Tag Archives: salad for dinner

Warm Brie Salad

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Remember last week when we were super French and made Croque Monsieurs and Ham and Cheese Quiche?

Also remember how we tried keeping the number of ingredients we had to buy to a minimum?

Well after a weekend in Atlantic City, we need some meals that don’t require a lot of ingredients (the slot machines are not always kind) and that are on the lighter side (there may have been a lot of drinks and 3am Taylor Ham sandwiches).

With the French theme from last week in mind, I kept turning to brie.

Now brie is not exactly light and healthy, but it packs a ton of flavor in a tiny amount. So used sparingly, and paired with fresh greens, we may be on to something here.

I’m a big fan of salads for dinner. And I’m an even bigger fan of cheese, so I thought about combining the deliciousness of brie with a salad. Then I thought, what’s better than brie? Exactly. Warm brie.

So for this dinner you will need:

  • greens, (I used a mix of baby spinach and spring mix)
  • some brie
  • some honey
  • I had walnuts on hand from the Mushroom Walnut Ravioli the other week, so I tossed those in as well.
  • Also added a handful of dried cranberries because I always have them in the fridge.

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your brie in an oven safe dish and drizzle with a bit of honey.

 

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Bake for about 10 minutes, but don’t walk too far away from the oven. The brie goes from still coldish to melted like that.

You just want it to be a little soft and runny.

Carefully top your greens with the warm brie and walnuts. Add dried cranberries or whatever else you wish.

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Turkey Club Sandwich Salad

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I bet you’ve got a chunk of turkey breast leftover from Easter begging for something other than two pieces of white bread and some mayonnaise.

Here’s the piece I have.

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It’s just asking to be transformed into a delicious dinner.

But not something too heavy.

Something like a turkey club sandwich deconstructed to a salad.

Start by cooking some bacon. You can pan fry or you can bake in the oven, whichever method you prefer.

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Create a bed of lettuce

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add tomatoes

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Some sliced turkey

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avocado slices

 

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Bacon strips

 

 

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And a drizzle of mustard vinaigrette.

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Tada!

Turkey transformed.

Cobb Salad

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This is a great almost-no-cook meal.

You know what I mean. One of those dishes where you kind of cook one thing and then just throw together a bunch of ingredients and say, dinner is made!

In this case, we’re frying up some bacon and assembling a delicious, hearty cobb salad.

Iceberg Lettuce, Chopped Tomatoes, Chopped Hard-Boiled Egg, Slices of Avocado and of course Bacon fried to perfection. To give this a little more heft, add some pre-cooked shredded chicken. Hello rotisserie, I’m looking at you!

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Top with your favorite dressing, oil and vinegar for something light, honey mustard maybe for something with a little zing.

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And enjoy!

Jacky’s Greek-Inspired Salad

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Anyone who is actually Greek (my fiance and future father in law included) will probably cringe at this salad. It’s not a real Greek salad. Notice how I call it Jacky’s Greek salad.

It takes some of my favorite elements of a Greek salad and Greek food and some of my favorite things in general (like an egg with a runny yolk) and combines the two to make a salad worthy of a meal.

Start by preheating your oven to 400.

Slice up some white button mushrooms and some zucchini and lay them on a foil-line baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

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Toss those in the oven to roast for about 10 minutes.

Prepare the base for your salad. I layered baby spinach, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese on a big plate.

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Then I added the zucchini and mushrooms when they were done roasting.

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I love the combination of cool crisp spinach with warm and slightly mushy zucchini.

Top the salad with two fried eggs

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And there you have my Greek inspired salad.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad

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Whenever my fiance is away for the night, I take advantage of his absence and cook the things he can’t stand. Usually it’s zucchini. Tonight it’s Brussels Sprouts!

I love brussels sprouts. I always have actually. I was that weird child who enjoyed vegetables.

So I decided to roast some up, toss them with some baby greens and top it off with two fried eggs.

A yummy, light salad, so I could snack without guilt during the Giants game.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Trim the bottoms of the brussels sprouts and remove any yellowed leaves. Toss them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

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Roast them for about 45 minutes until the leaves are crispy and the centers and tender.

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Plate up some baby greens and top with the brussels sprouts.

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Add two fried eggs, yolks still runny, to the top. The olive oil and the fatty yolk will act like a dressing for the salad.

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He happened to come home while I was eating. I made him try a brussels sprout. And guess what? Not bad, he said!!

So if you have any picky eaters who aren’ts fans of certain vegetables, try roasting them. It brings out the sweetness in some and gives a smokiness to others.