Super Salads: Mango, Spinach And....

I had a GREAT salad for lunch the other day - got the original recipe from the Weight Watchers website, but naturally I had to make changes based upon what I had on hand. The salad part remained the same (plus cucumbers), but I think I inadvertently improved upon the dressing!

The original salad is Chicken, Mango and Spinach Salad - I used leftover baked chicken, seasoned only with salt and crushed red pepper, baked on a bed of vegetables and white wine. (That was another recipe!). This one caught my eye because I just happened to have two bags of baby spinach and two mangos, both looking to become a part of something edible before they became inedible themselves. That and the leftover chicken, along with my addiction to MySpiceSage.com, where I procured Maharajah Curry Powder, lead me to this recipe. The original dressing called for prepared honey-mustard - I had none, so I used 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp Trader Joe's Dijon Mustard. That wonderful, spicy mustard really put this over the top, and as I sat at my desk at lunchtime, in the midst of a particularly bad, sad week at work, I found that the sweet, spicy, smoky, sour-y salad really hit the spot. Curry in a salad dressing is pretty unusual for me, but I really enjoyed this.

So this afternoon, I decided to have another helping for lunch - I was out of chicken so I used chick peas instead, and found that not only is this a super salad, it's a marvelous meatless light meal, too! So I think I'll be seeing more of this.... I do like it better with chicken, though, and I think next time I'll glaze it with some of the dressing before baking/broiling/grilling the chicken. This wonderful blend of flavors would also compliment a number of proteins - thinly sliced steak, grilled shrimp, tuna or salmon.

Here's the recipe (chicken version) with my tweaks:

Mango, Chicken and Spinach Salad with Mango-Curry Dressing

Salad:

4 cups baby spinach

2 small mangoes, diced

1 cup diced English cucumber

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (or beef, or chick peas, or shrimp...)

Dressing:

Whisk together:

1/3 cup mango nectar (or puree half a mango with a little water)

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp grapeseed or canola oil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

Arrange salad on plate and pour dressing over top.

Enjoy!

(Chick pea version!)

My New Favorite Salad (This Week)

At some point last weekend I found a moment for myself to sit down and channel surf for a minute. Since I'm trying to maintain a healthy diet I've actually been staying away from FoodNetwork, and to a certain extent, Allrecipes. Much too tempting! But I came upon Martha Stewart, and her guest was actress Ellen Burstyn, and I arrived just in time to hear Ms. Burstyn say she sticks to a raw diet for breakfast and lunch, and then eats cooked food for dinner.

Hmmm. Interesting! I've been curious about raw diets - not that I want to actually change to a completely raw diet, but let's face it. Most of us could use a couple raw "meals" every now and then, and I don't mean sushi. So I watched to see what would happen next and she went on to say she loves salads. What followed was a simple, but interesting salad that I've been thinking about ever since.

Red Cabbage Salad - Click here for the recipe - I did tweak ever so slightly, but there's definitely room for adjustments based on your preferences. And let me tell you, if you're getting tired of lettuce based salads (like I am...did I mention I've lost 4.2 pounds since January 1st? Well, just in case you missed it...)

Mix together the vegetables - for about half a recipe, I used:

1/2 head red cabbage

1 cup English cucumber, diced

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 large carrot, grated

2 tbsp. raisins

2 tbsp. cilantro

Then, because someone was using the computer, I made the following dressing from memory (I was amazingly accurate!):

Juice of one large lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp. garam masala

Salt & pepper to taste

I was really tempted to add some more vinegar, but luckily I did not. The dressing is perfect as is!

Then I remember she put in sunflower seeds...I can't find mine. (I know I have them, though - doesn't that make you crazy when you know you have something but can't find it?!) Anyway, walnuts seemed like a good substitute, and it turned out to be a good choice!

Lemon juice, olive oil and garam masala - an EXCELLENT dressing! And this salad is crisp, colorful and delicious!

And along with Grilled Lemon Chicken from Allrecipes, it's going to be my lunch every day this week!

I'm going to need more cabbage.

***Note: Garam masala is a blend of various spices commonly used in Indian cooking. The best garam masala is made fresh from whole toasted spices ground together, but frankly since I have an overflowing spice cabinet, I use a simple recipe from Allrecipes for Easy Garam Masala. You can also find bottled blends (or packets of the whole spices, ready for grinding) in many supermarkets and ethnic shops.