Fatty Salad

I am being literal actually. Everyone has heard the scare tactics of "salads are that's good for you" hinting at the calorie-fest from cheesy, creaming traditional Cesar salads and similar salad dressings. I'm sorry Zaxby's fans - fried chicken, cheese and creamy dressing do not make your salad healthy.

But healthy is also a relative term. Is low-calorie or low-fat considered healthy? Fat is a great tool in food preparation if used properly. One thing about dinner salads that puts me off is the fact that something I eat as an appetizer will be my sole menu option. Good fats promote healthy arteries and fill you up so you don't crave empty calories.

Introducing my fatty salad: this good-fat-rich dinner salad is a quick, filling meal for vegetarian foodies or those trying to watch their calorie in-take. This recipe is slightly altered from Martha's version, but I emphasize the "quick" aka store-bought salad dressing.

Avacado and nuts are some of the best ways to absorb good fats in your diet. Fish and seafood have a great reputation for their Omega-3 fatty oils, although shrimp is on the low end of high fat. Pepitas do fall into the seeds, not nuts, category, but feel free to interchange ingredients to heart-healthy almonds. Pepitas do offer a good amount of protein to the meal, which will assist pure vegetarian eaters.

Fatty Salad

1 lb. precooked shrimp

salt and lemon pepper

1 ripe avacado

Butter lettuce, Bibb lettuce or Romaine

pepitas (pumpkin seeds), salted, roasted or neither

reduced fat or full-fat Ranch (do not use fat free dressings)

Precooked shrimp will more than likely be half the price and tailed already. Raw shrimp tends to be jumbo aka more expensive, and easy to overcook. Rinse shrimp and add to a heated pan. Season and salt and lemon pepper - or preferred seafood seasoning - and cover with a fitted lip. Cook shrimp until hot but do not overcook.

While shrimp is heating, slightly chop lettuce. I used a butter lettuce because it is tender and colorful. But any lettuce preference is fine. I do recommend getting a plastic salad knife. Metal knives will bruise lettuce more easily, so the plastic knife helps to keep lettuces crisp.

To cut your avocado first slice the fruit from top to bottom and twist. Cut the unseeded side cross hatch with a butter knife. Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado cubes onto your salad. One avocado half will cover two salads. It is okay to use an avocado with some brown spots but the fruit should not be mushy. If only using half the avocado, seal tightly and use avocado slices on sandwiches.

Top avocado with cooked shrimp and pepitas. Serve dressing on the side to control how much you are using. Use a good, natural ranch dressing or buttermilk garlic dressing. I normally do not recommend fatty dressings but creamy ranch does help to fill you up and compliment the shrimp and avocado.

Vegetable Burritos with Smoked Gouda - Tupelos World Cafe

Tupelos is a fantastic eatery in Boone, NC. For those old timer Mountaineers, it is the old Angelicas vegetarian café on King Street. Tupelos added meat to their menu but didn't lose their touch on fresh ingredients and organic products. Their spring special included Smoked Gouda Enchiladas, but below is a modified version for the meatless eaters.

Vegetable Burritos with Smoked Gouda

2 lbs red or gold potatoes (or whatever amount you have growing twigs in your cabinet)
Mashed potato staples e.g. milk/cream, butter, salt/pepper etc
1 small can yellow or white corn
2 handfuls of spinach ('cause let's face it, who measures 5 cups of leaves?)
garlic - freshly crushed or minced in a jar
1/2 onion (favorite kind)
2-3 ripe zucchini or yellow squash
1/2 red pepper, chopped (or roasted red pepper)
1/2 cup smoke gouda, shredded
pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
6' or 8' whole wheat tortillas
ripe avocado
favorite salsa

Boil and make mashed potatoes. Typically that consists of cleaning potatoes, cut into quarters, boil until skin starts to come off (about 20 minutes) and mashed with potato masher with tasty add-ins like milk (1%) or light half-n-half and Brummel & Brown butter. There will be so much yummyness in this meal you can probably cut back on the cream and butter. I use a potato masher over a hand blender just to give the potatoes a hearty texture. Don’t forget garlic salt and pepper.

Prep vegetables while potatoes are boiling. Slightly chop spinach and drain and rinse corn. Cut zucchini into 1 inch rounds and then quarter. You want hearty-sized vegetables for this dish so don’t chop too finely. Also chop onion. And fresh red pepper, if using. Sauté vegetables with 1 tsp olive oil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

While potatoes are still steamy hot, stir in cheese, corn and spinach until wilted. If using roasted red pepper (from a jar, not the fresh, sauted pepper), also stir into potatoes.

Steam tortillas by wrapping only the number you intend to use in a damp dish towel - make sure it’s clean and not the one you’ve been wiping your hands with all week ;) Microwave for 1 minute. Layer tortilla with mashed potato mix, vegetable mix and top with pepitas. Fold over and lay seam-side down. Top burritos with sliced avocado and favorite salsa.

Pepitas are yummy pumpkin seeds, but not the kind you pull out of the jack-o-lantern. They are tiny, crunchy and solid green. They are surprisingly great on most Mexican dishes. I bought the roasted, salted kind, but the raw, unroasted are a much better pick since you can do more with them raw (there is a dessert I will share with you in the fall).

For a non-vegetarian meal, layer tortillas with sliced, smoked chicken sausage. The Tupelos burrito was so huge it really didn’t need the meat, but it was nonetheless tasty.

Trader Joes now has a reasonably-priced ($4) bag of shredded, smoked cheddar, gouda, mozzarella and provolone - perfect for this recipe. TJs also has wonderful whole wheat tortillas. The other whole wheat I have found in the grocer has been dry and tears easily but TJ’s are unbeatable in taste and texture. Plus they are only six inches so you know you won’t overstuff.