Five Spice, Chili, Garlic Cucumber Salad

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Kari's Five Spice, Chili, Garlic Cucumber Salad (serves 4)

This is a fairly spicy side dish. If you prefer a less spicy salad, you can reduce the amount of chili-garlic sauce.

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3 cups cucumber (2 good size cucumbers, peeled and seeded, cubed)

1/2 Tbsp kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp turbinado sugar

2 tsp chili-garlic sauce (I used Huy Fong brand, the one with the rooster)

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

3 Tbsp water

1/8 tsp Chinese Five Spices blend (I used Dynasty brand which contains cinnamon, star anise, fennel, ginger, cloves, white pepper and licorice root)

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Place cucumber in colander and sprinkle with salt. Let rest in sink 10 minutes. Squeeze out excess water.

In 4 cup bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Whisk or stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cucumber and stir to coat. Refrigerate to allow flavors to meld.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Spicy Southwestern Citrus Dressing

Citrus and spice--Ooh that's nice.  

This is a take-off on Dr. Esselstyn's 321 Dressing.  321 standing for the amounts of vinegar (3), mustard (2), and liquid sweetener (1).  Some folks switch those numbers around, more sweetener or more mustard.  Whatever floats your boat, right?  My version could be called a 221, or even a 321 minus 1 plus 1/8, but that would be weird.

This recipe features Safeway's Sweet & Spicy Southwestern Style Mustard.  It's sweet and tangy and has a nice little bite.  If you can't find SSSSSM, use your favorite sweet and spicy mustard, or maybe a honey mustard plus some Southwest spice blend.  Just don't yell at me if you have to get out the calculator. 

Kari's Spicy Southwestern Citrus Dressing
(Makes 5 Tablespoons dressing)


2 Tbsp Ponzu Citrus Vinegar
2 Tbsp Safeway Sweet & Spicy Southwestern Style Mustard
1 Tbsp Brown Rice Syrup
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients.

Thai Papaya Salad

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Kari's Papaya Salad

1 pound shredded green papaya*
1 carrot, shredded
1-3 Tbsp minced cilantro or basil (I like a combination of cilantro and Thai basil)
roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
Dressing:
a couple pinches Thai chili flakes or fresh chiles or chile paste (to taste)
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp brown sugar

In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved.

In a large bowl, combine papaya, carrot, cilantro/basil . Pour dressing over and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts, if desired. Chill.

*Green (unripened) papaya is often available in pre-shredded packages in Oriental markets. I buy it in 1-pound packages. Alternatively, you can buy an unripe papaya and shred it yourself. You'll want to shred it into long threads.

Hominy Salad Escabeche

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Escabeche is a pickling liquid. In this recipe, I used La Costena brand Zanahorias en Escabeche. Pickled carrots with jalapenos. I used 1/2 cup of the carrots and jalepenos in this recipe. You could use more to up the heat. Use more escabeche liquid for a wetter salad. Sweet onions are best for this, but if you don't have sweet onions and use other (stronger) onions, I'd rinse them in cold water and drain well before adding to salad to prevent them from taking over. You also might want to reduce the amount.

This is tasty plain as a side dish or on top of salad greens. It's also good wrapped in a tortilla.

Kari's Hominy Salad Escabeche

(Makes 6 cups)

1 1/2 cups sweet onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1/2 cup carrots and chiles, julienned, from zanahorias en escabeche (use more, if desired)

1 (15.5 oz) can yellow hominy, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup minced cilantro

1 Tbsp escabeche liquid (use more if you want a wetter salad)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

fresh ground black pepper 　

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Simple Southwest Salad--Black Beans and Hominy

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This salad is light and fresh and bright with the simple flavors of lime, garlic, and cilantro. There's a nice contrast of textures between crisp sweet onion and bell pepper and the soft beans, hominy and tomato. The colors are pretty too.

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Kari's Simple Southwest Salad--Black Beans and Hominy
makes about 6 cups

1 sweet onion, chopped
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and minced
1 large tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 (15.5 ounce) can white hominy, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 lime (juice from)
pinch salt and pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Black Rice Salad

This rice salad appears on my plate in the previous post. I used half black and mahogany rice and half brown mix. Both Lundberg brand. You could use whatever whole-grain rice you prefer.

Kari's Black Rice Salad

1/2 cup japonica black rice (or other)
1/2 cup brown rice (or other)
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon No Chicken flavor

1 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 tsp rubbed sage

1 stalk celery, chopped
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 cup dried cranberries (or other)
6 Tbsp Almond Accents original oven roasted sliced almonds

Dressing:
1/2 Tbsp Ponzu citrus seasoned soy sauce
2 Tbsp frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate
2 Tbsp white zinfandel wine
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar (or other)
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (about 6)

Rinse rice. Cook rice as directed in water with bouillon paste (or you can use vegetable broth instead). Place cooked rice in colander and rinse under cool water. Drain well.

Spray nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Saute onion on med-low 15-20 minutes until caramelized. Add water as necessary to prevent sticking/burning. Stir in sage.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Add to onion-sage in skillet and bring to simmer. Add apricots; simmer a minute, then remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, celery, parsley, and cranberries. Add onion-apricot dressing mixture and toss together. Add almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or chilled. I like it chilled.

Southwest Bean and Hominy Salad

Kari's Southwest Bean and Hominy Salad

1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained
15 Spanish olives w/pimiento, sliced or chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/4 cup salsa
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Tabasco jalapeno pepper sauce
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp ground cumin

In large mixing bowl combine pinto beans, kidney beans, hominy, olives, tomato, onion, bell pepper, and cilantro.

In small bowl, combine salsa, vinegar, pepper sauce, garlic, and cumin. If the salsa is very chunky, mash together with a fork to get smooth. Pour over bean mixture and toss to combine. Cover and chill to let flavors meld.

Serve cold or at room temperature, either plain as a side dish or on top of greens and tortilla chips for a taco salad. You could also add avocado, but do so just before serving to prevent browning. Chopped jalapeno or diced chiles could also be added to the salad for more kick.

Makes approximately 8 cups.