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Faux Slaw

For the longest time, coleslaw kind of grossed me out. It was always this weirdly slimey mess of vegetables you'd get on the side of your turkey club sandwiches at diners. And not something I wanted to eat.

But at some point, I had some really good tangy, crunchy cole slaw. Probably from East Coast West deli or Max's Opera Cafe. And now, every so often, I get the craving for it. But just for one serving. Last night, I came up with a faux slaw that acted as a coleslaw stand-in snack while I played on the computer.

Faux Slaw

• 1 handful shredded purple cabbage
• 1 handful shredded carrots
• 1 handful broccoli slaw
• 1 TBSP Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
• 3 or 4 turns of the pepper mill

In a small salad bowl, combine the veggies, add the salad dressing, combine until well-coated. Finish with the pepper. Fast, easy, tasty, and a little lower-calorie than a traditional coleslaw.

Another Super Summer Salad: Apple and Carrot Salad

Summertime heat makes me crave cold food all the time. I've been trying not to use that as a reason to eat potato salad 3 meals per day. This refreshing salad is fast and sinple to make, and low in calories, making it a great addition for your lunch bag or a pre-dinner snack.

• 2 large apples (1 granny smith and 1 fuji or other red apple makes the prettiest salad) cored then cut into matchsticks with your mandolin or grated
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 cups carrots, grated
• 1/4 cup(s) chives, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Toss apples with lime juice. Add remaining ingredients. Makes 8 servings. 1 pt each for those of you on WW.

Potato Salad, Two Ways

Potato salad has been the quintessential summertime food to me for as long as I can remember. The highlight of any picnic as a child was cold fried chicken accompanied by my mom’s creamy potato salad.

So when the most recent heatwave turned our otherwise lovely apartment into an oven, I cracked open my 5 lb bag of red potatoes and got boiling.

After chopping about 3 lbs of the potatoes into bite-sized chunks, I tossed them into salted boiling water. I let them boil about 10 minutes until the average size pieces were cooked through (tested by spooning one out, cooling it with water, and tasting it.) At this point I tossed in some French green beans that I snapped in half and cooked for another 2 minutes.

After pouring the potatoes and green beans out into a footed colander and letting cool about 5 minutes, I split them into two bowls with roughly the same potato to green bean ratio.

In the first bowl, I added three heaping serving spoons of sour cream, 1/4 of a large red onion roughly chopped, and a teaspoon of grainy mustard, plus salt and pepper then stirred til combined. We used this as a side for our fried chicken.

In the other bowl, which had about a potato more in it, I added three heaping serving spoons of mayo, 1/4 of a large red onion roughly chopped, 1/2 cup of solid salami chopped into small chunks, 2 cups of shredded cabbage, a teaspoon of grainy mustard, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar plus salt and pepper then stirred til combined. I took this salad for lunch, and had small portions as an after work snack all week.

Sorry for the lack of photos on this, but potato salad is one of those foods that looks so wrong, but tastes so good.

Spring Bean Salad

This past weekend, I had a veggie friend over for dinner and made this salad as part of our dinner. Best to make it on a weekend as it is a little prep-intensive.

• 1 lb fava beans, shelled, blanched, and shelled again
• 1 can/jar white beans
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1small red onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Sautee onions and garlic in oil for 3 minutes, then add bell pepper and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes or until soft. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook for 25 minutes or until beans have absorbed most of the liquid. Strain and serve hot or toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and pepper and refrigerate for 1 hour to serve cold.