Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Garden Wedge Salad with Bacon and Paleo "Blue Cheese" Dressing


Happy Spring, everyone! It looks nothing like Spring in our Emerald City. Every day has been gray skies with showers everyday. I know outsiders believe it rains all year in Seattle but this year, it feels as if they're right! It's as if Fall and Spring have gone to war with Winter and the frost just keeps winning. I think Game of Thrones buzz words have really gotten to me.

So, let's talk salad, shall well? This iceberg wedge has a small vegetable garden surrounding it: raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, green onion and pine nuts. Lightly dropped on top of a slightly runny faux blue cheese dressing, which happens to be paleo!

I did grab this organic iceberg lettuce from my neighborhood co-op but everything else was bought at the grocery store down the street. This salad makes me want to create my own little herb garden for the spring. I was doing some reading on growing herbs and veggies that can be planted together. I will say the the main issue with planting in the city (urban planting, if you will) is finding the space and remembering to water them. The other issue is keeping up with the maintenance and knowing when it's time to trim or start anew. I love the idea of giving them as gifts to friends for housewarmings or thank yous throughout the summer.


What I would like to grow for my next place: 
  • Basil (which, apparently doesn't play well with others)
  • Carrots 
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Chives
  • Ginger (tricky)
  • Green Onions
  • Lemongrass
  • Mint (also doesn't play well) 
  • Radishes
  • Rosemary
  • Oregano
  • Sage
  • Thyme 
This will be such a fun little project for one of these weekends. Despite the weather, I've been trying to stay as active as possible. I started up weight lifting again, as well as walking around Green Lake every few days. It's something I started last year to keep myself accountable and to meet up with girlfriends, instead of going to happy hours. This year I've been trying to keep everything a bit more healthy and that includes going paleo until Easter Sunday. Wish me luck! 


As always, friends, the recipe is below. What plants are you growing and what do you do to keep active when it's raining? 




Garden Wedge Salad with Bacon and Paleo Blu Cheese

Crisp spring salad, straight from the garden. Iceberg lettuce cut in quarters with cherry tomatoes, carrots, green onion and sprinkled with pine nuts on top of a paleo blu cheese dressing. Don't forget the bacon!

Recipe by: The Salad Trip

Ingredients: 
Salad:
- 8 Uncured Bacon, slices
- 1 Iceberg Lettuce, smal
- 2 Carrots, diced
- 2 Green Onion, sliced
- 8 - 10 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
- 1/4 Cup Pine Nuts

Paleo "Blue Cheese" Dressing:
- 1/2 Cup Cashews, chopped, soaked in water over night and drained
- 1/2 Cup Primal Mayo (I use Primal Kitchen)
- 1/4 Cup Almond Milk, original unsweetened (check to make sure it's paleo, you can also use coconut milk but it might be a little sweet)
- 1/4 to 1/2 a Lemon, small
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- a pinch of salt
- pepper to taste

Instructions:

First step for the salad is to cooker you bacon. Either pan fry or stick on a tin foil in the oven for 12 minutes at 325*.

While bacon is cooking, chop lettuce into quarters starting right down the middle. Set in 4 plates.

Dice carrots, slice green onion, quarter cherry tomatoes and decorate plates with them.

For the Paleo "Blue Cheese" dressing, combine your primal mayo, almond (or coconut) milk, garlic and onion powder, salt and juice from your lemon in a small bowl or mason jar. Mix well. Then, add your well chopped cashews (that have soaked over night) and add them to your mix. Mix Well.

Dressing should be runny and should be poured over wedges heartily. Sprinkle each plate with pine nuts and you're done! These are great and easy for lunch at the office. They definitely turn heads!

Take a picture, post to instagram, #thesaladtrip and enjoy!

Details:

Prep time:  10 mins  Cook time: 10 - 12 mins  Total time: 22 mins  Yield: 4 Servings

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