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What types of summer salads do you like to prepare with the produce from your garden? Do you like more traditional salads or more adventurous salads? What type of dressing do you like to mix in your salads?
2 cucumbers (peeled) or zucchinis, chopped
1Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp raw sugar like Rapunzel Rapadura, Sucanat or jaggery
1 jalapeno, minced
salt to taste
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp Spicy Oil (see below)
1/2 cup almond meal or roasted peanut powder.
Mix all ingredients together, garnish and serve.
The following is a recipe for pre-seasoned oil that can be used to saute most types of vegetables or as a dressing as above:
Spicy Oil
1 cup sunflower,olive or sesame oil
2 Tbsp black mustard seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp tumeric powder
1 tsp hing (compounded asafoetida)
handful of curry leaves (optional)
Heat the oil over medium heat. Add 2-3 mustard seeds when the oil is heating. When they start to pop the oil is hot. Remove the pan from the heat, add the rest of the mustard seeds and cover the pot. When the mustard seeds stop popping, add the rest of the spices and stir. Allow this mixture to cool for 10 minutes or so, then fill into a thick glass jar. Store at room temperature.
We use the garden tomatoes to make Caprese salad with fresh basil and bufalo mozzarella, chopped up in a tabouli salad or just sliced with dijon mustard vinaegrete.
Fresh garden beets are most frequently chopped, tossed with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and tarragon and then roasted in the oven. Leftovers, if any, become salad later.
Just came on here... let me find my two best favorite summer salads: one with Quinoa and the other is a wonderful rice/blackbeans/corn etc. ... lovely. DH loved the Quinoa one...
Indeed garden_mermaid it seems as if our fellow DGers are too busy tending to their gardens. Hee hee.
AlohaHoya, I have family on the Big Island too. I wish I had your soil type here. You can grow anything! lol.
During the summer I enjoy grilled meats on my salads. yum! Here is a great recipe that I thought I'd share. Grilled steak is added to a bed of lettuce and fresh asparagus.
Grilled Steak and Asparagus Salad
1/2 cup A.1. Classic Marinade
1/2 cup KRAFT Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, divided
1 boneless beef top round steak (1 lb.)
1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, steamed until crisp-tender, cooled
1/2 cup thinly sliced red peppers
8 large lettuce leaves
1 Tbsp. sesame seed, toasted
PREHEAT grill to medium. Mix marinade and 1/4 cup of the dressing until well blended. Place steak in shallow glass dish. Add marinade mixture; turn steak to evenly coat both sides. Cover. Refrigerate 30 min., turning after 15 min. Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade.
GRILL steak 12 min. for medium doneness (160°F), turning occasionally. Cut steak into thin slices.
ARRANGE steak, asparagus and peppers on lettuce-covered plate. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup dressing; sprinkle with sesame seed.
i love this one and might have to have it today!
bed of lettuce (your fav)
top with:
wide strips of roasted red pepper
mozerella cheese slices or strips (the good kind)
red onion rings sliced thin
your fav vinegarette dressing
can top with other veggies too
There are so many different ways to make a salad, you can never get bored. Just switch up some ingredients and experiment with a new dressing.
AlohaHoya, here is a Quinoa Salad recipe:
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 can (14.5 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (11 oz.) corn, drained
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed, drained
5 green onions, sliced
6 slices OSCAR MAYER Baked Cooked Ham, finely chopped
1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1 red pepper, chopped
BRING quinoa and broth to boil in medium saucepan; cover. Simmer on low 15 min. or until broth is absorbed. Cool.
MIX quinoa with remaining ingredients just before serving.
We eat a lot of salads year round and since we can grow most anything all year, I don't differenciate between seasons for our salads.
Many times our salads are robust enough to eat as the entree for lunch or brunch - as you can see, I love using fresh goat cheese (chevre) and since there are two goat cheese farms on this island, it is easily found in our farmers' markets
Hey Everyone...I think that we are IN LUCK!!! Foodiesleuth seems to be my dear friend and mentor, Sonia Martinez... She had a column in the local paper, is a mover and groover in the foodie world in Hawaii and has unbelievable ideas about food and cooking. We are lucky to have her!!!!
Sonia...your variegated banana is ready to dig...come soon before it gets too big...
