salad

Grilled Shrimp Salad.

Salad and I have a rocky relationship. I’m sure you assumed as much, but these days we’ve been disagreeing more than usual. I don’t think anything can be done to save the relationship either. But when I make salads like these, they offer a bit of therapy. It may be a favorite out of all the salads I’ve made. It’s no secret that my piles of lettuce aren’t exactly veggie-filled. In my opinion, that’s what makes them better. Duh. And you know I can’t have a salad without cheese and bacon. As well as the token fruit – which in this case was mango and quite possibly the most delicious mango I’ve ever had. I think I’ve said that before. But only once. This was only my second “perfect” mango. I wish you could have seen how I attacked it. I also threw on one of the heirloom tomatoes I bought on Saturday. It was beautiful and juicy and seedy and vegetabley. If you catch my drift. Eh, so I may have picked around the one vegetable on the plate. Sue me. I needed more crunch than just the bacon alone, so I added some toasted tortilla strips. Coupled with [...]

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Pear-adise Salad.

Pears are one of those fruits that I absolutely adore but I never buy many of. I can never seem to get a “good” one, if you know what I mean. Perhaps I just don’t know how to pick ‘em? I really love those old school pears in syrup. I probably can’t ever find a good pear because I expect them to taste like the ones in syrup. Why can’t everything taste that good? I spied this salad in an old issue of Traverse magazine and it sounded delicious to me. And you know when a salad that doesn’t contain bacon or loads of cheese sounds tasty to me, it must mean something. The kicker was how I dressed this salad. I used a cinnamon-pear balsamic combined with olive oil, and let me tell you that it was fabulous. Combined with some cinnamon-toasted pecans, it was a salad I actually enjoyed. The cinnamon pecans are really easy too – just add them to a skillet with a sprinkle of cinnamon and toast for a few minutes, constantly turning. If we are being honest, I probably liked the salad so much because of the balsamic, but… whatever works, right? Pear-adise Salad [...]

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BLT Salad.

Now this is my type of salad. Minimal veggies, creamy cheese, crunchy croutons and bacon… I could eat one of these everyday. It’s no secret that many times I get salads just for the toppings. I used to only eat the toppings, and leave the lettuce behind. Lettuce is so boring, it deserved it. Now I’ve mastered the strategic task of managing to get a bit of lettuce in each bite of toppings. Not because I really want to. But because I feel like a 5-year old leaving a big old plate of lettuce. There aren’t many dressings I love, so I topped this with a little bit of olive oil and lemon. I don’t like when dressings overpower the salad flavor – or should I say the bacon flavor, because we all know I don’t really care about the salad. Ideally I’d love to top it with caesar dressing, but would prefer to have the bacon and to only clog my arteries in one way when I eat this. And don’t forget the seasoning – salt and pepper make the salad. BLT Salad 3 cups spring greens 1 oz fresh mozzarella, chopped 1 plum tomato, chopped 2 slices bacon, [...]

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Brown Sugar Balsamic Salad.

I can’t take credit for creating this salad. It comes straight from my friend, Kelly. See, last week we went to her house for dinner. Obviously, I was in charge of the dessert. But then I got busy. And things came up. And I didn’t get said dessert made. So I took store-bought cookies. Yes, store-bought. I was desperate. I don’t even like store-bought cookies. Unless they involve peanut butter. Then I like them enough to eat 14. Naturally, I bought cookies with peanut butter. The worst part? Not only did I not make a delicious, homemade dessert, but I ate 2 cookies on the way to her house. I really did. I presented her with a box of a dozen cookies that really only had 10 cookies. What can I say? I was hungry. I promise I have some class. Not only did she slave over the hot stove all day, but she also made this fresh, delectable salad. And come on, we all know that if I think a salad is good, it must be good. This salad doesn’t even have bacon or cheese, which are my 2 requirements for ingesting vegetables. So you can imagine how great [...]

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Loaded Spinach Salad.

Even I must admit, sometimes you just get a spinach salad that is fabulous. A few simple ingredients, bacon usually being one of them, turns regular ole’ spinach into a delicious meal. Not that I really ever consider salad a meal, unless I have an entire loaf of bread beforehand. Bonus points for bread dipped in herbed olive oil. We don’t have to talk about the bad salads that come into our lives. Let’s just focus on the good ones. Like this. I can deal with the raw spinach when it’s topped with some of my favorite things. I enjoy texture too – sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy. After I snapped these photos, I topped the salad with filet which made it even better. I’m not usually up for chicken, but if it was acceptable (and affordable) to eat filet everyday, I would do so. I drizzled the salad with olive oil, because if you have been reading you know that I do not really enjoy salad dressing. What I really wanted to do was make a hot bacon dressing, but I think I had my share of bacon grease for the week. I’m going to save that for another [...]

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Sweet and Spicy Banana Kiwi Salad.

I would have never thought to combine these items together. Sure – the banana and the kiwi, obviously. But the cayenne, the vinegar, the honey? Please scroll down and thoroughly read the recipe. It is packed with crazy, different ingredients that one would not usually find delicious when combined. I, on the other hand, knew it would be delicious since I have a knack for combining wild ingredients together. Like bacon and peanut butter. Or chocolate and bacon. Or bacon and, well. . .everything. Even the vegetables are enjoyable. And let’s be honest, we all know that vegetables are terrible. Right? Right? Humor me. Please. This salad is the epitome of summer. It tastes like summer. It looks like summer. It smells like summer. It is summer. And who hates summer? No one. I love summer. Even though I sweat like a man. Even though my false eyelashes run off my face because of the sweat. Even though Mr. How Sweet loves turning off the air conditioner when I’m not home and it’s 87 degrees in the house. Even though I sweat while showering, eating, cooking, writing, sleeping. . .you get the drift. I still enjoy summer. And I thoroughly [...]

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Southwest Chicken Salad.

You know a salad without vegetables is a salad approved by me. The only veggies floating around in this bowl are the chunks in salsa, which I will inevitably avoid anyway. Sure, there is some corn, but we all know corn isn’t a real vegetable. If it was, I wouldn’t be eating it. Don’t burst my bubble. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and a touch of cumin before grilling to give it more of a Mexican flavor. Ideally, I would love to eat Mexican every night. I wish I could swim and shower in margaritas. But my entree of choice would be greasy, cheesy enchiladas and endless bowls of chips and salsa. I don’t think I need to explain why that shouldn’t happen every day. So instead, I throw a few measly pieces of lettuce (almost brown, since it has been hiding in the depths of my crisper drawer for 3 weeks) on a plate and top it with beans, cheese, and crispy tortillas. I used a corn tortilla for the crispy tortilla strips – I think corn works better than flour or whole wheat. They are a bit more dense and toast perfectly. Southwest Chicken Salad 3 [...]

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Fresh Mozzarella and Marinated Strawberry Salad.

Attention Pittsburghers! If you are interested in baking up some treats (granola, baked goods, chocolate-covered goodies, etc) for the Great American Bake Sale, please contact me! The bake sale is on April 17th, and will be outside a local Giant Eagle. If you can help out or bake some treats, please contact me at merchant.jessica@gmail.com. You can also sign up here. I promise we will have a blast! Mr. How Sweet was away this week, so that means I had free reign of the kitchen. Well, I always have free reign of the kitchen, but if dinner doesn’t include chicken or steak, I’ve practically got a toddler on my hands. For Mr. How Sweet, salad does not a dinner make. And usually for me, salad doesn’t make a dinner either. But when I include a lot of non-veggie items, salads are for me Fruit and cheese are a must in my salads. So is bacon. Not much – maybe just 1/2 of a slice of bacon, crumbled. Shockingly, there is no bacon in my house right now. I know. It’s pretty much a sin. Figs are another salad must-have for me. I can rarely find fresh figs [...]

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Grilled Caesar Salad.

When I went to Baltimore for Fitbloggin’, I had one of the most memorable salads ever. Yes folks, I said salad. I may not like veggies, and rarely order salad (unless slathered with bacon and cheese), but when it comes to a caesar salad, I jump on it. I looooove caesar salad. Granted, it is usually one the least heathiest salads on the menu, which is probably why I love it. This may sound like a boring, old salad to you. But it was special. It was grilled. I knew I needed to make it at home. If you have never tried a grilled salad, I am telling you now that you must. As is tonight – you must make this tonight! There is nothing like the smoky flavor from the grill. The slightly charred lettuce stays crisp, and you can taste the grilled flavor throughout the entire salad. I think Ashley and Kacy agreed that it was one of the best salads we had ever tasted. I talked about it for 3 solid days. I can be a bit obsessive. The key is to keep the romaine hearts in one piece – they will grill better [...]

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Warm Herb-Crusted Goat Cheese Spinach Salad.

I have a huge confession. I only recently started eating goat cheese. I’m sure some slipped by my lips in previous years without me knowing when I have ordered some sort of salad loaded with bacon and fries. But, I just lately purchased it myself. It was difficult to bring myself to eat something with the word ‘goat’ in it. I just think of hairy, dirty animals with horns. Goats have horns, right? Or something like it. Anyway, I’m in love. And even better, I highly doubt Mr. How Sweet has the sophisticated taste buds to eat goat cheese. In fact, I doubt he would eat anything with the word ‘goat’ in it either, unless it involved massive amounts of meat. And that is just gross. So, as usual, this means more for me. Something else strange has been happening in my world lately. I’ve had this odd craving for . . . salad. Like, a salad full of vegetables. I know. It is weird. So I’ve made some of these strange looking things, these salads as you call them, and of course, 2 bites in, I am totally disgusted. Tastes like grass. And tastes like something else [...]

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