Salad for Dinner
Sometimes all you want for dinner is a salad. Maybe the pants are fitting a bit snug? Maybe you are heading to a pool party tomorrow and you want to kill it in your bikini / speedo? Maybe you had a 24oz. Porterhouse for lunch? Maybe you just need some roughage in your diet? Maybe it is summer time and you just don’t want to heat up the kitchen? Or maybe you have a lot of fresh veggies sitting in your crisper awaiting a splash of homemade dressing? Whatever your reason, salads are awesome for dinner. As a kid, I never liked salad very much unless it came from a salad bar. I mean there is nowhere else you could pass off iceberg lettuce, cheese, bacon bits, croutons, and ranch dressing as a healthy start to a meal. But salads can be much more than that. They can be filled with lots of yummy vegetables and topped with a light vinaigrette and still be delicious and satisfying. I also contend that a gia-normous salad can be as filling as a Porterhouse. And as an added plus, you don’t have to procure them from a dodgy refrigerated bar that includes orange jello as a possible salad topping. No, this next recipe really has it all which explains my title for this dish. You see I have added lots of ingredients. I have even grilled some of them (bonus). And if I had my own restaurant, this recipe would be first on the menu. So in order to give you a reason to eat salad for dinner, I give you my version of THE BIG ASS SALAD. Sorry for the inappropriate language in the title. However, I really couldn’t think of anything else to call this one. Hopefully, once you make and taste this one, all will be forgiven.
Ingredients Instructions First you are going to need to fire up the grill. You actually don’t have to fire the grill up, but the charred ingredients give this salad a bit more depth of flavor. Plus, it is a reason to get outside and cook over an open flame. Awesome! As the grill heats up prep your peppers, onions, and mushrooms for grilling. I cut the peppers into large pieces, my onion into thick slices, and remove the gills from my mushroom.
Why remove the gills you ask? First, I think that is what they are called. But those little frilly bits under the mushroom cap need to go. Just use a spoon and scrape them out. They hold moisture into the mushroom. By taking them out, more water in the mushroom can escape giving you a chewier texture to your shrooms. But I won’t judge if you leave them in.
Now, grill your items for about 2-3 minutes a side or until each is nice and browned. The onion might take a little longer to cook. I usually put them on first then set them aside on a cooler spot while I grill everything else. Once cooked, just roughly chop these vegetables along with the others.
Finish the dish by making the vinaigrette. Combine the oil, vinegar, basil, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, agave, and Dijon in mixing bowl. You can whisk these items together until well combined. Or you can get out you immersion blender and a have a go at it. This whips the dressing together so well it almost looks like whipped cream.
Place about 2-3 tablespoons of dressing in the bottom of a mixing bowl. Add in your arugula and with your immaculately clean hands, toss the leaves with the dressing. Place the dressed arugula on the plate. Top with your remaining vegetables, and then add on a little more dressing. You now have a big ass salad ready for dinner.
Veggies on the Grill
So whatever your reasons, remember salads are not just a pre-cursor to dinner anymore. With enough stuff, help from the grill, and some home-made dressing, you can turn a salad into a hearty satisfying meal. And you don’t even have to wait in line hoping they don’t run out of orange jello. Longer Letter Later.
Love, Bob aka The Grassfed Carnivore
Leave a Reply