Salmon Cabbage Salad with Simple Rosemary Dressing

Sometimes you just need a light lunch and this does the trick. The best thing about salads is you can eat a TON of lettuce with very little setback. About 2 cups of lettuce (depending on the kind) is about 50 calories. The bad part about salads is the dressing. I like my salad dressed up. I know people who don’t need dressing on their salad but I like a little bit. Salad dressings are one of those things that can be loaded with unnatural, unhealthy ingredients. This salad dressing I made is simple, natural and light. The salad gets a lot of its flavor from the salmon. If you season your salmon properly, you won’t need a lot of extra flavors from the dressing. If you are not a fan of salmon, you could swap in shrimp or chicken but the salmon provides a lot of essential oils and nutrients. On a busy week, I will make salmon or chicken one night and make some extra. I’ll slice it up for my salads or lettuce wraps throughout the week; it makes for quick meal prep! This makes about 4 servings

2 salmon fillets (about 3 oz each)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp lemon juice

4 cups salad greens, chopped (I like romaine, kale mix)

1 cup carrots, diced

2 cups red cabbage, chopped

Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp vinegar (I like coconut or white wine)

1 tsp rosemary, chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

Zest from one lemon

½ tsp black pepper

Season salmon fillets with turmeric, pepper, salt and lemon juice. Sauté your salmon fillets in a skillet for about 8 minutes per side or you can grill your salmon. Salmon is cooked through when it starts to flake with a fork. In a large serving bowl, combine salad greens, cabbage and carrots. Flake salmon fillets with a fork and sprinkle into salad mixture. Top with dressing and gently toss together. 

Thanksgiving Menu Ideas

I can’t believe it is already time to post this. I’m a little nervous about the holidays this year. This will be the first year for a gluten-free Thanksgiving. Last year I was on a pretty strict diet, but I cheated a little and suffered the consequences. This year – none of that! I’m not nervous about the food. I’m nervous about the interactions during meal time. I definitely don’t want to hurt feelings or step on toes about not eating what the family cooks. However – I simply can’t afford to have a bad day due to poor diet choices. So here goes nothing (wish me luck!) As I’m sure many of you are doing, we are traveling some. We aren’t traveling far but we do have several dinners to go to or make. One thing I will miss this year – my mom’s pumpkin pie and my mother-in-law’s ham. Oh gosh… my mom always makes an extra pumpkin pie, just for me! I take it home; eat it again that night, for breakfast the next day, etc. We will have to work on an alternative but for now, no “Mom’s Famous” pumpkin pie for this girl. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t have to suffer or feel guilty about not eating holiday meals. There are many options out there; you just have to find what’s best for you. What we have decided to do is to just make our own “traveling” Thanksgiving dinner. I will make our own meal and take it to the dinners we are going to. For those coming to our house to eat, they can eat what we cook. If they don’t want to, they can bring their own. It’s not the best solution I’m sure, but it’s the best one we’ve come up with. I can’t touch, eat, or be around gluten. If anyone has other suggestions – I’m all for hearing about them! Anyway – I wanted to present some options to any of you having this same problem. Or if any of you are just wanting to try something new this holiday season, try one of the recipes below! Either way, it’s Thanksgiving and it’s a great time of year to be thankful for what we have. Whether you are doing a typical family tradition, or like us – trying something new, just remember how fortunate we all are. I sometimes find myself wondering why this happened to me, but at the end of the day I have to be thankful. I’m thankful God put me in this position to help me learn and challenge me. I have learned so much about taking care of my body and my health. My situation has also made me realize how fortunate it is to enjoy a meal with family. Something as simple as dinner can be taken away so quickly. Some may not be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner due to food allergies or illnesses. Others may simply not be able to afford it. Regardless, I am so very thankful for the opportunity to create a tasty, healthy meal on this wonderful day and I hope you all are too. Of course, I’m thankful for millions of other things but this is a food blog after all! Check out the full day’s menu options below and try some of the recipes – they should all be linked to the original posts complete with pictures. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

    

Breakfast:

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls (Maple or Original)
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes – my most popular! (for extra energy if you have having a late lunch)
Cinnamon Scones
Appetizers
Shrimp Dip
Veggie Pizza
Watermelon Mint Jam – served with crackers/chips
Smoked Chicken Antipasto
Lunch/Dinner:
Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts - for an alternative to turkey
Made Over Mashed Potatoes
Balsamic Green Beans
Roasted Fall Veggies
Deceptive Mac & Cheese
Stuffed Acorn Squash (or stuffing)
Mushrooms, Onions & Swiss Chard
Butternut Pumpkin Biscuits
Red Wine Cranberry Sauce
Desserts
Upside Down Apple Cake
Cranberry Pear Crisp with Lavender – my favorite!
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – for the kids!
Pumpkin Pie with Almond Crust – if you want to get real fancy
Beverages
Apple Cider
Pumpkin Spiced Chai Latte
Strawberry Lemonade  - for the kids

Turkey Cranberry Sandwich

If you liked my cranberry spread, you will love it on this sandwich. I know making a sandwich is not hard to do and this one is very simple but sometimes you find the right combination and it is too good not to share. Turkey and cranberry just go together and with the holidays coming up I hope you remember this for any leftovers you may have. It’s also perfect to make ahead and take for a quick and easy lunch as it is just as good cold as it is hot! Makes 1 sandwich. Enjoy!

2 slices of gluten-free bread (I love Udi’s or homemade)

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp cranberry orange spread
2 slices of deli turkey meat (A local market has a great honey roasted turkey)
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 tsp dairy free butter

• Spread butter on both sides of bread slices.
• On a hot griddle, lay bread slices and cook for about 5 minutes or they start to brown.
• On the griddle, warm turkey slices.
• Flip over bread slices to cook the other side.
• On one slice of bread, spread Dijon mustard. On the other side, spread the cranberry orange spread.
• Layer the slice of cheese on a bread slice.
• Top with turkey slices and then the remaining bread slice. Serve immediately.
• You can obviously cook this on a Panini press but I don’t have one so the griddle worked fine!

Cucumber Spring Rolls

These cute little guys are perfect for lunch or a snack. I get tired of eating salads for lunch at work so one day I decided to throw these rolls together. They turned out great. My son also enjoyed eating them as they were more “fun” than most of the things we have for lunch. Serve these with some ranch dressing or try my Asian Sesame dressing (found with this salad). They are also just fine by themselves. Depending on how thick you slice your cucumber, this makes about 6 rolls.

1 large cucumber

2 radishes
4 baby carrots
1/4 cup cabbage

• Using a mandolin, slice the cucumbers lengthwise (about 1/8” thick). Discard the slices with a lot of seeds, if desired.
• Chop radishes, carrots and cabbage into thin strips.
• Place a slice of cucumber on a cutting board and sprinkle on radishes, carrots and cabbage.
• Carefully roll up cucumber slice and secure with a toothpick.
• Don’t fill the slices too thick or they won’t roll very well.

Meditteranean Salad

This little salad is a real treat. I love the mixture of the olives, peppers and cheese. They provide a nice salty mixture to the fresh salad blend. I basically took things I like to add to a deli sandwich and turned it to a light and refreshing salad. It is perfect for lunch by itself. This is just for one serving, but you can easily double or triple for more people. Enjoy!

1 cup mixed salad greens (I used spinach, romaine, red leaf, and arugula)

2 small pepperoncini peppers, from a jar, sliced into rings
3 kalamata olives, chopped
½ large tomato, chopped
1-2 oz of shredded chicken, cooked
1 Tbsp feta or blue cheese
1 tsp Greek dressing

• Put salad greens in a large cereal bowl. Add in peppers, olives, tomato and chicken. Top with cheese and drizzle over salad dressing. Serve immediately for best results.

Smoky Chickpea Salad

Sometimes a quick, light salad will do just the trick for dinner on a warm summer night. I eat salad on a daily basis – for lunch, dinner, snack or all three. I do get a little bored with them though so I try to find new ways to freshen them up. I am fine with having a salad for dinner with a small piece of bread or something. However, my hungry son and husband can’t live off of lettuce. The chickpeas in the salad add a little protein and also add a little something extra to plain ol’ lettuce. The boys of course prefer Ranch dressing, but I like a simple vinegar/olive oil vinaigrette.

1 can chickpeas rinsed

1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp liquid smoke
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp honey
¼ cup roasted red pepper, chopped
¼ cup leeks, chopped
1 bunch of romaine lettuce, chopped
2 slices smoked provolone cheese, chopped

• In a large skillet, combine chickpeas, paprika, smoke, garlic salt and honey and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine lettuce, leeks, peppers and cheese in a large serving bowl.
• After the chickpeas have cooled for a bit, pour them over salad. Best if served immediately.

Zesty Corn Salad

Corn on the cob is one of my son’s favorite. We had some leftover grilled corn and I decided to use it to make this salad. What’s great about this is you can use a little bit of whatever you have on hand. Don’t have cucumber, throw in some zucchini. How about some red onion or bell peppers?? Go ahead – give it a try!

1 ear of grilled corn on the cob

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 cup romaine lettuce, chopped
½ cup cucumbers, diced
¼ cup onion, diced
½ tsp parsley
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

• Remove  kernels from ear of corn into a medium serving bowl.
• Add in tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and onion.
• Mix together parsley, thyme, salt and vinegar into a small bowl.
• Pour vinegar dressing over salad. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until ready to serve.