Tag Archives: blue cheese

Paleo Week 2: Harvest Salad

I told myself that I would not have any obligation to post everyday during this 30 day challenge, and I’m glad about it.  I went to a conference this past weekend (Friday & Saturday) in Seattle.  I was pleasantly surprised, because my expectations were very low.  I went prepared, while carrying around my little strawberry tote bag everywhere, which was loaded with Paleo supplies (celery sticks, nuts, apple slices, hazelnut butter, etc).  I also discovered that club soda is not nearly as awful when your taste buds have been devoid of sugar.  In fact, the soda water was AMAZING!

It also must be said that I still miss chocolate, red wine, and ice cream doesn’t sound too bad.  However, despite those non-L&G foods, I think I could see making this as part of our lifestyle.  Not necessarily 100%, but in the high percentages.  I will let you know about next week, because I’m told that come third week–your body feels better than good.  The downside to the challenge during this second week is how my performance at the gym has been low.  When running–my legs feel like lead.  When lifting–my arms feel like noodles.  I’m hoping week three will be better than good.

This salad is probably my go to salad.  My friend Jessica fell in love with it that she went out to get the ingredients that day.  And you can easily make it Paleo by nixing the blue cheese (just make sure the cranberries don’t have sugar with them).

A Year Ago: Roasting Pumpkin

Harvest Salad (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

Head of lettuce (romaine, red leaf, green leaf), washed, dried, & torn into bite sized pieces

1 apple (Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, whatever you want–just not Red Delicious)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, Roquefort

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tb mustard (regular or dijon)

1 tsp dried basil (crunch it in your hands to release the oils)

Directions:  Pretty straightforward, put the washed/torn lettuce into a big bowl.  Sprinkle the nuts, dried cranberries, & blue cheese on the lettuce.

In a bowl or glass measuring cup, add extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar.  Add the mustard and whisk together.  It should start to combine.  Add the basil.  No need to pour all of it on the salad, but start small and mix to combine.  If you need a bit more, then add it:)

Barley-Kale Salad

IMG_2597

I made this very yummy salad from this wonderful blog.  Now if you were to tell me that I would like kale years ago I would think you were crazy.  I remember tasting it many moons ago thinking, “This is rabbit food, except worst!”  Well, I have changed my mind since and I plead with you to do the same if you are one who thinks eating rabbit food sounds pretty crummy.

I was originally going to serve this along side roasted chicken, but thought to myself, “there’s carbs and protein in it–why do I need to defrost chicken?  Plus, it’s a wonderful sunny day and eating this salad just makes me feel healthy (we won’t talk about the two chocolate ganache cupcakes I ate though–will we).”

Plus, I’m always trying to find ways to incorporate the grain world with the vegetable world outside of a pasta salad.  So if you’re simply wanting to make dinner, or make a side dish for guests coming over, or going to a celebration–this is a great summer salad (or not summer) to make.

**Plus the great thing about kale is it doesn’t wilt if you put dressing on it and store it in the fridge to eat the next day.

Birthday Barley Salad Recipe from www.inpraiseofleftovers.com

Salad Ingredients:
2 cups barley
1 head curly kale, washed, ribbed, and finely chopped
1 c. roasted pecans
1/2 c. dried cherries, roughly chopped
1/2 c. crumbled Danish blue cheese (or other firm blue cheese)
zest from one lemon

Dressing:
1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste (don’t be shy with your salt!)
1/2 ts. smoked paprika
4 Tb. apple cider vinegar
2 Tb. honey
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, cut into thin rings

For dressing: Mix the first five ingredients in a large measuring cup. Whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste. Drop in onions and let them marinate for at least 20 minutes.

For salad: Cook barley in lots of boiling water for about 45 minutes. There needs to be plenty of water so it won’t stick together–you want the grains to be separate. After it’s done (grains will be soft, but still a little chewy), drain it and run cold water over it. You can do this one day ahead if you want.

Toss barley with kale and most of the pecans, blue cheese, dried cherries, and dressing. I use my hands to do this. Scatter some of the remaining ingredients, the lemon zest, and a few marinated onions from the dressing over the top. I always like my audience to know exactly what’s in the salad just by looking at it. Grind a bit more pepper if you like.

Barley-Kale Salad