Health and happiness in a bowl: that’s this Zesty Greek-Inspired Salad with Crispy Chickpeas!
I adore salads: what a tasty way to get in your veggies! And Greek salad has become one of my major culinary crushes over the last few years. It’s such a flavor-saturated, satisfying dish! It’s also a beloved staple in diners here in the Metro-Detroit area (what we call “Coney” or “Coney Island” restaurants, based off of the iconic chili-topped hot dogs they serve).
It was about time I created a recipe that pays homage to this wonderful salad. Enter Zesty Greek-Inspired Salad with Crispy Chickpeas!
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Hello, Spring! Hello, Spring Salad with Asparagus, Artichokes, Pancetta, Pecorino, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette!
I know the spring season has officially being in swing for over a month now here in the Northern Hemisphere, but where I live, much of spring is what I’ve dubbed Winter Lite. And Winter Lite the last two weeks has meant snow swirling around outside my window every other day.
Blessedly, this snow has not been sticking, but still. It’s almost May – where’s that spring thaw at, Mother Nature???
Finally, warmer temps are on the horizon here in Metro-Detroit (we’re predicted to hit 60 degrees tomorrow!), and it’s time to break out the celebratory foods – foods like this Spring Salad with Asparagus, Artichokes, Pancetta, Pecorino, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette!
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Hello, all! This is my first post on A Cookable Feast in a year and a half, and writing it admittedly felt daunting at first. But now, as I put the finishing touches on it, I’m feeling very happy to be back.
After blogging pretty consistently on here for almost three years, I hit a wall in early 2018. I posted only twice that year and not at all in 2019 – despite establishing a goal for myself in the beginning of that year to post recipes monthly!
I created and photographed this Tuscan Kale, Cannellini, and Prosciutto Salad recipe in 2018. I meant to post it in 2019 – and then earlier this year, when it was more seasonally appropriate. A salad made with prosciutto, kale, Parmesan cheese, and a maple balsamic dressing doesn’t exactly scream spring, does it? But I decided to post it now because I’ve been really wanting to get back into blogging here – and given the extra time I have on my hands due to life-impacting world events, I figured I really have no excuse to get this up.
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Prosciutto, Pear, and Fontina Arugula Salad with Roasted Squash and Spicy Pecans is LIFE, people!
This is one of those recipes where I had to include pretty much every ingredient in the title because I liked them all so much. I’m OBSESSED with this salad with its chunks of ripe, juicy pear, savory acorn squash, salty prosciutto, creamy fontina, cayenne-kissed toasted pecans, and sweet maple vinaigrette dressing. And arugula! Arugula is my soulmate, true-love green. I’m enamored with its peppery, delicate fronds and how it seems to go well with everything.
This rich, flavorful, filling, very fall-ish salad was inspired by a dish that has lingered in my memory since I had it earlier this year at a Detroit restaurant called Dime Store (I did a post on my brunch visit to that establishment on my other blog, 100 Places in the D).
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Summer is HERE!!!!!! And what says summer quite like this colorful Asian Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing?
OK, according to the calendar, it’s not officially summer yet; it’s still 11 days away – but the weather doesn’t know that. Here in the Detroit area, the day I’m typing this is the epitome of a gorgeous summer day as far as I’m concerned. The sky is a bright blue, the grass, a vibrant lush green, and I got sunburned last weekend sitting outside on a rooftop patio eating pizza and drinking blueberry beer and then attending a baseball game – that equals summer to me. And I’m THRILLED. May through October is definitely my favorite chunk of the year hands-down, and I’m so happy to be right in the thick of it wearing sandals and cheerfully sweating my butt off.
I hope if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere like me that you’re experiencing beautiful summery weather and shenanigans that make you hungry – hungry for this Asian Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing! And if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere and gearing up for winter with its chilliness and waning daylight hours, well, if you’re anything like me and not a fan of that time of year, you could use this Asian Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing for the cheer of its vibrant colors alone. You can pretend you’re at a beach party eating it while you’re really holed up in your house hiding from the frigid temps in your flannel jammies – and then whip out this recipe the next time it IS summer and you ARE invited to a beach barbecue. That’s probably what I’ll be doing the next time it’s winter for me.
But for now, it’s summer where I live, so I’m extolling the virtues of this Asian Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing as a warm-weather salad.
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Hello, all! It’s May, and it’s maybe almost summer here in Michigan, and summer means fresh, healthful salads like this Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Feta, Blueberries, and Pecans!
It’s been two weeks since I’ve last posted, and I’m glad to be back in the game! Life has been a little crazy lately, but when is it not in this day and age for most of us, really? I let myself fall out of the habit of recipe creation and felt The Resistance – that dreaded force that plagues so many of us creatives – looming larger and larger. The longer I waited to try a draft of a recipe, the more daunting a task it felt.
Last night, I finally coaxed myself into trying a first draft of a vegan dessert recipe I’ve wanted to attempt for weeks. The result: a resounding FAIL. Draft 2 would require some prep work; I’d need at least a day or two to get back at it. I was discouraged.
Finally I decided this morning that if I wanted to get a post up, anything would do, really. That’s the kind of thing I have to tell myself as a recovering perfectionist. Perfect is the enemy of the good, right? (Any recovering perfectionists with me on that?) So I got up early and dragged myself to the grocery store, intending to pick up a few things for a granola recipe I had in mind – until a more tantalizing idea hit.
What about a salad, with fresh blueberries . . . and pecans . . . and arugula – of course arugula. And some quinoa. And my lemon vinaigrette.
OK, NOW we’re talking!
Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Feta, Blueberries, and Pecans was born.
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It’s time for another super-scrumptious salad recipe! Say hello to Arugula Salad with Raspberries, Figs, and Pistachios!
This salad was born out of my desire to have an excuse to eat more arugula, because I love its delicate leaves and peppery flavor very, very much and would probably make every other post on this blog an arugula-salad post if not for variety’s sake.
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Happy Monday, all! Today we have another recipe for a simple, flavorful salad. Drumroll please for: Strawberry Arugula Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette!
OK, so this salad sounds sups fancy because it has ingredients much more exotic than the stereotypical wah-wah iceburg salad with its watery leaves and cucumber and tomatoes and croutons and ranch. I mean, for one, it’s got a dressing that contains the juice of blood oranges.
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I find comfort foods are critical during these chilly, gloomy winter months in boosting my morale – but so are fresh fruits and vegetables. They remind me that sunnier days are coming! That’s why I love this Fennel, Cranberry, and Mint Kale Salad with Orange Honey Vinaigrette recipe!
This dish feels like the quintessential winter salad to me. It contains hearty, seasonal elements: fennel, cranberries, oranges. It’s brightly colored and full of vibrant flavor, helping to ease the winter blahs. And the mint adds a freshness that makes spring feel THAT much closer.
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OK, can you BELIEVE that we are already into the THIRD week of the new year? Craziness!
What’s not craziness: this Arugula Quinoa Salad with Baked Pears and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette! It is just plain lovely. But first, I can’t help but muse about the passage of time, and habits, and goals, because they are on my mind a lot lately during this quickly-ensuing January. Maybe they’ve been on your mind, too.
Time really does fly so quickly. The freshness of a new year eventually wears off. New year’s resolutions become less shiny and exciting – and consequently, less enticing to follow. The daily grind wears us down, tempts us to flake out on our goals.
We are all human, and we all slip up on our goals sometimes. I’ve realized that it’s important to remind myself that this is normal. As a recovering perfectionist who was once flat-out rigid in her self-discipline, I have learned the beauty of self-compassion, of giving myself grace when I slip up with habits and goals. The key to overall maintaining challenging endeavors, I have learned, is to remember:
