salad

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

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greek orzo pasta salad

In the summer I crave side dishes that are easy and light. When the weather is gorgeous I want to spend as much time on the patio enjoying the grill and mosquitos, not standing in my house slaving over a hot stove. And, with all those meats, hamburgers and hot dogs cooking on the grill, we need something light and fresh to round it out.

Pasta salad is definitely a summer staple, but I find many of them to be a bit heavy, and every once in a while I like to switch up the flavours. This Greek Pasta Salad goes great with pretty much any grilled meat and the flavours and textures are light, fresh and crisp. In my opinion, a standby recipe for summer grilling.

I should probably mention that the photo above shows quite a bit more olives than are in the actual recipe. My family is crazy for olives so I went a little overboard the first time, haha.

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

The orzo may be substituted with couscous.

  • 1 cup orzo pasta
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 of a red onion, diced small
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach

Cook pasta according to package directions. Strain. Place in a salad bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons dressing. Allow to cool.

Add feta, olives, onion, celery and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with remaining 1 tablespoon dressing. Add more, if desired, to taste.

Serves: 6

Pecan Crusted Chicken & Apple Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

By in Main Dish, Poultry 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , ,

Pecan Crusted Chicken & Apple Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Oh goodness. I don”t even know how to begin telling you how absolutely delicious this salad is. The only thing I can think to say is that it was so good I was craving it for dessert. Really.

Chicken breasts coated in a pecan, sesame seed, flour mixture – pan-fried til crisp and then baked in the oven. Served over a bed of salad greens, apple slices, red onion, dried cranberries and almonds. All of that drizzled with a simple Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette. It”s heaven on a plate I tell you!

My three year old son had three helpings, and gobbled up every last drop of everything. I think this will become a regular at our table when we want something a little lighter but still with the warmth and feel of fall.

As you can see there are no cranberries in the salad pictured, but they are listed in the ingredients below. That”s because both me and my grocery store were lacking in the cranberry department. But I just know they would be perfect in this salad and will be adding them next time.

This is even tasty as leftovers (with everything stored separately). I ate it the next day while the chicken was cold and I thought it was just as delicious as when it was fresh. So, if you wanted to make the chicken ahead and pack this for lunch throughout the week that would be a very viable and tasty option.

I have no problems eating salad for dinner when it tastes this good. If you get tired of all the heavy fall food I encourage you to give this recipe a try.

Pecan Crusted Chicken & Apple Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

For the assembly of the salad I don”t have an exact measurement of ingredients because my family likes to make and customize the amounts on their own. Feel free to pre-assemble the salad or leave the ingredients separately for people to make their own.

Pecan Crusted Chicken

  • 4 chicken breasts, flattened slightly

  • 2 tablespoons milk

Coating Mixture

  • 1/4 cup flour

  • 1/2 cup pecans

  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

  • 3/4 teaspoon paprika

  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Place coating ingredients in a food processor and process until pecans are finely ground, transfer to a shallow dish. Alternatively you can chop the pecans finely by hand and simply mix the ingredients together.

Coat chicken in milk and then in coating mixture. Pan-fry in a small amount of oil, in a large non-stick skillet, until coating is crisp and golden. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing on a diagonal. Or, refrigerate once completely cool for use later.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • pinch salt

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Whisk together vinegar, syrup and salt. Whisk in oil, in a steady stream, until combined.

Salad

  • mixed salad greens

  • 2 apples, thinly sliced

  • red onion, sliced

  • dried cranberries

  • pecan crusted chicken, sliced

  • sliced almonds

  • maple balsamic vinaigrette

Place salad greens on a plate. Top with apples, onion and cranberries. Place a chicken breast on top and sprinkle with almonds. Drizzle with vinaigrette just before serving.

Serves: 4

Pecan Crusted Chicken recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

Greek Chicken Kabobs and Salad

By in Main Dish, Meat, Poultry 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Greek Chicken Kabob Salad

I always seem to make salad for supper on the night my husband is most hungry and a hearty meal when he comes home without an appetite. I could be a good wife and let him know ahead of time what we’re eating, so he could prepare his stomach accordingly, but why ruin the surprise? Besides, if I make salad for dinner you better believe there’s going to be dessert. It’s all about balance. :)

The first night I made this we gobbled it down in no time flat and I was craving it for days afterwards. So much so, that I put it on the menu again for the next week.

It uses my favourite Greek Dressing, which is tangy and packed with flavour - it’s a breeze to throw together and stores well at room temperature for quite a while. The chicken is marinated in the dressing, soaking up all that flavour, then threaded onto skewers and cooked on the grill. Throw together a simple salad, with the same dressing, while the meat cooks and you have dinner on the table in no time.

On super-hot days, when appetites are practically non-existent, it makes a light and tasty dinner. But just to make sure, I like to serve it with a side of Foccacia. That way, if James comes home extra hungry he doesn’t have to starve (or eat a double portion of dessert). :)

Greek Chicken Kabobs and Salad

Greek Dressing
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1.5 teaspoons pepper
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 1.5 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons dijon
  • 3/4 cup olive oil

Place vinegar, seasonings and dijon in a blender or food processor (or use a handheld blender); pulse to combine. With the blender running, slowly pour in oil and process until creamy (emulsified). Store, covered, at room temperature.

Makes: 1.5 cups

Greek Chicken Kabobs
  • 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into chunks
  • 1/4 cup greek dressing

Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag or tupperware; coat with dressing. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to marinate (or leave at room temperature for 30 minutes).

Thread onto metal or soaked-wooden skewers. Grill over medium heat until cooked through.

Salad
  • 130g baby spinach (8 cups)
  • 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and chopped
  • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup cubed feta
  • 1/2 cup olives, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • greek dressing, to taste

Place spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, olives and onion in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Add dressing and toss again. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Greek Dressing adapted from Allrecipes.

Chunky Cucumber Salad

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Chunky Cucumber Salad

I”m not a great salad person. I love salads, don”t get me wrong, but I seem to enjoy them more as a main dish because you can add things like grilled chicken and black beans. Most of the time they fall flat as a side dish for me since I seem to have absolutely no creativity when it comes to vegetables. (Fruity salads on the other hand don”t seem to be a problem.) One of my goals is to try to find more side-salads to add to my repertoire. So, if you know any good ones feel free to shout them out!

We”ve been making this salad since last year. It started out as just a cucumber and tomato salad since the guys love cucumber. Then we made a few more additions and turned it into a favourite. So much so that it”s pretty much the only salad we eat. And so far we haven”t gotten tired of it (that”s saying a lot).

I wasn”t sure what to call this salad. It”s pretty reminiscent of a greek salad but it tastes nothing like it since it”s coated in ranch dressing rather than a greek vinaigrette. It goes great with pretty much any main dish or grilled meat and it takes advantage of those plentiful summer cucumbers and tomatoes.

One thing I have learned is that the key to a tasty salad is seasoning the vegetables with salt and pepper before dressing. This seriously makes all the difference and I strongly encourage you to try it in all your savoury salads.

What”s your go-to salad at dinnertime?

Chunky Cucumber Salad

Feel free to adjust the amounts to your taste. I always just toss things in until it looks good, so this is an estimation of the amounts you use. Do what”s best for you.

  • 1 english cucumber, quartered and chopped

  • 1 heaping cup cherry tomatoes, halved

  • salt and pepper, to taste

  • 1/4 cup (heaping) olives, sliced lengthwise

  • 1/2 cup chopped feta

  • 1 cup croutons

  • 2 tablespoons ranch dressing

  1. Place cucumbers and tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

  2. Add olives, feta, croutons and dressing. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Feeding a crowd? To make this salad stretch further add a head of chopped romaine lettuce.

Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

By in Condiments, Featured, GF Sides, Sides, Simple Bites 5 Comments Tags: , , , ,

strawberry salad

Every year I get more and more excited about cooking with the seasons and enjoying fruits and vegetables at their peak. We’ve been buying strawberries almost every week since they started showing up in the grocery stores. I’m sooo ready to stop buying apples and pears for a while.

My husband usually doesn’t like strawberry salads but we’ve had this one quite a few times already and he loves it. As do I. The flavours meld so wonderfully together and just sing of spring.

I created this recipe for my friend Aimée from Simple Bites who’s having a Salute Spring! series on her blog this week. Make sure to check it out for more yummy ways to celebrate spring.

“I have an early childhood memory of stumbling upon some wild strawberries on the top of a hill. They were so teeny tiny but I remember them being the best strawberries I had ever tasted. I’m sure in the mind of a four year old discovering wild strawberries and picking them on your own automatically qualifies them as tasting The Best!”

You can read more and get the recipe on Simple Bites. I’d love to see you there!

Mandarin Orange Broccoli Salad

By in GF Sides, Gluten Free, Sides 8 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

This is a twist off of my mom”s Broccoli Salad recipe. Hers is packed full of yummy goodness like grapes, sesame seeds, grated carrots and crumbled bacon. Although it is one of my favorite salads to eat, I”m much to lazy to make it for a weeknight dinner. This is my simplified version with a bit different ingredients which I think is just as yummy.

The dressing on this salad is sweet and tangy lending itself to all sorts of fruit and nut combinations. You could really mix this up with any type of fruit and nuts you like. Strawberries and almonds would be a nice change. Or, how about apples and walnuts. Mmm.. apple season. I”m actually getting quite excited about fall and all it”s produce.

I chose to fill mine with broccoli, mandarin oranges, cashews, dried cranberries and red onion. It”s a stunning combination. And, this is a great do ahead too, although you”ll want to add the nuts just before serving as they tend to get soggy.

What yummy combinations would your salad consist of?

Mandarin Orange Broccoli Salad

  • 1 head of broccoli florets (4 cups)

  • 1 can mandarin oranges, drained

  • 1/2 cup cashews

  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion

  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise

  • 3 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

  • pinch dry mustard

  1. Place broccoli, oranges, cashews, onion and cranberries in a large bowl. Set aside.

  2. Mix together mayo, sugar, vinegar, oil and mustard. Pour over salad ingredients and mix lightly to coat.

  3. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

* If making ahead leave out cashews until just before serving or they will get soggy.

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