Buffalo Chik'n Salad

I've never been a huge fan of salads, but I'm always up for a challenge, so I decided that I need to work on that. Enter: buffalo chik'n salad. In the words of a ridiculously-annoying-piece-of-shit-actor, "WINNING!" I have made this salad 3 times in the last week, so I think that says something.

I'm a recent fan of buffalo sauce, as I always thought I wouldn't like it. I tasted it once about a month ago, and I try to use it every chance I get. I use the bottled stuff, which appears to be much lower in calories than if I'd made it myself. The brand I got has 5 calories per tablespoon, so that's not bad at all. You can do the (chicken) chik'n a couple different ways, but I chose to brush the sauce onto the patty in between flippings. You can also cook the chik'n, and coat it in sauce at the end. I've done it both ways, but I like the first method better. It seems to allow the flavor of the sauce to cook into the chik'n better.

As for salad dressing, that's up to you. I prefer to blend a little vegan ranch with a tiny bit of avocado and drizzle it over the salad. It was awesome. But, you can do whatever your little heart desires.

Serves 2 as a main

What I used:

• 2 Gardein Crispy Chik'n Filets
• 3-4 TB bottled buffalo sauce
• 1 tsp grapeseed oil
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/4-1/3 cup red onion, diced

What I did:

1. Heat a grill pan (or non-stick skillet) over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Once hot, add the chik'n filets. Cook about 3 minutes, then flip. Cook another 3 minutes, then carefully brush some buffalo sauce on the tops. 
2. Turn heat down a bit to medium. Use tongs to very carefully flip your chik'n filets over. They will sizzle and pop. It's supposed to. Now, brush the top with sauce. After about 2 minutes, flip the filets again. I end up flipping the filets a couple times, brushing sauce on each time.
3. Carefully transfer the chik'n to a cutting board and slice into strips.
4. Get 2 plates and toss together the lettuce and spinach equally on each plate. Top it with the onions and tomatoes and then add the chik'n strips on top. Dress however you want.

Rice Salad - VeganMoFo #4

Rice Salad. Never had it before. So, I invented it. It was pretty good, too. I am known for my pasta salad among my social circle, and I wanted to try something new. I pretty much just made my pasta salad with rice instead of pasta. Don't ask me why because I really don't know.

It all started with some leftover white rice and some raw veggies in the fridge. Add in some spices and some vinaigrette and kapow! You have rice salad. Don't eat it cold out of the fridge or else the rice will be hard. I used cold rice, then let it warm to room temperature. PS- mine turned pink from the purple carrots I microplaned.

What I used:

• 2 cups leftover white rice
• 1/3 cup minced red onion
• 1/3 cup minced bell pepper
• 1 medium purple carrot (or orange), microplaned or grated
• vinaigrette of your choosing, I usually wing it and make my own on the fly
• salt and pepper
• pinch of coriander powder
• garlic powder or very finely minced garlic clove

What you do:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl and adjust your seasonings as needed. 
2. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let sit out at room temp for 1 hour. If you are making it ahead, cover and put in the fridge. Then let set out 1 hour before serving. You want room-temperature rice.

Vegan Potato Salad Goodness

I don't have an exact recipe for this potato salad, but I'll give you the ingredients and let you pick your own measurements. Just keep adding shit til it tastes good to you. I didn't know what I was doing at all...I just kept adding flavors til it was tasty. I highly suggest that you let it set and combine flavors in the fridge for an hour. The dill has time to develop and get extra tasty. Dig it.

What I used:

• Vegenaise vegan mayo
• red potatoes (diced and boiled until fork tender)
• yellow mustard
• fresh dill
• finely diced red onion
• a tiny bit of fresh lemon
• salt and pepper
• sugar (optional-- we like it with just a teeny tiny bit of sweetness to balance the tang of the lemon and mustard)

Mix all the ingredients together and taste as you go. Add more as needed. Too tangy? Add sugar. Too sweet? Add more mustard and mayo. Cover and pop in the fridge for an hour or so. Eat the shit outta this tato salad.

Cauliflower Steaks

Cauliflower steaks. WTH? They're essentially just thick slabs of cauli roasted in the oven. Easy. They really require no commentary! Just spritz them with some cooking oil or olive oil. Roast in a 435 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes total, flipping halfway through cooking. Don't forget to salt them just a little. When you roast it like this, you can even eat the stalk if you want. It gets nice and tender. I made mine with some mashed taters, steamed veggies and some vegan Caesar salad. It was a wholesome, filling, delicious meal. Nothing snarky there. So, yeah, I thought I'd expose you to the wonders of the cauliflower steak. NOM!

The Best Salad I've Ever Had

I'm completely and totally obsessed with salads lately. Probably, I should be institutionalized. Today's lunch makes 6 salads in 3.5 days. I don't know what my deal is. I guess I neeeeeeeed raw veggies in my bellah. On the rainbow eating kick, I made this incredible salad. It has a little bit of everything. It's in a huge bowl and I ate it all myself with just a little bit of Italian dressing. I'm in love with adding so many flavors to my salads now.  Here's an overview so you can see it all:

Dudes and dudettes, I introduce to you the best salad I've ever had: The Rainbow Salad. Dig it. 

 

Red- handful of cherry tomatoes from my garden

Orange- 1 small carrot, thinly sliced

Yellow- 1/2 an ear of fresh (uncooked) corn cut from the cob
Green- 1 heart of romaine, 1/4 cup chopped cuke

Blue- handful of blueberries

Violet/Purple- handful of purple grapes, 2-3 TB diced purple onion

Brown- handful raw walnuts

Black- 1/4 cup black beans
Dressing- Don't worry, I'm not one of those folks who jabber on about how good salad is without dressing because it's not. Those people frighten me. My weapon dressing of choice is zesty Italian. Use a little...or a lot. Whatever. It's your salad. I only ask that if you make a shitty salad, don't tell me about it because I don't care. Now, if you make a killer salad to end all other salads, please share. Maybe instead of a dance-off, we can have a right proper salad-off and people can vote over who makes the better salad. But, I digress.

On days when I eat at least 5 colors, I seem to feel better. I feel lighter and have more energy. I'm going to keep going with it, and we'll see where I end up.Maybe there really is something to this whole "eat your colors" thing. I'm still a little skeptical, but I am keeping an open mind. I'm trying new combos of produce and I really am loving it. That's not even snarky.

Veggie Couscous!

I love couscous and I just don't seem to make it often enough lately.  So, I had to make it tonight.  I got creative and added all sorts of tasty stuff to it.  Carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, mushrooms, golden raisins, toasted almonds and some peas all play a tasty role in my dinner. I used whole wheat couscous, which I love love love!

I also love me some Caesar salad, so I sort of devised my own recipe based on a bunch of other recipes I found online.  And, mine is vegan, which makes it even better than all the others, at least in my way of thinking.  I like it a bit tangy, and with lots of garlic. YUM.

Remember: If you make couscous from dry, it doubles when you cook it. I always forget this. And end up making a TON. So, 1 cup dry couscous will make at least 2 cups cooked couscous.  I always forget, so I just want to make sure you realize how much you're about to make.

Couscous Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry couscous
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 4 large cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small-medium carrot thinly sliced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2/3 cup to 1 full cup raw almonds, roughly chopped and briefly toasted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• cooking spray

Couscous Method:

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Add in the carrots and zucchini. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring once.
2. Meanwhile, boil your water with some salt in a large sauce pan. 
3. Add the onion, and cook 4 minutes.
4. Add garlic, peas and mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes. Add any salt or pepper you want.
5. While you are doing step 4, you should add the couscous to the water, stir briefly. Then remove the pan from the burner and add the lid to the pan. This will take about 5 minutes or so to cook.  then remove lid and fluff with a fork.
6. Now, add your veggies to the couscous, along with your almonds and raisins. And stir well. You may need a bit more salt here, or maybe that is just me because I LOVE SALT.

Caesar Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plus 3 TB Veganaise
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 TB capers, without their brine
• 1/3 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 TB lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 3 TB nutritional yeast
• a few shakes garlic powder
• a few shakes onion powder
• 1 1/2 TB dijon mustard

Dressing Method:

1. Put all ingredients into blender and whir until well combined.  Easy Peasy.