Greek Style Chick Pea Salad with Tuna and Feta cheese

 Full credit for this lovely summertime salad goes to Greek Cooking Made Easy

If you are looking for a meal that will fill you and will boost your energy, this Salad is all that! Because firstly, I don’t think I need to tell you what a superfood chickpeas are, especially if you've read my Weekend Ramble titled: Science Backed Benefits of Chickpeas.
A super nutritious and very easy to prepare meal if you just use canned chickpeas. Add tuna, corn, some Greek crumbled feta and green olives and of course our beautiful Ladolemono sauce, and you will get a salad with a touch of Greek taste!
Definitely a worth trying this memorable, summery salad that is an excellent choice year-round.

Ingredients:

For the salad:

• 215 gr / 7.6 oz canned chickpeas - drained
• 100 gr / 3.5 oz tuna, canned in oil or water, weighed drained
• 60 gr/ 2 oz or 1/2 cup canned corn - drained
• 2 fresh spring onions, finely chopped
• 60 gr / 2 oz feta cheese - finely crumbled in food processor
• 5 cherry or mini tomatoes, halved
• 8 green olives, pitted
• 2 tbsp. fresh dill - finely chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• Optional: half green pepper - diced

For the Ladolemono sauce:

• 45 ml / 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 25 ml / less than 2 tbsp fresh fresh squeezed lemon juice
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• half lemon for garnishing

Preparation:

A. Prepare first the easy Ladolemono (i.e. EVOO and lemon) sauce:            

1. In a small bowl with the olive oil, add the fresh lemon juice.
2. Season with ground salt and Pepper, to taste.
3. Whisk all ingredients until they turn into a thick sauce.
4. Store the sauce, covered, in the fridge if you prepare it earlier on the day.

 B. Make the Salad:

5. Place drained tuna in a small bowl. If you prefer to have smaller tuna chunks in the salad (like me), then with a small fork, pull apart its thick chunks.
6. Scatter the drained chick peas into an oblong, not very deep salad bowl.
7. Add the tuna chunks and blend together with the chick peas.

8. Next, add the corn and chopped spring onions (and pepper in cubes, if using).
9. Add also the chopped dill and crumbled feta cheese.
10. With a large spoon, toss to blend all ingredients well.
11. Season with a bit of Salt (since we are using feta cheese which is salty) and ground Pepper. Mix ingredients once more.

12. To decorate the salad, place the halved mini tomatoes around the plate and the green olives on top.
13. To garnish the salad, place the half lemon on one side.

14. Finish the Salad by pouring the sauce on top!
15. Toss with your spoon once more to incorporate the sauce in the salad.
16. Your Chick Pea Salad is now ready!
17. The Salad now needs some time for the ingredients to be merged together, and to chill before serving, so store it in the fridge, with plastic wrap, for 1-2 hours max!

Be sure to visit Greek Cooking Made Easy to see more of their wonderful food!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Mediterranean Eggplant Salad

This dish is an absolute summer delight and pairs really well with just about anything barbecued. 

The recipe was adapted from the original found at A Cedar Spoon by Julia. Julia features many wonderful recipes on her site... Be sure to check them out!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 eggplant - about 3 lbs
• olive oil
• salt & pepper – for eggplant
• 3 cups tomatoes - diced
• 1 orange bell pepper - chopped
• 1 cup scallions - green parts chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint - chopped
• 1 cup fresh parsley - chopped
• 1 lemon - juiced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp crushed Aleppo pepper

Preparation:

Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/2 - 5/8" thick. Rub salt on each side of the eggplant and lay on a baking sheet for an hour. Use a paper towel to pat the eggplant dry and then brush each side of the eggplant generously with olive oil. Sprinkle each side of the eggplant with salt & pepper.

Heat the grill to medium heat. Place the eggplant on the grill and cook for 5 minutes. Flip eggplant and grill until browned on bottom and soft. Let the eggplant cool and then chop into bite sized pieces.

In a large bowl mix the eggplant with the remaining ingredients and toss lightly to combine. Add more olive oil if needed to create a consistency you like.

Shown here as a side with Quick & Easy Calamari and a traditional tomato salad.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Mr. Mom’s Macaroni & Tuna Salad

This dish was developed by Chef Michael during his tenure as Mr. Mom back in the 1990s in an effort to provide a multi-meal dish that’s not only nutritious, but also really easy to prepare. It is obviously a dish from my pre-diabetes days, but with pasta being in the low GI range, a sensible portion is fine for any diabetic.

Considering the raves this recipe had received at numerous Primary Caregiver Meetings, it’s sure to be a hit with any family excepting those who will only eat peanut butter & jelly, of course!

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

• 1 lb rotini macaroni - cooked
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 cans tuna in spring water - drained
• 1 large onion - minced           
• 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 15 oz can red kidney beans - drained
• 15 oz can chick peas - drained
• 6 oz black olives (large, pitted) cut in half
• 8 oz canned sliced mushrooms - 2 6.5 oz cans drained
• 2 fresh tomatoes - cut up
• 1 handful leaf parsley - chopped
• black pepper & salt to taste

Preparation:

Cook the macaroni in SALTED water. If the kids start screaming during this process, just ignore them, because the macaroni must be ALDENTE!! After draining the macaroni, spray it with cool water so it won’t cook itself any further. Break apart the tuna in a separate bowl so it'll be easier to mix with macaroni.

Add olive oil, mayonnaise & pepper and mix. If the kids scream now, go take care of them….the critical part is done. Add tuna, onion, dry and fresh parsley and mix.

Next add the mushrooms. The kidney beans, chick peas and olives should be stirred in very carefully, so they don’t break apart. Same thing goes for the tomato. 

If at this point the kids are still screaming, it probably means that they’re hungry, which is ok because your salad is ready.

GO FEED THEM!!!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Chef Michael R's Spinach Salad

Fun, vibrant and healthy is how I describe this salad that pairs well with many proteins. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 lge handfuls baby leaf spinach - big stems removed
• 1/2 cup sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 lge tomato - cut up to your idea of bite size
• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 2 tbsp roasted pepitas
• Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette - click for recipe

Preparation:

Place the pepitas in a small skillet with medium heat. Toss frequently until they get to a nice toasty brown. Remove from hot pan into cool bowl and set aside to cool.

Once pepitas are cooled, mix all ingredients in large salad bowl and add vinaigrette.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

 

Tuna Bonanza

So it looks like cooler weather is finally on its way.....

To celebrate the end of summer, I've prepared a tuna salad that has evolved over time

into a full meal that needs no bread. I got the original idea from one of my favorite recipe books,

The Coastal Table by Karen J. Covey, and made some changes and additions. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans solid white albacore tuna
• 2 hard boiled eggs - cut twice with egg slicer 
• 1 lge onion - chopped
• 1/2 cup scallions - cut in 1/4" sections
• 1 cup celery - 1/8" slices
• English cucumber - about a 10" section peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup large black pitted olives - cut in half
• 1 can (15oz) dark red kidney beans - rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup roasted & salted sunflower seeds
• Mayo, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste (focus on the oil, not the mayo)
• 1 tomato - diced (optional and not shown in pics)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients except for olives and beans and blend well. Carefully fold in olives and beans, being careful so they don't break.

This dish is packed with protein and goes real easy on the carbs, and the flavor levels from the many different ingredients and textures are sure to awaken your senses and affirm the arrival of spring and renewed life! :-) Plate in a nice bowl and serve... Enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Lemon Pepper Halibut & White Bean Salad

This is another recipe that was inspired by a restaurant chef who refused to share way back in 2013... The appetizer of bacon wrapped grilled scallops served over a white bean salad topped with micro-greens was so incredibly good that we had to order a second portion for deconstruction... something I absolutely love to do. :-) So here's what I started with:

Fantastic appetizer... really... and back then I was all about the bacon! LOL What follows is a mystery to me a decade later, as I found a bunch of pics I took of recreating the dish at home ten years ago, but no recipe. Fortunately I was smart enough to take a group shot of the ingredients I used, so that gave me a place to start.

After studying the old pic it was time to get to work cutting up the ingredients using sizes best I could see in the decade old images and guessing at quantities.

This looked like a pretty good balance so I just put it all together, taking really bad notes along the way. LOL Hey... creativity is not always pretty! :-)

Now that I had my salad it was time to create a proper dressing. I could see from the old picture that lime juice was included, so I immediately went to my Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette recipe for guidance. Trial and error came up with this mix.

My mix really brought it all together to create a fresh, vibrant, flavorful salad than can actually stand alone. Fish lover that I am, though, I was itching to try the halibut bites I had recently received as part of a fish order. Seasoned with my favorite lemon pepper blend from FreshJax Organic Spices and a little olive oil, they were given a quick fry and then added on top of the white bean salad.

You didn't think this was just a story, did you? *smirks* The process is pretty obvious above, but here is the ingredient list. Enjoy!

Fish:

• 12 oz cubed halibut - any other white fish or scallops will work well, also.
• olive oil
• 1+ tbsp FreshJax lemon pepper blend

Salad:

• +/-3 cups baby spinach - should yield 1.5 cups chopped
• 2 15oz cans white beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 2 medium tomatoes - seeded and then diced
• 1/2 English cucumber - peeled, quartered, seeded and diced - should yield 1 cup

Dressing:

• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 black pepper

Enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!