A Veggie Venture: April 2010

Homemade Greek Salad Dressing Recipe ♥

April 27, 2010

Today's salad dressing recipe: How to make Greek salad dressing, a vinaigrette, really, with a short list of pantry ingredients.

So the English chef / food activist / TV personality Jamie Oliver has a crusade, he calls it Jamie's Food Revolution. But I have one too, it just doesn't come with a television show and a marketing budget. But it does fit right in with the Food Revolution's idea of changing one thing, just one thing, in our diets -- to the good, by the way!

My crusade is to persuade home cooks to never buy salad dressing again. HA - I've actually accidentally written 'never MAKE salad dressing again' often enough that I've wondered if there might be a counter crusade mounted by the salad dressing manufacturers. But no, we don't make salad dressing at home because we're too busy, we don't know how, the bottles are convenient (albeit expensive), everyone can have their own favorite, we're not eating salads anyway -- and on and on, just pick one.

This is such an easy dressing, I made it twice for the gorgeous Greek Bread Salad with Toasted Pita Chips. Oh so good and kid-friendly too! For the dressing, I was able to drop the oil to almost nothing, just a teaspoon, because of all the flavor and creaminess from the feta cheese.

HOMEMADE GREEK SALAD DRESSING

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Makes 1/3 cup

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon (yes, teaspoon) olive oil
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon 'good' prepared mustard such as Dijon (I used this gorgeous Homemade Finnish Mustard, a staple in my refrigerator)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 ounce feta cheese (about one square inch)

In a small food processor (such as the food processor attachment for an immersion 'stick blender'), whiz all the ingredients until frothy. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon (How many calories in Greek Salad Dressing? How many Weight Watchers points in Greek Salad Dressing?): 27 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 5mg Cholesterol; 182mg Sodium; 1g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES

I made one batch using all pantry ingredients, another substituting a teaspoon of Penzey's Greek Seasoning for the oregano, pepper and salt. No contest, the first batch was preferable.

A Veggie Venture - Printer Friendly Recipe Graphic

MORE FAVORITE RECIPES for HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING
~ Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing ~
~ Homemade Thousand Island Dressing ~
~ German Salad Dressing ~
~ more salad dressing recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

Greek Bread Salad with Toasted Pita Chips ♥
A Kid-Friendly Recipe

April 22, 2010

Today's vegetable salad recipe: A whole pile of vegetable color and crunch, interspersed with crisp homemade toasted pita chips. Kids like this! Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

My friend Ann put out a stunning array of food for our book club last month. But it was the salad — oh, the colorful salad! — that caught my attention first. "My kids devour this salad," she said. Really? A salad with so many vegetables and kids gobble it down?

Turns out, the trick is the Toasted Pita Chips. Now I may be a grown-up but here, I'm with the kids. The pita chips really do add something special: without them, this salad would be just some chopped vegetables tossed in Greek salad dressing. If you like Panzanella, the Italian bread salad, you'll love this one too.

(Speaking of book clubs, have you seen my reading group's book list? We've been reading together since 1994!)

GREEK BREAD SALAD with TOASTED PITA CHIPS

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Makes 8 cups (easily halved)

TOASTED PITA CHIPS
2 large pitas

SALAD
2 carrots, peeled and chopped small
4 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped small
1 red pepper, cored and chopped small
1 orange or yellow pepper, cored and chopped small
3 green onions, white and green parts both, chopped
1/2 an English cucumber, chopped small
Homemade Greek Salad Dressing or commercial Greek salad dressing

TOASTED PITA CHIPS Set the oven to 350F. Cut the pitas into squares, separating the two sides. Drop onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until crisp, tossing after 10 minutes and every 5 minutes until done. Can be made in advance, they stay crisp!

SALAD Chop and combine the vegetables in a large bowl. Can be done in advance.

TO SERVE Just before serving, toss with Greek salad dressing. Stir in the Toasted Pita Chips and serve.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Half Cup made with commercial dressing: 54 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 102mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

Per Half Cup made with Homemade Greek Salad Dressing: 43 Calories; 1g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 115mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 2g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES

For convenience, Ann uses a commercial salad dressing. If I were doing this, I'd thin it a bit with a little milk so it wouldn't be so thick and gloppy and would go further.

The first time I made this salad, I toasted some flat bread that was on hand. NOT as good! (Didn't I say the pita chips are special?) Now that I know how good the pita chips taste, next time I'll bake extra to keep on hand for adding to other salads, just a few at a time.

The proportion of celery in this salad seems important to the overall 'crunch' of this salad. When I used just two ribs of celery, it wasn't enough.

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long in 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column, and now again in 2010. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

MORE FAVORITE VEGETABLE SALAD RECIPES
~ Summer Orzo with Radicchio ~
~ Cowboy Coleslaw ~
~ Fresh Green Bean Salad with Asian Dressing ~

Tofu-Salad Sandwiches ♥ Recipe for Vegan 'Egg' Salad

April 15, 2010

Today's vegetable sandwich recipe: A mixture of tofu and the usual suspects for egg salad, mayo, celery and the like. It makes up in just a few minutes and is surprisingly good! Better still, it's eminently variable based on what's on hand. Vegan. Low carb and just 1 point for Weight Watchers.

Is this feeling familiar, the feeling that you're just a little bit stuck, a tad bit uninspired, to cook? (Now baking, that I could do every day. But who needs another recipe for something sweet? Our recipe boxes, our waistlines, they're already plenty full of desserts.)

So I've been scanning my favorite cookbooks, hoping for inspiration then naysaying one recipe after another. Too fussy. Too expensive. Too many pots. Ingredients I don't have. Ingredients my usual groceries don't have. Too much fat. Too fru-fru. Yesterday I nixed every other recipe in the brand-new issue of Food & Wine (don't worry, it's a great issue, it's just me, right now) but then jumped on this simple mixture of silken tofu to make a chunky white sandwich spread, vegan! and just one Weight Watchers point, too. I expected to like it so-so, but thought it might give me a jump-start (aka a good ol' kick in the you know what) to get 'cooking' again.

Instead, I loved this stuff and already I've started thinking of ways to make it differently next time. I made open-face sandwiches for lunch yesterday but think it'll be great on toast for breakfast and might even slip into an omelet, say. I may never cook again.

TOFU-SALAD SANDWICHES

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Makes 2 cups

12 or 16 ounce package firm silken tofu, drained

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise (see TIPS)
1 teaspoon good mustard
1 rib celery, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (I used fresh dill)
Plenty of kosher salt & black pepper

Good bread
Alfalfa sprouts

Wrap the block of tofu with a double layer of paper towels to remove excess liquid, set aside while mixing the rest. In a medium bowl, stir together all the remaining ingredients. With a fork, work in the tofu. Spread onto bread, top with alfalfa sprouts.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per 1/4 cup tofu mixture, not including bread, made with 12/16 ounces regular silken tofu: 43/52 Calories; 2/3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 34/64mg Sodium; 2/4g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1/2g Sugar; 3/9g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Food & Wine, May 2010

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES

Thanks to Kate, a reader, for the reminder that most commercial mayonnaise contains egg so if vegan is the requirement, be sure to buy a vegan mayonnaise. Otherwise use Almonnaise, a mayo-like mixture made with almonds, olive oil and seasonings.

This strikes me as eminently variable, happy to adjust to whatever's on hand. While putting it together, I thought of adding sweet pickle, grated radish, horseradish, chopped tomatoes, black olives, bits of dried fruit. You could also top it with slices of tomato or cucumber or a roasted pepper. This stuff works! The possibilities are endless!

The recipe developer Melissa Rubel Jacobson added 1/4 turmeric for color and I did too, with half the mixture. I actually think the white mixture is quite pretty and the turmeric turned it more muddy than golden so next time, no turmeric for me.