Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon

Yum! This was super filling cos I went with the added tofu option. It’s a ridiculously low fat recipe. I also added toasted croutons. Yum. The aubergine ‘bacon’ is amazing, I’ve mass this loads since I got the book. The dressing is a tiny bit briney for me, but I know that’s what Caesar salad is supposed to taste like so that’s fine.

Have figured out how to keep eating these salads for longer than just the day I make them -> don’t mix the ingredients until you’re going to eat it. Foolproof. You’re welcome.

Wild Rice Salad with Oranges & Roasted Beets

Really unusual combo of flavours! The beetroot and orange are sweet, then the ginger and Tabasco are fiery, and the sesame is very smooth. Think I would have to make it again to really judge, but at least after the first sitting, I want to. This filled me up for only an hour or so after eating it though, so if I was making it again I’d throw in some extra rice, or some beans.

Cool Slaw with Buffalo Tempeh

Deeelish!! Really unusual and new to me too! This is basically a rich mayo-y coleslaw, in a bowl next to tabasco-hot tempeh pieces. Tempeh is kind of like quorn, if you haven’t met it before. I made the coleslaw myself from scratch, as Dunnes had a 29c special on carrots and cabbage. The dressing was super quick and easy to blend and mix in. The tempeh was just marinated, then fried. Really filling, & I do just love the hot-cool thing going on in the bowl. NOM.

Can’t quite believe this recipe got me to willingly eat half a bowl of raw veg. If you’re wondering where to get tempeh in Dublin, it’s in Asia Market (or any Asian food market) or in Nourish health food shops. You’ll see from the photos that I made the recipe with both tempeh and tofu today, just for the hell of it.

Pad Thai Salad with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing and Red Thai Tofu

Delighted with this, DELIGHTED. Assumed it would be 1. not filling enough (so bought back up rice), & 2. too hot and spicy altogether (so bought back up coconut milk). Used neither! It was fabulous. Really tasty. Almost musical, how the lime taste alternated with the peanut, and the coriander played off the lemongrassy red curry paste. Gorgeous. Can’t wait to rinse and repeat.

Warm Mushroom Salad with Cranberries, Creamy Horseradish Dressing

Took me ages to figure out what the hell and then find where the hell ‘prepared horseradish’ was, but Elana & Tesco sorted me out. It’s in the Polish food section, FYI. My first time having it and OMG!! Horseradish is the shiz!! Seriously tasty and moreish.

Was not expecting much of this salad; thought it would be flimsy. Cranberries were as much a mystery to me as horseradish. And I thought that mushrooms on lettuce would be soggy.

I WAS WRONG! This salad is AMAZING! So freaking tasty! The mushrooms are big, fat & meaty. The cranberries are slathered in the sauce, and are toothy-chewy. The sauce is deeelicious. The whole thing is the bomb.

Two things. One is that there are no carbs with this, so I had it with bread. Nom. The second is that this is an ‘eat straight away’ dish, cos of the mushrooms. Fried mushrooms don’t keep, AT ALL.

Totally making this again. ASAP.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Toasted Cumin Seeds

Mneh! This one reminds me of the chick pea quinoa salad of the first week, but with lime and cumin instead of unadulterated raw onion. I like it about as much. I think it’s that beans and quinoa seeds are clearly defined, hardish shapes, and a light dressing made of juice and oil just isn’t enough to bring them together. This salad is like a champion weight lifter, who got fat, and is now outdoors in winter wearing a tshirt that is WAY too light for the weather. That is what it tastes like.

Sanctuary Chef Salad

God might be pissed off with me right now, and rain lighting and meteors down on Dublin, in angry vengeance for STEALING HIS FAVE SALAD DRESSING. I can’t imagine that Isa came up with this when she was writing her cookbook. Far more likely that she ninja leapt into the clouds and pilfered it from an angel salad workshop.

It makes no difference what the ingredients of the salad are, as long as this dressing is smooshed all over them then it may as well be sawdust and weeds that you are eating. But it’s not!! It’s a mix of the BEST bits of the vegan world – fake bacon made from drybaked, chewy and crispy aubergine slices, and marinated thick meaty tofu. Plus salad stuff like lettuce and tomatoes (there’s an onion in there too, which I side stepped).

Back to the dressing. It’s ranch-style which means it tastes like a mix of yogurt, cream, dill, and spice. And that’s actually what it tastes like. Even though it’s a stupidly healthy blend of tofu, stock, herbs, & seasoning. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s GOOD for me. Also, I can’t stop eating it. Nothing has ever made me want to dip a lettuce leaf so much.