Strawberry-Almond Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

Strawberry-Almond Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

This photo has been described as pornographic.

Salad

the best quality mixed greens you can get (it’s okay if you just use dining hall greens, just try to use the mixed greens instead of all-lettuce)
strawberries, sliced
sliced almonds (toast for a while in a toaster if you have one, as it brings out the flavor)
Optional: mild goat cheese; I used clochette above.

Slice the strawberries on top of the lettuce and top with the almonds and goat cheese, if you’re using it.

Dressing

2 Tbsp orange juice (you can just get one carton and drink the rest; Tropicana is much better than Minute Maid)
1 Tbsp honey (available at the on-campus convenience store)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (free at the salad station)

Mix orange juice with honey until it’s thickened but not viscous. Add balsamic vinegar, tasting until it’s tangy enough for you and drizzle over salad.

Peanut Butter Remixed

The C-Store’s free soy sauce packets got me thinking about what I could do with them. Asian food was an obvious choice, but what kind? Chinese? Japanese? Neither – Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand. The classic pairing is peanut butter, and I chose Jif – not the best, but super smooth (read: easy to mix with the soy sauce). Also, the C-Store was out of the organic kind. What can we add to peanut butter and soy sauce to kick it up a notch? A couple things:

• red pepper flakes
• balsamic vinegar (available at the salad bars)
• citrus (preferably lime juice)
• grated ginger

Personally, I added red pepper flakes, but most people probably don’t have any of the above on hand, and only the last is available from the C-Store and then only sometimes. (If, for some reason, you have tamarind on hand, you can add that too, and while you’re at it, share with me.) Et voila!
Here’s the recipe:

• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 soy sauce packet
• optional: 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• optional: 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• optional: 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Note: for the following two ingredients, just ask for a full monty roll and chicken, nothing else.
Sometimes people let you cut in line because you’re getting something really fast.

• bread (full monty roll, whole wheat bread…)
• chicken

Mix the peanut butter and soy sauce together until the mixture assumes approximately the texture of nutella. Add in any or all of the optional ingredients. Spread the mixture on the bread and put on the chicken. Drizzle the chicken with balsamic vinegar if you have it.

Enjoy!