feel food club

salad season

Super Quick, Family-Approved, Herby Prawn and Avocado Salad

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Summer season = salad season. We all know that. When it’s hot outside (which it hopefully is soon) and the sun is shining we neither want to spend hours in the kitchen, nor can anyone really eat something warm. So salads are the perfect dish to eat. They are quick to make, healthy and mostly. But they can be boring so easily.

They definitely can, but they don’t necessarily have to be. If you only make the same one over and over again, I agree, this would be boring. If you switch it up though, and add basically an entire herb garden and make the best garlic prawns ever, and still only spend 15 minutes making it, then it is a really good kind a salad. And yep, it is very delicious too (my brother ate the entire bowl so it‘s got to be delicious!)!

What is special about this dish? 

Well, it definitely is not your average salad! Its not just greens & dressing & maybe some veggies – no; it is way more delicious!! To make it taste a bit more like summer and a bit fresher, we are adding a whole brunch of herbs. Mint, basil, parsley, really, whatever you have on hand. 

And also the dressing is really really fresh, since we‘re adding some lemon and even more herbs to it, but also some honey. It‘s sweetness balanced the sourness of the lemon out perfectly. And not to forget about the prawns. They are SO. good. They are fried in olive oil with fresh garlic. While it probably is not the best recipe for a date, it definitely is the most delicious way to cook prawns!! The combo of garlic and prawns simply is unbeatable! 

Is this dish healthy? 

It definitely is! There are a whole lot of greens in here. All the herbs and also the salad are packed with different nutrient and vitamins and also a lot of fibre. Adding herbs to dishes is such an easy and flavorful way to add vitamins and fibre. We also get a decent amount of essential nutrients, and also a lot of water, from the cucumber. 

The prawns account for the right amount of protein and the olive oil makes sure we are not lacking those unsaturated fats. The lemon keeps our immune system strong with its Vitamin C. The only thing that is not directly included in the salad is a source of carbohydrates. But here you could just have some whole grain bread on the side or add some quinoa or couscous in the salad. 

How to make this dish?

There are three things that need to be done. 1. prepping the veggies; therefore we need to wash the salad, slice the cucumber and peel and chop the avocado into cubes. 2. making the dressing; here we need to mix some olive oil, lemon juice, honey and the finelly chopped herbs. And 3. we need to make the prawns; that really only comes down to finely slicing some garlic, frying it in hot oil for about 30 seconds and then adding the prawns and cooking them on each side for about 3 minutes. And voilà! 

In case the prawns are frozen

just add them to a bowl with some hot water (not boiling one, just warm one) and let them stand for about 30 minutes, changing the water every 10 minutes to let them thaw without cooking. Then just pat them dry with a kitchen towel and cook as the recipe says! 

This salad is amazing for those hot summer days or for whenever you are craving something light and healthy and fresh. It anyway is very easy to make and a must try! 

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Super Quick, Family-Approved, Herby Prawn and Avocado Salad

Salads in summer are simply perfect. But always having the same one over and over again also can be veryyyy boring. That’s why we need to switch things up and make this delicious goodie.

Course lunch, Salad
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 4 servings

What you will need

For the prawns:

  • 800 g prawns*
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic

For the salad:

  • 1 head of salad
  • 1 avocado
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lemon (only the juice)
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tbsp chopped mint
  • 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1/2 tbsp chopped dill

How to

  1. Peel and finely dice the garlic. Heat up the olive oil and butter in a pan and sauté the garlic in the hot oil for about 30 seconds, then add in the prawns. Fry them on each side for about 3 minutes until pink and cooked through. 

  2. In the meantime finely chop the herbs and mix them with the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and honey. 

  3. Wash and tear the salad into bite sized pieces. Half the avocado, remove the pit and scoop it out with a spoon. Then cut into about 1cm sized chunks. Also add this to the salad. 

  4. Mix with the dressing and divide onto the bowls. Top with the prawns and garnish with fresh dill. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

*if the prawns are frozen, add them to a bowl and cover them with warm water. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then drain and repeat until they have thawed. Then lay them onto a kitchen towel and tap them dry. 

I genuinely hope that you‘ll enjoy it! 
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière 

The best ever healthy Barbecue Chicken Salad that everyone loves

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As much as I love salads, eating the same over and over is can be pretty boring after a while. So why not switching things up? Heating up the grill for when your friends are over, chopping all the veggies and making an insanely delicious (not healthy tasting) salad. Doesn’t this sound nice? Well, whenever you are going to make this, you got to try it!

What’s a barbecue salad?

Maybe you think a barbecue salad is something you serve as a side when you are having a barbecue. I mean, I guess you can call it a barbecue salad, but this is not what we are doing here. Barbecue salad basically is a salad that has a source of protein in it (most of the time chicken) that is prepared on the barbecue and marinated in a barbecue sauce.

What’s in it?

So as I said, a source of protein. I prefer chicken here, but you could also go for tofu or tempeh if you want to make it vegetarian. As a base we are using some greens. Best is iceberg lettuce here, but really any green works. And then we have a ton of veggies. Here we have tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, radishes, onions, avocado, and grilled corn (this is an essential). If you want, you could also add some pineapple into here if that’s what you like but that’s optional.

The dressing usually is a ranch dressing. And it is often made with mayonnaise. But in this recipe we are making it a bit lighter. The dressing still is creamy and super tasty though. It mainly consists of greek yoghurt, sour cream, some olive oil, lemon juice and herbs. It has the perfect creaminess and taste but it is not very heavy.

Is it healthy?

It definitely is! You have got all the colours of the rainbow that exist. Therefore you have so many vitamins form the salad, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber and so on. Furthermore the salad does not have a lot of fat. Chicken breast is not high in fat and it is prepared very healthy. Thats another plus. And lastly the dressing is made rather healthy too. So, yep, all in all pretty healthy.

When to have it best

I mean this is completely up to you but I would recommend it as a main dish for example as a quick lunch or dinner. You can also meal prep this very well, just store the dressing on the side and take it on a picnic. If you are hosting a larger barbecue with friends you can also serve it as a side or as one of many dishes. But however you are going to serve it, it always is equally delicious!

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do and that it helps you to switch up your salad game once in a while! It is perfect for those hot summer days!

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Barbecue Chicken Salad

The perfect salad to switch up your salad game once in a while. Full of flavor, full of vitamins and super easy! All you want!

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 Minuten
Cook Time 15 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 411 kcal

What you will need

For the barbecue chicken:

  • 2 large chicken breasts about 500-600g
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 75 g ketchup (without added sugar prefered)
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp hot sauce optional
  • 1 tsp salt

For the salad:

  • 4 handful salad such as iceberg lettuce
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 corn on the cobb
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 large tomato about 150-200g
  • 100 g radishes (about 5 pieces

For the dressing

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 50 g sour cream
  • 150 g yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp chopped chives or basil
  • 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

How to

  1. Combine all of the chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl. Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise and add it to the marinade. Let marinate in the fridge for about 2-4 hours. The longer the better. If you do not have the time leave it out.

  2. Heat up the barbecue. Brush the corn on the cobb with olive oil and grill it on indirect heat for about 7 minutes on each side until golden. After the first 5 minutes add the chicken breast and grill on each side for about 5 minutes. First 5 on direct, second 5 on indirect heat.

  3. In the meantime chop the salad, the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper. Finely slice the radishes. Half and depit the avocado and also cut into small chunks. Add it all to a large bowl.

  4. Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl.

  5. Once the corn is done cooking take it of the grill and cut the corn kernels of and add them to the rest. Toss the salad with the dressing and seperate onto bowls. Slice the chicken into fine strips and add it on top. Serve and enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,

Katie // Une petite Cuisinière

Honey Eggplant and chickpea salad with grilled halloumi

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Sounds like a lot and it is. So many flavors, so much goodness but still so simple and quick. Leave the boring salads behind and start making those next level ones. Salads have never tasted that good! 

Sunmer ist getting closer and closer, which means many people try to live and eat healthier. And whats the stereotype thing to do in order to eat healthiet? Salads! But contrary to commin believes, the plain ones only containing leaves and a dressing, maybe a piece of chicken, are bot the healthiest ones! 

Why are conventional salads not necessarily healthy?

Because they will fill you up for an hour maximum and wont leave you satisfied! Whats the problem with that? If you are not filled and satisfied for long, you will start to get hungry again very soon and snack or binge eat on unhealthy things as you will develop cravings for that. In order to bot develop these, it is important to have a filling, nutritious and delicious meal. And I know that this can be difficult with salads but believe me, this one is everything else than boring. 

Whats in it?

You bake the chickpeas and eggplant in the oven, with a slight olive oil and honey drizzle to get them crispy and a bit sweet. Honestly, life changing! If you habe never done chickpeas or eggplant with honey, I‘d say you should head straight to the kitchen and get started! And its so simple! You place the main components of the salad in the oven for 20 minutes and you are already half way there. 

The most extra dressing

The remaining base of the salad is some basic spinach. Bot a lot, just to add some color and vitamins! But whats a salad without a dressing? My brother would say rabbit food! And he is right. It is boring and plain. I do not get those people who skip on salad dressings because they literally are the easiest thing ever and add a ton of flavor. Honestly, don‘t skip on that. In here we have a super extra, still super simple dressing. 3 ingredients (!!) so much flavor! The ingredients are purred tomatoes (the ones from the can or box), Tahini and lemon juice. I do not know why I have never thought of making dressing with tomato sauce before but it is good. I wouldn‘t do it with a green side salad but on top of buddha bowls or italian inspired ones or ones that are pretty extra, as this one, this is so good! Highly recommended!

The star of the show

Last but definitely not least, the grilled halloumni. I have never had halloumni up till a few months ago and from then on it is a must in my diet! So addictingly good. On salads, on bowls, on pasta, on everything. It really adds this last pinch of salt to anything. Like here. It adds the extra wow, the saltiness and satisfying touch. We essentially only need to grill it for a few minutes on each side and thats it! Assemble! You can serve it with some bread, although I believe that this is not necessary because it is amazing and filling as is! 

You can meal prep it, just leave the dressing extra and keep in mind that the halloumni won’t be as melty and good but it still tastes pretty solid. My recommendation: make it fresh, it is better.

I hope that you will like this recipe and that it will change up your regular salad routine a little! 

Enjoy,

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Honey Eggplant and Chickpea Salad with grilled Halloumi

Next level salad. Has nothing to do with the boring image of salads you have in your head. Sweet and tangy eggplant & chickpeas, combined with salty fried halloumi and the most extra dressing. Enjoy now & Thank me later!

Course Appetizer, bowl, lunch, Salad
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 25 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 366 kcal

What you will need

  • 2 large handful spinach
  • 160 g chickpeas from the can, rinsed, drained, and pat dry
  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • some salt & pepper
  • 200 g halloumi
  • 1/2 lemon juiced

For the dressing:

  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil (just pured tomatoes from the can/ boy without anything)
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 1 lemon juiced

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Slice the eggplant into about 2 cm sized cubes. Drain, rinse and pat the chickpeas dry. Place both in a bowl. In a seperate bowl combie the olive oil, lemon juice and honey. Generously salt and pepper the eggplant and chickpeas and then toss in the dressing. Bake for abou 20 minutes at 180°C.

  2. Meanwhile combine all the ingredients for the dressing.

    Heat up a grilling pan to high heat. Slice up the halloumi in about 0.5 cm thick slices. Just before the chickpeas are done baking, fry the halloumi on it for about 2-3 minutes on each side until it gets some grilling marks and melts nicely.

  3. When the tray is done baking, combine the ingredients with the spinach and the dressing. Seperate on bowls and top with the grilled halloumi!

    Serve and enjoy!

Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Vegan Kale Ceasar Salad

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Summer is (luckily) getting closer and closer, which means so do salads for summer bodies. But please, it shouldn’t be about the way you look but the way you feel! For me plantbased or veggie heavy dishes always make me feel the best, give me tons of vitamins, a lot of energy, make my sleep be that best it could possibly be and just shine grin the inside and out. 

But I know for a lot of people when they read „salad“ they either think of rabbit food (as my brother likes to say :)) or some green leaves underneath a ton of dressing. So today, we are doing none of those. Neither super boring and leaving us hungry, nor drenched in a fat heavy dressing. No. We a re doing a super delicious vegan and healthy version of the super popular ceasar salad. Still a little cheesy, with self dried tomatoes (best thing ever!) and crispy pan fried rosemary chickpeas. Sounds like a pretty solid dish to me and it definitely is! 

Why Kale?

That’s super simple: to switch things up. As good as Romain lettuce is sometimes, it is good to change things every now and then. And kale is a true superfood. Super high in fiber, minerals, vitamins, iron, antioxidants, and all of that other healthy stuff. And no, it’s not the raw one that is hard to chew but we are steaming it so it is softer, easier to digest and tastier. I know that there are a lot of people that absolutely can’t stand kale at all, no matter in which form, then I would recommend using spinach or lambs lettuce as this would work best for this. Also a mix with arugula would be great!

What else?

That’s a good question. Where to start? The oven roasted tomatoes, the incredible dressing, the crispy chickpeas or the croutons? 
One after the other. So what else is super typical for ceasar salad are the croutons. No normal croutons here but whole wheat garlic ones. You heard me right. A little healthier but so good! Pan fried with fresh garlic and a little olive oil, it’s the best add in (to any salad actually).

Homemade dried tomatoes

Next up; oven roasted tomatoes. If you have never made this before, you sure missed out on something and spent way too much money on store bought ones before. It is essentially 3 steps: cut the tomatoes, place them in the oven, take them out. Oh, yeah and eat them of course! That’s how easy it is. You just leave them in the oven for an hour and go take a bath in the meantime. After an hour they are going to be somewhat I like to call semi-dried. They are dried, but still a little juice and not tough like leather. 

Best crispy chickpeas

Next up, the crispy chickpeas. That’s THE way to do crispy chickpeas. So good you drain them from the can and rinse them. After tap them dry (this is important bc otherwise they are not gonna be crispy) with a kitchen paper. In a pan we add olive oil, garlic and rosemary and let them fry for 2 minutes to infuse the water. Rosemary and garlic out, chickpeas in and crisp them up for 5-10 minutes with some smoked paprika powder and sea salt. If you like the fried garlic and rosemary, go ahead and add them to your salad, otherwise don’t. 
You can make those chickpeas ahead of time and just keep in a jar to snack on every now and then. A life changer.

The dressing:

And lastly to top it all off, the star of the show: the vegan Caesar dressing. Yep. Vegan. No cheese and no sardines. No mayo. Good and good. Instead of Parmesan cheese (not that Parmesan wouldn’t be good, it’s delicious, but sometimes it’s better not to have too much cheese) we are using nutritional yeast (German: Hefeflocken)! You can get those in your local health store (Reformhaus) or in some organic shops. It is made out of yeast, high in protein and really resembles the taste of cheese. The base of the dressing are cashews. Ideally we soak them a few hours or the night before so they get softer and easier to blend. They will ensure everything to get really creamy and add a really nice flavor. We also have some Dijon mustard and capers in it, to replace the sardines, a little vinegar and that’s it. It actually is not super difficult but tastes amazing! 

So now, it’s just left to be mixed up! Nothing more nothing less! The steamed kale, the oven dried tomatoes, the croutons, and the dressing. Toss it all and enjoy! 

Note:

If you want to meal prep this, make sure to leave the chickpeas aside to keep the crunch. You can already toss the salad in the dressing because when using kale, it doesn’t really matter, since the kale then absorbs the flavor and gets softer! 

Happy cooking!
Katie // Une Petite Cuisiniere

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Vegan Ceasar Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

A vegan twist on the classic and it is so good! Super delicious dressing, best ever chickpeas, oven roasted tomatoes and homemade croutons.

Course Appetizer, bowl, brunch, dinner, Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 1 Stunde
Soaking Time: 2 Stunden
Total Time 3 Stunden 10 Minuten
Servings 2 servings
Calories 411 kcal

What you will need

For the salad:

  • 4 handful kale off the stem
  • 15 cherry tomatoes
  • 1 slice bread
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 120 g chickpeas

For the dressing:

  • 25 g cashews
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp capers
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 2 tbsp plant milk
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Soak the cashews for about 2 hours to overnight in water. 

    Preheat the oven to 100*C. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay them on a baking tray lines with parchment paper. Bake them in the oven for an hour.

  2. In the meantime bring a pot with water to a boil. Take a sieve and place the kale leaves, that have been removed from the stem in there. Let them steam for 2-3 minutes. After remove them and drain under cold water. This will ensure the color to stay and the kale to cool down quicker.

  3. Take the bread and cut it into 1 cm cubes. Press out or grate 2 garlic cloves and combine them with the olive oil. Toss the bread cubes in the oil mixture and then fry them in a pan for about 2 minutes until crispy. 

  4. Take the chickpeas out of the can. Drain and rinse them to get rid of the liquid around them because this would make you go gasy. Tap them dry with some kitchen paper. In a pan heat up the olive oil. Once hot add the garlic and rosemary and fry for about 2 minutes, then take them out. After, you throw the chickpeas along with the sea salt and smoked paprika in and let them fry on medium high for about 5-10 minutes until super crispy.

  5. Drain the cashews from the water. Add them to a food processor and add the nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, capers, salt, pepper, water and plant milk. Blend until smooth. If too thick, add some more water, if too thin, some more cashews! 

  6. Place the kale in a bowl and mix with the dressing. Separate it into bowl. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and add them into the bowls with the croutons. Top with the chickpeas and if you like it, the fried garlic.

    Serve and enjoy!