Kale, Quinoa and Roasted Mini Pepper Salad

Inspired by @kalememaybe’s quinoa and roasted mini pepper salad with crispy chickpeas, roasted red onion, feta, dill, and honey lemon vinaigrette

Make the dressing in the serving bowl: 3 tablespoons of olive oil; 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon of honey; juice of 1 lemon; 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (or 2 cloves of garlic, grated, or finely chopped); 1/2 teaspoon of cured sumac; and 1/2 a teaspoon of dried oregano

Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to it’s instructions

Remove large stems and chop 1 lb of Tuscan kale

Toss both quinoa and kale with the dressing and set aside for a few hours (or overnight)

Arrange 1 red onion, 1 rinsed can of chick peas, and 1 lb of mini bell peppers on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and sumac and roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes; allow to cool

When ready to serve, add the roasted onions, chick peas, and peppers to the kale and quinoa, and also add 1/8 to 1/4 of a lb of crumbled feta and 1 lb of sugar snap peas, strings trimmed, and cut length-wise

Nancy’s Salad

I don’t know that I have ever actually faithfully followed this recipe. I make this salad a slightly different way every single time — in the fall and winter I use roasted red peppers instead of tomatoes, I’ve added artichokes, experimented with other Italian cheeses, omitted onions, made the vinaigrette, not made the vinaigrette, added cucumbers, carrots, and other things I’ve had on hand, and used dramatically less than 1/2 of pound of cheese and salami. Oh and I always crisp the chickpeas. None of this matters; it’s amazing every time. This salad as is or as a jumping off point is, obviously, a genius recipe.

Approximate quantities: 1 head of butter lettuce, roughly chopped; 1 large carrot, sliced into thin disks; 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced; 1 small red onion or spring onion; thinly sliced; 2 Kirby cucumbers, sliced into thin disks; 8 pepperocini, roughly chopped; equal amounts aged provolone and sopressata, julienned; and 1 16-ounce can of chickpeas, crisped in a skillet or on a sheet pan drizzled in olive oil, red or white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and dried oregano

Serves two as a main.

Niçoise Salad

Approximate quantities: 3–4 cups baby lettuce, roughly chopped; 3 Kirby cucumbers, cut lengthwise into thin spears, then into 1-inch segments; 4 radishes, cut into thin crescents; 1 1/2–2 cups grilled wax beans, roughly chopped; 1 pint of grape tomatoes, quartered; 1 grilled bell pepper, roughly chopped; 3 medium or 2 large carrots, sliced into thin discs; 1 can of olive oil packed tuna; and 2 jammy soft boiled eggs drizzled with with dill-and-lemon-infused-mustard vinaigrette

Serves two as a main, four as a starter or side.

Vinegar-Based Coleslaw with Purple Cabbage

Based loosely on Billy Parisi‘s recipe.

Approximate quantities: 1 head of purple cabbage, thinly sliced; 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced; 1 orange pepper, thinly sliced; 1 red onion, thinly sliced; 4 carrots, grated; 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar; 2 TBS of grainy mustard; 3 TBS of honey; 1/4 cup of olive oil; 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil; 1 TBS of celery seed; 1 TSP of crushed red pepper flakes; Salt and pepper to taste