With a medley of ingredients, you can toss together a satisfying main meal.
By Janet Groene, F47166
July 2020
Shortcut salads are a lifesaver in summer, especially this year, when people may be camping farther, longer, harder, and faster to make up for lost time. Whether you’re traveling or still at home, these shortcut recipes save time, space, and resources.
Secret Sparkle Tuna Salad
2 tuna steaks
Garlic-infused olive oil spray
1 package of your favorite mixed salad greens (8 cups)
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
1/3 cup canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
6 lemon drop hard candies (optional)
Brush or spray the tuna with olive oil, and then grill it and dice it to be usedhot or cold. Lightly toss the greens, tomatoes, and scallions in a large bowl. Add the tuna. Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, and seasonings, and then toss with the salad. To add glitter and a touch of sweetness, put the lemon drops in a scrap of clean cloth and pound them with a hammer to make coarse lemon sugar. Lightly toss a tablespoon or so of this sugar with the salad. Makes four to six servings.
Warm Deli Beef Salad
Dressing:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 small shallot, finely minced
Salad:
6 small red potatoes
1 cucumber, seeded and sliced
1 small red onion, sliced in crescents
6 cups torn lettuce
1 pound deli roast beef, cut in strips
Mix the dressing ingredients and set aside. Scrub the potatoes and cut them in quarters. In a large bowl, lightly toss the cucumber, onion, lettuce, and beef.
Boil the potatoes in salted water just until fork-tender. Drain them, and then quickly toss with the dressing and other ingredients. Makes four to six servings.
Fennel ’N’ Sausage Salad
Italian sausage and its distinct anise taste is the perfect complement for crisp, sliced fennel. Choose mild, medium, or hot sausage, depending on family tastes.
2 large bulbs fennel, thinly sliced
4 cups torn lettuce
1 medium sweet onion, sliced in crescents
1 pint cherry tomatoes
20-ounce package Italian sausages
Italian dressing to taste
In a large bowl, lightly toss the fennel, lettuce, onion, and tomatoes. Set aside. Cook the sausages in a skillet with a little water until the water evaporates and the sausages brown (for food safety, they should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit). As soon as the sausages are cool enough to handle, slice them into coins and toss with the salad ingredients and Italian dressing to taste. Serve at once. Makes six to eight servings.
Cabbage Patch Stir-Fry Salad
Do not skimp on the bacon fat here. It’s both the flavoring and the salad “oil.”
6 thick bacon slices, cut up
6 to 8 cups coarsely shredded cabbage
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced in slivers
1 medium sweet onion, sliced in crescents
2 cups corn chips such as Fritos
In a large skillet or wok, fry the bacon until it’s crisp. Place the bacon on paper towels and spoon off and discard all but 1/4 to 1/3 cup of bacon fat. Continue stir-frying while adding the cabbage just until it’s crisp-tender. Turn off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar, bacon, pepper, and onion. Immediately before serving, toss with corn chips. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes six servings.
Turkey Salad Southwest Style
1 pound deli roast turkey, diced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
4 cups torn greens of your choice
2 oranges, peeled and cut in sections
1 medium avocado, peeled and diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well
About 1/3 cup minced cilantro
Bottled or homemade citrus salad dressing
1 1/2 cups garlic croutons
Put the cubed turkey in a large bowl. In a small cup, mix the seasonings, sprinkle them over the turkey, and toss to mix well. Top with the greens and oranges, but don’t mix yet. Just before serving, add the avocado, black beans, and cilantro, and then toss lightly with the salad dressing to taste. Add croutons. Makes four to six servings.
Spinach Salad With Ham Nuggets
Here’s another salad that can be served warm, cold, or somewhere in between. Try it with hot, buttery cornbread.
1 ham slice, about 1 pound
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 package (14 to 16 ounces) baby spinach, trimmed and torn up
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
3 or 4 plum tomatoes, diced
Creamy Italian dressing
Trim and dice the ham and fry it in the hot oil until it’s brown and crispy. Fill a bowl with the spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Add the hot ham to the salad and toss lightly with dressing to taste. Serve at once. Makes four to six servings.
Aloha Carrot Salad
2 pounds carrots
2 sweet potatoes
20-ounce can crushed pineapple
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice or lime juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
14- to 16-ounce package salad shrimp, thawed and drained
Peel and cube the carrots and the sweet potatoes, and boil them in water or steam them just until fork-tender. Drain, put them in a bowl, and fold in the undrained pineapple and raisins. Cover loosely and set aside. In the cooled pan, mix the water, lemon or lime juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Heat the mixture, stirring until it’s thick, and fold it into the carrot mixture with the shrimp. Serve immediately or chill. Makes six to eight servings.
More Meal-Size Salad Ideas
*Make your favorite Caesar salad, using a little extra dressing. Then toss the salad lightly with cooked three-cheese ravioli or tortellini to coat the pasta with dressing. Serve at once.
*Buy a tub of barbecue pulled chicken. Break it up, heat it, and toss it with torn lettuce, sliced scallions, minced ginger root, trimmed snow peas, and a splash of soy sauce.
*As a change from macaroni salad, make the same recipe with other pasta shapes or with grains such as cooked and cooled wheat berries, farro, barley, couscous, rice, or rye groats.
*As a substitute for costly shrimp, poach and dice firm white fish such as mahi-mahi or cod, and then toss with salad greens.
*Add color and sweetness to salad greens by combining them with bits of seasonal fresh fruit found in your travels. Try the many varieties of plums and citrus, as well as strawberries, watermelon, grapes, and apples.
*Bake a pizza shell and pile it high with your favorite fully dressed salad.
*Slice acorn squash into halves, remove the seeds, and roast it cut side down over a grate. When it’s tender, fill the hot squash with cold tuna, egg, or chicken salad from the deli. Campfire-baked potatoes also can be slit and stuffed with a cold deli salad.
Share Your Favorite Recipes
If you have a recipe you enjoy making in your RV, share it with Janet at janetgroene@yahoo.com (put FMCA in the subject line). Visit Janet at CampAndRVCook.blogspot.com, where new recipes and tips are added weekly; a subscription for e-reader devices is available at http://amzn.to/1DsP67t. Janet’s books, including the second edition of Cooking Aboard Your RV, are available in bookstores and at Amazon.com.