presentation

Mix the beans and zucchini.

Cut up some tomatoes.

Add the tomatoes and basil to the zucchini mix.

Cook, drain, and rinse the pasta. I used angel hair pasta.

Add the pasta and cheese to the other ingredients. Mix
and store covered in the refrigerator for two hours.

Arrange spinach leaves on a plate.

Add the pasta mix to the center.

This was a lot like pasta salad because of the chilled pasta and vegetables, but it had a little different taste. It could be eaten as a meal, or I could see this being good to eat at a barbecue like traditional pasta salad. 

Stacked Pear Salad

Happy Salad Wednesday. I'm so glad that it is finally starting to seem like spring rather than winter, it's been almost 70 degrees the past three days! This Stacked Pear Salad is adapted from the Novice Chef and is a great way to enjoy a light lunch.

Other Salad Wednesday Recipes: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad, Edible Flower Salad, Buffalo Cauliflower Salad and Panera Apple Fuji Salad.

Below are ingredients I like to put in my salad, but you can really use any greens, toppings, cheese and dressing that you like.

Ingredients: 

-4 smooth skinned pears

-2-3 cups spinach

-1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

-dried cranberries

-balsamic vinaigrette dressing

-honey for drizzling

-lemon juice

To prep pears: Slice into three or four pieces, core the pears to make rings.

To make the salad: Whisk together dressing and lightly coat the spinach.

Stack the greens and other ingredients on the bottom pear slice,
add other slices with salad ingredients in between. 

Drizzle with honey if desired. 

Serve with a knife for easier eating.

I was really impressed with the presentation of this salad, I'm not as big on pears as I thought I was, I think next time I make this I'll try it with an apple instead. However, if you enjoy pears this is a good recipe to try and it is incredibly versatile (use any ingredients you like). Although there is a fancy presentation, this really was not difficult to make.

Buffalo Cauliflower Salad

Happy Salad Wednesday. Buffalo Cauliflower is one of my favorite things to make because it goes well with so many things, enjoy this play on a buffalo chicken salad. This is a perfect work lunch, just bring the cauliflower separately to heat it up before serving with the salad.

This is also the last blog which will have the guest photography from Kayla in the month of March.

Other blogs featuring Kayla: Twice Baked Red Potatoes, Corn Risotto, King Cake Cocktail, Smore's Cake, Rust City Buffalo Sauce, Lucky Charm Doughnuts, Poutine with Guinness Gravy and Birthday Cocktail.

Other buffalo cauliflower recipes: Buffalo "Wing" Style Cauliflower, Buffalo Cauliflower Wrap, Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza, Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos and Rust City Buffalo Sauce.

Other Salad Wednesday Recipes: Other Salad Wednesday Posts: Cucumber Salad, Deconstructed Wedge Salad and Edible Flower Salad.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower

-1 head of cauliflower

-1 cup buttermilk

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-2 teaspoons garlic salt

-1 cup buffalo sauce

-1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Sauce

-1/2 cup Frank’s red hot sauce

-1/2 cup butter

-1/2 cup Hidden Valley cracked peppercorn ranch 

-2 tbsp. vinegar

-2 teaspoons garlic powder

-2 teaspoons onion powder

-1 tsp. black pepper

Salad-Salad Mix, whatever kind you desire
-Peppercorn Ranch
-Blue Cheese Crumbles

For this recipe I used the breading that I normally use and the sauce recipe from the Rust City Buffalo sauce. 

Gather the ingredients. 

Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. 

Coat in batter.

Deep fry.
We cooked ours at 375 for 11 minutes.

Drain.

Coat in sauce.

Toss in the buffalo sauce.

Add to the salad.

Add as many blue cheese crumbles as desired. 

Drizzle with ranch. 

So good!

This is one of the best salads that I've ever had. The buffalo sauce paired perfectly with the peppercorn ranch dressing. The blue cheese added a nice bite. Overall this recipe is a perfect ten and I can't wait to make it part of my weekly lunch routine. The cauliflower will keep in the fridge for a few days for feel free to make as much as you want. If you've been looking to eat healthier this is a good recipe because cauliflower is better for you than chicken, you can also bake the chicken rather than fry it if you'd like.

Edible Flower Salad

This is another recipe in our Salad Wednesday series, we've also had Cucumber Salad and Deconstructed Wedge Salad. We saw edible flowers in the grocery store a while ago knew we had to use this in something soon. I found them in the grocery store right with the fresh herbs. This packet came with a few kinds of flowers, some pink and yellow. The colors were a really cool addition to the salad. I found the idea for the dressing here.

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 Tbsp lemon juice

-1 Tbsp honey

-salt and pepper

-Edible Flowers

-lettuce

-any other salad ingredients you like

Mix together the olive oil, honey, lemon, salt and pepper
to make the dressing.

Put together the salad. I added cheese and croutons to mine.

Add the edible flowers.

Top with dressing.

The flowers looked really good, but they looked better than they tasted. They kind of tasted how I imagine flowers taste. They smelled like flowers too, I think that is what got me. But the taste wasn't too strong, I think this is something to try if you are interested. I really liked the salad dressing though, it was the perfect amount of sweet, and really easy to make. I always like when I can easily make my own of something rather than using store bought.