This bacon and broccoli slaw is perfect for a summer picnic. It’s made with a homemade dijon lemon mayo, that uses coconut oil and olive oil. I love the pre-shredded broccoli stems from Trader Joes. It makes this dish really easy to pull together. You could even make it ahead of time. The mayo will keep for about a week in an airtight container. This is one of those dishes where the flavors meld together in the fridge and get better with time.
1 package of organic broccoli slaw from Trader Joes (contains 12oz shredded broccoli stems and shredded carrots)
Instructions
Chop bacon into cubes and saute until fat is rendered and they start to brown. Remove them from pan onto a dish with paper towels to drain excess fat.
Then to make mayo, separate the egg yolks and add them to a food processor. Then add sea salt, dijon mustard, and juice of 1 lemon. Then pulse a few times.
Then melt coconut oil until it is in liquid form and slowly pour in coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil until it emulsifies.
Then in a large bowl combine shredded broccoli slaw (or broccoli stems) with mayo and bacon. Mix throughly and enjoy.
This antipasto salad is really easy to make and will definitely impress your guests. I used my Mom’s Dressing to marinate the veggies, which includes green and black olives, artichoke hearts, peppadews, and roasted red peppers. I also chopped in a few cucumbers … I couldn’t resist a little crunch, and put everything over some wild arugula. I have some slices of genoa salami and rolled proscuitto on the side, but of course you could use whatever Italian cured meat you prefer. I skipped the cheese, because I’m intolerant, but if you can handle it, go for it.
You can easily make most of this ahead of time, and assemble everything when you are read to serve. Or have guests assemble it themselves so they can add what they like.
Chop artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and peppadews. Combine with olives and add ¼ cup of salad dressing. Marinate for a couple hours, two at least.
Then when ready to serve, arrange salami and prosciutto slices. Add some wild arugula to the side and add marinated vegetables and chopped cucumbers over greens.
Then drizzle some more salad dressing over salad and serve.
This beet and avocado salad with a tahini dressing was inspired by my favorite salad at Akasha in Culver City. I usually get it with a side of bacon for brunch. The beets will satisfy your sweet tooth and the generous slices of avocado will keep you full and satisfied. At Akasha, they use sunflower seeds instead of sesame seeds, but I wanted to emphasize the sesame in the tahini dressing.
I added some broccoli sprouts as well for some added nutrition. If you don’t like the taste of broccoli sprouts, don’t worry, the avocado will mellow the flavor and the dressing will disguise it. A salad with lots of avocado is my favorite way to sneak these nutritional powerhouses into my diet.
This sea vegetable and cucumber salad is really easy to make, and a is full of healthy minerals. You can make it ahead even with the dressing, and it will still taste great the next day. I get a dried sea vegetable mix from the Asian section of Surfas, which is an awesome gourmet food and kitchen supply store in Culver City. This mix has six varieties of dehydrated sea vegetables. All you need to do is rehydrate them and add them to salads, soups or they can be a side themselves.
Although we have grown accustomed to eating nori in sushi, sea vegetables are sadly lacking in the standard American diet. I personally love seaweed (and sea vegetable) salads. I think they are really cool looking, and photograph beautifully 🙂 Plus, they have no calories, are full of nutrition, and very filling (aka high in fiber). A simple dressing with sesame oil and rice vinegar is all you need to make these greens taste amazing. I gave mine a spicy kick, with some red pepper flakes that I put through the spice grinder.
I attempted recreate a cucumber noodle salad from my favorite thai restaurant. This salad is paleo and raw vegan friendly, so it’s super healthy, and I was pleasantly surprised at how close to the original it tastes. This is something that I crave all the time and now I can make it at home! Can you tell I’m excited? This is so yummy, I might make it in bulk and chop the ingredients instead of peeling them. I used a julienne peeler to make the noodles, and although it’s convenient for one, it would be a lot of work to do in bulk. But sooo worth it. Definitely quicker and cheaper than delivery.
For a vegetable, beets are pretty sweet. Pun intended. Their glycemic index when cooked is 64, but their glycemic load is only 6.3. That means that when you are craving something sweet, but still want to stick to veggies, beets are a great choice. For this reason, I love adding them to vegetable juices, and eating them in a salad. At my local Whole Foods, they have this amazing beet salad that I attempted to recreate with this recipe. It’s pretty basic, but I love the taste of beets and they really shine, as the main ingredient. Plus, it tastes delicious as leftovers, which lets face it, most salads don’t.
