Three Simple Non-Salads

Very rarely do I eat lunch out. And because I've been watching my weight, I've been eating a lettuce-based salad for lunch every day for months. B.O.R.I.N.G. Yes, yes, I know it's good for me AND it fills me up. I try to make them as interesting as possible by making my salads with endive and all the veggies I can find in the fridge, along with chicken or shrimp shredded on top. But still....I'm really getting sick of it and I confess: salads that are mostly lettuce, any kind lettuce, are not high on my preferred lunch list. I'd rather be eating non-salad salads or salads with little or no lettuce. Am I the only one?

When I eat out, I order quiche, caprese salad (It may say salad, but it really isn't.), chicken salad (ditto) or an omelet.  At home, if a lunch takes too much time to make or if the stove or oven has to be turned on, forget it. Not worth it for one person.
Now that summer is nearly here,  I thought I'd share three of my favorite non-salads that are easy and quick to make and perfect for 1 or 2 people. Not a lettuce leaf in sight. :) I bet all of you have your own favorite "non-salads" and I'd love to hear about them. 

The first I saw many years ago in one of Lee Bailey's cookbooks. He always has such clever ideas for entertaining and this one was for a company lunch. I changed it a bit and he served it with chicken, which I never do, but if you want, you could add a couple slices of chicken or turkey. If you insist, you can also add a lettuce cup under the cottage cheese. For presentation purposes only, of course! 
I can't even remember what he called it, if anything, because it was on a page full of quick lunch ideas, so I just named it:


Cottage Cheese Salad

Ingredients:
1 cup small curd cottage cheese (lo-fat)
1 tablespoon chives
3 radishes, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 tomato, quartered
1/2 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
freshly ground black pepper
seasoning salt (I use Lawry's)

Method:
Mix cottage cheese with radishes, chives and red pepper. Top with pecans and serve with sliced tomatoes and hard boiled eggs. Season all with Lawry's.

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The second non-salad is something I invented a long time ago, although it wouldn't surprise  me to read in the comments that you make something like this often. I'm not much of a fan of pasta lunches, mainly because you have to cook the pasta and I'm usually in too big a hurry. But if the kids are here, this is an easy one to make. I usually use whole wheat pasta but the only photo I found in my file was one with regular pasta. Whole wheat gives it such a lovely nutty flavor, that I rarely make it any other way. I must have been out of it the one time I thought to dig out the camera. I add any veggies happen to be in the fridge.

It may say cold in the title, but often the pasta is still warm when I mix everything and I actually like it that way. So don't refrigerate it unless you have to.

Cold Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 box fuselli pasta- regular or whole wheat

1 small can black olives, sliced

5 green onions, finely sliced, white and green

6 to 8 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 radishes diced

carrots, sliced , if desired

1 red pepper, diced

Freshly grated Parmesan

Your favorite vinaigrette

Method:

Cook the pasta, rinse in cold water and drain. Add ingredients, dress with vinaigrette and toss with some fresh Paremsan.

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The last salad came from my dear friend Nancy. She's not with us any longer and I miss her a lot and think of her often. She invented this herself and ate it frequently. I posted this back when I first started blogging. It's worth reposting.

Nancy's Cauliflower Salad

Ingredients:

1 small head cauliflower, in florets                                      

3 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced                                                                                                                   

1/2 cup pimento stuffed green olives, sliced

1/4 cup salad oil

1/4 cup vinegar

seasoning salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:
Make a simple vinagrette with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Or use your own favorite vinaigrette. Mix with the other ingredients and chill.