When shopping for prepared salads, I look for those with ingredients that are appealing to me. Cobb salads, Caesar, southwest, seafood. These are some of my favorites. They are a quick and easy way to have a healthy lunch or dinner. But sometimes I like to doctor them up a little. Take a look at a recent redo of a seafood salad which made it a better fit for me.
This seafood salad caught my attention right away when I approached the counter.
The ingredients were indeed fresh and it appeared that it had been made that very day.
The first thing to do was to separate all the ingredients into containers so I could see exactly what I had.
First up, the lettuce. It appeared to be an American blend - mild and crispy iceberg and romaine combined with sweet carrots and tangy red cabbage. I enjoy the American blend salads served with cream based dressings.
Traditionally, these salads are prepared with the ingredients "rough chopped". I am not a big fan of that. So I moved the greens to a cutting board to reduce.
With a large, non-serrated kitchen knife, I gave them a once through which ended up making it more of a "shredded" salad than a "chopped" salad.
This bowl contains filler. This is coarsely chopped cabbage and sliced carrots, both of which are added more for appearance than anything else. I do not care for this.
So, ... out it goes. The leaves of the red cabbage in the lettuce mix is quite delicious and adds some crunch to the mix. This is the stalk of the cabbage and some shredded carrot that add nothing. They are filler.
The salad came with three small tomatoes. That would not do.
I had a beautiful variety of small salad tomatoes in the refrigerator which I sliced and added to the three in the container.
This was the seafood portion of the original salad. I wanted a little more.
So I picked up this bag of Crab Delights Flake Style imitation crab to add to my salad. My opinion of imitation crab? I certainly would not use it for any dish calling for crab for a dinner party I was throwing. I would not use it in a dish that I was taking to the host or hostess of a party. But for every day use for myself, I do not have a problem with it. I think it is delicious in salads. I have even made imitation crab salad for sandwiches for lunch which I think are quite good. It is also good for snacking if you want a little something between meals.
I retrieved a good amount from the bag and placed it on a cutting board. I would say this is a good three-quarters of a cup of crab.
Reassemble your salad. As you can see, this is a much more attractive looking salad than the original. We have plenty of seafood in the mix, a nice selection of sliced salad tomatoes and shredded lettuce and cabbage for the base. The remoulade dressing that came with it was quite delicious, so I did not change that. You can always add your own if you do not like what is included.
Here is the recipe for remoulade dressing:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons tomato ketchup
3 green onions
1 celery heart with 4 or 5 stalks and leaves
Mince celery. Combine with other ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Chill for one hour before serving.
If you like to buy prepared salads for your mid-day and/or evening meal, don't think you have to go with what is in the package. Take a little time and customize it to your taste. A few changes here and there can make a good salad into a great salad!
This seafood salad caught my attention right away when I approached the counter.
The ingredients were indeed fresh and it appeared that it had been made that very day.
The first thing to do was to separate all the ingredients into containers so I could see exactly what I had.
First up, the lettuce. It appeared to be an American blend - mild and crispy iceberg and romaine combined with sweet carrots and tangy red cabbage. I enjoy the American blend salads served with cream based dressings.
Traditionally, these salads are prepared with the ingredients "rough chopped". I am not a big fan of that. So I moved the greens to a cutting board to reduce.
With a large, non-serrated kitchen knife, I gave them a once through which ended up making it more of a "shredded" salad than a "chopped" salad.
This bowl contains filler. This is coarsely chopped cabbage and sliced carrots, both of which are added more for appearance than anything else. I do not care for this.
So, ... out it goes. The leaves of the red cabbage in the lettuce mix is quite delicious and adds some crunch to the mix. This is the stalk of the cabbage and some shredded carrot that add nothing. They are filler.
The salad came with three small tomatoes. That would not do.
I had a beautiful variety of small salad tomatoes in the refrigerator which I sliced and added to the three in the container.
This was the seafood portion of the original salad. I wanted a little more.
So I picked up this bag of Crab Delights Flake Style imitation crab to add to my salad. My opinion of imitation crab? I certainly would not use it for any dish calling for crab for a dinner party I was throwing. I would not use it in a dish that I was taking to the host or hostess of a party. But for every day use for myself, I do not have a problem with it. I think it is delicious in salads. I have even made imitation crab salad for sandwiches for lunch which I think are quite good. It is also good for snacking if you want a little something between meals.
I retrieved a good amount from the bag and placed it on a cutting board. I would say this is a good three-quarters of a cup of crab.
Dice it coarsely and add it to the bowl with the crab from the original salad. Now you have a nice amount of crab for your enjoyment.
Reassemble your salad. As you can see, this is a much more attractive looking salad than the original. We have plenty of seafood in the mix, a nice selection of sliced salad tomatoes and shredded lettuce and cabbage for the base. The remoulade dressing that came with it was quite delicious, so I did not change that. You can always add your own if you do not like what is included.
Here is the recipe for remoulade dressing:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons tomato ketchup
3 green onions
1 celery heart with 4 or 5 stalks and leaves
Mince celery. Combine with other ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Chill for one hour before serving.
If you like to buy prepared salads for your mid-day and/or evening meal, don't think you have to go with what is in the package. Take a little time and customize it to your taste. A few changes here and there can make a good salad into a great salad!
