favourite salad recipe?

[richiebronson]

I've been recently dieting, so you know what that means, more greens. I would love to know what is everybody's favorite salad recipe. I've been stuck on this one:

post your favorite salad recipes so we can all share 'em

 

[piratesmate]

This one sounds more labor intensive than it actually is and it's one we love! I often grill the chicken a day or two ahead when I grill chicken for another meal, but it's good without the chicken also.

DURBAN SPICED ROAST CHICKEN SALAD
from Boma at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Yield: 5 servings

~5 oz Mixed Greens
1 cup Durban Roasted Chicken (recipe below)
~2 1/2 c Chili Cilantro Dressing (recipe below)
1 1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon, toasted
1 1/8 tsp Ground Cumin, toasted
1 1/8 tsp Ground Coriander, toasted
1 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves, toasted
Tortilla Chips, as garnish (recipe below)
Combine greens with spices and dressing then toss to coat. Add chicken & toss lightly. Top with tortilla chips.

DURBAN BASTE for CHICKEN MARINADE
Yield: enough marinade for 1 chicken

2 Tbl + 2 tsp Olive Oil
~1/2 onion Onion, ground fine
2 Tbl + 2 tsp Garlic, ground fine
2 Tbl + 2 tsp Ginger, ground fine
3 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup + 1 Tbl Yogurt, plain (I've substituted lemon yogurt)
1/3 cup Durban Spice Mix

Blend all ingredients. Rub prepared chicken well and marinate for 24 hours. Rotisserie or oven roast slowly (I generally grill the chicken)

Durban Spice:
Yield: about 3/4 cup spice mix

2 Tbl Paprika
2 Tbl Annatto Seeds
2 Tbl Salt
3 Tbl Coriander
1 Tbl Turmeric
1 Tbl Cumin
1 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Black Pepper
Grind finely (or buy ground) all spices. Mix and store in a tightly covered container.

Chips:
2 tortillas Tortillas cut in strips & fried for garnish
**I just cut the tortillas into strips, spray with oil & bake at 400ºF about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

CHILI CILANTRO VINAIGRETTE
Yield: 8 servings

1 ½ Jalapeno
½ c Honey
½ c Rice Vinegar
½ c Safflower Oil
¼ c Lime Juice, fresh squeezed
1 c Cilantro, chopped
Dash Pepper

Blend all the ingredients until smooth except the cilantro. Make sure there are no large pieces of jalapeno. Add the chopped cilantro, check the flavors, and adjust seasonings, if needed.

= = = = =
I'm making this here for the first time tonight. I've had it at someone's house & loved it!

Spinach, Strawberry & Pecan Salad

1 lb fresh spinach, washed & dried
1 pint strawberries, washed & halved
½ c pecan halves, toasted

Dressing
1/3 c raspberry vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
½ c sugar (or 1/4 c Splenda)
1 c vegetable or olive oil
1½ Tbl poppy seeds

Combine dressing ingredients except the poppy seeds in a blender. Add the poppy seeds by hand. Toss dressing with spinach, strawberries & hot pecans. The hot nuts will slightly wilt the greens.

ETA: I made the recipe tonight and wanted to post my thoughts. I essentially made half the recipe for DH & I - DD doesn't care for spinach.

I thought it could have used more pecans than it called for. In fact, I toasted a loosely packed 1/2 cup for tonight (thinking I'd save the rest for tomorrow) and I think it needs more yet! To toast them I just put them in the oven at 250 for 15 minutes, although I turned them after about 8 minutes.

For the raspberry vinegar - we don't buy the real stuff...it's too expensive! We got "raspberry blush vinegar" which is a white wine balsamic that's "infused with raspberry juice". Oh my is that good stuff!!

For the dressing - it seemed like a lot to mess with to make only half the recipe tonight...especially when I'm making it again tomorrow or Weds, so I made the full recipe intending to keep half for later.

We don't like our dressings heavy with oil. In fact, I often pour off a good bit of the oil in bottled dressings - even when they're light ones. So I reduced the amount to 1/3 cup - and it was plenty!

However, reducing the oil by so much reduced the yield. It was a little more than we needed for half the salad, but not by much!

Splenda - I know they tell you that Splenda measures like sugar, but we think it's WAY too sweet. I put in about 1/3 cup to the full recipe for the dressing and it was perfect for us.

Definitely a keeper!

Oh - I forgot to add that I put the nuts right out of the oven into the greens and in the time it took me to carry the bowl across the kitchen they must have cooled a bit because they certainly did not wilt the greens.

 

[richiebronson]

Thanks so much for your suggestion. Thank god you wrote this "This one sounds more labor intensive than it actually is" cause It sounds like a lot of work, but I suppose the hardest part is finding all those spices in my small cabinet.

I didn't know what the Durban brand was. I thought it was the type of spice, but its a brand name, like "McCormick". I found this though:
Durban spice = 2 parts ground cardamom + 5 parts ground coriander + 4 parts ground cumin + 2 parts ground black pepper + 1 part ground cloves + 1 part ground cinnamon + 1 part ground nutmeg

The Durban baste sounds awesome, and can't wait to have my chicken with it. After looking at the recipe for a bit, you're right it doesn't sound too labor intensive, just a lot of ingredients. Thanks.

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks so much for your suggestion. Thank god you wrote this "This one sounds more labor intensive than it actually is" cause It sounds like a lot of work, but I suppose the hardest part is finding all those spices in my small cabinet.

I didn't know what the Durban brand was. I thought it was the type of spice, but its a brand name, like "McCormick". I found this though:
Durban spice = 2 parts ground cardamom + 5 parts ground coriander + 4 parts ground cumin + 2 parts ground black pepper + 1 part ground cloves + 1 part ground cinnamon + 1 part ground nutmeg

The Durban baste sounds awesome, and can't wait to have my chicken with it. After looking at the recipe for a bit, you're right it doesn't sound too labor intensive, just a lot of ingredients. Thanks.

I always forget that I have a cupboard full of spices because there's a small specialty shop here that sells fresh spices. Sorry! I can get all of these things easily. I forget that not everyone can.

As for the Durban spice, you're right in that it's a mix of spices...kind of like Italian spice, Cajun spice, Tandoori spice etc. You can buy it already made in some markets. For others, the next to last "recipe" in that list (just before the Chili Cilantro Viniagrette) gives the ingredients that Boma uses to make theirs. I've never seen the Annatto in our local grocery stores.

I forgot to mention that I've made the chicken part of the salad recipe as a "Dump" recipe. That's something I read about on this board - you basically marinate your meats in a Zip-Loc bag while they're in the freezer...so you can do it way ahead! I put the spices, oil & yogurt...(basically everything in the "DURBAN BASTE for CHICKEN MARINADE" section) in a gallon zipper bag, smoosh it around to mix it without getting my hands dirty and add boneless chicken breasts. Then I can seal it & freeze until the night before I want to make it. You take it out, put it on a plate in case it leaks (BTDT ) and let it defrost overnight. The chicken marinates as it defrosts. Very easy!

And we do just grill this chicken without having the salad as well, but it makes an awesome salad.

There are lots of other "Dump" marinade recipes around if you do a search for them. Of course the search feature has been sorely lacking recently. So if you can't find them, just post a thread asking about them if you're interested.

[NOTE: I skip the oil in this recipe if I know I'm going to grill it. The oil fires up & blackens the chicken too easily. We don't miss it at all.]

 

[Disneyaholic]

DH and I have a new "favorite" tossed salad recipe that's really easy to make:

Add blueberries, toasted slivered almonds, and feta cheese to mixed field greens. Toss with Girard's low fat champagne dressing.

Really REALLY good!!