Salad With Bagwang

Bagwang is definitely one of my favorite discoveries in Soderno.  Here is another way I can enjoy these crispy thinly sliced bacon like liempo.  I  chop them up into bits and then add them to my salsa salad. Somehow by enjoying bagwang with the veggies it definitely still is delicious but less sinful   =) 

I Love Croutons

Adding croutons to my salads always make it more special.  I love how these golden nuggets of toasted bread  add not just flavor but texture to my greens.  I make homemade croutons at least once a week.  Instead of throwing out stale bread I turn them into croutons.  Any type of bread works, even the ubiquitous white bread, better known as tasty to us Pinoys, will do.  I've even made croutons out of left-over pandesal.  All you really need is oil with minced garlic, seasoned with some salt and pepper, and add some dried basil if you like. Pour it over the cubed bread pieces, make sure each piece is coated with oil.  Then transfer it to an oven or even your oven toaster will do.  It takes about 20 minutes for them to turn into these crunchy golden nuggets of deliciousness. Great addition to your salads and soups, and even yummy enough to just munch on if you need a snack, just like what I do when there are no potato chips in pantry =)

Caesar Salad

I've never met a Caesar Salad that has ever disappointed me, I can't say the same for the men named Caesar that I have met.  This classic salad dish is one of the first things I learned to make.  At first I thought it would be hard to make, especially since I have seen how this salad is prepared table side at fancy restaurants. It seemed so dramatic, with the waiter wheeling in the cart with all the salad making tools and the flair the waiter demonstrated in tossing the salad. But then about 10 or so years ago I saw  on the Food Network Alton Brown's method in making it, and how easy it was.  I make this at least once a month now, and like I said  earlier it never disappoints. 

Here is the video of Alton making the salad.   The recipe starts at 4:15 of the video, but if I were you I would watch the whole video, because as always Alton shares very interesting and helpful information.

Healthy Potato Salad

Potato salad holds a special place in my heart because my Lola Ying used to make this dish every Christmas. Her version had chicken and mayonnaise. I wanted to make a healthier but still flavorful version. I came up with potato with calamansi dressing, green onions and bell pepper.  I would not necessary serve this during Christmas because it is not a rich dish.  Instead it is a good dish to serve when you want something filling but not too high in calories and fat.  First I boil the potatoes, then chop them up.  In a bowl I combine the potatoes with the bell pepper and spring onions.  To make the dressing just slice and juice several pieces of calamansi, then stir in some honey or brown sugar.  Then pour over the potatoes, toss and season with salt and pepper.   

Lettuce and Corn Salad With Homemade Chicken Tocino

For the last couple of days I have been trying to eat healthier by having salad as my dinner, however  last night I must confess I enjoyed several yummy Chinese dishes including delicious fried rice. Now back to my salad days, most of the time I would make a simple vinaigrette, but the other night I decided to make a lettuce and corn salad with sour cream dressing and paired with homemade chicken tocino.  I made the salad without a recipe just whipped up a dressing from the stuff I found in the fridge and pantry.  Loved how satisfying this hearty salad turned out. 

The recipe for the chicken tocino I found in a magazine advertorial. The tocino recipe is super simple, however I know I can further improve on this next time, most likely eliminating the granules to make it healthier. 

Here is the salad recipe:

Lettuce 

Shredded corn (preferably from the cob but canned corn will work too)

Sour Cream

Onion powder

Juice from 1 calamansi

Dash of black pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper

Combine sour cream, onion powder, calamansi juice, black and cayenne pepper. In a plate assemble lettuce and corn, then add sour cream dressing and toss everything together. Top with chicken tocino. 

Homemade Chicken Tocino Recipe:

1/2 kilo chicken breast fillet, slice into very thin strips

2 tbsp Maggi Savor, or your preferred liquid seasoning

1 8 gram sachet Maggi Magic Sarap, or your preferred flavoring granules

2 tbsps chopped garlic
2 tbsps brown sugar

Cooking oil

Marinate chicken in liquid seasoning, Maggi Magic Sarap, garlic and sugar overnight.   Then fry in hot oil. The advertorial recommends that your serve this for breakfast with fried egg and sinangag. 

Kani Salad

My body was craving for something light.  Found some lettuce and kani sticks in the fridge, shredded them up.  Squeezed several pieces of calamani, then whisked  in some oil to make a yummy dressing. Tossed everything together.  A simple and satisfying salad was the result. Wish I had the willpower to eat this healthy every day, but I don't and I probably never will.  But I take pride on days that I do make the healthier choice, keeping my fingers crossed that this happens more often :) 

"Left-Overs Salad"

For the last few days I've been doing a lot of good eating, but I have to confess the dishes have not been too healthy.  Fried, high calorie, high fat, high cholesterol food has been on the table since last Saturday.  So my body was craving, acutally I should say begging,  for something healthy.  So I checked the fridge to see what light and healthy dish I could make. 

I saw that there were some left-overs I could use to make a salad - corn, bell pepper, and cheese from the quesadillas made on Monday; calamansi that came with the birthday pansit we ordered on Tuesday; and homemade croutons I make last week.

I used the calamansi to make a vinaigrette.  Drizzled it over the lettuce mixed with the corn, bell pepper and cheese.  Then topped it off with the croutons.  This "left-overs salad" is exactly what I needed.  I am sure my doctor would be very happy to learn that I finally had something healthy this week.   But the weekend is fast approaching that means "good eats" again ;-)

Mandarin Orange Salad

For lunch the other day I was craving salad.  Found a recipe in Yummy magazine for Mandarin Orange Salad.  The recipe recommended including fried breaded chicken fillets, but I decided to skip the chicken,   keeping the salad light and healthy.  The burst of citrus juice from the Mandarin oranges was so refreshingly sweet.  The sweetness of the oranges blended well with the tangy Asian dressing.  There really was no need for the chicken fillets, the salad was light but very filling on its own.