Green Bean Salad

This was my lunch three days in a row. And it felt great. Tasty with a zing and a pow. Maybe zing isn’t, exactly, the right word. But it’s good. And I will come back to this dish over and over again. Forever and ever.

If you currently don’t like onions, this dish could change your life permanently. It’s that powerful.

Green Bean Salad 
1 lb haricot verts
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 T lemon juice
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 T kosher salt
1 1/2 t Demarara sugar

Whisk cider, sugar, lemon juice, and salt together in a large bowl. Add thinly sliced onions and set aside. The longer the onions marinate, the better. At the very least, let the onions hang out about 45 minutes.

While the onions marinate, boil two and a half quarts of water. Add the green beans and allow to boil for about three minutes until they’re crisp-tender. Drain. Add to cold bath. Drain again. Pat dry.

Add green beans and celery to pickled onions. Add fork.

Winter Chicken Salad

It’s cold, and when it is cold outside, a salad sounds like one of the least appetizing foods. However, this is hearty, warm, and delicious. And there is more chicken than salad. It’s perfect and incredibly quick, and it’s delicious…. Did I mention that?

Winter Chicken Salad

Chicken Broth
Chicken tenderloins
1 medium-sized tomato
1 clove garlic
Mozzarella
Spinach
Salt & Pepper
McCormick’s Steak Seasoning

Boil mix of chicken broth (about 2 c) and water (about 2 c) with chicken tenderloins until chicken is done, juices run clear, and cut reveals no pink.

While chicken is boiling, dice tomatoes and clove of garlic, mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Once chicken is finished, plate the serving bowl. I made mine an upside down salad, because the surprise, for me, was fun. So, I put the tomato mixture in first, then cheese, chicken, spinach, and finally seasoning. You may toss it however you’d like. However, please put the cheese into right before you put the chicken onto the mix. The heat of the chicken will slightly melt the cheese for perfection.

When you serve it, all the wonderfulness is revealed.

Mm!

Do you see those colors?? Do you see the way the cheese is melted?? Mmm.

Oh, Salad.

Salad. For months now my thoughts about salads have not been kind. Ugh. All that effort for raw vegetables??? Boy, was I wrong. To all the bags of spinach and hearts of romaine, please forgive me for throwing you away after you just sat in wait in a crisper for weeks on end. I’m sorry!! I’m so very sorry.

Salad is terrific. Case in point:: today.

Oh, what a bounty I got when I went to the grocer’s today– vegetables, meats, dairies. I’m very excited about cooking. I think Thanksgiving renewed that for me. Thank you for all the support, family. Your encouragement meant a lot to me. More than I even realized before today. (I had a really hard time not spelling “toady” just now.)

Simply Chopped Tossed Salad
**A note:: You can substitute, add, or subtract anything you wish with this “recipe.” I love when that happens, because you can let your imagination work for you.

Vegetables::
Romain lettuce
Broccoli
Carrots
Celery
Cilantro

Rinse and chop each vegetable. Add to bowl.

Now, your salad bowl should be piled high with delicious.

In the bowl you’ll eat out of, mix your salad dressing. I used one of the simplest, most delicious dressings I know.

Dressing::
Dijon Mustard
Honey
Olive Oil
Freshly Ground Peppercorns

I think I used about 1/2 t each of mustard and honey and enough olive oil to make me smile (1 T??) and a little bit of pepper.

Then, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Then, add your salad on top of that. Then, mix it all together.

And, yes, this picture is blurry. But no, I’m not going to give you another. Because I feel it necessary to convey my excitement over this delicious salad. Here you go, my excitement, in the form of a wobbly picture of some vegetables.