Diet Detective: Summer Salads

by Charles Platkin, PhD

Mixed Greens With Romesco Vinaigrette

Healthy recipe by the editors of Cooking Light from Everyday Vegetarian (Oxmoor House, 2017)

Romesco refers to the type of chile used in the rich sauce. Since they can be difficult to find, we used smoky ancho chiles.

Hands-on: 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour, 19 minutes

Serves 10

1/4 cup Romesco Sauce (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
6 cups torn curly endive
1 (5-ounce) package gourmet salad greens
9 oil-cured ripe olives, pitted and halved
2 hard-cooked large eggs, quartered

Combine the Romesco Sauce, 2 tablespoons hot water, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Combine the endive and salad greens in a large bowl; toss gently to combine. Place the greens on each of 10 plates. Drizzle each serving with the vinaigrette; top with the olives and eggs. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information: (Serving size: about 1 1/3 cups greens, about 2 teaspoons vinaigrette, about 1 1/2 teaspoons olives, and about 1 tablespoon eggs): Calories 50; Fat 3.6g (Sat 0.6g, Mono 2.3g, Poly 0.5g); Protein 2g; Carbs 3g; Fiber 2g; Sugars 1g (est. added Sugars 0g); Chol 37mg; Iron 1mg; Sodium 61mg; Calcium 27mg

Romesco Sauce
Hands-on: 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour, 4 minutes

Serves 40

2 dried ancho chiles
2 small red bell peppers
1/ 2 cup hazelnuts
1/ 2 cup blanched almonds, toasted
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (1-ounce) slice bread, toasted
1/ 4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2/ 3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/ 4 cup hot water
1/ 2 teaspoon salt

Place the ancho chiles in a small saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Drain well. Remove stems, seeds, and membranes; discard. Place chiles in a bowl.

Preheat the broiler to high.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place halves, skin-side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten. Broil 10 minutes or until blackened. Place in a paper bag; fold to close tightly. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and cut into 2-inch pieces; add to the chiles.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Arrange the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes or until toasted. Turn the nuts out onto a towel. Roll up the towel; rub off the skins. Place the hazelnuts in a food processor. Add the almonds, garlic, and bread to the food processor; process 1 minute or until finely ground. Add the chile mixture, vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, and ground red pepper; process 1 minute or until combined. With the processor on, slowly pour the oil through the food chute; process until well blended. Add 1/4 cup hot water and the salt; process 10 seconds or until combined. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Nutritional Information: (Serving size: about 1 tablespoon): Calories 61; Fat 5.8g (sat 0.7g, mono 4.2g, poly 0.7g); Protein 1g; Carbs 2g; Fiber 1g; Sugars 0g (est. added sugars 0g); Chol 0mg; Iron 0mg; Sodium 34mg; Calcium 9mg

Cherry, Wild Rice & Quinoa Salad

Healthy recipe by the editors of EatingWell from Eatingwell Quick + Clean (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017)

Serves 8: about 3/4 cup each

3/4 cup wild rice
1/2 cup quinoa
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fruity vinegar, such as raspberry or pomegranate (see Tip)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups halved pitted fresh sweet cherries
2 stalks celery, diced
3/4 cup diced aged goat cheese or smoked Cheddar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add wild rice and cook for 30 minutes. Add quinoa and cook until the rice and quinoa are tender, about 15 minutes more. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool to the touch; drain well.

Meanwhile, whisk oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the rice and quinoa, cherries, celery, cheese and pecans and toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Nutritional Information: (Serving size: 3/4 cup): Calories 282; Fat 16g (sat 4g); Cholesterol 10mg; Carbs 27g; Total sugars 7g (added 0g); Protein 8g; Fiber 3g; Sodium 272 mg; Potassium 265mg

Beet Green Salad with Walnuts

Healthy recipe by national chef Joel Gamoran, host of FYI Network Scraps TV Show from Sur La Table

Serves 2

1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or other light-colored vinegar)
1/ 4 cup olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch beets (any variety), roots and stems thinly sliced, greens torn
1 tart apple, very thinly sliced
½ cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
2 sprigs mint, leaves picked
Edible flowers, for serving (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk honey, vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss beets with a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette. On a platter or shallow bowl, arrange beets, greens and apples. Top with walnuts, mint and edible flowers.

 

 

Photo Credit: Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Time Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

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