Fast, fun and fabulous
Pair salads with leftovers for easy dinner dishes
Adinner fairy. Imagine that after a long day the dinner fairy would swoop into your house and a delicious, nutritious dinner would magically appear on the table for your family.
Some families resort to takeout dinners when the fairy doesn’t materialize, but we have a healthier option for you: wholesome main dish salads that are easy enough for any night of the week.
Even without a recipe, salads are simple to put together with whatever vegetables and protein you have in your refrigerator. Do you have leftover beef or chicken from the day before? Place it on a bed of lettuce and fresh vegetables, add some great dressing and serve with a slice of whole grain bread. Even the meat and potato lovers in your family will be satisfied. Or for vegetarians, open a can of beans or a package of tofu and you’ll have the same great results.
In much the same way, the Cobb Salad was originally developed in the 1920s as a delicious way to use leftovers. This salad traditionally has ingredients arranged in rows; however, you can also just toss everything together.
This ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen recipe is great for doubling and serving to a bigger group on a large platter, still using the row presentation. That way it is easy for everyone to serve themselves the ingredients they like best.
ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen’s Steak Salad with Chipotle Dressing is another easy salad to assemble, and can utilize leftover Sunday roast beef or steak.
The dressing calls for finely chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, which adds a bit of a kick and a lot of flavour. Because you only need a small quantity of this ingredient, it’s easy to divide the rest into small amounts and freeze for later use.
You can always substitute a small amount of hot sauce or red pepper flakes to get that zing, but the chipotle pepper also has a wonderful smoky flavour. In addition, feel free to substitute romaine lettuce if you would rather use that. Anything goes when it comes to making salads. Enjoy a wholesome main dish salad with your family tonight and say goodbye to the dinner fairy!
Cobb Salad
1 tbsp (15 ml) butter 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) frozen kernel corn 1/2 cup (125 ml) plain yogurt 1/3 cup (75 ml) fresh lemon juice 2 tsp (10 ml) Dijon mustard 1 tsp (5 ml) honey 1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt 1/8 tsp (0.5 ml) freshly ground pepper 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil 1/4 cup (50 ml) thinly sliced green onions 8 cups (2 L) torn romaine lettuce 2 cups (500 ml) cubed cooked chicken or turkey 1 cup (250 ml) crumbled blue or feta cheese 1/4 cup (50 ml) crumbled cooked bacon 1 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and cubed thinly sliced green onion, optional Melt butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add corn and saute until lightly browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely.
To prepare dressing, whisk together next 6 ingredients (yogurt through pepper) until combined. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Stir in 1/4 cup (50 ml) green onion.
Place lettuce on a large serving dish. Top lettuce with corn, chicken, cheese, bacon, eggs and avocado, arranging toppings in rows. Sprinkle with additional green onion. Serve with dressing. Serves 4.
Steak Salad With Chipotle Dressing
12 cups (3 L) shredded iceberg lettuce ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and cubed 4 cups (1 L) julienned barbecued steak or cooked roast beef 1 cup (250 ml) shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup (250 ml) broken blue corn tortilla chips 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges Chipotle Dressing, recipe follows Divide lettuce among 8 plates. Top with avocado and steak. Sprinkle cheese and tortilla chips over steak. Top with tomatoes. Drizzle chipotle dressing over each salad. Serve immediately. Serves 8.
Chipotle Dressing
1/2 cup (125 ml) light sour cream 1/4 cup (50 ml) fresh lime juice 1 tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard 1 tbsp (15 ml) honey 2 tsp (10 ml) canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp (2 ml) cumin 1/4 tsp (1 ml) allspice 1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt 1/4 cup (50 ml) chopped fresh cilantro In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients except cilantro until blended. Stir in cilantro. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.