Chopped Kale and Chickpea Salad with Roasted Chicken in Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing

Was it a trend or something? Have you noticed that our "regular" salad has become much more vibrant and packed with nutrients, colors, and actual portion these few years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining here. Instead, I'm embracing the change. 

Have a big full serving of healthy but also delicious salad as a normal meal is now something I do once a while. So after trying many versions of nutritious salads at the restaurants, I've taken some inspirations here and there and came up with this recipe.

Chopped kale and chickpea salad with roasted chicken in red wine vinaigrette dressing - 

Ingredients (about two big servings)?

• 1/2 can or 120 grams chickpeas
• 1 chicken breast
• 80 grams kale (about one small bundle)
• 1 small chunk red cabbage
• 1/2 medium small broccoli
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper
• 1/3 cup or 28 grams dried cranberries 
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed dried Italian herbs
• 1 avocado
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How?  

Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsious/390 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Destem and remove the pith and seeds from the yellow bell pepper. Cut to medium thickness strips. We will need about half of the yellow bell pepper for the salad. Transfer the strips to one side of the baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Toss till blended.

To the other half of the baking sheet, transfer the chicken breast over. Season both sides with some salt and black pepper. Also rub with 1/4 teaspoon of dried Italian herbs. 

Transfer baking sheet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the edge of the yellow bell pepper strips start to turn slightly charred.

Once done baking, remove the sheet from the oven and let cool. After the temperature drops and able to handle by hand, slice the chicken breast to big bite size pieces.

As for the broccoli, trim-off the tougher outside layer for the stem then cut the whole thing to medium pieces. We will only need about half of the broccoli here. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in one small pinch of salt. Transfer the broccoli chunks over and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Use the leafy part for the kale only, chop to smaller pieces. Slice the red cabbage to thin strips.

Bring out a big container, add in the yellow bell pepper, kale, broccoli, red cabbage, drained chickpeas, and dried cranberries.

Also have a big cup ready, in there we're going to mix together 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1 teaspoon of alt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Taste and adjust if needed.

Pour most of that dressing to the big container with veggies. Toss till evenly blended.

Arrange the vegetables to serving plate. Halve the avocado and remove the seed. Slice then lay on top of the salad. Also lay the roasted chicken on top too. Drizzle the remaining red wine vinaigrette dressing all over.

I only used half of the avocado here for the picture. Later on I simply mixed in the other half of the avocado. Leftover red cabbage or yellow bell pepper are easy to utilize, but better just finish the entire avocado right away.

It's a shame that I didn't find silvered almonds anywhere, otherwise sprinkle some on top of the salad sounds like a really healthy and delicious idea. Should look even better too.

Extended reading:

• White bean and tuna salad (insalata di tonno e fagioli)
• Japanese katsuo tataki salad with miso and ponzu dressing
• Persimmon salad with mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

White Bean and Tuna Salad (Insalata di tonno e fagioli)

It's not important but just a little information about Italian in writing. I was checking which letter needs to be capitalized in a title when using Italian. Ended up only the first letter of the sentence plus proper nouns need to be capitalized. Proper nouns such as names and countries.

So my recipe here, white bean and tuna salad in Italian, insalata di tonno e fagioli, only that "i" in the beginning needs to be capitalized. A little knowledge boost while reading along this appetizing salad recipe.

White bean and tuna salad (Insalata di tonno e fagioli) -

Ingredients?

• 158 grams (110 grams solid) chunky canned tuna in oil
• 400 grams (240 grams solid) canned cannellini or other type of white beans
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Some balsamic vinegar 

How?

Drain the liquid from canned beans. Rinse the beans then drain well. Transfer to a big plate or container ready to be tossed together with other ingredients.

Drain the oil from canned tuna, I used high quality canned Ortiz tuna, which has been taste-approved worth every extra money spent. Use a fork and separate the fish to smaller chunks. Chop the parsley, we are going to use the leafy part only. Cut the tomato into smaller chunks. Add all of the above to the mixing container.

Peel and slice the red onion. Soak that in icy cold water for at least 5 minutes, which will help reducing that spicy taste. Once ready, drain and add to the mixing bunch too.

On top of these ingredients, also add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Toss till blended and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Transfer and rearranging to the actual serving plate. Drizzle over some balsamic vinegar, use balsamic glaze for a stronger acidic taste. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and the salad is now ready to serve. 

The reason why we let these ingredients rest for 10 minutes before serving is that the flavors will better blended with one another, more as a whole in the end. By the way, if for some reason you can't finish all the salad at once, simply store in a seal-tight container in the fridge. It'll last for couple more days fresh and delicious. 

Other salad ideas:

• Persimmon salad with mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico
• Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens

Japanese Katsuo Tataki Salad with Miso and Ponzu Dressing

Found a premade katsuo tataki at a Japanese grocery store. It's basically a nice piece of boneless bonito fish that's been seared and smoked with straw fire. There's no need to further cook it, simply slice and enjoy, sometimes with other ingredients and dressing to double up the flavors.

I would love to utilize such treasure find for a salad recipe. If you can't get a hold of premade katsuo tataki, I do have an earlier recipe with easier steps for fish tataki. Otherwise, a simple sashimi grade hearty fish would also work here.

Japanese katsuo tataki salad with miso and ponzu dressing - 

Ingredients (about 2 portions)?

• 200 grams katsuo tataki
• 2 loosely packed cups salad greens
• 1 1/2 loosely packed cups mitsuba leaf
• 10 cherry tomatoes

Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 3 tablespoons ponzu
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "dressing" section and make sure the sugar has been mostly dissolved.

Slice the fish to thick pieces. Two alternatives, you can make the simple tataki from scratch or simply use sashimi grade fish.

Arrange salad greens and mitsuba leaves on serving plates. I love the aroma of mitsuba, otherwise you can use mizuna or even baby arugula as substitutes. 

Slice cherry tomatoes in half and arrange on the leafy greens. Arrange fish slices all over.

Pour some dressing on top, simple and easy.

Talking about the katsuo tataki I've got here, I saw an even fancier variety using Japanese amberjack at a high-end local market. The flesh looked so delicious, but when I checked the price tag, perhaps some other time.

Extended reading:

• Tuna tataki coated with double roasted white sesame seeds

Persimmon Salad with Mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

Persimmon is in season now! I fell in love with persimmon during my visit to Japan many years ago. It was during fall/winter months, perfect time to enjoy persimmon. To make it even better, all the persimmons I had when in Japan were from Michelin-starred restaurants, so one can imagine the quality and sweetness of the fruit were superb. 

I became a persimmon fan ever since, and must have my share of top-notch persimmon when the weather becomes chilly, when the fall months begin. Persimmon is great by itself, but do you know that you can also turn it into a dish? Similar to stone fruits, persimmon can be a great ingredient in salad.

Persimmon salad with mozzarella and jamón Ibérico - 

Ingredients?

• 1 persimmon (sweeter the better)
• 125 grams solid weight mozzarella ball
• 20 grams jamón Ibérico
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt
• Some fleur de sel or salt flakes (optional)
• Some black pepper

 

How?

I got an imported Japanese persimmon at the grocery store. A bit pricey but I only eat like no more than three persimmons per year, a little indulgence seems fair. 

Peel and slice the persimmon to irregular chunks. Mix that with some salt, cracked black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Scatter the persimmon onto a serving plate.

Drain the liquid from the mozzarella ball package. Tear the cheese with your hand and scatter onto the serving plate.

Do the same for jamón Ibérico, arrange the ham among the persimmon and mozzarella.

Crack more black pepper on top and sprinkle some fleur de sel or high quality salt flakes. Of course you can use regular salt but I think bigger salt crystals can better help drawing out the sweetness from the persimmon.

Also drizzle a bit more extra virgin olive oil as a finishing touch.

It's really important to use the sweetest persimmon you can find for this salad recipe, especially I didn't use any additional sugary ingredients here. Only sweeter persimmon carry equal power to the salt we used and the umami-packed jamón Ibérico.

I can imagine adding a few pieces of mint leaves in the salad works too, but I'll leave that to you. The herbal note form the extra virgin olive oil is enough for my liking. 

Other salad recipes:

• Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens
• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette 

Salsa Salad with Roasted Chicken and Baby Greens

Nothing can go wrong with salsa. Seriously, salsa on its own is delicious enough, but it can even act like a flavor boost when pairing with other ingredients. If you love a basic and simple salsa, my salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens won't disappoints.

Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 portions)?

Roasted chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Some salt
• Some black pepper

Others:

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small canned corn kernels
• 1 small box baby salad greens
• 1/2 small onion
• 1/2 lemon (need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice from it)
• Small bundle cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Some black pepper

How?

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with foil. Transfer chicken breasts over.

Rub both sides of the chicken with some salt and black pepper. Also rub in dried oregano, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Drizzle some olive oil on top, about 1 tablespoon for each breast.

Into the oven for 15 plus or minus 2 minutes. Once fully cooked through, remove from heat and let the chicken rest till cool enough to handle by hand. Once ready, slice to big cubes and set aside.

Peel and cube the onion. Cube the tomatoes. Drain out the liquid from canned corn kernels. Finely chop the cilantro. Add all these ingredients to a big mixing bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix till evenly blended. Taste and adjust if needed. 

Mix in cubed chicken and give it a few gentle mixes. Lastly fold in baby salad greens. Don't over mix it here otherwise the leaves might get too soggy early on.

Plate and crack more black pepper on top. 

If you don't like the taste of raw onion, simply soak the chopped onion to icy cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain well then add to the salad mixture. This will help drawing out some of the pungency from the onion.  

Other salad recipes:

• Avocado salad with Serrano ham and cherry tomatoes
• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette
• Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrette

Avocado Salad with Serrano Ham and Cherry Tomatoes

Mister's mom is very kind to us. Once a while she'll send over a big box of fruits. This time around, there're three avocados among all the mangoes, blueberries, apples, and bananas. Most of the fruits can wait, but the avocados seemed ripe enough, which leaves me maximum 2 days to figure out a way to finish these darkened green goodies. 

Upon checking my fridge stock, a quick run to the grocery store to grab a small box of cherry tomatoes then I should be all set. Whipped up a big plateful of avocado salad just right before they're too mushy to work with.

Avocado salad with Serrano ham and cherry tomatoes - 

Ingredients?

• 2 to 3 ripe avocados
• 225 grams (125 grams solids) mozzarella cheese
• 100 grams Serrano ham
• 24 to 30 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 lemon

Dressing:

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed Italian herbs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

How?

Mix all the ingredients under the "dressing" section.

Halve the avocados, remove the cores and its peel. Cut the avocados to big cubes if the shape holds, slightly mushy on the edges shouldn't be too big of a problem.

Halve the cherry tomatoes. Tear the cheese to smaller pieces, do the same with Serrano ham. Transfer all these ingredients to a big mixing bowl.

Pour in the dressing and mix till blended. Taste and see if more salt or other seasonings are needed.

Plate and grate the lemon right over.

I didn't use too much salt for the dressing because Serrano ham can be quite salty already. If you can't find the ham you like, smoked salmon works just as well.

It'll be nice if I can share some of the salad to Mister's mom, but she's a vegetarian so the Serrano ham won't work here. Perhaps I can try to figure something vegan with the boxful of goodies she sent. That way she'll be able to get a taste of these fruity transformation next time. 

Extended reading:

• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette
• Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrette

What to Do With Leftover Mint Leaves? Try This Cucumber and Mint Salad

If you grow your own mint at home, that's wonderful. Many recipes only call for a small amount of mint leaves, so when needs arise, you can simply go nip off a few pieces. It's not that easy per my case though. I tried to grow mint before, don't get me wrong, my mint was thriving. However, I guess it became an ideal home for the caterpillars. I'd never thought mint can attract insects. So there it goes my plant, I'm not brave enough to pick out the worms one by one. I have to source my mint supplies at a market instead from now on.

One thing about buying mint leaves is that you have to buy at least a small bundle, but most of the time we only need just a few leaves. Few weeks ago, I used some mint for caldo de albóndigas, and have to figure out another recipe to finish the rest. That's how this recipe was born, cucumber salad with leftover mint leaves.

Cucumber and mint salad - 

Ingredients (about 1 medium plateful)?

• 3 skinny variety cucumbers
• 1/4 small red onion
• 50 grams pancetta slices
• 3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How?

My leftover mint leaves, now I can finally put them to good use. 

Peel and finely dice the red onion. Finely chop the mint leaves. Soak the onion in icy cold water for at least 15 minutes. After done soaking, drain and pat dry with a kitchen towel.

Remove the ends of cucumbers, cut into small cubes, and transfer to a bowl. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the bowl and gently massage into the cucumber. Let it set for about 10 minutes, this will draw out some water from the cucumber.

There is no need to rinse the cucumber afterwards, simply squeeze out even more liquid then pat dry with a kitchen towel.

Whisk together all the ingredients under the "dressing" section. Transfer the dressing to a big container. Also add in prepped cucumber, onion, and mint leaves. Toss and give it a taste, adjust according to your own preference, but keep in mind that we'll be adding salty pancetta in the end.

Plate the salad and arrange pancetta slices throughout. You can also substitute pancetta with smoked salmon. I suppose if you'd like, adding some mini mozzarella balls also sounds like a good idea.

Make sure not to skip the onion soaking step, because the ice cold water will help reduce that pungent taste from the onion. What works even better? Use filtered running water instead.

Other salad recipes:

• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette
• Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrettte
• Thai seafood salad 泰式涼拌沙拉

Pear and Danish Blue Cheese Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

My hubby's family eats a lot of fruits, I really mean it. Sometimes we stopped by for a short visit, we will also end up with bags or full box of fruits to take home with. Keep in mind that it's only two of us here. This time my mother-in-law told the vendor to drop-off some fruits to us directly instead. There're bananas, apples, lychee, peaches, and pears. Pear sounds great, on top of eating pears as it is, it's pretty versatile for savory dishes too. I can turn pears into Korean barbecue marinade, or salad with some blue cheese like this recipe below.

Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette - 

Ingredients (for two portions)?

• 1/2 or 1/4 Asian pear 
• 50 grams blue cheese 
• 1 medium small box mixed salad greens
• 12 to 14 roasted candied walnuts
• Some extra virgin olive oil 
• Some black pepper

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Peel and remove the core inside the pear. Cut into bite size chunks then thinly slice the pear. Depending on the size of the pear, about half or a quarter should be enough.

Peel and finely chop the garlic. Mix the chopped garlic together with all other ingredients listed under the "dressing" section. Stir or shake well till the sugar has been fully dissolved.

If not sure about the acidity level, start with 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar first. Taste and adjust the amount of vinegar used accordingly. 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar will give you a more sourish taste, which I enjoyed a lot, not my hubby though. Need to tone down the vinegar used for his portion.

Transfer the salad greens to a big bowl and pour over the dressing. Toss till blended. Transfer the salad greens to serving plates.

Crumble some blue cheese over. I used creamy Danish blue cheese, gorgonzola works great too. Arrange pear slices and candied walnuts throughout.

Lastly, drizzle extra virgin olive oil if preferred, also crack some black pepper right before serving. 

This is also a vegetarian version of pear and blue cheese salad. However, smoked salmon or prosciutto can be added if you'd like.

Family love overload, but no complaints there, we are feeling blessed. Now that pears are gone, time to tackle other fruits piling up in the fridge.

Extended reading:

• Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrette

Colorful Chickpea Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

Most of my blog readers are from the States or Southeast Asian countries, which is interesting that Taiwan, my own country didn't even make to the top list. I am guessing that because this is an English-based recipe blog, the majority of local Taiwanese still prefer to browse the web using Chinese. Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia are more accustomed to English, as opposed to Taiwan.

So it should be fair to say that a big portion of readers that came across my blog should feel the heat recently? The rising temperature seemed unstoppable and it might just get worse over the years. As for a recipe blog, the summer heat shouts out for something light, refreshing, and tangy. Perhaps this colorful salad will cool you down a bit, and if that happens, a little off the topic here, but maybe turn-off the ac for half the day? Or try to up the temperature setting couple degrees? It won't help as much to the overall global warming issue, but at least a friendly gesture that's not too hard nor too troublesome to contribute a bit effort. Every little action counts, I believe.

Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrette -

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

• 1 can/400 grams total with 240 grams solids chickpeas
• 30 colorful cherry tomatoes
• 3 skinny cucumber
• 1 pack/75 grams smoked salmon
• 1 pack/285 grams total with 150 grams solids mini mozzarella balls
• 1 small bundle dill
• 1 palmful edible flower (optional)

White wine vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

How?

I've got some edible flowers this time, adding something blue to the salad for that extra visual effect. 

Tear the smoked salmon into bite size pieces. Remove the cucumber ends then dice into cubes. Pick out the thin dill and give it a fine chop, we will need about 2 tablespoons of chopped dill for this recipe. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Drain the liquid for the mini cheese balls, also drain out the liquid for canned chickpeas. Arrange diced cucumber, halved tomatoes, chopped dill, and chickpeas in a big bowl. 

Mix all the ingredients under the "white wine vinaigrette" section, stir or shake well. The white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil ratio I've got here is 1:1, which will give you a pretty tangy result. You can tone down the acidity by starting off using 1:2 vinegar to olive oil ratio first, then gradually increase the amount of vinegar for a more sourish taste. 

Once you've got the acidity that suits your preference, taste and see if the vinaigrette needs more salt. Adjust accordingly.

Pour the vinaigrette to the bowl with chickpeas, mix till blended. 

Transfer vinaigrette-coated ingredients to serving plates. Arrange smoked salmon and mini mozzarella balls throughout. Lastly, garnish with some pretty edible flowers if using.

It's tangy yet refreshing, should be quite suitable under such scorching heat these days.

On a side note, I've got the urge of "doing something good" today. On top of the global warming talk in the beginning, here's one petition I came across while wondering off in-between writing up this recipe. It's about freeing an orca that has been kept in captivity for over forty years. Comparing that with us whining about being bored staying at home during the COVID-19 lockdown and you'll truly feel for the orca. 

Take a look at the article below and judge for yourself. Perhaps sign the petition or spread the word if you feel the same way as I do. See the link below:

Free Lolita, the "Loneliest Orca in the World"

Other salad recipes:

• Thai seafood salad 泰式涼拌沙拉
• Warm salad with yellow ham and seared steak
• Hijiki salad (ひじきサラダ)