Winter Greens Salad ♥ with Oranges, Avocado, Olives, Feta & Orange-Cumin Vinaigrette

Whew, say THAT three times. Or don't, because by the time you have, today's fresh winter salad could be on the table, just bitter greens (curly endive is pictured) plus juicy oranges, s'more salad fixin's all tossed with a long-time favorite no-oil salad dressing, Orange & Cumin Vinaigrette. Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

I swear, since Christmas, you could count on one hand how often I've cooked vegetables. But vegetable soups? and raw salads? #NoGettingEnough

My raw salads follow no recipe, per se, although there is a formula. Greens of some sort, often arugula. (Any other fans of Trader Joe's arugula?!!) Chopped vegetables, whatever's on hand. (It's winter so think carrot, cabbage, fennel, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, radish, small tomatoes, zucchini, that's just since Christmas.) Parsley or cilantro if they're handy. Green onion, always! Salt, pepper and a splash of good vinegar. Then a drizzle of good olive oil, not much. Some times? If there's time and inclination, a few feta crumbles, a few nuts (usually Maple-Glazed Pecans) or seeds (oh my! I do owe you an amazing recipe for barely-sweet pumpkin seeds). And that's it. I could – I do – assemble a salad like this at least once a day.

Here though, I get more calculated to showcase lovely tangelos from Boudrias Groves, we're so very lucky when a mid-winter gift box is dropped off at our door. (Thank you, Jan and Charlie!) These are the juiciest oranges ever! Mostly, we just gorge on sliced oranges but after that, I get a little more creative, it's orange heaven:

MORNING-FOOD ORANGES
Orange Julius Drinks (these are zero points with Freestyle SmartPoints, right? and so refreshing!)
Sunshine Orange Muffins

DAY-FOOD ORANGES
Savory Orange Slices
Citrus Slices with Orange Flower Water, Spices & Chocolate Shavings

And now, I'm adding a salad to the lineup. So good, this one! I've made it a half dozen times in a half dozen ways in the last while, all wonderful. This is what I settled on – bitter + sweet + creamy + salty = "perfect"!
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Detox Chopped Salad ♥ Recipe

Today's chopped salad recipe: An addictive combination of finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower (both or one or the other) and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, bound by a citrus dressing. Great for home as a "refrigerator salad" that keeps for a good week or more but also a great salad to take along to potlucks and parties, ensuring at least one plant-based, satisfying choice. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free.

"I bought a food processor," my sister announced back in November. "We really like this recipe I tried. It's great! But you really can't chop everything fine enough by hand."

So curious, I was, what could such a kitchen appliance-temptation salad be?! Turns out, it's just broccoli, cauliflower, dried fruit, some nuts and seeds, all chopped finely and tossed in a no-oil citrus dressing.

Since I already owned the all-important food processor, there was no waiting on an Amazon delivery. But as luck would have it, I did have everything else on hand – so made my sister's Detox Chopped Salad on the spot. And another batch the next week. And then a double batch for Thanksgiving. And another double batch for Christmas Eve! And ...

This is such a refreshing salad, so fresh tasting, with excellent crunch. And it's pretty! I happen to like the all-broccoli or all-cauliflower version better in the looks department but that's just me. It's a real crowd pleaser too, an easy one to make ahead to take along to a potluck or party to balance out all the heavy, high-calorie appetizers or snacks. (Hello, Superbowl parties!)

So here's the question, fellow vegetable lovers. Who else has bought a kitchen appliance for just one recipe? Would you? I knew a guy once who wanted to make a dessert from a St. Louis restaurant (the still much-missed Blue Sky Cafe's chocolate enchiladas, stuffed with fruit and whipped cream, drizzled with caramel sauce) for a dinner party and came home with a skillet (for the chocolate crepes), a heavy saucepan (for the caramel sauce) and, gracious, a Kitchen Aid mixer (for the whipped cream). What extremes will we go to when we really-really-really want to make something?! Who can imagine this?!

While you're thinking on this question, make the Detox Chopped Salad!
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Chilled Zucchini Noodle Salad with Pesto, Sweet Corn & Sun-Dried Tomato ♥

Zucchini Noodles? Thing is, they're achieving ritual status here in my kitchen. Yours too? Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free.

#TwoThings.

#1 Come summer, there must be some a magic moment when the zucchini and basil gods collude. How do I know? Because I made this supreme little summer chilled zucchini noodle salad for the first time on July 11, 2016 and for the second time, entirely by accident, on the same date exactly one year later. But the timing isn't really an accident, is it? That's because every year about the same time, the zucchini reach exactly the right size for spiralizing (not too small, not too big though definitely not baseball bats) and the basil is beginning to flower and needs cutting back to ensure the plants will continue to produce basil leaves well into fall, so naturally, hello pesto! (For the record, I'm totally in love with my extra basil-y, vegan pesto, Homemade Fresh Basil Pesto Without Cheese.)

#2 Do we even need a recipe for something called "Chilled Zucchini Noodle Salad with Pesto, Sweet Corn & Sun-Dried Tomato"? I definitely didn't use one the first time I made this. But we all loved it so much, I made a few notes to re-create later for pictures and well, you. Because with any luck, #1 is happening in your world too and a little nudge-nudge is all it'll take for you to drag out the spiralizer. If it's that easy? It's definitely Summer Easy.

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

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Arugula Salad with Smoked Trout & Peach Preserve Dressing ♥

Today's salad supper, perfect for simple summer evenings: Peppery arugula tossed with a sweet fruity-mustard dressing, then topped with bites of smoked trout, fresh fruits and veggies. Totally adaptable, so simple but special. Destined for a go-to dinner!

~recipe updated, first published way back in 2007~
~more recently updated recipes~

WAY BACK IN 2007
Day One: Christine from My Plate or Yours raved about a smoked mullet dip. We bantered back and forth a bit on e-mail.

Day Two 7 am: Arggh. I was, um, hooked. I woke up wanting smoked fish dip NOW. (For breakfast, Alanna?)

Day Two 11am: A client's husband was off to fetch fish from Bob's Seafood, the best (and in my opinion, only) place to buy fresh fish in St. Louis, for their supper. When I asked if he'd mind buying smoked fish for me, he and my client answered, nearly simultaneously, "You need a smoker!" Now he's an accomplished foodie and Anne Cori is chef so I trust their judgments without question. An hour later, he'd picked up the fish from Bob's, he'd picked up a stovetop smoker from her store, the wonderful Kitchen Conservatory – and she gave me a lesson in hot-smoking shrimp, scallops and trout!

And this stuff is heaven! I'm looking forward to learning more about the stovetop smoker – including, with any luck, some vegetables. More on that, later. (Fast Forward Two More Days: My first foray with smoker at home turned out beautifully, just scallops and shrimp and OH SO EASY.)

In the mean time, the sauce the client recommended for the trout turned out to be a delicious oil-free dressing on arugula – snipped fresh from the client's home garden. Yes, indeed, this is a client with "fringe benefits"! Thank you, Anne, thank you, Tom! And Christine, thanks to you, too, for the inspiration that started this odyssey!

UPDATE Eight years passed between Salad One and Salad Two but it wasn't eight weeks before the next one. So simple. So good. So perfect for a sumptuous summer supper. Just look how pretty! I've become partial to smoked whitefish but trout remains wonderful, so does hot-smoked salmon. And scallops!

AN EXTRA PERSONAL NOTE Looking back, I'm wondering if it was this morning that set in motion events that led to being invited to a 4th of July party at the client's home where The Man With the Hands and I first met. Could it be? It just might!
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Bok Choy Salad with Homemade Creamy Vinaigrette ♥

Today's quick, flexible and dare-I-say addictive salad recipe: Raw bok choy stalks and greens tossed in a light creamy vinaigrette, topped with whatever you choose but really special with seasonal fruit, a little cheese and toasted nuts. Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. And of course, Totally Delicious!

~recipe updated, first published way back in 2008~
~more recently updated recipes~

Yum. Yuuuuum. Bok choy is the current salad obsession around here. It's got great crunch and a slight bite, a poor man's arugula. For a quick salad at lunch or a supper salad, I add whatever is on hand, some times veering toward more vegetables but more often to salad in the photograph with fruit (citrus is lovely, so are apples and pears), a crumbly cheese (a fresh cheese like goat cheese or a good blue or a creamy feta) and toasted walnuts. It's filling, it's satisfying. It makes for a great salad to share, even a supper salad.

For years and years, I've made really only one one favorite salad dressing recipe. Now there are two! This homemade creamy vinaigrette is it! Yes, it's made with cream. But for four side-salad servings, the dressing itself contributes only 18 calories. That's so do-able! And for one big serving, a substantial supper salad, the dressing only contributes 72 calories. Very do-able. This is definitely a good recipe to add to your arsenal of salad dressings, because you know, the goal is to Never Buy Salad Dressing Again!
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Best-Ever Lentil Salad ♥

By all rights, I should call this recipe One Turnip + One Onion & Six Cloves = The Best-Ever Lentil Salad. But that's kinda long so let's just go with Best-Ever Lentil Salad, the one I've been obsessing over for a couple of months now. Served either warm or cold, it's Vegan and Gluten Free and Weight Watchers Friendly and High Protein and (naturally!) OhSoGood.

So let's talk new-to-us cooking techniques. Who else keeps their eyes peeled for new cooking methods while perusing new cookbooks or diving into promising-looking recipes? You have to stay focused but upon discovery, at least with me, it's either:

Why didn't I think of that?! (followed by by a head thump) or
How'd someone ever come up with THAT? (with a sense of incredulity)

Definitely #2, the idea to add a turnip and a clove-studded onion to cook a big pot of lentils. Ina Garten credits a friend, me I credit sheer genius. Story goes, Ina was never keen on lentil salads until a friend mentioned cooking the lentils with a turnip. There's probably some chemistry explanation for what a turnip does to lentils but I'm going with NO.IDEA. Onion and clove are a different story, their addition is subtle, but that savory touch of allium, that teensy-weensy bit of clove is spot-on perfect. (Yes, observant readers, I'm still on an "Cooking for Jeffrey" kick, a la Roasted Applesauce with Raspberries and Celebration Salad.)

Best-Ever Lentil Salad has been a staple since Christmas. I mix another batch every time the jar scrapes empty, just like every few days I make bread (recipe coming soon!) and a big pot of creamy oatmeal.

Just-made and still warm, the salad is sensual and seductive, there's no getting enough, no keeping my spoon out of the bowl. Chilled, it goes great alongside morning eggs (I keep meaning to put a runny egg on top, ohhhhh my) or dropped into a cheese tortilla for lunch. It's easy to keep on hand, endlessly easy to use up.

I already have a few lentil salad recipes that are really good, you might too. If so, try the turnip and clove-studded onion technique on your own recipe. Otherwise? Make this your recipe, it's from me, thanks to Ina and her turnip-genius friend.
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Power Food Broccoli Salad

Power Rangers and broccoli salad: who knew they would meet on the dinner table? They do, in this week's Kitchen Parade column for Power Food Broccoli Salad.

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SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features 'fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences'.

Where A Veggie Venture is 'pure food blog', full of experimentation and exploration, Kitchen Parade features recipes a modern cook can count on. All are thoroughly tested by a home cook in a home kitchen and many are family and reader favorites. All recipes feature easy-to-find ingredients, clear instructions and because I believe so strongly in informed food choices, nutrition analysis and Weight Watchers points. Want to know more? Explore KitchenParade.com, including Kitchen Parade's Recipe Box!

WHY DOESN'T THIS POST ACCEPT COMMENTS? Because I hope that you'll click through to the actual column and comment there!

E-MAIL & RSS SUBSCRIBERS You may subscribe to Kitchen Parade directly. Just sign up for Kitchen Parade via e-mail or Kitchen Parade via RSS -- then you'll receive the complete column and recipe directly in your In Box or RSS reader.

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and award-winning vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2007

Farmgirl's Swiss Chard Tuna Salad ♥

It's hard - here, anyway, really hard - to eat enough greens. So I'm ever on the look-out for ways to incorporate greens into stuff that we're already eating. This easy tuna salad - it could be your tuna salad recipe, even a tuna salad from the deli - was easily transformed.

And I was quite surprised that even with the addition of three large Swiss chard leaves, this was still 'tuna salad', just a little greener -- and very good, definitely worth a try.

Many thanks for the inspiration to my pal from Farmgirl Fare, whose recipe was featured last spring on NPR's Kitchen Window, Letting Greens into Your Life.

NUTRITION NOTES If you've ever wondered how many Weight Watchers points there are in tuna salad, look out! Even bulked up with greens, a half cup (just a half cup - this recipes makes SEVEN half cups) made with full-fat mayonnaise is four points! (The low-carb people are happy, however, since there are just 2 net carbs, joining a growing collection of low-carb vegetable recipes, too.) Even using low-fat mayonnaise, a half cup still adds up to two points. For salads with low Weight Watchers points, check Kitchen Parade's Weight Watchers recipes and A Veggie Venture's Weight Watchers recipes.

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HOMEMADE SANDWICH BREAD My family's recipe for Swedish rye bread, adapted for the bread maker, would make great tuna sandwiches.

MORE VEGETABLE RECIPES See the Recipe Box for more Swiss chard recipes (specifically) but since greens are often interchangeable, check the leafy green recipes too.

A YEAR AGO How funny is this?!! Swiss chard gratin, "one of the most satisfying vegetable dishes I've made in a long while"

TWO YEARS AGO Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Pizza, "the deliciously salty and pungent eggplant, a perfect pizza topping and a definite keeper"

SWISS CHARD TUNA SALAD

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes (Susan recommends letting it sit a bit for flavors to meld)
Makes 3-1/2 cups

About 3 large Swiss chard leaves, to yield about 1 cup chopped & tightly packed leaves
About 1 rib from a Swiss chard leaf
Fresh cilantro, about 1/4 cup chopped & loosely packed (Farmgirl uses Italian parsley)
5 small green onions, about 1/2 cup chopped, white & green parts
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
8 ounces canned/packaged tuna - have you SEEN what they've done to the tuna 'products' these days?

DRESSING
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Farmgirl uses 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Wash the chard leaves and cilantro well, shake (or run through a salad spinner or dry on paper towels). [I usually start mixing the mayo mixture at this point, to let the greens have a few minutes to dry.] Cut the ribs and "little ribs" (what are they called, the ones that extend into the leaves themselves) from the leaves. Chop one rib very small for the salad. [I found the ribs more fibrous than palatable to use more than one. One was good, however! I saved the others for something else.] Cut the leaves into narrow strips. [Some times it's easier to stack the leaves, then roll into 'cigars', then cut cross-wise.]

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add the olives, tuna and green onion. Gently fold in the greens. Season with salt and pepper.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Half Cup (assumes full-fat mayonnaise, water-packed tuna): 164 Cal (76% from Fat, 20% from Protein, 4% from Carb); 8 g Protein; 14 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 2 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; NetCarb2; 0 g Sugar; 21 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 296 mg Sodium; 20 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 4 points

Per Half Cup (assumes low-fat mayonnaise, water-packed tuna): 109 Cal (60% from Fat, 30% from Protein, 10% from Carb); 8 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 3 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 1 g Sugar; 19 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 344 mg Sodium; 20 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2007

Spaghetti Squash Salad with Tomato, Basil & Feta ♥

Spaghetti Squash - do they have their own flavor or simply deliver other flavors? So far, my vote's on 'delivery'.

This particular spaghetti squash was home-grown, just-picked and small (maybe a pound versus the typical three-pound footballs from the grocery) so I figured if ever there were flavor to be found, this was it. Nope.

But nonetheless, this salad - which 'delivers' fresh tomato, basil and feta - was quite good and easy to pull together.

Spaghetti squash does have its compensations. It has virtually no calories and cooks in a flash (here, in the microwave). So -- as long as we expect no flavor from the squash itself, it's a perfect delivery vehicle.

NEXT TIME I'll be tempted to put the salad into a casserole dish and warm through to serve hot. I'm quite sure that the inspiring recipe intended this to be a warm side dish, but spaghetti squash doesn't hold heat so it just didn't turn out that way. I'll also use all tomatoes versus a mix of tomatoes/red pepper - the tomato moisture is appreciated.

KITCHEN NOTES The 'spaghetti' strings weren't visible until the squash was cooked. I even wondered if I'd brought home a yellow acorn squash.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES See the Recipe Box for more winter squash recipes. Tis the season! I've already roasted a butternut squash so new recipes to come!

A YEAR AGO I discovered the anatomy of a squash and for the first time, cooked squash blossoms.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH SALAD with TOMATO, BASIL & FETA

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Serves 4

HOW TO COOK SPAGHETTI SQUASH IN THE MICROWAVE (here, when cut, you can also cook whole spaghetti squash in the microwave)
1 spaghetti squash (tonight, a small one, about a pound)
1/4 cup water

Cut the squash in half pole to pole. Place cut-side down in a microwave-safe dish with the water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for about 6 minutes, turn the dish, then another 6 minutes. (Microwave strengths do vary, so do the moisture content and size of squash. Use the information here as a guideline, not a formula.)

Let squash rest, covered, for 2 - 3 minutes, primarily to cool. (I opened it up first, to make sure the squash was done, then recovered.) With a fork, scrape the flesh, creating 'spaghetti' strings.

MEANWHILE
1/2 pound fresh tomatoes, chopped (I had just one small tomato)
Red pepper, diced (did add nice crunch)
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 square inches feta, crumbled

1 tablespoon olive oil (I added this at the end, hoping it wouldn't be needed, but it was, almost as much as 'binder' as flavor and richness)
Salt & pepper

Mix tomato, pepper, onion, basil, oregano and feta in a medium bowl. Stir in spaghetti squash. Add olive oil and seasoning as needed.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 92 Cal (35% from Fat, 14% from Protein, 51% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 2 g Sugar; 110 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 184 mg Sodium; 13 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE Adapted from Gourmet, September 1990

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2007

Day 230: Slow-Roasted Tomato Salad Dressing

I'm ever on the look-out for ways to use the Slow-Roasted Tomatoes that live in the freezer. Last night's Steak & Tomatoes was delicious.

Tonight's dressing was only so-so, especially since the vinegar overpowered the smoky tomato goodness.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more ways to use slow-roasted tomatoes ~
~ more salad dressing recipes ~

SLOW-ROASTED TOMATO DRESSING
Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes
Makes 2/3 cup (enough for two salads each serving four)

1/2 cup Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (see ALANNA's TIPS for an alternative)
1 tablespoon good vinegar (I used a fig vinegar that's a little sweet)
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup water
Salt & pepper to taste

Salad greens

Whizz in the food processor attachment of an immersion blender. Toss with greens. Enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Dressing only, per Serving: 10 Cal (36% from Fat, 5% from Protein, 59% from Carb); 0 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 2 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; NET CARB 0; 2 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 29 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 0 points
ALANNA's TIPS

• The inspiring recipe suggests roasting 4 plum tomatoes (halved, arranged cut-side up in a single layer on a baking sheet and seasoned with salt and pepper) for 35 minutes at 450F.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE
Adapted from Gourmet May 1996