Apr 30 2013

Weekly Meal Plan: April 29-May 3

Posted on April 30, 2013 by thepoli3

Still unsure if you want to create your own meal plan? It’s ok, here’s ours. You can steal it, use it to get ideas, or just be nosy and judge us for what we’re eating. Enjoy!

Monday:

Southwestern Chopped Salad (recipe coming soon)

Tuesday:

Lobster Rolls & Baked French Fries *Also see: How to Cut & Cook a Lobster Tail + Recipes

Wednesday:

Chicken, Bacon, & Avocado Chopped Salad

Thursday:

Bits and pieces of Antipasto Salad mixed with parts of Italian Stallion Salad

Friday:

Authentic Louisiana Red Beans & Rice

Sep 5 2012

From Our Kitchen: Weeknight Cobb Salad

Posted on September 5, 2012 by thepoli3

Weeknight Cobb Salad

Overall Score: 10 (on a scale of 1-10)

Husband Score: 10 (on a scale of 1-10)

Difficulty Level: Easy

Price: $$ (on a scale of $-$$$)

If you are anything like me, you are constantly trying to figure out how to make a delicious, filling meal that also satisfies your waistline. With a picky eater for a husband, I have wasted too much money and time making meals that were “healthified” versions of something normally delicious-but-too-fattening-to-make-the-actual-version, only to end up watching it sit untouched for the rest of the week in the fridge. Sometimes, even worse, it goes straight to the trash. Lets get real- there’s no fooling yourself or your family. You cannot substitute fat free Greek yogurt for cream cheese and expect nobody to notice (unless you prefer it). That does not fly around here. Therefore I was left with a challenge, how do I make healthy meals while still making them appealing enough for a meat and potatoes guy to eat? Then it hit me- salad! I know what you’re thinking- let me explain. There are so many delicious salads that you can make and just adjust the toppings and dressing for each person, which is great because everyone can personalize it to their liking. One of my favorites is a basic cobb salad. It has tons of fresh veggies and of course some delicious fattening toppings too. You can go all the way with blue cheese dressing or lighten it up with balsamic vinaigrette- they both taste great. I must say, we don’t do shortcuts around here- no canned or frozen veggies,etc. I do almost everything from scratch, which is especially important in dishes like salads, where you want the freshness of the veggies to be at their max, plus, you get more nutrients that way. This dish can be easily adapted for vegetarians or vegans too. Just don’t use what you can’t eat (i.e. cheese, bacon, etc.) and throw in some more veggies (shredded carrots, cucumbers, etc.) or vegan substitutes (Smart Bacon, etc.) to give it the added touch.

Enjoy!

Weeknight Cobb Salad

Serves 2- Adjusts easily for more or less

Ingredients:

1.5 hearts of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 tomato on the vine, washed and diced
1 avocado, peeled & de-pitted, diced
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

Place your lettuce in serving dishes. Top it with all ingredients (only use half of the amount listed per salad-again, this recipe makes 2 salads), finishing with salt & pepper on top. You can add more or less of everything depending on your tastes.
Top with dressing and enjoy! (Blue cheese, ranch, or balsamic vinaigrette go great!)

I usually try to make my toppings line up in neat rows over the lettuce, for visual appeal. But, really, it all tastes the same no matter how you swing it!

Jun 16 2012

The “Real Best” Salad

Posted on June 16, 2012 by thepoli3

With all the unhealthy things we have been testing lately, we figured it was time for something a little more attuned to bathing suit season. So, give it up for the “real best” salad!

The contenders:

Allrecipes Strawberry Spinach Salad

Allrecipes Jamie’s Cranberry Spinach Salad

Allrecipes Roquefort Pear Salad

The nitty-gritty:

Each salad was scored on a scale of 1-10 (where 1= that’s food? and 10= the best salad that has ever entered my mouth) for overall score, the boyfriend/husband test, and the leftover test. We also provide other comments.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Overall score: 6

The boyfriend/husband test: 6

The leftover test: 4

Comments: This salad wasn’t bad, but there just wasn’t enough in it. There was a ton of spinach, and only strawberries and a tiny amount of silvered almonds as substance? Maybe the dressing was supposed to make up for it or something, but it wasn’t even that good. Jennifer picked the recipes this time, and I think she purposely gave me (Megan) the most boring, expensive, and fattening (see: the dressing) salad. To convince myself to bring this to work for lunch the next day, I added pecans and used a honey mustard dressing (side note: I highly recommend Bolthouse Farms dressings that are made with Greek yogurt!), and it was a little better. The salad holds up great for a few days (and I would know, because most of the leftovers sat in my fridge, uneaten, for quite a few days after), but the dressing does NOT do well in the fridge.

Jamie’s Cranberry Spinach Salad

Overall score: 7.5

The boyfriend/husband test: 8

The leftover test: 7

Comments: This salad was okay… I think it could have been much better with a raspberry-walnut dressing rather than the one in the recipe. It did taste much better chilled the next day but you have to make sure to keep the dressing separated from the spinach leaves otherwise they will wilt. Overall this is a very healthy salad with a little bit of extra punch to please a picky eater (i.e. husband thought it was actually really good!) but for a frequent salad eater, this is something I may make again, modified.

Roquefort Pear Salad

Overall score: 9

The boyfriend/husband test: 9

The leftover test: 8

Comments: To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to like this, but it was soo good! Even my husband loved it! Side note: I added red onions for color.

The winner:

Roquefort Pear Salad !

Special Diets:

While we can’t guarantee the results, here are some ideas you can use to customize the winning salad to your dietary needs:

Gluten-free: While this looks to be inherently gluten-free, double-check that all the ingredients are, in fact, gluten-free because you never know!
Vegan: Leave out the cheese.
Vegetarian: It already is!
Lower fat: Use less or omit cheese, avocado, and pecans. (Although, the kind of fat that’s in avocado and in nuts is said to be good for you.. but I can’t say the same for the cheese!)
Lower sugar/calories: Save 1/4 cup of sugar by not caramelizing the pecans.