Salad Sandwich Number 2: “The Cobb”

I have always loved a good Cobb Salad. Now, I get to have it in a sandwich! 

Ingredients:

2 pieces whole grain bread, toasted
2 Tablespoons light, creamy dressing, like green goddess or ranch
5 lettuce leaves
1 slice tomato
½ hardboiled egg, sliced
2 slices avocado
1 or 2 slices deli turkey or chicken (optional)
2 teaspoons crumbled blue cheese
2 slices bacon or 1 teaspoon imitation bacon bits
A pinch of alfalfa sprouts (optional)

Directions: Couldn’t be simpler—spread the dressing equally on one side of each piece of toast. Pile on the ingredients as you like!

Green Goddess Dressing

I have to say that Green Goddess has always been my favorite salad dressing-even when I was a kid. I still can't get enough.



 Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, smashed

2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped and loosely packed
2 big green onions (or 3 small), chopped
2 teaspoons chives or other favorite herbs (maybe tarragon?)
½ cup light mayonnaise
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
½ to 1 teaspoon sugar, to your taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and blend until creamy. Chill until needed.

Crunchy Baked Green Beans

I don’t have much to add here, except eat these up! By the way, once these cool, they lose their crispness so only make what you think you are going to eat (although they can be kept warm in the oven). I've got some leftovers, so I'm chopping them into a stir fry tonight.

 Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans, stemmed, rinsed and completely dried
2 egg whites
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 Tablespoon seasoning (whatever you like-I’m using a fabulous seasoning blend from Penzey’s® called “Fox Point”, divided
Cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the corn starch and 2 teaspoons of seasoning. Beat a few seconds longer to mix everything together. Gently move the green beans into the egg white mixture and remove them one by one, letting any excess egg white mixture drip off. Line them up on your baking sheets like little soldiers, close but not touching. Spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with the remaining seasoning and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the baking sheets around and turn the green beans over (tongs work great) and bake for another 10 minutes.

Note: If you want these super crispy, you might want to roll them in whole grain panko after the egg white bath and then spray with cooking spray and bake.

Grilled Vegetable Tostadas

When I was in college, my friends always took me to Mexican restaurants and had me order the tostadas. They would crumble all over me, which my friends thought was hilarious. Honestly, I did, too. This makes a great party food—you can keep all the items separate and have guests build their own tostadas. A serving is two or more tostadas, so this recipe feeds three. Oh, I forgot to mention you can totally do this in the house—just bake the tortillas and heat the veggies in a large skillet.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can refried beans, warmed in the microwave with a little water to make the beans spreadable

6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray

Grilled Vegetables:

12 white button mushrooms, sliced
6 (1/4 inch) slices of red onion
2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and sliced
1 cup frozen and thawed (or fresh) corn
12 (1/4 inch) slices of zucchini
About a cup of bell pepper slices (red, green, yellow, orange, etc.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (your choice)
1 teaspoon ground chiles, like New Mexico red (substitute taco seasoning or chili powder if you want)

Toppings:

1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
½ cup ripe olives, sliced
½ cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded lettuce
¼ cup light sour cream
½ cup crumbled queso fresco

Directions: Preheat grill to medium heat. Lightly spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and put them on a plate, ready for the grill. Next, Place all the grilled vegetable ingredients in a bowl and toss with the olive oil and seasonings. Put all the toppings in separate bowls to make serving easy. Take a grill rack, the tortillas and the bowl of veggies for grilling out to the grill. Lay the tortillas directly on the grill and cook about 5 minutes on each sides or until there are nice grill marks and they are starting to crisp up. Move them back to their plate. Place the veggies for grilling on the grill rack and cook, gently tossing every so often, until soft. Mine took about 15 to 20 minutes.  Put the veggies back in their bowl (hot pads, please) and line up next to the tortillas, refried beans and toppings. Then just take a tortilla, spread on some refried beans, some grilled veggies and as many toppings as you wish. Oh, and have lots of napkins handy!

Grilled Romaine Salad with Bagna Cauda Vinaigrette

I dream of bagna cauda sometimes. It’s just a very simple, very flavorful, warm dip for veggies and bread. I’ve altered my friend’s mom’s bagna cauda for this dressing because I’ve always liked her bagna cauda best. The most amazing thing, though is how much flavor the lettuce picks up from the grill. Hello, dinner!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 head of romaine lettuce, cleaned

For the dressing:
½ cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons anchovy paste (optional, but it really makes the dressing)
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (adjust to taste)
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (adjust to taste)
3 teaspoons small capers (or large ones, chopped)
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Garnish:

2 Tablespoons shaved parmesan

Directions:

Split the head of romaine in two, lengthwise, and leaving the stem end intact to keep it together. In a saucepan, whisk the dressing ingredients (except parsley and capers) and heat on low. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally, and then remove from heat.

Preheat the grill (I’m using a gas grill) to medium high and then lightly brush the lettuce all over with the dressing, making sure there is no excess dressing on the lettuce. Place on grill, cut sides down for about five minutes, turning occasionally or until you see some nice grill marks forming. Don’t overcook or the lettuce will wilt. Place cut sides up on a serving platter and then add the parsley and capers to the dressing. Spoon the rest of the dressing over the lettuce and top with a little shaved parmesan.

Salad Sandwich Number 1: “The Works”

I’ve been making vegetable sandwiches for years and, when I’m using raw vegetables, I always think of them as salad on toast. This one is my go to.

Ingredients:

Two slices whole grain bread, toasted
2 teaspoons light or fat free mayonnaise
2 or three lettuce leaves
2 teaspoons low fat or fat free salad dressing, such as Italian
1 slice tomato
Salt and pepper (or seasoning of your choice) to taste
2 slices avocado
1 slice sweet onion
½ of a roasted red pepper from a jar, patted dry with a paper towel
2 teaspoons fresh alfalfa sprouts

Directions: Spread the mayo on the toasted bread. Toss the lettuce leaves with the salad dressing, then lay them on one piece of bread. Sprinkle the tomato slice with a touch of salt and pepper and put on top of the lettuce. Stack the rest of the veggies on and top with the second piece of bread. It is helpful to press the sandwich lightly with your hand before slicing in half. It keeps things from sliding around too much.

Three Cheese and Bacon Nachos

Here’s what I really like about this: not only is this a single-layer nacho dish that eliminates the whole goop on top, soggy chips on bottom thing, where only the first lucky few get any toppings but it also allows you to customize for guests who don’t eat bacon (gasp!), blue cheese, or want more or less jalapenos. Just keep the ingredients separate and tailor to everyone’s particular wishes.

Ingredients:

Enough tortilla chips to fit on a 17 by 13 baking sheet
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup gorgonzola cheese crumbles
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
4 fresh jalapenos-stemmed, seeded and diced
6 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread out the tortilla chips in a single layer. Mix the cheeses together in a bowl. Top the tortilla chips with sprinkles of the cheese mixture, then the jalapenos and then the bacon. Bake for 15 minutes and wolf down like a 1940’s horror movie.