Leftover Thanksgiving salad
(Saturday after Thanksgiving)
(Saturday after Thanksgiving)
I made some salad to bring to Thanksgiving this year. I tried to incorporate fall and Thanksgiving foods into it without stepping onto the toes of other entrees and dishes - for example, shredded turkey would have been great but there's already turkey turkey at the meal...
The salad has spinach and mixed greens, sunflower seeds, toasted pecan pieces, chickpeas, dried cranberries, apples, avocados, herbed cheddar cheese, carrots, cucumbers, chickpeas, corn, green and red bell peppers, onion, hard-boiled eggs, and celery.
I know some people are not a huge fan of celery. For salad I cut it lengthwise down the middle and then into very small pieces the other way. It adds a nice crunch and flavor without being stringy.
I know some people are not a huge fan of celery. For salad I cut it lengthwise down the middle and then into very small pieces the other way. It adds a nice crunch and flavor without being stringy.
The dressing was a vinaigrette I made from fresh cranberries, red wine vinegar, and sunflower oil. Half of the red wine vinegar came from an old bottle of wine that we had not finished in time and I had put away to turn into vinegar - a great use for turning wine.
Biggest lesson learned? This was my first time making croutons - I used pumpkin cinnamon bread to make them. It was super simple. I rarely have croutons because you have to buy a whole box at a time and they usually have bad ingredients like hydrogenated oil or high fructose corn syrup. These were amazingly simple and easy.
How to make croutons:
1. Cut up bread into crouton size
2. Drizzle generously with olive oil and stir to coat evenly.
3. Bake them in the oven at 375 degrees (put on parchment paper for easy clean up, and one single layer - no piling).
4. Take them out when they are crunchy, probably 10-16 minutes - just don't let them burn!
5. Let them cool before you store them in an airtight container.
