If there’s a vegan or vegetarian in the crowd, then this dish will be sure to please. Chock full of complementary textures and flavours, it not only qualifies as eye candy, but is also a substantial stand-alone meal—a stunning meal in a dish!
Best beer? Serve this salad with an IPA or pale ale. For a more adventurous sip, it’s equally delicious with a Belgian pale or dark ale.
Endlessly customizable
When it comes to this powerhouse salad, the sky’s the limit. Swap out apples with orange wedges, or mix up your greens by substituting spinach for endive. Bump up the protein with some canned chickpeas or black beans, if you wish. Or cut up some corn tortillas into bite-sized strips, fry in pan until crisp, then toss over salad for added crunch.
Everything-But-Meat Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 mL) packed kale, washed, spun dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 Tbsp + 1/4 cup (15 mL + 60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 head Romaine, washed, spun dry, and shredded
- 1/2 head radicchio, shaved
- 4 large curly endive leaves, washed, spun dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 unpeeled cucumber, cut into matchstick pieces
- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
- 1 cup (250 mL) grape tomatoes, halved
- 4 large radishes, shaved
- 1 crisp, green unpeeled apple, cored and thinly sliced
- 1/4 small, sweet onion, shaved into rounds
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp (5 mL) maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) sea salt
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) toasted nuts such as walnuts or hazelnuts, chopped, or pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) toasted nuts such as walnuts or hazelnuts, chopped, or pumpkin seeds
- Nasturtium flowers (optional)
Directions
01
In large bowl, place kale and drizzle with 1 Tbsp (15 mL) oil; using your fingertips, rub oil into leaves to soften. Add Romaine, radicchio, endive, cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, radishes, apple slices, and sweet onion, separated into rings.
02
In small bowl, combine vinegar, mustard, syrup, salt and pepper. Whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup (60 mL) oil until emulsified. Drizzle over salad and gently toss to coat. Top salad with nuts and hemp hearts. Garnish with nasturtium flowers, if available.
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Curried Lentil Stuffed Squash
Serving saucy lentils in squash halves is a sure-fire way to elevate your plant-based menu. And, yes, the whole bowl is edible, skin and all. If desired, you can add dollops of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Spice of life Garam masala, a blend of spices traditionally used in Indian cooking, usually includes cardamom, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, fennel, cumin, and coriander. It’s great on roasted meats and vegetables.
Kartoffelknödel Potato Dumplings Stuffed with Toasted Bread and Spinach
“Germans do potatoes in general very well,” says Canadian expat Chris Gilles, who now lives in Munich and has celebrated many an Oktoberfest there. “Knödel seem kind of rubbery. You don’t really think it’s potato when you first see it, but it’s tasty.” But he might be surprised to find that this alive -inspired version of Bavarian potato dumplings is made with a combination of potato and cauliflower, because as anyone who’s eaten cauliflower gnocchi knows, the low-carb vegetable is a great way to lighten up starch-heavy foods (and Biergarten menus). Happy Knödelfest! The original version of these snacks are so popular that it even gets its own food fest: Knödelfest, which happens in September in Austria, about a 1 1/2-hour drive from Munich. If alive threw a Knödelfest, these dumplings would definitely be on the menu, served simply as snacks with sliced radishes and fresh parsley or dill, or topped with butter, beer gravy, or mushroom sauce. The dumpling test You can test one dumpling by shaping it and then boiling it before shaping the rest. If the water is lower than a boil and it still falls apart, add more starch to the batter before shaping another ball and testing again.
Dunkel Beer-Marinated Rotisserie-Style Chicken
This dark beer-marinated chicken uses the convection setting on your oven to create a crispy skinned bird. Convection cooking circulates air around the meat, crisping it like rotisserie without needing a spit or a lot of oil, similar to an air fryer (which you can also use!). If you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, you can simply bake the chicken for longer at the same temperatures as below, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 F (74 C). You can use any dark beer, but our pick is, obviously, something German. Oktoberfest barbecue You can also grill the whole chicken on a barbecue—which makes for an impressive presentation and a gorgeously crispy bird—but it’s best to spatchcock it first (take out the backbone) so it cooks more evenly and quickly. Make it fast! If you don’t want to make an entire chicken—or if you want your dinner to cook faster—use this marinade (without stuffing the chicken cavity) on chicken breasts, thighs, or iron-rich chicken livers instead.
Gluten-Free Pretzels
At Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich, there are always people walking around selling large pretzels, says Canadian expat Chris Gilles, who moved to the city in 2018. The large pieces of golden, twisted pretzel dough come topped with coarse salt for a savoury crunch with every bite. “They don’t come with any dipping sauce,” Gilles says, “but you could dip it in sauce if you had ordered something else”—say, the honey mustard or stone-ground mustard you might have with your bratwurst or sauerkraut balls. But don’t feel bad if you prefer to break from German tradition and dip them in caramel or tahini instead! There’s no need to flour a surface when rolling out your dough; the psyllium keeps it from sticking.