Fry's Walnut Taco Salad

My local grocery store sends out little pamphlets with coupons and recipes a few times a month and they usually have some tasty looking food. I saw this recipe for a taco salad that used walnuts instead of meat, I thought it sounded really interesting and I knew I had some walnuts in my freezer. I am so glad I gave this a try because it ended up being delicious and I didn't have to heat up my kitchen cooking anything.




You will need some walnuts that have been soaking in water for 2-8 hours, cumin and cayenne or taco seasoning, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, tomato, sour cream and some lettuce.


I made my own guacamole, which is super simple. Chop up your tomato and onion.


Mash your avocado with some salt, lime juice and a pinch of cumin. Stir in the onion and tomato and you are done. So easy.


Get your walnuts in a mini chopper or hand chop them and mix with the taco seasoning.


Chop until its kind of a meaty chunky texture.


Put it on top of the lettuce and then add your other toppings.


The recipe said to put the sour cream in a plastic bag and snip off the end. I made too big of a snip and it didn't turn out looking as nice as I'd hoped, but I know now for next time.


All put together and ready to eat. This was surprisingly filling and delicious. The walnuts taste great with the taco seasoning and you will not miss the meat at all.

Salad Days

Thank you all for the birthday and anniversary comments. I feel like I haven't cooked in weeks. I had not grocery shopped before our weekend 'away' and came home from that weekend and promptly got sick. This week I can't wait to start cooking again. I will be headed to the grocery store as soon as I catch up on what has been going on with all of my blog friends. Since I have been a slacker, I thought I would share an old post from the blog for a delicious salad since it seems like finally warm weather is upon most of the US. It is definitely here in AZ, today's high is going to be 110!

So if you want a quick salad that will fill you up and not heat up your whole house, check out this Steak salad with grapes and blue cheese.



What will be or was the highlight of your weekend?

The Best Thing I Ever Made - Fast Food

I don't eat a lot of fast food but because I am so lucky to live near an In n' Out burger I do indulge myself and get their food sometimes. If you have ever tried In n' Out I bet you would have to give in every once in a while too. So when this week's best food category came up as fast food, I knew I had to highlight this salad. This is a healthier alternative to the delicious 'animal style' flavors that In n' Out offers.

Click here for Hungry Girl's In-N-Outrageous Animal-Style Salad



This salad is tasty and filling and is much better on the waistline than the restaurant alternative.

Tuna, Black Bean, and Red Pepper Salad

While the rest of the country seems to be enjoying some Fall like weather, Arizona is still feeling the heat. I think we actually got to 105 yesterday. This quick salad filled me up and kept me out of the hot kitchen so I could pretend like maybe it might actually cool off here someday soon.


You don't need much for this salad from the magazine All You, I cut the recipe in half because canned tuna and capers make Tom cringe.


All you need are some beans, I used black beans, red wine vinegar, olive oil, olives, tuna, mustard, red peppers and if you'd like, some capers. You could even add a little bit of finely chopped onion.


There is not much prep involved in this salad. Chop up your peppers and olives and open and drain your tuna.


Mix your vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.


Stir in the olive oil.


Add in everything else and give it a good stir.


Looks good already! Put it in the fridge for an hour or so to let all the good flavors really permeate the tuna and beans.


Serve it over some lettuce or spinach and you have a tasty lunch or side dish.

I hope you all have a great week, send some cooler weather my way!

Hungry Girl's In-N-Outrageous Animal-Style Salad

Arizona has been under an excessive heat advisory so the idea of cooking is pretty far from my mind these days. I did put together an awesome salad that Tom even liked based on the In n' Out Animal style menu items. This recipe is from Hungry Girl and is actually a single serving so I had to double it!




You need some romaine, a veggie burger, thousand island dressing, dill pickles, cheese, onion, mustard and tomatoes.


Chop up your onion and tomato.


Chop up your pickle.


Get the lettuce, tomato and pickle down on the plate.


Cook the onion over medium high heat until almost browned.


Then get it out of there!


Fry up your burger patties in the same pan. If you don't want to use fake burgers try a chicken or turkey burger instead.


Once the burgers are cooked through get them out to a cutting board.


Chop the burger and get it in the bowl with the onions, stir in the mustard. Top the salad with the burger, cheese and your thousand island dressing and you are ready to eat.



Tom and I both loved this salad, it was filling and had so many flavors and textures going on. I will definitely be making this one again soon.

Hungry Girl Spicy Taco Tuna Salad

I love tuna fish, I don't care if it comes in a can and smells a little weird, I love it. My husband leaves the room when I eat it, but it is one of my favorite things to have when I need something quick and filling. This recipe takes tuna to a whole new spicy level!


This comes from my Hungry Girl cook book and I have made it once already since this initial preparation.


You need some mayo, chili powder, cayenne, taco seasoning, peppers, tuna, salsa, hot sauce and some onion. You probably have most of this at your house already.


Chop up your veggies, I used my awesome (and cheap) Victorinox chef's knife.


Combine the mayo, hot sauce, salsa, and seasonings.


Add in the chopped veggies.


Stir in the tuna and pop it in the fridge for about a half an hour so the flavors have time to really combine.


You can serve this over lettuce, on a taco shell, or with some tortilla chips like I did. I absolutely loved this. You can make it even more low fat by using yogurt instead of mayo if you want. I will be making this again and again I am sure.

Mac n' Jack Salad

Today is the 33rd day of 2011 that we have topped a high temperature of 110 degrees. When it is this hot, all I want are salads and sandwiches. This salad was so good that I only got one serving and my super picky blog inspiring husband ate the rest.


Here is the recipe, and you can find it in the following Rachael Ray cook book that I really love:



You will need the following items


Macaroni, jack cheese, corn, red wine vinegar, celery, onion, red pepper and salsa verde. This whole salad cost about $5 to make.


I bought one of those microwave pasta cookers and I absolutely love it. I picked it up on a whim at the grocery store and I use it all the time. Of course amazon has them too, because they have everything. Fasta Pasta The Microwave Cooker

Get the pasta cooking and prep all the other yummy ingredients.

Chop the veggies...




Who cut the cheese?? oh, me.

Defrost the corn and throw everything in a big bowl


Doesn't that look awesome?


Mix up the vinegar and oil.


Stir in the salsa


Drain and rinse your noodles with cold water and drop them in.


Give it a stir and admire all the colorful veggies.


This was so easy, cheap and tasty. Again, if the husband ate it, you can bet it is pretty tasty.

Salmon Salad with Russian Dressing by the Deen Brothers

This is another recipe from the Deen brothers. I was hesitant as it called for microwaving salmon, but it turned out delicious and is a quick salad for a weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

RUSSIAN DRESSING:
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped gherkins
1 teaspoon lemon juice

SALAD:
2 8-ounce salmon fillets*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1⁄2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into wedges or shredded
1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced
Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Set aside.

For the salad, season each fillet with salt and pepper. In a microwave-safe baking dish, combine the butter and lemon juice. Place the fish in the dish, turning to coat. Sprinkle with fresh dill. Cover dish with plastic wrap and poke several holes in the plastic with a fork. Microwave on high (100% power) for 2 to 3 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Once fish is cool enough to handle, remove any skin and flake the salmon into chunks.

Divide the lettuce and onion between two plates. Place salmon chunks on top of the lettuce. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. *Use Alaskan salmon if you can fi nd it.

Servings: 2




You will need some dill, butter, cornichons or gherkins, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, lemon, onion, mayo and of course salmon.




Chop the gherkins, I used cornichons which are more sour than sweet.




Combine them with the mayo, ketchup, mustard and lemon juice. Save 2 tbs of lemon juice for the salmon.




Chop up your dill.




Slice your onion and get it in some water, this will help to mellow the flavor. This is a great trick if you don't need or want a bold onion flavor.




Mix up the dressing.




After you've got the dressing made, melt the butter. I used lots of Pyrex making this salad!




Finally it is time to season the salmon and yes, microwave it. Hit it with some salt and pepper.




Then pour the melted butter, the reserved lemon juice and the dill over the salmon. Mix it up a bit to get the flavors all over the salmon. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave on high for about 2.5 minutes.



While it is in the nuker, arrange your lettuce and onions on a plate.



Get the salmon out and make sure you can flake it with a fork, if you can, it is done.



Flake the salmon on top of the lettuce and top with the dressing. I cannot tell you how good the salmon turned out, it was amazing. The other star is the dressing. I am usually just a vinaigrette person, but this dressing was so tasty I will definitely be making it again.