Apple-Fennel Salad

I'm happy to be blogging again! I lost my camera charger for about a month and my camera was getting pretty old and beat up anyhow, so I got a snazzy new camera for my birthday this past week. I can finally take decent pictures of my food! The new camera is fancy and will take some learning, but I am very excited to have it.

Today's recipe is a healthier take on the Waldorf salad we grew up with - apples, walnuts, grapes, and I recently found out that MAYONNAISE is the glue that holds it all together.

Now that I'm all grown up (and informed), I just can't bring myself to slather a bunch of perfectly good fruit with mayo. With some help from my brother, I came up with this healthy and delicious recipe as a replacement.

Ingredients:

2 apples (not red delicious - something flavorful, like Fuji or even green apples)
1 large bulb fennel (about the size of 1.5 apples)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup green grapes
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Chop apples and the white part of the fennel into large pieces. I advise if you've never had fennel, try a bite before you chop everything else up, in case you really don't like it. If you are even close to liking it, I guarantee it will taste better once it's mixed with everything else. Slice grapes into halves or quarters.

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Serve cold and keep any leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Avocado Chicken Salad

This recipe is a healthier version of an old favorite, replacing mayonnaise with avocado in chicken salad. I love avocados and I love chicken salad (though mine is usually full of mayo and bacon!), so when I found this recipe I couldn't wait to try it.

The picture does not do justice to the amazing green color this salad has!

Ingredients:

1-lb chicken breasts
1 tray ice cubes
1 large avocado
3 T diced fresh cilantro
2 T lime juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

*Note: The original recipe called for green onions, which didn't sound good to me. James suggested diced green peppers instead of onions in this recipe, which I think sounds amazing. I will definitely be adding the green peppers next time.

Boil chicken breasts in water until they tear apart easily with a fork (about 20 minutes). Drain chicken breasts in a colander and cover with a tray full of ice to cool quickly. When chicken is cold, remove to a mixing bowl and shred to small pieces with forks or your fingers.

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Score avocado halves with a knife and remove from peel with a large spoon. At this point I advise to mash the avocado in a separate bowl before adding to chicken; I added the avocado chunks directly to the shredded chicken and it was very difficult to mix the two well.

Add salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro. Fresh cilantro from the garden is so much better than cilantro from the store that one might almost think it is a different plant. For this recipe I had extremely fresh cilantro from a friend's garden, and I might never be able to eat store-bought cilantro again.

So good!

Mix everything together well. Serve in pitas or on a tasty toasted bread. It tastes great on it's own, but we also tried it on a nice dark German wheat bread with a slice of Havarti cheese and it made an excellent sandwich!

References:
http://becomingbetty.blogspot.com/2011/09/avocado-chicken-salad.html

Cucumber Salad

This recipe was inspired by a local restaurant, Istanbul Grill (http://www.grillistanbul.com/), that makes a delicious cucumber salad. We often order takeout from this restaurant for lunch at work. Istanbul Grill has an incredible vegetarian menu that has given me lots of ideas for vegetarian recipes. This is my personal take on the Turkish cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers, peeled and cubed

1 cup tomatoes, cubed

1 red pepper

1 avocado

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

6 ounces plain fat-free greek yogurt (1 small container)

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 t salt

*The traditional cucumber salad also includes one diced red onion, but I am not the biggest fan of raw onion, so I left it out.

This recipe is best made with all fresh ingredients. The crispiness of the fresh vegetables is one of it's best features. Chop cucumbers, tomatoes, and red pepper into similar-sized small pieces/cubes. Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Being careful not to slice through the skin, slice a checkerboard pattern into each half of the avocado. Remove avocado from the skin using a large spoon, and you should end up with pieces about the same size as your other cubed vegetables. Mix cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, and avocado together in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine parsley, cilantro, yogurt, vinegar, olive oil, and salt, and mix well. Today I used a jalapeno balsamic vinegar from Great Lakes Olive Oil company, a store in Frankenmuth, Michigan, that has a wide variety of delicious flavored olive oils and vinegars. I LOVE this company, and I'm sure you'll hear me mention them again. See http://www.greatlakesoliveoil.com/ if you are interested in more information.

Add yogurt and spice mixture to veggies and mix well until all pieces of vegetables are coated in yogurt. This salad can be eaten plain, or in a tasty wrap with falafel, hummus, and/or your favorite meat. When I am eating meat, I like to add it to a doner kebab (similar to a gyro) from the restaurant mentioned above.