Fried Egg Topped Salad

For those that don't know, I've been dairy-free for 4 months now... since I've had my daughter.  I am breastfeeding her and she does not tolerate dairy well at all.  It's pretty much pure torture for her.  So I've had to make a lot of adjustments to my diet to suit her needs.

My favorite salad dressing is homemade ranch, but of course this has dairy in it.  I was making homemade honey mustard dressing there for awhile and would also use vinegar and oil (which has kind of become my new favorite, actually) quite often, but they both get old after awhile.  Especially with as many salads as I consumed (and still am consuming) this year with our delicious salad greens from our CSA. 

So I started using fried eggs on my salads.  I just cook the egg whites and keep the yolk runny.  The yolk then becomes my salad dressing.  This picture was taken one of the first couple times I made them like this and only has one egg on it.  I actually usually use one whole egg plus another yolk now.  It makes such a delicious salad dressing and it is SUPER nutritious!  Give it a try the next time you make a salad. 


This post is linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Monday Mania @ Healthy Home Economist

Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Its strawberry season here in Michigan.  So that means we are eating strawberries quite a bit.  I'm always looking for new ways to use them.  With all the lettuce and spinach we're getting from the garden, we're also eating a lot of salads.  It dawned on me over the weekend that I should try making a strawberry vinaigrette dressing to eat on our salads.  So I just through a few things together in the blender tonight as I was processing an entire flat of strawberries... yes I got through them all last night... several trays of fruit leather, some frozen topping, some frozen puree, some frozen whole berries, and this dressing.  Not bad for about an hour and a half's work.  ;) 

So anyway, I didn't even look up a recipe.  I just pureed up some berries, added some vinegar, oil, and sea salt.  Then I tasted it.  It tasted great!  So here's what I did.

Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
3 Tablespoons vinegar - I used white wine vinegar
1/2 cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree.  Transfer to a mason jar or dressing bottle and serve or refrigerate.  Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival at Hartke is Online
Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade
Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet

Homemade Poppyseed Salad Dressing

We went over to my in-laws' house to celebrate Father's Day yesterday.  The family had lunch together after church.  We just had a simple lunch of make-your-own salads.  It was perfect for a hot day and a quick-prep meal!  We had a great assortment of toppings to choose from and everyone got to put together the perfect salad for themselves. 

I made a couple of homemade salad dressings to contribute to the spread... ranch and I tried a new recipe for poppyseed dressing.  I've been wanting to make poppyseed for quite a while now - I think I found this recipe over a year ago... and I didn't write down where I found it, so I'm not sure what the source is for this.  I just never got around to actually making it until Saturday.  This was very quick and easy to put together.  And it was very tasty!  I think everyone who tried it enjoyed it.  Even my husband tried it and said he really liked it (the picture is of his salad). 

Poppyseed Dressing

1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/2 cup organic Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients together until creamy.  You can either whisk in a bowl, or put all the ingredients into a glass jar and shake them all up together.   Once ingredients are combined, your dressing is ready to use.   Pour over salad and toss just before serving.  If you are making the dressing ahead of time, you'll want to shake/stir it up well just before using it.


This post is linked to:
Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival at Hartke is Online
Traditional Tuesdays at Delicious Obsessions

Homemade Mayonnaise

I've been making homemade mayonnaise for quite a long time... for at least a year now on a regular basis.  As I was getting ready to post a recipe for a salad dressing (coming up next) I made this weekend, I went searching for my mayo post to link it to the new recipe... and I couldn't find it.  So here it is.  I got the original recipe from The Nourishing Gourmet.  I've tweaked it a bit for our tastes (as written below).  My SIL, Mary, also has a great version on her blog for something closer to Miracle Whip if you prefer that.  I'll have to try hers sometime, as Kevin likes Miracle Whip... but he also always liked Hellman's which was always my favorite.  So I usually just make plain mayo.  It really does taste very much like Hellman's. 

You'll notice that this mayo is quite yellow.  This is because I use farm-fresh, pastured eggs.  These are the most nutritious eggs... with very orange yolks.  The contrast between pastured and conventional yolks is amazing.  You'll also see that the yolks remain raw in this recipe.  Please don't make this recipe with eggs you don't trust.  If you are using farm-fresh, pastured eggs from a farmer you know uses sustainable practices... you are most likely safe.  That's who I'd trust, at least.  :)

Homemade Mayonnaise
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar (we do prefer ACV, though)
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
3/4-1 cup oil - I usually use all olive oil, but sometimes will add in some grapeseed oil

Combine everything EXCEPT the oil. I use a quart sized wide-mouth mason jar.  You just want something that fits your immersion blender.  Mix with a stick blender until creamy.

While blending, add the oil in small increments and mix until it’s homogenized. Make sure you lift the blender up and down as it’s blending- the quick up and down motion helps the mixture to homogenize, and it will thicken right up.

Balsamic Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

I've made this recipe a couple of times now. It comes from one of my Organic Gardening magazines. I think it's really good on any type of salad. Its super easy to make, too. It literally takes about two minutes. This only makes about 1/2 cup of dressing, but it is so flavorful, it goes a long way.  Sorry, no picture.  I'll update if I ever think to take one.  :)

Balsamic Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Whisk all ingredients, except oil in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil as you continue whisking. Keep refrigerated.

Makes about 1/2 cup.


This post is linked to Real Food Wednesday on Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS.

French Dressing

This past weekend, we met some of our family at a basketball game in Grand Rapids and then we all went over to my SIL's house for dinner afterwards.  We had a delicious real food taco dinner.  I brought along some homemade french dressing to make taco salads.  Its another Heavenly Homemakers recipe.  I love Laura's recipes because they're so simple, yet taste so great.  This was no exception.  It tasted really good, as written below.  I will definitely be making this often, since french dressing is Kevin's favorite (though he tolerates my favorite, ranch, happily, too).  This dressing should keep really well, though... longer than my ranch dressing... so I'm guessing I'll be making this dressing quite regularly. 

Anyway, like I said, this tastes great the way it is, but I think I will do a little playing around with it.  I just used organic store-bought ketchup this time since I need to make a new batch of lacto-fermented ketchup.  It'll be awesome to make this with lacto-fermented ketchup so that we can gain the benefit of the probiotics.  I also want to play around with the seasonings.  I think we'd probably prefer a little less celery seed and I want to add some smoked paprika and a little onion powder.  I think I'd also like to try this with different vinegars.  All in due time, though.  I'll be sure to post any updates if we find something we like even better.  For now, we are really enjoying this version!

Homemade French Dressing

3/4 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 Tablespoon ground celery seed

Put all ingredients directly into a pint sized jar. Put the lid on and shake it well. Refrigerate. Its best to make this dressing at least a couple hours before you need it.  Even better would be the day before.  That's what I did.  You need to give it time to meld together and really develop a great flavor.

Ranch Dressing

I have been making this Ranch Dressing Mix for awhile now... regularly for nearly a year.  It really is a great thing to have on hand.  We make our own ranch salad dressing quite often, as its my favorite.  I've also made dip with it for raw vegetables many, many times.  I've used it in other ways, too.  But I realize I've never posted anything about the actual salad dressing.  So I figured I would do a quick post.  Making the dressing is so easy.  Just whisk together some of the mix, mayo, and buttermilk or sour cream.  I've never made it with sour cream, I've always used buttermilk, but I'm sure it'd still be good.  This is the best ranch dressing I've ever had.  Way better than the Hidden Valley brand, which always seems to be a favorite conventional brand.  It's even better with your own homemade mayonnaise and buttermilk!  Yum!  Anyway, sorry for the poor picture, I mixed up a cup of dressing to use in a buffalo chicken dip I was making for Christmas Eve and just snapped a quick picture in the bowl.  Maybe I'll update someday when I take a better picture.  For now, you get the idea.  :)

Ranch Dressing Mix5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoons parsley flakes
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

Ranch Dressing Mix

I made some ranch dressing mix over the weekend. I've been wanting to make it for quite some time, just haven't gotten around to it. But when I decided to make taco soup this week, I figured I'd better get on it and mix it up quick so I could use some for that recipe. This is super simple to throw together - it takes less than a minute. I found the recipe on Heavenly Homemakers awhile back. I'm anxious to make some dressing or veggie dip with the mix - I'll update this post with my thoughts when I get around to that in the next week or two. I'll update with a picture later on, as well.

UPDATE 2/1/10: The ranch dip was awesome!! Very similar, yet much better, than the stuff you buy at the store.

Ranch Dressing Mix

5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoons parsley flakes
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.

Fattoush Salad

Fattoush salad is one of my and Kevin's favorite salads. Its a Lebanese salad and it is so simple and so good! And so easy to make, too! I looked around on the internet and came up with this recipe that works for our tastes. I made this for the potluck today after our nephew's baptism. I'll update later with pictures (hopefully) if I remember to take them once its assembled.

Fattoush Salad

3 heads romaine, chopped
1/3 cup minced fresh mint
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1 bunch green onions
1 large seedless cucumber, diced
1-2 bell peppers, diced
4 good-sized tomatoes, diced
1-2 cups broken up whole wheat toasted pita chips
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 Tablespoons sumac
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the lettuce, mint, parsley, green onions, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes in a large salad serving bowl. Mix in broken pita chips just before pouring on dressing and serving.

Mix the oil, lemon juice, garlic, sumac, salt and pepper in a glass jar and shake well to incorporate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Pour over salad just before serving.

Homemade French Salad Dressing

I tried out another recipe from RecipeZaar for french salad dressing yesterday, too. This stuff was awesome! Everyone loved it and many asked for the recipe. This will be a definite staple for our refrigerator from now on, which I'm very excited about... one more thing to make from scratch and cut out HFCS and other junk (assuming you don't use normal ketchup)! I'll have to work on trying to make it a little healthier (cutting back on some oil, maybe?), though. French salad dressing is Kevin's favorite, so he is quite happy about this. Now if I could only find a recipe that tastes just like Hidden Valley Ranch... I'd be set with my favorite. I like other salad dressings, though, too, so that's ok.

Homemade French Salad Dressing

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 cup ketchup
1/2-3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup minced yellow onion
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic salt, or to taste or use 1-2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon white salt (I used 2 teaspoons minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, optional or to taste
2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise, optional, add in only for a creamy-style French dressing (I did not add this)

In a large food processor blend all ingredients together until smooth (starting with 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt and 1/2 cup sugar and add in more to taste after mixing.

Do not attempt to make this in a small 4-cup blender or you will have the dressing all over your counter!

Mix in the mayonnaise (if using) for a creamy-style French dressing.

Place in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Homemade Italian Salad Dressing

I decided to make up some homemade salad dressings for Carson's birthday party. The first was Italian. I found the recipe on RecipeZaar I'm not really a fan of italian salad dressing, but from the taste I had, it tasted like the store-bought stuff does. And the few people that had it on their salads at the party said it was good. I have quite a bit leftover (I tripled the recipe), so I'll probably use it to marinate some chicken breasts this week or next.

Italian Salad Dressing

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon grated parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bottle. Shake to blend. Makes about 1 cup.

Roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette and Spelt Pasta

I whipped up a batch of homemade salad dressing for the first time this afternoon. One of my best buds Jaime posted the recipe on her blog last week. She found it in Self magazine. It sounded delish and in my attempts at making more of our food from scratch and buying less processed foods, I decided to give it a try. (I'll also be giving the second recipe in her post a try, so look for that in the weeks to come.) I roasted the garlic while I was roasting my veggies for my veggie lasagna for Carson's birthday party. Then once the garlic had cooled awhile, I threw everything into the food processor and voila! Homemade salad dressing! I stuck it in the refrigerator for a bit until dinnertime when I could try it out on my salad of organic baby greens/carrots/cucumber/feta and conventional bell pepper. It was fabulous! A warning, though, you don't need a lot of it, as it's pretty strong. I put a little too much on my salad and had a slightly burning nose by the end of dinner. :) The bites with just a touch of dressing on it were great, though. Definitely a keeper and something I'll make on a regular basis! I used some organic balsamic vinegar that I picked up at Better Health, and organic garlic and honey.

Roasted Garlic–Balsamic Vinaigrette
From the November 2008 Issue of Self
Makes 1/2 cup

1/2 head garlic
1/2 teaspoon honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400°. Slice 1 inch off top of garlic, exposing cloves; wrap in foil and roast until soft and fragrant, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Squeeze cloves into a mini-chopper or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and 2 tbsp warm water; blend until smooth. Refrigerate up to 7 days.

The skinny: 43 calories per tbsp, 3.4 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 3.2 g carbs, 0.1 g fiber, 0.2 g protein

Spelt Pasta

I picked up some organic VitaSpelt whole grain spelt penne at Better Health last week. I've never tried spelt pasta, but had heard that it is good. So I decided to give it a try to further my attempt at working more whole grains into our diet by having it with some of my homemade meat sauce. And even better, VitaSpelt pasta is made right in Okemos, so its a local food, too! This was a very good pasta. We didn't really notice a different taste or texture or anything. It held up well during the cooking process, too. Definitely an easy way to work in more whole grains.