With the weather getting warmer, sometimes you just don't want to cook. I mean, on a really hot day, who wants to heat up the kitchen (and possibly the whole house) by preheating the oven?
Also, sometimes you just need something that isn't going to sit heavy on your stomach (aka lower calorie).
So, these two salads are cool, refreshing, and very light. They are South Beach recipes. They are actually so light, in fact, that you might need a little something else paired along with it...otherwise, you might be snacking quite a bit before bedtime. I would pair it with some crusty bread, a light sandwich, or soup (and if you wanted to keep with the cool theme--you could serve it with gazpacho).
Also, when it comes to serving salads for dinner, I prefer to put the toppings in separate containers and allow everyone to serve the toppings of their choice. That way, picky eaters can skip certain toppings. It also makes storing leftovers a lot easier too. You simply cover the individual containers and put them in the refrigerator. That way you avoid soggy salad leftovers that have to be thrown out the next day anyway.
I'm also including a seafood pasta salad that I came up with myself in my college days.
Oh, and if you don't like seafood--skip these salads!
Crab Cobb Salad (pictured at the top with dressing and above without dressing)
Ingredients:
6 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2 cans crabmeat (6 ounces), drained
2 cup diced ripe tomatoes or cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 tablespoons cholesterol-free bacon bits
Prepared low-sugar dressing or olive oil vinaigrette (see notes below)
Directions:
Arrange the lettuce on a large serving platter. Arrange the crabmeat, tomatoes, blue cheese, and bacon bits in rows over the lettuce.
Right before serving, drizzle some dressing evenly over the salad and toss well. Transfer to the 2 chilled plates.
Serves 4
Nutrition information: 267 calories, 27 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat, 4 g saturated fats, 1012 mg sodium, 95 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber.
Source: South Beach cookbook.
Notes: The first time I had this, I used a fat-free Italian dressing, and it was okay, but I didn't love it. I got a little more and used fat-free Thousand Island Dressing instead and LOVED it. It also works quite well (obviously) with Blue Cheese Dressing too (though I have yet to find a really tasty fat-free blue cheese dressing). My suggestion would be to use your favorite kind of salad dressing because the toppings are complementary to a lot of different dressings.
Tuna, Cucumber, and Red Pepper Salad with Lemony Dill Dressing
Ingredients:
Lemony Dill Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Salad:
2 medium cucumbers, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cans (6.5 ounces each) solid white tuna, drained and flaked (see notes below)
Romaine lettuce
1 small lemon, peeled, seeded, and sliced (see notes below)
Directions:
To make the lemony dill dressing: Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt, and black pepper together in a small bowl.
To make the salad: Combine the cucumbers, bell pepper, and tuna in a large bowl. Set aside. Arrange the lettuce on 4 plates. Spoon the tuna mixture into the center of each plate. Arrange the lemon around the plates. Drizzle with the dressing.
Serves 4.
Nutrition information: 282 calories, 24 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 17 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 640 mg sodium, 39 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber.
Source: South Beach cookbook.
Notes: Rather than peeling the lemon, I quartered it and used the wedges to squeeze the juice over the salad. I also bought the pouches of albacore tuna (equaling about 13 ounces for the recipe) so that it wouldn't taste quite as "fishy." It was delicious! Honestly, it is a little more expensive, but this one change makes all the difference. I forgot to buy the pouches once and used canned and it wasn't quite as good.
Seafood Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (about l lb) large shell pasta, cooked according to package directions and drained
cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
mozzarella, cubed
1/2 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 pkg. imitation crabmeat
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
In large bowl, combine shell pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, imitation crabmeat, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. (Add whatever amount of tomatoes, mozzarella and crabmeat you desire to your taste)
Mix and chill well.
Serve chilled.
Source: Sarah's brain. Basically, this is a combination of some of my favorites: seafood, pasta, and caprese salad (I'll have to give you that recipe later on this summer--it is heavenly with home-grown tomatoes). I came up with this as an easy and light dinner for myself. It keeps quite well for about 1 week. As a college student, I would eat it for dinner every night the week after I made a batch. It would also make a wonderful side dish. If you don't like seafood, simply omit the imitation crabmeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment