Rustic Potato Salad

 “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” ~Hal Borland

Looking for the perfect side dish to bring to Easter brunch or dinner? Look no further! This is an incredibly simple potato salad that doesn’t need to sit overnight and isn’t drenched in mayo (not that there is anything wrong with that). It’s packed with a perfect flavor combo for a Spring side dish.

Ingredients

2 bags tri-colored baby potatoes

3-5 cloves garlic finely chopped 

½  c fresh dill finely chopped

¼ c finely sliced spring onions

1-2 T ground mustard

2 Tbsp butter (or ghee)

1 Tbsp EVOO

1-2 T white wine vinegar (enough to just cover your chopped garlic)

s&p

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.Season water with salt, bring to a boil, then lower heat to med-high and cook potatoes until fork tender (approx. 20min)

While cooking potatoes, prep other ingredients. Place finely chopped raw garlic in 1-2 T white wine vinegar. Once potatoes are done, pour them into colander and add garlic and vinegar, dill, butter/ghee directly to the still hot pot and stir until butter/ghee is melted, add potatoes. Give it all a stir with a large fork, mash some, break up larger potatoes, leave some whole, just mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed. If serving immediately, drizzle with evoo and s&p to taste and toss. This can also be set aside and served at room temperature, just toss with evoo and s&p just before serving.

The {Perfect} Salmon Dinner Salad

 ”All right! Stop whatcha doin'..."

And go ahead and tap that little bookmark right there and save this recipe! This is one of our many #restaurantrecreations that I upgraded with a perfectly cooked piece of salmon and some @tessemaes creamy ranch dressing. I initially tried the house salad at @thirstymonk south and loved the simplicity and balance, and just knew with the salmon and creamy ranch addition it would make the most delicious entree salad. Tessemae's Creamy Ranch is the absolute perfect dressing for this too...the dill flavor ties all of the simple ingredients together...this dressing and these ingredients are a match made in heaven!

Ingredients:

arugula

dried cranberries

walnuts

pickled red onions

salmon

How to get perfectly cooked salmon every time:

Dry your fish with a paper towel and lightly salt&pepper the fish. Heat a cast iron skillet on high and add avocado oil just before adding the salmon, skin side up. Give it a little shake so it doesn’t stick and then leave it alone to brown. The time here will depend on the thickness of your salmon, but about 3 minutes is a good time to flip (you can see the cook of the fish move up from the skillet, once it gets about halfway up the side of the fish, it is time to flip). Flip the salmon, (skin side down), turned off the heat, and cover with the skillet and let it steam until done, about another 3 minutes (I do not cook my salmon well done, so adjust according to your preference). Timing is going to depend on the thickness of your fish.

If you don't have Tessemae's Creamy Ranch:

Bummer! 😉 The dill is what defines this particular ranch, so I would either add fresh dill to the salad or mix in some dried dill weed to whatever ranch you are using. A simple dill vinaigrette would be nice too!

Leftovers?

Turn your salmon leftovers into a delicious cold salmon salad (make it like a tuna salad). Use the dressing instead of mayo (not as much though) and add in the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries and chopped pickled onions. Serve over bed of arugula or open-faced on a delicious piece of toasted bread (imo, this deserves something special, not grocery store wonder bread) or a decadent croissant.

Cucumber Relish

 "Variety is the spice of life."

I think one of the key aspects of staying on a healthy eating track is having a variety of condiments/toppings/sauces always available. I love that there are so many store bought options out there with quality ingredients and minimal fillers. But I also have several items that I make regularly to keep my tastebuds from getting bored. This is a simple spicy cucumber relish that can take so many dishes from boring to wow! Aside from eating it alone as a side and adding it to regular salads, I mixed this with tuna for a mayo-less tuna salad option, topped a one-pan "egg roll in a bowl" dish, and also topped a simply cooked salt & pepper salmon with this zingy, fresh relish.

Ingredients:

1 sm cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced thin

1 lg shallot, sliced thin

¼ thai chili pepper (bird's eye, serrano), finely chopped

2 T cilantro, finely chopped

For the liquid, I use my refrigerator pickling liquid and since I'm doing a whole30, I replaced the honey with the juice of a quarter of an orange. For this recipe, you only need about 1/2 cup of liquid.

Pear and Prosciutto Salad

I have been all about the salads for lunch lately. My body is done with all the sugar, alcohol, and heavy food from the holiday and is craving some serious nutrients. Today’s creation turned out to be a Pear and Prosciutto Salad.

Kale was the base (arugula would’ve been great, too, but I didn’t have any, darn) and then I added:

• small pieces of prosciutto

• pear slices

• a chopped medjool date

• chopped almonds and whole almonds

I tossed it all in some olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Easy, delicious, paleo, and whole30 approved.

Winter Pear Kale Salad

I’ve been in a habit of chiffonading (see insta story highlight) my kale and storing it in a closed container in the fridge (thanks to Sarah for this tip) to make meal prep during the week easier. Kale salads have been my go-to for lunch lately.

One of my favorite combinations is pictured below:

• kale

• chopped pear

• chopped pecans

• crumbled goat cheese

• pomegranate arils

I also made a pomegranate vinaigrette to go with it this time from joyfoodsunshine.com. Get the recipe for the vinaigrette here: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/pomegranate-vinaigrette/

Fall Quinoa Kale Salad

I came up with this Fall Quinoa Kale Salad based on ingredients I had on hand and what’s in season. It was refreshing yet filling and packed with different textures and flavors. Plus, it’s gluten free! I ate it for lunch but next time, I might make it for dinner with some grilled salmon on top. 😋

Mix in a large bowl (serves 1):

• 1/2 to 1 cup cooked quinoa (I used a quinoa/brown rice blend)

• 2 T crumbled goat cheese 

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

• Pomegranate arils 

• Apple slices 

• Big handful of kale, cut into ribbons (please see Instagram story highlights for how to cut/chiffonade kale into perfect tiny ribbons! This is *key* to a good kale salad) 

For the dressing I used an Apple Maple Vinaigrette by @paleomg and it complemented this fall salad perfectly. (She pairs this with her fall harvest chopped salad which I will have to try next!) For one serving, I mixed:

• 1/2 T maple syrup

• 1/4 T apple cider vinegar

• 1/4 tsp dijon mustard

• 1/4 tsp minced garlic

• 1 tsp minced shallot

• 1 T olive oil

• s&p.

*FYI: You can use plain kale or you can sauté the kale in some ghee and lemon beforehand (this is what I did 😋). For a #dairyfree and #vegan salad, simply remove cheese crumbles.

Salmon & Pear Salad

I used to hate salads. I thought they were boring and tasteless. Unfortunately, some are. Avoid those. However, I’ve learned that you can make salads that are dynamic, flavorful, and filling. Not only do I love salads now, I crave them!

One of my favorite things to do is to recreate salads from restaurants. Sometimes, my attempts turn out to be not as good as the the original, but many times they turn out better. Recently I went out and ordered a pear salad with candied walnuts and dried cranberries, and while it was OK, I was sure I could reinvent it with fresh, wholesome ingredients at home.
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I started with an arugula and spinach mix, added homemade “candied” walnuts, dried cherries (instead of cranberries), pear slices, and a piece of grilled salmon. OMG. This is my new favorite salad.
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For the walnuts, I followed Sarah’s maple roasted pecans recipe, which can be found a few posts down in her Summer Berry Salad post. Basically, coat walnuts lightly with 3 parts maple syrup and 1 part ghee, a sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt, and bake for ten minutes at 350. For salmon, I simply seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in avocado oil on high for about 3 minutes, then lowered heat to medium, flipped salmon over, and cooked for another 3-4 minutes. Once I put everything together, I drizzled the salad in evoo and balsamic vinegar.
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After the walnuts were done, this took less than fifteen minutes to put together. I made this for dinner, saved the leftovers, and was delighted to have it again for lunch the next day.

Summer Berry Salad

“Stop scrolling and make this salad!” ~Me

This unintentionally red, white and blue Summer Berry Salad is perfect for any Independence Day celebration you may be attending. Minimal ingredients and easy to put together=WIN. It also happens to be the latest BEST (non-kale) SALAD EVER!! Seriously, my husband was ooohhhing and aaahhhing over it...and well, he never does that for salads. The components are the stars and they work so perfectly together, that you don’t even need a special dressing!  Make this very soon, you won’t regret it.

Ingredients (The amounts will vary based on how many you are serving and whether this is a side or main salad. See below for my amounts:

Mixed greens

Blueberries

Strawberries

Dried cranberries (tough to find compliant, but my grocery has them sweetened only with apple juice)

Crumbled feta cheese (omit for #whole30)

Maple roasted pecans (Make a mixture of maple syrup and ghee, 3 parts to 1 part, coat pecans lightly and spread evenly on parchment lined baking sheet, bake for ~10 minutes @ 350 degrees, let cool before adding to salad)...for whole30, I would replace these with raw pistachios

S&P

Olive Oil

Balsamic vinegar

Protein of your choice (I used chicken, but next time I will use blackened salmon or trout)

This salad served 2 adults as an entree: I used ¾ clamshell of mixed greens, ~ 1 cup each of berries, ¾ cup of pecans (roughly chopped), ⅓ c of crumbled feta, ¼ c of dried cranberries and 1 -½ c chopped grilled chicken (with a touch of spice). Added fresh ground pepper and salt, and lightly drizzled it all with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Dig in, devour and then go out and buy the ingredients again!

5 Ingredient Kale Salad

“A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.” @ottolenghi
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Let me tell you, this is a well-made salad, and my easy version of the “best kale salad ever” which you can check out below in an earlier post. This salad is my go-to; it requires only five ingredients, it’s paleo and whole30 compliant, tastes fantastic, and goes great with a protein of your choice... or is delicious just by itself.
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Ingredients:
-1 sm bunch of kale (cut into ribbons: see our video tutorial in our highlights for how to cut the kale… this is the most important step!!!)
-Handful of cashews and almonds (crushed)
-1-2 T nutritional yeast
-1/3 cup Tessemae’s creamy caesar dressing
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First thing you do is tear the kale leaves off the rib in one piece, roll them up into a cigar shape, and thinly slice (please see our video tutorial in our highlights!) With this technique, there’s no need to massage the kale and you end up with the most perfectly cut and yummiest kale ever! Next, mix everything in a bowl and serve! You can also store in the fridge for later. That’s it! This takes less than ten minutes to throw together, and even the pickiest of eaters will love it. This salad will serve about three people, unless you’re like me and eat double the serving size because it’s that amazing.

Lemon & Garlic Kale Salad

“This is the best kale salad...ever.” ~Sarah & Bethany

A local restaurant that I (and Bethany) frequent often, has a kale salad on the menu that I love. The servers were kind enough to give me the list of simple ingredients to try to recreate it at home. I tried it a few times, but never managed to get the ratios just right...it always turned out ok, but just didn’t quite live up to the restaurant version. Then, back in January during my 2nd round of @whole30 , I had a craving for that kale salad like you wouldn’t believe. But...breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese...so that wasn’t happening. I was determined to satisfy the flavor profile and texture I was craving though, and keep it #whole30. Well, I nailed it. And now, I like my version better than the restaurant version...and happily make this regularly.

Ingredients:
1 sm bunch of kale (cut into thin ribbons- chiffonade)
⅓ c Tessemae’s lemon garlic dressing (or simple vinaigrette with lemon juice & oil 1:3 ratio)
2 cloves garlic
Juice from ¼ of a lemon
pinch of red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1-1½ T nutritional yeast
Handful of raw nuts, crushed (I like a mix of fine to small chunks)

First, tear kale leaves off the rib in one piece. Roll the leaf up into a cigar shape and thinly slice (chiffonade) the kale. This is key to making this “the best kale salad ever.” I used to be a kale massager, but no more...it’s all in the chiffonade. Check out our story highlight on our instagram. Continue process through entire bunch. Then, to your base (either your simple vinaigrette or Tessemae’s), add garlic, juice from ¼ lemon and pinch of red pepper flakes. Using an immersion blender combine until garlic is incorporated. Add desired amount of dressing to your kale. Top with 1-1 ½ T nutritional yeast and crushed nuts (Place raw nuts in a baggie and then crush them with a hammer.) I find that the nutritional yeast brings enough of a salty flavor to the salad, so I usually don’t add salt, but feel free to add a pinch if you prefer. Toss all together, serve and enjoy! This could serve 4 as a side salad or 2 as a main with an added protein.

Poached Egg and Salmon Salad