Another Great Lunch To Go

My husband loves bringing his salads to work.  He eats lunch in a local park and always texts me to tell me how much he loves his salads to go.  They are so easy to make, they only take me around 15 minutes in the morning to prep.

The Meat

- 1 lemon chicken sausage, sliced

The Veggies

- 1/2 cup spinach

- 1/4 cup lettuce

- 1/2 cup arugula

- 1 stalk celery, chopped

- 1 mushroom, sliced

- 1/4 onion, diced

- 1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced

- 1/3 pear, chopped

- 1/3 heirloom tomato, chopped

- a small handful of walnuts, chopped

The Dressing

- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

- 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- salt, pepper, basil, marjoram, dill to taste

First slice the sausage raw and cook the pieces on a griddle pan, around 4-5 minutes, turning them so they cook evenly.  While they cook, you can start to chop your veggies.

Put the spinach, lettuce, and arugula in the main section of your Sistema Klip It Salad Box, and then put the meat on top of the lettuce.  Organize all the toppings on the upper section, so that way your salad veggies will stay fresh and your lettuce won't wilt.  Mix together the dressing in a little bowl and pour it into the dressing container.   Clip shut the container and off you go! 

Wilted Spinach Salad with Sausage

Another easy lunch.  We never get tired of eating salads, and I try to make them in different ways all the time to keep us from getting tired of them, haha. 

The Meat

- 2 chicken sausage

The Veggies

- 1 heirloom carrot, sliced

- 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

- 1 green onion, diced

- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced

- 2 cup spinach, raw and chopped

- shredded mozzarella to taste

The Dressing

- 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

- 4-6 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar from Modena

The Fruit

- 10-12 large chunks of musk melon

- two handful of grapes

Cook the chicken sausages approximately 8-10 minutes on high heat until the centers are no longer pink.  Slice them up.

Toss together all the salad fixings, and drizzle the oil and vinegar on top of everything.  Put the sausages on top and throw on some cheese.  Put the fruit to the side (the melon will soak up some of the balsamic vinegar from the bottom of the plates and taste extra good).  Enjoy your lunch, just like you do everyday.

Lunch Is Served

We love our light Sunday lunches.  This one is no exception.  The cucumbers add an element of crunch to the dish, while the plums are juicy and sweet, and the fresh mozzarella and slicing tomato are creamy and soft.  Each bite delights your taste buds in different ways, but all ways are good ways!

The Meat

- 2 chicken apple sausages, sliced

The Veggies 

- 8-10 stalks of asparagus

- bacon grease as needed

- 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach

- 1 slicing tomato, sliced (duh)

- 2 balls of boccioni mozzarella, sliced

- 2 teaspoons olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano, marjoram to taste

- 1/2 large cucumber, sliced

- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

- lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Fruit

- 1 plum, sliced

Slice the plum, cucumber, and tomato.  Place the cucumber and plum on the plate.  Mix together the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dill into the Greek yogurt and spoon it over the cucumbers.  Toss the tomato with the mozzarella slices, olive oil, and seasoning, then put that onto the plate next to the cucumbers.  Place the plum on the other side of the plate so it doesn't sit in the olive oil from the tomato salad.  

I precut my sausages to make sure they cooked quicker and also to let each piece have that delicious dark brown grilled coating on it.  It took around 5-7 minutes to make the meat, flipping the pieces 1-2 times to prevent charring.

At the same time, I put a small dot of bacon grease and my asparagus on the same griddle pan, rolling them so they cooked evenly.  They also only took around 5 minutes to be soft and ready to eat.  Then I lowered my heat to a low setting and wilted my spinach in the leftover bacon and sausage grease.  

Put the cooked ingredients on the plate and serve!  It doesn't take much time and it is so enjoyable to nibble on every aspect of this dish!

Cauliflower Potato Salad

We had a birthday barbecue to go to this weekend, and it was requested by the very lovely birthday girl that I make my Cauliflower Potato Salad and then post it on the blog, so she can steal the recipe ;)  

This served 8-10 people...so if you want to make it for yourself at home, you can halve the recipe (or make a lot and refrigerate it, because it's delicious and you'll happily eat it all week).  This potato salad goes great with all sorts of barbecue, as well as lunch meats or even by itself.

Cauliflower Potato Salad

- 1 head cauliflower, chopped

- 9 medium-large yellow potatoes, skinned and pierced with a fork

- 2 green onions, sliced

- 4-5 tablespoons hemp seed oil based mayonnaise

- 2-3 tablespoons stoneground whole grain mustard

- 3 teaspoons minced horseradish

- 2 teaspoons lemon juice

- 2-3 raw cloves of garlic, pressed (use this)

- salt, pepper, mustard seed, dill, paprika, basil, dried bay leaf to taste

- extra seasoning to sprinkle on top

In a large pot, boil the potatoes and cauliflower for around 25 minutes, until the potatoes break apart when poked with a fork.  Drain the water and put the hot potatoes and cauliflower into a large mixing bowl.  

With your potato masher, mash up both the cauliflower and potatoes for 45 seconds.  You should have a chunky mashed potato consistency with a few medium sized bites of potato in the mix.  Dollop the mayonnaise and mustard into the mixing bowl, then add the horseradish, raw garlic, and seasoning, and finally use a big spoon to fold all the ingredients together until the mustard and mayonnaise are evenly blended and you don't see globs of unmixed ingredients.  The potato salad should be a little creamy and a little chunky and have lots of kick to it, thanks to the raw garlic and horseradish floating around in there. 

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.  To serve, sprinkle the sliced green onion and extra prepared seasoning on top of the potato salad to make it look all pretty and presentable.  Watch guests devour your potato salad and feel accomplished.  Enjoy the party/barbecue/lunch.

Thai Basil Curry Crockpot Goodness

I. Love. My. Crockpot.  We received it as a gift for our wedding in the spring, and ever since then I use it regularly to make delicious curries and slow-cooked meats.  I love it because I will make the meal right before I go to bed, and when we wake up in the morning, we open the bedroom door and our entire home is drenched with delicious aromas.  Then I send my husband off with his Thermos.  This is a great Thai curry with lots of savory spice and hints of coconut.  

The Meat

- 1 pound of beef stew meat

The Veggies

- 1/2 head cauliflower

- 8-10 carrots

- 3 yellow potatoes, skinned and chopped into large pieces

- 1/3 eggplant, chopped into large pieces

- 2 summer squashes, chopped into large pieces

The Sauce

- 1 cup coconut milk

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 teaspoon onion powder

- 2 tablespoons Thai chili paste

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil

- 1-2 teaspoons tamarind puree

- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch

- 2 teaspoons lime juice

- salt, garlic powder, lemongrass powder, basil, coriander to taste

Chop all your veggies the night before, and toss the raw meat and veggies in the crock pot.  I make my veggie pieces extra large, because they get so soft in the Crockpot that if they are small they will literally cook away to nothing.  Mix together the sauce (or, you could be lazy and buy World Foods' Thai Basil Curry Stir-Fry Sauce.  It has sugar in it, but is gluten free, and has no artificial preservatives or genetically modified ingredients.  Use the whole jar).  Pour the sauce over the veggies and meat, turn the Crockpot on "low" heat, and let it cook overnight (around 6-8 hours).  Go to sleep.





When I wake up, the first thing I do is open my eyes and wish I could sleep later...then I get up and go turn the Crockpot setting to "warm." I send my husband to work with a Thermos of curry and some crunchy apple slices and nuts.  The veggies and meat are SO soft, they melt in your mouth.  I use a slotted spoon to get the curry from the Crockpot to the bowl/thermos, because there is usually greasy liquid at the bottom of the Crockpot.  It is tasty too though if you feel like splashing some into your meal.

A Sweet Little Sunday Lunch

The weekends always mean great food for us.  This is a pretty typical Sunday lunch.  It's light and full of protein and plays up a lot of enjoyable tastes for us.  I purchased some delicious lemon chicken sausages at my grocery store.  We looove them.  Also, we went to our farmers' market this morning and picked up an amazing Galia melon.  It is SO sweet and juicy and omnomnom delicious.  I had to include some of it in lunch today. 

The Meat

- 2 lemon chicken sausages

The Veggies

- 1 cup raw spinach

- 1 large slicing tomato, sliced (duh)

- salt, pepper, basil to taste

- parmesan (as much as you want)

- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

The Fruit

- 4 slices of Galia melon 

I cooked up the sausages on my griddle pan for around 15 minutes until the outsides were all crispy brown and greased up, and when I cut them open they were cooked all the way through. 

While the sausages were cooking, I made a small spinach salad and tossed it with the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil.  I melted some parmesan over the tomato slices and spiced them with pepper, salt, and basil.  

I put all the components of the meal on plates and let the flavors speak for themselves.