{"id":849,"date":"2010-08-08T15:56:10","date_gmt":"2010-08-08T15:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=849"},"modified":"2017-11-08T15:41:14","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T15:41:14","slug":"looking-for-a-quick-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/looking-for-a-quick-lunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a Quick Lunch?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Green Salad with Chicken plus Fresh Fruit and Herb Dressing<\/h3>\n<p><em>Think you can&#8217;t cook?\u00a0 This recipe&#8217;s great flavor comes not from fancy cooking skills but simply from good ingredients.\u00a0 Stellar ingredients make a cook&#8217;s life easy!\u00a0 So be sure to read the Buying Notes for each ingredient to help you get the best.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 202px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/Apricot_Strawberry_Dressing_Pretty_Colors.jpg\" alt=\"Making the Strawberry Apricot Dressing\" width=\"212\" height=\"250\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The combination of apricots and basil is as lovely to look at as it is to eat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008000;\"><strong>Step 1\u00a0 Make the Dressing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you can dump things into a blender and push a button, you can make this dressing:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>3\/4 cup fresh      apricot-strawberry puree (from about 3 apricots and 6-8 small      strawberries)<\/li>\n<li>2 Tbsp. walnut oil (or high      quality olive oil)<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. brown rice vinegar      (if you don&#8217;t have some, it&#8217;s worth stocking)<\/li>\n<li>Double handful of fresh basil      leaves (see picture)<\/li>\n<li>Single handful of fresh      parsley (see picture)<\/li>\n<li>Just a small spoonful of fresh      tarragon leaves (they are a lot stronger than basil and parsley)<\/li>\n<li>Sea salt (start with 1\/4      tsp.)<\/li>\n<li>Freshly ground pepper (start      with 1\/8 tsp.)<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 tsp. sugar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Directions<\/em> Combine everything in the cup of an<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 206px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/Apricot_Strawberry_Dressing_Basil.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"189\" \/><br \/>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A double handful of basil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>immersion blender (or food processor or blender) and process for just 20-30 seconds to combine.\u00a0 Now comes the most critical step:\u00a0 TASTE.\u00a0 For ANY recipe, there is a 90% chance that the flavors need to be adjusted to suit your taste buds.\u00a0 So pour the dressing into a small bowl, dip a piece of lettuce into it and taste.\u00a0 Stir in more salt and pepper first, then more chopped basil, parsley or vinegar to find a taste that is good to you.\u00a0 Always go slowly and taste after each addition.<\/p>\n<p>Serve dressing at room temperature.\u00a0 To my taste buds, fruits taste better when they aren&#8217;t chilled.<\/p>\n<p><em>Buying Notes<\/em> Flavor-less fruit = flavor-less dressing.\u00a0 For fruit that taste like fruit not<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 207px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/IMG_6367.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"217\" height=\"203\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A single handful of parsley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>cardboard, head straight to the source:\u00a0 the grower, usually an organic one.\u00a0 Next, taste before buying very much.\u00a0 If the grower doesn&#8217;t offer samples, buy just one piece and taste.\u00a0 Once home, let stone fruits like apricots and peaches ripen.\u00a0 Doing so in paper bags is often recommended.\u00a0 Let the fruit get pretty soft, since that point, just before it goes overboard, yields flavor most reminiscent of heaven.\u00a0 Keep a close eye on the fruit (especially if it&#8217;s hidden in paper bags!) and keep tasting each day, watching for optimal flavor.<\/p>\n<p><em>Variations <\/em>Could be equally good with whatever fruit is in season: sweet cherries and apricots, peaches and raspberries, or pears and raspberries.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 204px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/IMG_6372.jpg\" alt=\"A Double Handful of Basil\" width=\"214\" height=\"125\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A small spoonful of tarragon leaves <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color:#008000;\">Step 2\u00a0\u00a0 Make the Green Salad<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>4-6 cups very fresh lettuce,      washed and torn (or cut with a serrated knife if you&#8217;re in a hurry)<\/li>\n<li>1-2 med. carrots, grated      finely<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Directions<\/em> Nothing too complicated about this step, although it does help to wash the lettuce in a good salad spinner, so you end up with crispy, not soggy lettuce.\u00a0 Another trick:\u00a0 Wash the lettuce the night before.\u00a0 Place in salad storer, cover with a clean, folded tea towel, then seal and refrigerate until the next day.\u00a0 The tea towel extracts excess water, leaving the lettuce crispy and light.<\/p>\n<p>For the carrots, grate using the fine hole on your box grater for something different.<\/p>\n<p><em>Buying Notes<\/em> A salad is only as good as its greens.\u00a0 They need to taste fairly good on their own, so the dressing is just <strong>enhancing <\/strong>flavor, not <strong>making up for an absence thereof<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Good lettuce is where local farmer&#8217;s markets shine, since lettuce is a crop that really tastes best when fresh picked&#8211;so good you barely even need dressing, if you can believe it.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-summer, finding good lettuce can be tricky, since it&#8217;s is a cool weather crop.\u00a0 I always taste a bit before investing in a bag to make sure it&#8217;s not bitter.\u00a0 Also look for farmers who have taken steps to work around the heat issue, like Oxford Gardens at the Boulder Farmers&#8217; Market, where owner Peter Volz sells a heat-tolerant variety that is quite good.\u00a0 Abbondanza, also at the Boulder Market, seems to have perfected a technique for hot-weather lettuce growing as I&#8217;ve gotten great lettuce there even in July and August.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color:#008000;\">Step 3\u00a0 Add Chicken to the Salad<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>1-2 cups chicken, shredded or      cut into small pieces<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Buying Notes<\/em> Again, this is another simple step with finding good chicken being the only tricky part , since not all store chickens are <strong>not <\/strong>created equally.\u00a0 Again, it is usually local and\/or organic birds that have more flavor.\u00a0 This salad is a great way to use of leftover bits and pieces.\u00a0 If you don&#8217;t have any however, then try canned chicken for a highly convenient option.\u00a0 Before you blanch at the thought of canned bird, read the next blog entry on two, surprisingly taste brands I&#8217;ve recently discovered.<\/p>\n<p><em>Want to learn more about the little tricks and tips that make everyday good meal making natural, stress-free and even a little creative?\u00a0 Join Mary Collette in one of her <a href=\"http:\/\/everydaygoodeating.com\/whole_kitchen_intro.html\" target=\"_blank\">Whole Kitchen Way to Wholesome Meal Making <\/a>classes. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When a dish comes out well, I like to think it&#8217;s due to my brilliance as a cook.  But more often than not, good, carefully selected ingredients are the true stars.  This recipe is a perfect example of one that&#8217;s all about the ingredients.  No cooking skill required.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2,20],"tags":[43,60,229,253,273,333,371,428,500,554,573,605],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-make-vegetables-taste-good","category-healthy-cooking-basics","category-recipes","tag-apricots","tag-basil","tag-fresh-herbs","tag-good-ingredients","tag-grocery-shopping","tag-immersion-blender","tag-local-and-sustainable-eating","tag-parsley","tag-salad-dressings","tag-strawberries","tag-tarragon","tag-using-fresh-herbs","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2758,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/2758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}