Monday, September 21, 2015

Cookabetes: Grilled Asparagus Salad

It's pretty simple, I love to eat and I love to cook - not a huge fan of the cleanup. 
I especially like cooking for other people because.. well, I just do. 
But, I've been making a concentrated effort to make tasty meals for myself with as much zest as I do when I make meals for my friends. 
And with the advent of smart phones; facebook, twitter, and instagram, I've been known to post pictures of some of my creations online. 
And a lot of people have reached out and asked me to post more recipes on the blog  - which is very flattering and most incredibly cool.
Ironically, all who have requested more recipes on the blog have expressed that they don't want "diabetes friendly," recipes - which is one of the reasons that they like my food posts.

And I totally get that. 
Personally, I don't set out to make "diabetes friendly," recipes - I set out to make foods I'm interested in eating - many of those meals are healthy - and some, not so much. 
But as long as I'm being honest, I've been known to refer to my cooking as "cookabetes," 
because: 
 1.The person cooking these meals,(me,) has diabetes 
2. You all know how much I dig a good diabetes play on words.
Anyway, here's a recipe for a really tasty roasted asparagus salad. 
Was it easy on the blood sugars? 
Yep, it was. 
But this salad was even easier on the taste buds...some might even say it was diabetesalicious~ 
I made this and it was effing amazing~
Ingredients for the Grilled Asparagus salad
Grilled Baby asparagus or regular asparagus - as much you feel like eating
and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic.
Lettuce that you like and will eat
Raw red and or sweet onions
Tomatoes -diced or quartered 
Sweet and spicy peppers 
Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Ingredients For The Vinaigrette 
2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of red, white, or balsamic vinegar 
1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice 
1 or 2 tablespoons of diced raw onions - FTR, I used 2 tablespoons red onions
2 or more tablespoons of pitted and chopped kalameta olives 
3 tablespoons of crumbled french feta cheese 
Sidebar: I find French feta to be much creamier than Greek Feta and I prefer it.
 ** for those who are dairy free, Trader Joe's baked savory tofu is an excellent replacement for the feta 
1 clove of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of honey 
1 teaspoon of dried oregano/ 3 or four stalks of fresh oregano 
1/4 a teaspoon of dried parsley - make sure you make it powder like - I think it tastes better that way
Dill to taste
Sea salt and pepper - as much or as little as you like. 

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake like you just don't care. 
Take the grilled asparagus and place on a plate of clean lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. 
Pour some dressing over the salad. 
EAT. 
PS: The leftover vinaigrette also tastes really good on grilled chicken. 

I don't believe that there's a lot of carbs in this salad - Personally, I bolused for 20 grams of carbs, but I also added a small italian roll to the mix - that's what the majority of my bolus went towards.
But as always, your diabetes may vary~
Hope you enjoy like it! 

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