Chop Chop Salad in a Jar

Note: This is part of the Traveling Picnic episode were we featured three ethnic inspired lunches (French, Asian & Italian). I separated the recipes out individually to provide you with a better search option.

This is an Italian inspired lunch in the form of a salad - it's like an antipasto in a jar. Travels very well but because it has meat and cheese,  it should be kept in a cooler. For dessert, pick up some fresh fruit from a roadside stand, dip it in some cool and creamy mascarpone cheese and you have a fabulous roadside lunch. For a little extra zip, try drizzling the balsamic vinegar on the mascarpone before dipping fruit into it. Delizioso!

Serves 2       

Prep time: 20 minutes     

Cook time: zero

 Salad

1 romaine heart, washed, dried and chopped

½ pint cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

10-20 pitted Kalamata olives, rough chopped

10 basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons or torn

1/3 lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into small dice

1/3 lb. salami, cut into small dice

Vinaigrette

2 tsp. Diamond Kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1 clove garlic, smashed (optional)

1/3 cup Lucini Balsamic vinegar

¾ to 1 cup California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil

Layer the salad ingredients in a large Mason jar. In a small jar that has a lid, add the salt, garlic (if using) and vinegar. Close jar and shake to dissolve salt. Add ¾ cup of olive oil, close jar and shake well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. You may add additional oil and shake if you like your vinaigrette less piquant.

Pack the vinaigrette separately from the salad. Five to ten minutes before eating, dress the salad. You should start by using a third of the dressing and adding more to taste. You can dress the salad in the jar and give it a few good shakes, or toss the salad in a bowl to serve. Refrigerate and save any remaining dressing for your next salad.

Encores: Chop Chop salad is like an antipasto plate chopped up and made into a salad. It lends itself well to improvisation. If you have some leftover chicken, ham or steak, chop it up and add it to the salad in addition to or instead of the salami. You can experiment with the cheese as well. Substitute feta, chicken and rosemary in place of the fresh mozzarella, salami and basil and you will have a totally different and delicious salad. You may also add additional fresh or pickled vegetables that you have on hand.

Pizza on the Grill

Cooking pizza on the grill gives you that authentic pizza oven flavor. It's rustic in appearance and just begs to be experimented with. It's also a great way to clean out the refrigerator of cooler.

I used a gas grill in this video, but you can easily cook it on a charcoal grill or over a campfire on the back of your cast iron frying pan and a foil hood.

 
 

Serves 2-4

Prep Time: 20 minutes                 

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Basic Grilled Pizza Recipe

 8 ounces pizza dough, in a ball (most pre-made dough is sold in 1 pound packages which will make 2 pizzas)

½ cup polenta (coarse cornmeal) or grits

¼ cup California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil

Toppings

½ to 1 cup of sauce (your favorite red sauce, pesto or 1 cup canned tomato sauce mixed with 1 clove garlic minced,  ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp. dried oregano)

1 cup grated cheese

4 to 8 ounces of fully cooked sausage, pepperoni or meat of your choice

1 cup sliced, cooked vegetables *

¼ cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbls. fresh herbs

As far as toppings and combinations, your choices are endless. Here are a few tips when making grilled pizzas. Most large grocery stores sell pre-made pizza dough that is inexpensive and convenient. It is usually sold in 1 pound packages, which are best cut in half when prepared on the grill.  Many restaurants will even sell you pizza dough if you ask. Some will even sell you sauce and cheese to go with it! Nationwide, Trader Joe’s is a great place to find dough and they often have a few varieties to choose from. Make sure to fully cook all meat toppings. *Saute or grill vegetables before topping your pizzas, as the cooking time is so quick for the crust that the vegetables will not cook once on top of the pizza.  Have all of your ingredients ready to go and at your side and most importantly make sure you let the dough come up to room temperature before you begin grilling.

On a gas grill

Heat grill on high with the lid closed for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat on all burners to medium. While the grill is heating, sprinkle your work surface with the polenta. Roll out the dough. There are many ways to do this. You can use a rolling pin, you can press the dough from the middle out or my preference is to stretch it with my hands and let it’s own weight pull it into form. The edges should be slightly thicker than the center. You will want the dough to be 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. You should aim for an organically shaped piece of dough roughly 12 inches in diameter. The shape of your grill should determine the shape of your pizza. Brush both sides generously with the olive oil. Pick up the dough by the two corners closest to you and in one motion, lay it flat on the grill from back to front. Close the grill and grill 3 minutes. Check the crust and if needed, continue grilling a few minutes until the bottom is marked and nicely browned.  Remove from grill and place on polenta sprinkled rimless baking sheet or pizza peel-grilled side UP. Be sure to close grill and crank heat to high to get it nice and hot. Spread sauce, pesto or olive oil on the cooked side of the pizza, sprinkle with cheese and top with meat and vegetables. Switch the grill to indirect heat if you have a 3 or 4 burner grill by turning off the middle 1 or two burners and keeping the outside burners on high heat. If you have two burners, turn one off and the other on high. You will then place the pizza over the burners that are off, and use the indirect heat to finish the cooking of the pizza. It will take 7 to 10 minutes to finish. If you have only one burner, like the O Grill that I used, turn heat back down to medium-low, open grill and place topped pizza on grill. Close lid and cook about 6 more minutes, checking every three minutes by looking at the bottom of the crust for marks and crispness. The cheese should also be bubbly. Remove from grill, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and some fresh cut herbs from your traveling herb garden. Enjoy!

Great Combo Ideas

• Basil pesto, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes. Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil
• Olive oil, sautéed greens, crumbled sausage, halved cherry tomatoes(raw), fresh goat cheese. Garnish with parmesan cheese and chopped rosemary
• Red sauce, grated mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms and peppers, shredded chicken, olives. Garnish with parmesan and chopped oregano or thyme and chili flakes
• Olive oil, grated white cheddar cheese, heirloom tomatoes, crumbled bacon. Garnish with fresh arugula

Encores: Use leftover jarred pasta sauce as a base for your pizzas. Leftover grilled or roasted vegetables and meats make simple and convenient pizza toppings. Get creative and design your signature pizza for each season.

Healthy Beverages for the Road

Stay fresh and hydrated while on the road with these simple  refreshing beverages and smoothies. It's easy when traveling to run out of steam, but rather than spending your money on unhealthy energy drinks found at gas station continence stores,  grab your blender and whip up something healthy and delicious.

With a stop at the farm stand and few pantry ingredients you will have all the energy you need to take that detour to the world's biggest ball of string.
 

Fruit and Herb Waters Basic Recipe

 Serves 1-2

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: zero

 

1 quart canning jar with lid

1 cups fresh, washed and prepared fruit

3 cups of cold water

3-4 sprigs of fresh herbs

Ice

Place fruit in jar, add water and distribute herbs. Top with ice. Close jar and refrigerate a few hours. May add water and ice to replenish as you drink it. It is best to drink it within 24 hours. If you want to save the water to drink later, you can remove the fruit and herbs (they start to break down after a day) and refrigerate the fruit and herb infused water.

Combinations that we made:

• Watermelon and Rosemary (once you have made this, you can puree the water soaked melon to make delicious watermelon juice)
• Cucumbers, Strawberries and Mint
• Lemons, Limes, Oranges and Thyme

 Ideas for combinations:

• Blackberries and Sage
• Raspberries, Lemons and Mint
• Pineapple and Basil
• Plums, Ginger and Thyme
• Cantaloupe and Basil
• Honeydew Melon, Lime and Mint

Get creative. What do you have on hand? What do you like? Have fun with making new combinations.

Hibiscus Tea

2 Tbls. Hibiscus flowers (also called Jamaica-you can find them in bulk herb departments or in Latino markets)

4 cups cold water

Combine and let sit for a half hour or so. Hibiscus has a nice tart flavor that combines well with tropical fruit, fresh herbs, ginger, honey and all types of fruit juice.  Some people enjoy it with a little sweetener. I use agave or honey because they both combine well and dissolve easily in the tea.

My favorite combination is the basic recipe with 2 slices of orange, one peppermint tea bag and a little honey to sweeten it. Let it steep a few hours, then pour over ice and enjoy. If you have fresh mint, garnish it with a sprig. I often have a pitcher of hibiscus water in my refrigerator and add water to it as I use it for up to three days.  Hibiscus is high in vitamin C and has a calming effect along with being very refreshing!

Three quick steps to a great smoothie

 

Serves 1         

Prep Time: 5 minutes    

Cooking Time: Zero

Basic Smoothie Recipe

 8-12 ounces of your favorite unsweetened liquid (milk, nut or coconut milk, coconut

   water, water, kefir or ½ yogurt plus ½ cup water)

1-4 Tbls. protein (hemp, whey or rice protein powder, nuts or nut butter)

½ to 1 cup fresh or frozen fruit

Place in Magic Bullet in order listed and blend until smooth.

Smoothies are a great on the go meal or snack. They are a great way to use over ripe fruit and add dark leafy greens to your diet. You can freeze fruit in Ziploc bags and it will be ready to go and also add a nice creamy texture to your smoothies. If you don’t have frozen fruit you can also attain a thicker texture with a few ice cubes. If you make ice cubes with coconut water or your milk of choice it will not water down your smoothies. If you do not have a freezer, no problem-your smoothies will just be a little thinner in consistency. Follow these easy steps and your smoothies will be both full of flavor and packed with nutrition! You can also make smoothies ahead and refrigerate or put them in a cooler on ice to consume later. The idea for maximum nutrition is to keep the sugar content low and the protein content high.

Step One-Liquids:

• Water
• Unsweetened almond, hazelnut or coconut milk
• Cow or goat milk
• Diluted plain yogurt or plain kefir (liquid yogurt)
• Rice milk (keep in mind rice milk contains a signifigant amount of carbs and sugar)
• Concentrated teas made into ice cubes:try green tea, fruit zingers, passion or wild sweet orange flavors

Step Two-Protein:

• Whey, rice or hemp protein powders-follow serving directions on the container
• Nuts or nut butters: almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. ¼ cup nuts or ¼ cup nut butter

Step Three-Flavor with Fruits and Veggies

Choose fresh fruit in season or frozen fruit in the winter. You can use sweet potatoes or winter squash too. You’ll need about ½ to 1cup fruit or ½ cup cooked, cubed sweet potato or winter squash.

• Berries
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Cherries
• Mango
• Papaya
• Cantaloupe and other melons
• Cherries
• Banana
• Sweet Potato or Winter squash (cooked and cubed)
• Kale or Spinach leaves
• Sprouts-pea, broccoli, radish

Step Four-Optional Add Ins:

• Flax meal
• Hemp Seeds
• Greens Powder
• Chia Seeds
• Acidophilus (probiotic powder)
• Cacao or carob powder
• Flavored extracts: vanilla, almond
• Cinnamon
• Ginger-fresh or ground