Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Gumbo Writer's Monster Salad Recipe


As many times as I've fixed this dish, I don't have a photo of it, thus the clip art. And since there have been tons of cheesy, yummy comfort food recipes lately, I'm going with something healthy today.

Monster Salad


Heart of Romaine lettuce
Fresh spinach
Cherry, plum or regular tomatoes
1 can pitted black olives
1 cup pitted green olives
3 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled (optional)
1 large can artichoke hearts, diced
1 can baby corn
1/2 cup Craisins
1 cup nuts, chopped (pecans, walnuts, pine nuts or almonds), or a mix of nuts for variety.
1 bottle Robusto Ceasar Italian dressing, or your favorite vinaigrette
Parmesan and/or Romano cheese
Garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste

Wash and dry lettuce & spinach. Chop into bite-sized pieces and put in paper towel lined zippered bag.

Cut all veggies into chunks. Put into a zippered bag along with seasonings and as much cheese as you like. Add dressing. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve, place greens in individual salad bowls. Top with heaping scoop of marinated goodies. Sprinkle on nuts, craisins and more cheese if desired. Add croutons if desired, and any other salad topping favorites. (Thinly sliced green apples are good too.) Yummy!

{Graphic from clkr.com}

27 comments:

Bella@That damn expat said...

Wow this is a mother of all salads! I'll have to try it, I love spinach!

Rebecca Nazar said...

Looks amazing. I'm tired of the same old garden or Caesar salad.

Vodka Mom said...

That sounds fantastic! I will try it this weekend.

Can you add a dash of "agent" to it for me? thanks

Terri Tiffany said...

MMMMmmmm delicious sounding. I like your new profile picture!
Tonight I'm making a chicken pot pie--homemade.

Jenni James said...

YUM! I'm such a SALAD girl! You're making my mouth water now! I just CRAVE them! YUMMY!

Jinksy said...

Please, what are craisins? Wish I could come to lunch and find out.

Kathryn Magendie said...

Dang it all - had a comment and my internet blipped out...what did I write? harumph.

I'd take the Petal Pus out of that salad, doncha know I would *laugh*

and Hugs to you, Angie - give that little butter buns pup a kiss for me - on the top of the big ole cutie patootie head!

I got my jellybean jar up for the contest -thanks for that great idea! :-) you is de best~!

Jenni James said...

YUMMY! I love salads! LIke totally crave them! You're making me so hungry right now you have no idea! What a great post!

Janna Leadbetter said...

Craisins, really? I guess I'd give it a try. I'm much more adventurous than I used to be. ;)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Me too, expat. I'm all about the salads. (Congrats again on your marriage! That wedding sounds like good fiction.)

Rebecca, it's a great variation. Nice that the lettuce doesn't wilt, so leftovers stay nicely.

Vodka, lemme know how it turns out. And if I had any agent in my pantry, I'd greedily save "it" all for me. :)

Me too, giddy girl!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Jinksy, they are a great invention -- dried raisins with cranberry or cherry flavoring. If you can't find them in the UK, I'll send you some! Must try. :O)

Kathryn, I thought of you when I wrote bacon is optional. hehe. Coming check out your fun contest! Good luck. Y'ALL BE SURE TO GO VISIT KAT'S BOOK BLOG AND TAKE A CHANCE IN HER NEW CONTEST!

Well, hey again, giddy (Jenni James). :)

Janna, I LOVE the sweet, nutty tart tastes together. mmm mmm great!

Debbie said...

Sounds fabulous. I'll be around for lunch. Shall we say noon?

Anonymous said...

This is just want I need after too much cheese...hehee, thanks, Angie!

Unknown said...

Yum! That looks fabulous and I think with a few little changes, I can make it vegan! Actually, there are vegan bacon bits, vegan cheese ... and I'll bet that I can find a vegan version of the salad dressing.

Thanks for sharing it!

Small Footprints
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com

Angie Ledbetter said...

Debbie, come on down, sha! But I probably won't be home from Mom's til this afternoon, so can we do supper?

Glad to oblige, kimmi friend. :)

Small, bet your substitutions will work just fine. The yumminess is in the marinating veggies. Make your own dressing.

~j said...

soooo much better than those slab of flesh recipes that you posted recently. =D

have a great day!

Barb Davis said...

Sounds great!

Angie Ledbetter said...

ATTENTION, PLEASE.....TERRI TIFFANY IS GUMBO WRITER'S 10,OOOTH CUSTOMER! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!! Please send me an email letting me know you got the message. :) One of my first bloggy friends, so I'm happy the prize goes to you! (thanks for the dedicated effort. your emails recording the site meter counts let me know you've been here all morning waiting for the counter to roll over). YAY!

Anonymous said...

This sounds crazy good! I use romaine,carrots, celery, and black olives in my usual salad but your extra goodies and the process sounds wonderful. It makes my tossed salad sound a little plain. This is a meal all by itself if served with warm french bread.

BTW - We finished off the "Best Ever Mac and Cheese" casserole last week. It handled the freezer time very well and tasted even better as a left over. I love how the angel hair makes it so easy to cut in squares and serve. Awesome recipe!

Melissa Amateis said...

Hey Ang, have you seen this website?

http://www.gumbowriters.com/

Angie Ledbetter said...

JyLnC, yes, add bread (or baked pita bread cut in chips with olive oil, parmessan cheese and garlic powder) and it's a filling meal. Soooo glad you loved the mac & cheese. One of my favorites and goes a long way. :)

Melissa...yes, I saw it and wrote the owner guy saying "how coincidental" his name was in the plural after my blog was up and going. argh! Thanks for the heads up, though.

J.R. Johansson said...

While I have so far resisted cooking any recipe I've seen on this site... I think you're starting to get to me. Imagine my horror when I found myself thinking which of these ingredients I have in my cupboard! I hate to cook and this is very sneaky of you Ms. Angie! :D LOL

Angie Ledbetter said...

Jenn, give in to the pull of the kitchen. Besides, this one doesn't even involve real cooking! LOL

colbymarshall said...

I'm being totally serious when I say this seems like something my turtle would enjoy...he loves the romaine lettuce.

Morgan Mandel said...

I'm terrible. I rarely eat salad. I prefer vegetables instead. Had carrots, cauliflower and broccoli at lunch, plus a bunch of no-no foods. This cold weather makes me too hungry!

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com
http://twitter.com/morganmandel

Angie Ledbetter said...

Colby, you will NOT feed such a delicious dish to a critter who breathes out his butt! LOL

Your veggies sound good too, Morgan. Sometimes I just crave fresh raw salads. (Enjoyed your interview.)

Anonymous said...

The grocery coupons are your ultimate hope to cut down your monthly grocery shopping expenses.

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