All Salads Are Not Created Equal

Many women and men alike go for a salad at a restaurant thinking that they are selecting one of the healthiest items on the menu. While salads in theory are nutritious as much as delicious, several restaurants/businesses have over done themselves with adding on too many fatty ingredients to the salad and then drenching them with even worse for you dressings. While I have been there myself, opting for the fried chicken salad at the Loop on several occasions, it is important to remember that the word salad is not synonymous with getting your skinny jeans to fit. If you take a look at IHOP’s Chicken and Spinach Salad (seriously though, who orders a salad at IHOP when there are so many hangover curing options???), Eat This, Not That reports that there are 1,600 calories alone in the salad. The spinach leaves can barely hold up the over load of fried chicken, bacon, and cheese!

With these unknown land mines of salads hidden in practically every restaurant menu in America, it is important to be as conscious as possible about what you are ordering and how you are eating. Below are some salad eating tips at restaurants that I find very helpful:

1. Never order anything fried
2. Potato, tuna, chicken, and egg salad are NOT at all salads, so avoid them
3. Substitute croutons (this includes noodles for Asian themed salads) for nuts
4. Skimp on the cheeses
5. Never pour the dressing on the salad, dip your fork into it (my #1 faux pas)
6. Request low-fat, oil and vinegar, or vinaigrette salad dressings if possible
7. Request darker lettuces or spinach over iceberg lettuce
8. Load up on vegetables
9. Get proteins that are lean, such as chicken, pork tenderloin, or fish
10. If your salad comes in a shell (such as a tortilla shell) request for it to come in a bowl instead

While I do enjoy my fresh salad delivered straight to my table with a glass of wine at a restaurant, that doesn’t stop me from creating my own salads at home. This last summer, my friend Paige was home for the weekend and with both of us being extremely broke, we decided to catch up by making dinner at my house and renting a movie. Cooking dinner for two is always a challenge, but adding the fact that we both wanted something healthy made it practically impossible.

Luckily for me, Paige mentioned making a salad and using her family’s salad dressing recipe. At this point in my life, I had become (almost too) obsessed with making my own dressings and avoiding foods that where high in fat and sugars. Salad dressings that you buy in the store had become my enemies and I was determined to conquer them, so adding one more salad dressing recipe to my recipe box was always welcome.

With what I had at my house and what Paige brought from home, we had to buy only a few items at Publix. After making our salads (recipe below), I become obsessed with the salad dressing and started to make mass quantities of it and storing it in a croquet. The dressing is so simple to make, but has a flavorful punch that after months of eating salads with it, I’m still not sick of it. I have made it as a large salad using it for large family events and as a small salad as a side with my dinner. Either way, people are constantly are harassing me to share the recipe (which of course, I do). After all, the best recipes are worth sharing and that is what my site is all about. I hope that you enjoy the dressing as much as I do and can take the two salad options that I’m also sharing as spring-board for your own salad creates. Therefore, enjoy and eat up!

Miller Family Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp garlic, minced

Directions:

Whisk ingredients together. Store in croquet in fridge until use.

Summer Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sliced turkey breast
• 1/2 apple, cored and sliced
• 2 cups bagged spinach leaves
• 6 large strawberries, sliced
• 1/4 cup canned mandarin oranges, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup Emerald Cinnamon Almonds, crushed
• 2 tbsp “Miller Family Salad Dressing”

Directions:

In a large bowl, place all ingredients, except salad dressing, cheese, and almonds. Drizzle remaining ingredients over salad last (this will allow you to have the most control over the portions of what can make a healthy salad a heart attach on a plate) and toss with salad claws/tongs.

Note: Any fruits/ veggies can be substituted!

Cobb Salad

• 2 cups bagged spinach
• 2-4 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 – 1 sliced ugly tomato, cubed
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced
• 1/4 cup goat cheese
• 2 tbsp “Miller Family Salad Dressing”

Directions:

In a large bowl, place all ingredients. Drizzle salad dressing over salad last and toss with salad claws/tongs.

Note: Any fruits/ veggies can be substituted!

How to Hard Boil the PERFECT Egg

Many of people know how to fry fish, bake cookies, or steam shrimp (which if you ask me can all be complicated matters on their own), but the concept of boiling an egg can throw off even the most experienced cook. You sit there watching a pot, waiting for it to boil, and then gues-timate whether the egg is thoroughly cooked. It’s not until the egg is cooled, shelled, and sliced into that you will know if all your hard work has paid off and whether or not the egg is cooked properly. Your egg can go into two extreme categories: the yoke is still runny or the yoke is overcooked and is a greenish/grayish color (YUCK!). I’m don’t know which one is worse, but both can be the making or breaking of a good recipe. Luckily, I have done several practice runs and have come up with the perfect method of hard boiling the PREFECT egg. Follow my step-by-step instructions and you will have hard boiled eggs set to serve the queen (or Prince Harry which I would enjoy more). Pay attention, because you don’t want to miss anything….it is all very scientific.

How to Hard Boil an Egg:

1)      Pick the eggs in your fridge that are older (please throw oldest away…Double gross)

*TIP: Older eggs are better for boiling, younger eggs are better for frying

2)      Place your eggs in a deep, but small in circumference pot

*This will prevent your eggs from jumping around too much and reduce risk of the shell breaking

3)      Fill pot with cold water 1-inch above the eggs

4)      Add dash of salt and a splash of vinegar to the pot

*the salt helps stabilize the heat of the water and the vinegar will soften the shell allowing for easier peeling

5)      Put the pot on the stove

6)      Turn the burner on high/medium-high

7)      Watch the pot…(I told you it was going to be scientific)

8)      Once to pot comes to a roaring boil, turn the burner’s heat down to low/low-medium where the water is simmering

9)      Set a timer for 10 minutes (not a minute more or a minute less)

10)  Once the timer goes off remover the pot from the stove and ladle out the eggs

11)  Place the eggs in an ice bath

*This will stop the cooking process of the eggs and the yoke/whites will shrink allowing for even easier peeling

12)  Peel the eggs

13)  Slice the eggs and see the fruits of your labor!

 With your perfectly boiled eggs you can create many of dishes, but some of my favorites include: deviled eggs, egg salad, cob salad, or plain with salt and pepper to taste.