Wordless Wednesday: Salad, Mushrooms, & Peppers

Wordless Wednesday: Salad

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Salad

Babybella Salad

Every 28 days or so, I randomly go on a cleaning/cooking/washing binge, and the results are often comical. Last week’s flurry of posts was a prime example, and there were still several dishes I made after those posts! My refrigerator is now organized by category and size of item, my clothes are now organized by style and frequency of usage, and the list goes on and on.

The first little dish I made was this big salad. I don’t know what it is about my chemistry that makes me think

*I*MUST*MAKE*A*GIANT*SALAD*RIGHT*NOW*

but ok, sure, salad is healthy. Why not?

.

.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce, cut as you like it.

Shredded cheese

Sliced babybellas

Sliced scallions

Oregano, dried flakes

Basil, dried flakes

A dash of ground black pepper

.

Directions:

1. In huge bowl, place lettuce and scallions.

2. In small bowl, place mushrooms, cheese, & spices. Stir.

3. Dump small bowl contents into large bowl. Toss.

4. Serve

.

I had this mostly with balsamic vinagrette, but it was also good plain. I imagine it would be great with olive oil. It’s pretty easy to veganize this one, too, which I might try doing later. Enjoy!

Veggie’s Virtual Vegan Salad

The Virtual Vegan Potluck is a virtual potluck that connects like-minded foodies and bloggers for a worldwide eating and drinking celebration! Recipes will be listed in order of course, starting with appetizers and progressing through to delicious desserts, with links provided throughout. Thanks to An Unrefined Vegan for organizing this event!

I love a good salad, usually for lunch, and often with dinner. When I compose a salad, I strive for visual appeal, along with the obvious taste. I prefer dark greens for their nutritional value as well as visual appeal. I prefer tomatoes from a roadside stand over hothouse tomatoes any day. Most of my vegetables come from stands or farmers’ markets, and I make the salad the same day or next. It really does make a difference in the freshness, and freshness is key to an enjoyable salad. I also love Italian food, so my salads tend to reflect that influence.

Making this salad was crazy and fun and may make it into another post someday. I had most of the ingredients I wanted, but needed a few things to supplement. By the time I’d finished prepping and shopping and tossing, it was a circus, but an enjoyable one! Once you’ve read my post, please check out the other wonderful bloggers who probably were running around their kitchens just as much as I was! Enjoy the potluck!

.

.

Tools: 

Bowls: huge, medium, and small

Storage container

Salad tongs or hands or whatever works

Cutting board & knife

.

Ingredients: 

Fresh Basil (One bushel)

Romaine Lettuce (One head)

Fresh Spinach (One bushel)

Scallions (4 stems)

Button Mushrooms (One box)

2 Plum Tomatoes

Red Bell Pepper

Yellow Bell Pepper

1/4 oz. Fresh Oregano

Dried Oregano Flakes

Garlic Powder

Extra Virgin Olive OIl

Balsamic Vinegar

.

Directions:

Prep: *I hand sliced the mushrooms, hand diced the peppers, and stored them ahead of time. You may want to do this, it’s a good time saver!* Wash the leafy greens, remove leaves from stems, and pat leaves dry with paper towels. Put ugly but usable leaves in separate pile for later. (Note to self: Do not buy questionable basil!) Use the darker romaine leaves for this, and separate out the lighter ones for later. (This is not really necessary, but I had a certain visual in mind, and the lighter leaves didn’t fit in with that vision).

.

1. Put leaves in huge bowl.

2. Slice scallions & add to leaves. Toss everything around to get a good mixture.

3. Put peppers and mushrooms in medium bowl. Stir. Add to huge bowl. Stir.

4. Slice tomatoes. Set aside.

5. Put some olive oil in small bowl. Add oregano and garlic powder. Stir. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar. Stir. Dump tomatoes in small bowl. Coat them with the mixture. Stir.

6. Dump tomato mixture into huge bowl. Stir, making sure to coat everything with the dressing.

7. Serve some and store the rest in your container. Just don’t store past a day, or it will start to get mushy. To avoid this, keep the dressing and tomatoes separate until you are ready to eat. Pairs well with Daiya shreds (vegan) or Smoked Gouda shreds (vegetarian) and any Italian dish.

.

Enjoy!

___________________________________________________________________ To visit the blog that precedes mine in the Potluck (Vegan Sparkles), click here!

To visit the blog that follows mine in the Potluck (An Unrefined Vegan), click here!

To start at the beginning of the Potluck, (Vegan Bloggers Unite!) click here!

Ugly Leaf Caprese

Have you ever bought a bushel of basil, only to find that about half the leaves aren’t so visually appealing? Here’s something quick & easy to do with them! Caprese.

I. Love. Caprese. I know I just said that about eggplant parm a few posts back, but oh, caprese… caprese is my summer love. It’s close enough to summer, isn’t it? Easy, quick, tasty- really, what’s not to love?

Tools:

Bowl

Food chopper

Spoon

Cutting board & knife

Storage container

.

Ingredients: 

Basil

Mozzarella

Garlic Powder

Ground Black Pepper

Plum Tomatoes

Dried Oregano

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

.

Directions: 

1. Line the bottom of your bowl with garlic powder and dried oregano to taste.

2. Remove basil from stem & wash. Chop in processor. Place in bowl. Stir.

3. Dice mozzarella. Place in bowl. Stir.

4. Dice tomatoes, taking out the tomato guts & doing with them as you will. Place tomatoes in bowl. Stir.

5. Add some olive oil. Stir.

6. Add a dash of ground black pepper. Stir.

7. Add garlic powder again (to taste). Stir.

8. Place in storage container & refrigerate. The garlic, etc. will soak in. However, the oil will become partially solid. Take out & let warm to room temp & stir before serving. Enjoy!