One of the best parts about living in a new city and starting a new job is all the new people I have been meeting - it seems like every week I am introduced to someone new!  As I am sharing meals with new friends and coworkers, I have been getting some questions lately about my diet.  

Q:  So are you a vegetarian?  
A:  Sort of.  

Q:  If you don't eat meat, what do you eat?  
A:  All kinds of stuff!  And a lot of peanut butter.  :)  

I don't ever find myself craving meat, the only time that I end up choosing something with turkey or chicken is when I'm in a situation where I don't see a lot of other options.  For example, I was at a crappy airport restaurant a few weeks ago, and every single salad had chicken on it.  The easy solution would have been to say "no chicken," but then the Asian chicken salad I ordered would have literally been lettuce, wonton strips, and dressing.  Meh.  

At home, I found myself in a similar situation when I thought about making a taco salad.  One of my staple meals from a few years back was taco salad with ground turkey.  It was SO good.  I could have made the taco salad without the turkey, but the warm seasoned flavor really gave the salad that little something extra.  I am proud to say that last week I re-introduced myself to my beloved taco salad - only this time it's meatless!  Cue the tofu.  

Doesn't it even look like ground turkey??  Here is what you do for 2 servings.  

Tofu Taco "meat" 

Ingredients:  
1/2 block of extra-firm tofu 
1 tablespoon oil 
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika 
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon water 
black pepper to taste 

Press your tofu for at least 20 minutes.  I do this by setting the block on a plate, then putting a heavy cutting board on top of it.  Drain off the excess water.  

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet, then using your fingers crumble the tofu into the oil.  Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown.

Whisk all other ingredients together to make a taco sauce.  Pour sauce over the tofu, then cook for a few minutes until fully incorporated.  Enjoy!!  

Once your tofu is cooked, it's time to assemble your salad.  Here is my bowl with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and black beans.   

Now add your tofu:  

And for the big finish - sour cream and salsa!  

I find that the salsa provides plenty of moisture, so there is no need for salad dressing on this baby.  

The tofu would also be great on tacos, in enchiladas - wherever you would normally use ground meat!  

Confession:  there are some vegetables I don’t love.  I cannot stand arugula, and I have a hard time eating plain sauteed spinach.  I also have a hard time eating a lot of cucumber.  It’s not that I completely dislike it, but there are only certain cucumber dishes that I enjoy. 

My favorite meal involving cucumber is probably Mediterranean Salad from Shab’s, for some reason I can gobble that up.  It's just a simple combination of tomato and cucumber, but it is so yummy.  Shab’s also makes a delicious tabbouleh salad with cucumber.  If you are not familiar with Mediterranean cuisine, tabbouleh is a simple salad made primarily with parsley, bulgur wheat, cucumber and tomato.  It’s amazing.

Well, I warned you.  I will be making a TON of salads this summer.  The thing about getting a weekly delivery from Spiral Path Farm is that I eat whatever vegetables I am given.  In June & July, the veggie of the week is usually lettuce.    

I got perhaps the largest head of lettuce I have ever seen last week, plus a big bag of spring mix.  Salads every day! The last thing I want to do is just eat boring lettuce, so I like to get creative with the salads and make it an exciting meal.  What better way to do that than to add a few of my favorite ingredients?  

Goat Cheese?  Love.  Walnuts?  Delish.  Avocado?  Obsessed.  And for extra protein some tofu "croutons."  Mmm.  Doesn't this look better than the typical boring lettuce side salad?        

It must be the warmer weather that's making me want salad for dinner.  I have been making dinner salads at least once a week lately, and they have been really yummy.  I definitely recommend doing a dinner salad on a hot day, or just a day when you are tired or crunched for time- dinner salads usually come together pretty quickly.  

I think that the key to making a delicious dinner salad is using a variety of ingredients, and making sure to add protein.  For me, no protein = starving an hour later.    

One of my favorite blogs to hit up for recipes is The Yummy Life, that's where I found the recipe for Everyday Italian Tossed Salad.  Everything I have made from The Yummy Life has been tasty and easy, so I knew this Italian salad would be too.  

I followed the recipe exactly as written for the salad portion, but I cut the salad dressing recipe in half- it was plenty for 4 servings.  I tossed half the salad with half the dressing in a big bowl for dinner, then I put the rest of the dressing & salad in containers to make packed lunches for Matt & I to eat at work the next day.  

Top your Italian Tossed Salad with a bit of tempeh, and you've got yourself a meal!  I cut the tempeh into smaller pieces so it seemed like little croutons of sorts.  So, so good.  Enjoy the warm weather friends, and make yourself a nice big dinner salad.  

Now that the weather is getting warmer, there are days when eating a hot dinner just doesn't appeal to me.  The spring and summer seasons are the perfect time for salads- but salad doesn't always have to include lettuce.  This Mediterranean salad is the perfect cure for times when I feel like I'm on lettuce overload.  

One of the keys to making good salad is finding a salad dressing that you like, whether that's making your own or finding a good healthy bottled variety.  My favorite bottled dressing is Gazebo Room Lite, local Central PA readers should definitely try a bottle if you aren't already hooked on this local brand.        

The night I made this salad, I did do a LITTLE cooking and sauteed some tempeh for extra protein.  If you are a meat eater, grilled chicken would be a great option on this salad too.  

The ingredients I used for this salad made enough for 4 servings, so the next day Matt & I both took this in our lunches with a side of brown rice, which was also delicious. That's the other beauty of making these lettuce-free salads, they keep well for a day or two and are great for a quick workweek lunch.           

When I saw No Meat Athlete's Southwest Caesar Salad recipe, I knew I had to make it.  Caesar Salad + spicy Mexican flavors + grilled tempeh= YUM.  I'm so glad I tried this, because it turned out great.  The only modification I made to this recipe was that I reduced the oil down to a total of 1/4 cup.  If you look at the recipe, it calls for 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil, but that just seemed like way too much for me.  The ratio I used was 1 T to coat the croutons, 2 T in the dressing, and 1 T to fry my tempeh.    

The homemade croutons may have been the best part of the Southwest Caesar salad- crunchy, spicy, so good.  These croutons could be used in other salads too, maybe next time I'll make a double batch.  That way, I can have croutons available for workweek lunch salads without resorting to eating junky processed croutons out of a bag.      

The only downfall was that it took awhile to prep all the individual salad components, but this could just be a perception issue on my part.  When I see that I have salad on the dinner menu, I think, "Oh, salad, no cooking involved!"  But then I end up making these fancy dinner salads that have a ton of layers and flavors.  The extra time makes for some really delicious salads, but it's more like a 30 minute assembly rather than the 10 minutes I'm always expecting.  Here are a few of my other favorite fancy lettuce-based salad recipes:  

Fake Out Tuna Nicoise Salad
Beet, Feta & Tofu Salad
Global House Salad

This Buffalo Tofu Salad was yummy- but SPICY!  The idea is to have the flavor of wings- you've got your wing sauce and your celery & blue cheese- but with a healthy spin.  I was looking at the different buffalo wing sauces at the grocery store and there were so many options.  I like things a little spicy but not too crazy, so I almost bought a wing sauce that was labeled as "mild."  I ended up cheaping out and buying the Ken's sauce because it was on sale.  This salad was delicious, but buyer beware the wing sauce depending on your heat tolerance.  

Salad for dinner can taste great if you make something hearty with lots of yummy toppings.  I have had this Global House Salad recipe for years, I got it from Self Magazine,  I came across it again when I was leafing through my big binder of recipes trying to get some inspiration for workweek meals.  

This salad really hit the spot, and whipping up a salad during a busy week was super quick & easy.  Plus it has a lot of my favorites- warm toasty walnuts, blue cheese, and a tangy homemade vinaigrette.       

Quinoa salad is a nutrition powerhouse- lots of protein, veggies, healthy fat- and most importantly it tastes great.  

Like a lot of dishes I make, this quinoa salad can be adjusted to incorporate whatever you have on hand.  Don't have black olives?  Leave them out.  Have a half used bag of corn in the freezer like I did? Throw it in.  I hate wasting food, so I love these meals that can use up veggies in the fridge or freezer.  Here is what I used for the quinoa salad pictured here:




Ingredients for salad: 
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed 
1/2 cup frozen corn 
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped 
1/4 cup black olives, sliced 
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled 
1/2 a red onion, chopped 
2 T charmoula sauce, or your favorite dressing 

Salad Toppings:  
mashed avocado 
sauteed tofu (chicken would work well here too)  

Combine quinoa and frozen corn in a medium sauce pan with 1 cup water, bring to boiling and cook covered for 12-15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.  While quinoa is boiling, chop your peppers, onion & olives, then add the veggies and charmoula sauce to quinoa once it's done.  The quinoa mix can now sit until you have cooked your tofu or chicken- I usually serve this at room temperature.  Put the salad in a bowl, top with feta, tofu, & avocado.   


       

Sometimes I surprise myself with how much my food tastes have evolved since I started eating whole foods.  There was once a time in my life when I said I didn't like kale, and cringed at the thought of eating beets or tofu.  Now- these are some of my favorite foods! 

This salad was created as a way to use up a bunch of kale I had in the fridge- half my creations stem from my quest to not waste food.  Being cheap sometimes leads to good things, right?  As a former kale hater, I still have trouble eating it raw.  For this salad I briefly cook my kale to take the bitter edge off, but if you enjoy raw kale then by all means just keep it raw.     

This salad turned out so well.  I was craving the beet & feta combo, but I didn't have lettuce on hand to make my regular Beet Feta & Tofu Salad.  In the end, I actually liked this kale version better.  The hearty steamed kale, creamy feta cheese and sweet beets made a fantastic base for a crispy tofu topping.  Mmm!  

I love cutting my tofu into bite-size pieces and using it as a topping instead of croutons.  If you are new to tofu and aren't sure where to start, check out my tofu tutorial for help.       

Beet & Kale Salad with Tofu 

Ingredients for 4 servings:  
1 bunch kale 
2-3 large beets 
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 
1/4 cup chopped walnuts 
vinaigrette of your choice 
1 block extra firm tofu 

Roast your beets by wrapping them in foil, then baking at 350 degrees for at least an hour, or until tender.  I do this on the weekend to save time.  Once beets have cooled, peel and chop into bite size pieces.  

Drain and press your tofu, then cut into pieces and sautee in olive oil.  Cook tofu on each side until nice and golden.  See my tofu tutorial for help. 

Wash kale, then remove stems and chop into bite size pieces.  Place kale in a pot with about an inch of water, then cook briefly until the kale just starts to wilt.  Drain the water, then toss kale with your favorite vinaigrette- I used Gazebo Room Lite.  

Assemble the salad by dividing the kale, roasted beets, feta, and walnuts among four bowls.  Add the tofu croutons and enjoy warm.