Super Quick Salmon Salad

She gives me that guilty look when I leave....

Rushing out the door to work some days I barely have time to get myself out the door much less plan what I'm eating for lunch. This salad is a good "go-to" & can be made up with either salmon, tuna or even chicken for a change up. It is simple to make & takes less than 5 minutes the night before so you can have it ready to roll in the morning. Toss in a piece of fruit & some veggies & it's a meal. If I do this all the night before I won't feel guilty giving the Molly dog one last trip outside! Enjoy your lunch!

Lunchbox Salmon Salad

1 lb salmon fillet, cooked, either poached, grilled, or gently fried, and cooled to room temperature. (If you don't have fresh salmon 2 cans of Salmond, boneless & skinless, well drained salmon may be used)
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, peeled, finely sliced
1 Tbsp of capers
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh dill - chopped
1 teaspoon celery salt
Fresh ground pepper

Break salmon up slightly with fork, add next 8 ingredients, toss well & chill. I like this salad with small grape tomatoes, green onions celery or cucumber slices.

A Paleo Chicken Salad for the Lunch Box

I used Texas Pecan Halves & Spicy Cayenne Pepper, be Creative & Enjoy.

Of late it seems that everyone in my family is on some form of Paleo (aka: Caveman Diet), Zone or Gluten Free Diet.  In truth I've been really trying to stick to the First Two food lifestyles.  We are always trying to find another way to exclude those favorite starches & find a meal which appeals to all of us.Bytes from Texas first found dozens of Paleo diet websites which eschew many starches & anything with grains or dairy.  I can take most of this diet lifestyle very well but the total lack of grains does get a little tedious for me long term but it the benefits currently seem to outweigh the negatives.  One of the best sources of Paleo recipes which are more than just a meat & veggie meal can be found at PaleoPlan.  In fact I borrowed liberally for my spicy version of the Lascaux Chicken Waldorf Salad.  I also used Agave Nectar instead of the site's version using honey.  I discovered Agave Nectar while living in Mexico.  The health benefits of Agave Nectar have long been recognized.  For more info on this sweet sugar & honey substitution check Here.

This past week when the Mister had to travel away from home I ended up having to figure out ways of using up an entire roast chicken.  (Not too much of a stretch actually!) I decided a cold dinner of a Paleo Chicken Salad would be just perfect. We had so much Chicken Salad left over that a lunch choice was of course a natural progression.  Throwing this yummy salad into a Bento along side a few veggies was wonderful.  You can dress up or spice your own chicken salad up or down.   I recommend making this salad as I did the evening before & chilling it well for a good lunch box addition. 


Paleo Chicken Salad
4 cups of cooked diced chicken, or whole roasted chicken, meat pulled off the bone & skinned.
2 large tart apple, cored & diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded & diced
½ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup homemade* mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons agave nectar
Cayenne pepper

Instructions for Salad

In a medium size bowl, combine chicken, apple, bell pepper & pecans.
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, lime juice & agave nectar and mix until well blended.
Season to taste with cayenne pepper
Toss the dressing over chicken salad and toss to cover chicken & serve immediately or chill.
Mayonnaise is by nature friendly towards this diet lifestyle however if the chicken salad seems to need more moisture in the way of mayonnaise watch amount of extra mayo being added.

Cool Soba Noodle Salad & 2nd Look at Buckwheat Soba

With so many people trying to avoid Gluten in foods these days I thought I'd better look at Buckwheat Soba noodles one more time. Buckwheat is Gluten free as far as I can tell from every source I've read. This is good news as at least one of my immediate family members is going gluten free much of the time & so many of my friends seem to be trending that way for health reasons.

It seems people avoid eating buckwheat, believing that it is a type of wheat. Despite the name and the fact that it is used like wheat as a grain, buckwheat is not a type of wheat and is not even related to wheat. Its original name was "beech wheat" in reference to buckwheat's small, black, triangular seeds that although much smaller, resemble beech nuts from the beech tree. From "beech wheat" it was translated into the Dutch word "boecweite" or "boekweite": 'boek' meaning beech and 'weite' meaning wheat. After Dutch settlers introduced "boecweite" to colonial America, it eventually became known as 'buckwheat'. It is related to rhubarb and sorrel.

Soba Noodle Salad with Tuna & Cucumber

1 package Soba Noodles, *Buckwheat
1 small can of Spanish Oil Packed Tuna
1 small Cucumber, sliced & cut into quarters
3 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 small bunch of green onions, sliced
1/4 C. spicy mayonnaise
4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil noodles, cook till al dente & then cool down once finished cooking. Toss in Tuna, Cucumber, Pumpkin seeds & Green Onions.Chill & eat cold. **Avoid over cooking or soaking Buckwheat Soba in the cooking water.  The noodles are fragile & get a somewhat pasty flavor & consistency if they aren't drained right away.

Ensalada Nopalitos, a Healthy Summer salad from South of the Border.

Cactus: part of the Mexican & Central American diet centuries.

During the intense hot summer months in Texas I strive to make a lunch which will stay cold or lack in texture or flavor ( & not spoil in our current 100* temps ).  While my lunch is chilled, I do try to keep out unnecessary ingredients which could easily host food born illness in the heat.  It can be a challenge.  I have been making many marinated type salads which keep the flavors & hold up to the warm days. (with the help of frozen gel packs) 
I recently remembered one of my favorite salads from living in Mexico.  The grocers in Mexico sell nopals or cactus slices already cut up & prepared in bags. Nopal or nopalitos can be found in many stores here in Texas & across the U.S. as well. Nopales are sliced & eaten raw or fried, roasted, added to tacos, soups or pickled. Low in calories, nopales provide modest amounts vitamins & minerals. There are people who don't enjoy the texture however & that is okay.  (ahh, more for those of us who do enjoy eating nopal.) Enjoy the simple Cactus Salad recipe & stay cool.

Garden fresh tomato is perfect in or on this salad.

Ensalada de Nopalitos 
3 cups diced Nopales, with green spines removed & sliced into pieces as to resemble green beans.
boiled in salted water until tender and rinsed under cold water. *cooking time about 4 minutes.
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
2 small tomatoes, sliced or diced.
Tomato Vinaigrette recipe.
Prepare Nopal, rinse under cold water, chill for 1 hr, add onion, vinaigrette & then top with tomato or mix diced tomato into the nopal. Salad serves 4-5



Tomato Vinaigrette 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, black or red
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, coarsely chopped
Toss all ingredients in the blender & pulse 2-3 minutes. Chill or use immediately.Yields 3/4 cup dressing. *1 tbsp Cilantro is also nice with this vinaigrette when serving this salad.

For more information on Nopal check here

Spring Cleaning time & Curried Egg Salad

Organizing, cleaning & taking stock

Spring & cleaning seem to go together right now.  While I am lacking sleep today with the moving the clocks ahead last night, I'm trying to get a little more organized all the way around. While cleaning my refrigerator I have been taking stock of what is on hand. Hopefully I can make better use of all of my condiments, beverages, etc.  I found that I had far too many condiments (What's with all the olives, I am wondering...more on that at in a later post.) I did however realize I had more fresh brown eggs than I previously thought.  It gave me a great opportunity to make a quick egg salad & even throw in some cashews which I found while straightening the pantry.  *Cashew nuts are packed with soluble dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and packed with numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals; that help to protect against diseases and cancers.

What is in your refrigerator & pantry? Taking stock might give you some new culinary directions.




Curried Egg Salad with Cashews
6 hard boiled eggs
1 tablespoon whole chopped green onions
1 tablespoon, minced red onion
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped roasted cashews


Serve this egg salad on bed of lettuce with crackers or on bread. When transporting egg salad

Curried Egg Salad with Crunchy Cash

make certain to include an ice pack to keep the salad cool & fresh.


Peel and chop the hard boiled eggs and put in a bowl with celery, red & green onions. Toss to mix briefly.
Add mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, parsley, and curry powder to the bowl & mix well.
Season with salt and pepper to taste

Soba Noodles for the Lunch Box & A Favorite Shop

To say I am an adventurous shopper when it comes to food is an understatement.  I enjoy finding new ingredients with subtle or even over the top flavors which will take a meal to the next level.  I have always enjoyed shopping in Asian markets & oddly enough Austin Texas has a fair share of them.  We have so many to choose from in fact that I could go to a different one each day for almost 2 weeks straight.  There is one which is my favorite, it has a small mom & pop feel to it.  The New Oriental Market on Airport Blvd is small enough to still offer personalized service & yet has more contemporary ideas like the frequent shopper card which the owner pressed into my palm one day when I stopped for a few things.  They have wonderful Chinese items, Grocery, Housewares, Japanese, Korean food items & even some offbeat items & strange items like Chinese ear cleaning spoons. (I did not make this up & they had happy wooden Asian doll heads on the ends) I do digress though!

I recently went to the New Oriental Market for Shiitake mushrooms & Buckwheat Soba Noodles. Both of these were part of a wonderful salad I took to work for lunch. I ran across the salad recipe in a cookbook called "From Our House to Yours" a cookbook about making comfort foods to give & share.  I shared this with no one but myself & hope you will enjoy the fruits of my labors as I "Share" it for a LUNCH BOX meal which has take away ease & fabulous flavors. Enjoy & if you aren't taking a lunch to work, why not?


Soba Noodle Salad with Tamari Dressing


Tamari Dressing
1/4 cup tamari sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp Asian sesame oil
1 tbsp chili sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Juice 1 lime
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
3 tbsp sake (optional)

1 lb dried soba noodles
3 tbsp peanut or canola oil
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed & thinly sliced
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp sake
3 mandarin oranges, peeled, segmented
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded & cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 bunch green onions, cut into diagonal pieces


Make dressing, let sit for 30 min.  In large pot of boiling water cook the noodles until tender, about 4 min. Drain. Rinse in cold water & drain well.  Toss with 2 tbsp dressing. 


In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, saute the mushrooms until browned.  Salt & pepper lightly & stir in the sake if using.  Remove from heat & let cool. 


Add the noodles to the bowl with the dressing.  Toss to coat evenly.  Add the oranges, cucumber, cilantro & half the sesame seeds.  Toss again.  Transfer to a large shallow bowl or container with lid.  Scatter the mushrooms & green onions over the top & then sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds. 
Chill & serve.  Good room temperature or cold.  Enjoy!

Fit lunch into your morning!

A Healthy lunch: just a few minutes in a morning routine.
A good time was had by all this weekend with a busy schedule of the Jewelry Parties, Race for the Cure, Tailgate Party courtesy of Bytes from Texas & even some quick Cheese Making,  on Sunday afternoon.  I guess with all that fun one might just skip the meal prep & go directly to the lunch counter!  Not so for me when I can manage it.  There almost  always is a way to snag a quick meal & take 5 to 10 mins out of a busy schedule to put together a lunch box.  I was lucky enough to have Bytes from Texas send home some Tail Gate goodies after her party (which is more than I can say our UT Longhorns left the game with on Saturday evening....) I paired up some of her delicious salad with a canned fruit juice, a few cashew nuts, 2 oz of Gold Fish & a few tablespoons of Pomegranate seeds. At one of my favorite delicatessens  I enjoy a similar salad although the portions are much larger.  Packing a lunch at home my Bento or Tiffin  helps make portion control quite easy.  If it doesn't fit into a Bento or Tiffin I generally don't take it.  Besides, I hate messy spills or smashed up sandwiches. 
  Since the Race for the Cure I have been reading more on what foods are recommended to help in our daily fight against cancers, not only Breast Cancer. Many diet plans of this type seek to maximize use of vegetables as well as a variety of whole grains such as brown rice, bulgur, and wheat-berries. I try & buy only whole grain bagels, breads, cereals, crackers & pasta. This maximizes my intake of fiber, which may help fight many cancers.

For that Salad recipe check here for Bytes from Texas recipe for the Delicious Salad. 


For more info on the Global Race for the Cure check Here.

Nine to Five Rice Salad

Rice has fed more people over a longer period of time than any other crop. As far back as 2500 B.C. rice has been documented in the history books as a source of food and for tradition as well. Beginning in China and the surrounding areas, its cultivation spread throughout Sri Lanka, and India. It was then passed onto Greece and areas of the Mediterranean. Rice spread throughout Southern Europe and to some of North Africa. From Europe rice was brought to the New World.*

It is this most flexible of grains that I turned to for lunch time inspiration.  I made Spanish rice earlier in the week & decided to make a rice salad from the leftovers. With a tiny bit of imagination you can spin some leftover rice from dinner into a rice salad for lunch the next day. With a few diced veggies, dressing, a bean of some type for extra protein a rice salad can be a wholesome & filling meal.  I love pomegranate seeds & tossed a few of those in my lunch box, some tiny cucumber slices along with a few crackers,  cheese & applesauce.  I am so hoping to eat lunch outside while the weather is still nice here.  

Nine to Five Rice Salad
1 Jalapeno pepper, diced, seeded & finely diced
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 can Garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup Spanish Olives
3 Tbsp fresh Basil, chopped
1 Tbsp Shallot, chopped
2 Cups left over Rice (White, Brown, Spanish rice, or White & wild rice blend)
6 Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette (3 Tbsp Olive Oil, 3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar, tsp sugar,
salt & pepper to taste)
Toss all ingredients, chill several hours, garnish with extra basil. At most the prep time takes about 15 minutes for this easy salad.
 

Spanish Rice
1 1/2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 tsp cumino powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 of a medium onion
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (& or)1/4 cup corn,  (optional)

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.Add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pan!) Add in the cumin, chili powder & parsley if you're using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork. This is the rice I used for the above salad.

*More history of Rice here.

Lemony Egg Salad on a Meatless Monday

Eggs are full of packed full of protein & great for a mid day meal. I know my mother knew this when I was a kid since she would pack a boiled egg in my lunch box. What she did not account for was the clumsy antics of a kid in the hours leading up to lunch time. It never failed that I would slam my lunch into something not realizing what the boiled egg sulfur smell would do to my entire lunch time experience. Yikes, not to mention my lunch time reputation! It took me years to let my mother know that I didn't need boiled eggs in my lunch. Even those memories did not dull my enjoyment of a simple Egg Salad Sandwich. Anyone who enjoys this salad has a favorite way they like it. There need not even be a recipe it is so simple. It is all in a pinch of this seasoning & slightly less mayo to prevent the salad from going soggy. What is important is the egg boiling. If you have ever seen a slight green or silver tinge to the yolk when you boil an egg it is because the egg was boiled far too long. Also keep in mind that farm fresh eggs often don't slip out of the shell as easily as an older store bought egg when being peeled.

Lemony Egg Salad with Basil
6 large eggs, boiled, cooled completely.
1-2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
1 Tbsp. Capers, well drained
1 stalk of Celery, chopped
2 Tbsp. Fresh Basil leaves, thinly sliced
For sandwich garnish, lettuce, spinach or sprouts

*Perfect boiled eggs. Place the eggs in saucepan and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so. Bring to a boil. Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for exactly 10 minutes. When the eggs are done cooking place them in an ice water bath for three minutes or so - long enough to stop the cooking. When eggs are cool, peel the shells off & make salad.

I slice my eggs width-wise then lengthwise. I personally don't like my eggs mashed for egg salad & this gives them a nice texture. Gently mix in all ingredients. This salad makes enough salad for 4 sandwiches. If you take egg salad in your lunch be sure & keep it chilled. I served my egg salad in a 1/2 Pita Pocket. Lunch Box additions: It paired well with fresh veggies, cheese & fruit.





This little vintage egg slicer made light work of slicing up 6 eggs for the Lemony Egg Salad. A wonderful find at our local City Wide Garage Sale, my husband could not understand my excitement when I showed him the cute vintage Pink egg slicer I purchased for $1.00!


What my Lunch Styled looked like back in the day?? Seriously cute & kind of school-girl prep, my thermos didn't last very long. Clumsy kids didn't stand a chance then when the thermos jars had glass linings...



Does anyone remember Vivian in Pretty Woman saying "“slippery little suckers" & accidently launched her escargot across the restaurant? I also found these at the aforementioned City Wide Garage Sale & re-purposed them right into my everyday kitchen items. Escargot tongs the perfect boiled egg tong? Who knew? They also are great for grabbing tea bags out of a boiling hot mug of tea.