Beat the Heat: Mediterranean Crunch Salad

A few weeks ago The Detroit Free Press had an article about how you can make delicious and flavorful "pasta-less" summer salads.  The following one caught my eye because of it's fresh ingredients and for the simplicity of the salad.  I happened to have almost all of the ingredients one day last week so after a quick trip to the store for broccoli and thyme, I was ready to go.  

In the article I noticed that this recipe is actually from Whole Foods so you can find their original recipe here.  (It's one of their "Health Starts Here" recipes.)  I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway because I've made a few slight variations.  Hopefully Whole Foods won't mind.

 

Mediterranean Crunch Salad

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained 
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup small broccoli florets
1 cup Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 cup finely sliced kale, tough stems removed
10 Kalamata olives, cut in half
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Fresh roasted beets, sliced (may sub canned but fresh are best)

Crumbled tofu “feta" (plus a few tbsp marinade, if desired)
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl combine all ingredients through the thyme.  Cover and chill at least 1 hour before serving.  Before serving, top with roasted beet slices and tofu feta.  Sprinkle with a generous portion of black pepper and drizzle with a few tbsp of the tofu marinade.  Serve immediately.

Makes 2 large or 4 small servings.

Beat the Heat: Simple Kale Salad

Kale is a green that I've only been eating for a few years.  I'd never heard of it before going vegan and now I absolutely love it!  Kale is packed with nutrients, including calcium, vitamin C, folic acid, and potassium (to name a few). I used to only put it in smoothies but now prefer to make spinach smoothies.  So I eat kale in other ways.  

Currently I have three favorite ways to eat kale - sauteed kale, kale chips, and kale salad.  In the summer when it's really hot, kale salad makes the most sense because you don't need to turn on the oven or use the stove.  Plus it's a nice change from the usual lettuce salad.

There are tons of recipes out there for kale salad, so although this isn't an exact recipe I found somewhere, it's sort of your basic recipe.  Some are more elaborate than others and may include tofu, avocado, or other chopped raw veggies.  I prefer to keep mine simple.

Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon

Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Nutritional yeast



Directions:

1. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces.  Place in a large bowl of water to rinse and remove any dirt.  Drain and allow to dry completely.  (I use my salad spinner.)

2. When dry, pour some olive oil into a bowl.  Dip your fingers into the oil, massage the leaves so they are covered with oil, and place them in a large bowl.  I find that you don't really need a whole lot of oil - maybe 1 tbsp or so.  Once you've done about half the leaves, you should be able to add the rest of the leaves and the ones that are already covered will transfer oil to the rest.  Just keep mixing and massaging until all the leaves are covered.

3. Squeeze the lemon juice over the kale.  Sprinkle with a few dashes of Bragg's.  Using tongs or your hands, mix everything together.  Cover and refrigerate.

4. When ready to serve, put kale into bowls and top with nutritional yeast.  Taste and add additional Bragg's, if needed.

Makes 4 side salads.

We had this last night for dinner.  The kale came from our Living Stones CSA.

Have you had kale salad?  How do you make yours?

Beat the Heat: 3-Bean Barley Salad

This recipe was inspired by the “Edamame 3-Bean Salad” recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch.  With the temperatures soaring into the 90’s, I wanted to make a cold barley salad that I could keep in the fridge for the week and have as either a main or side dish most days.  After reading many barley salad recipes and finding none that appealed to me, I remembered the Skinny Bitch bean salad and figured I’d make a variation of that (I switched up the veggies a bit and used different dressing) with barley.   

Although I list the following ingredients, this is really a “make it your own” salad.  Add or substitute other veggies, herbs, beans, or even choose a different grain.  Quinoa or Israeli couscous would work well.  The same goes for the dressing.  Try some different flavors to see what works best.  A light miso dressing or even just some lemon or lime juice would be fresh and delicious.  Because when I made it I wasn't sure exactly what flavor I'd like the dressing to be, I didn’t actually mix all the dressing into the whole salad at once.  I added it to my own portion each time I had it.  Brian had his in a wrap with avocado and didn’t even add any dressing.  If you are planning on serving this at a get-together and think most of it will get eaten, go ahead and mix it in all at once.  If you’re saving it for a few meals, hold off on the dressing.  It's much more versatile without it.  

Also note that this makes a LOT of salad.  It ended up being too much for the two of us to eat in a week so I'd suggest scaling it back a bit (you could probably even get away with the same amount of veggies but half of the barley) if you're cooking for two.   

3-Bean Barley Salad

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked pearl barley

3 cups water

1 ear cooked corn, kernels cut off OR ½ cup frozen corn (rinsed under cold water to thaw)

1 cup shelled edamame
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup shredded carrots
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (I used basil)

Fat-free Orange Juice Vinaigrette (recipe follows) or dressing of choice 

Directions:

1. Combine barley and water in a medium-sized pot.  Bring to boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for 50-60 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.

2. While the barley is cooking, prep your veggies and place them in a large bowl.

3. When the barley is done, place it in a sieve or colander and rinse under cold water.  Drain well and add to veggies.  Add dressing.  Stir to combine.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Makes about 10-12 cups.

Fat-free Orange Juice Vinaigrette

½ cup white wine vinegar

½ cup orange juice

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Whisk all ingredients together and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

I ate mine over a bed of mixed greens from our CSA.

Beat the Heat: Raw Veggie Salad with Tofu Feta

Ahhh, it looks like our recent Michigan heatwave is finally over!  Earlier in the week we had a few 90+ degree days with a blazing hot sun.  It was the kind of heat that you expect in July or August, not early June, so it really came as a shock.  And wouldn't you know it, our central air went out!  That threw a wrench in my dinner plans for the week since I didn't want to make anything that would heat up the house any more.  Brian grilled a couple nights but midway through the week we just wanted something cool and refreshing that didn't require much prep work.  

I had some raw veggies in the fridge and had just seen a recipe for tofu feta that sounded intriguing and I thought the two would make a perfect combination.  I didn't have exactly what I needed for it, though.  Then I remembered that there's also a recipe in The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak.  I didn't have the exact ingredients for that either, nor the suggested 2-7 days for marinating the tofu.  I had my heart and taste buds set on eating it for dinner the next day so I sort of combined the two recipes.  

I really was wary of how it would turn out, both in terms of taste and texture, but the result was quite feta-esque and surprisingly delicious.  Granted, it's been about 3.5 years since I've eaten feta but I think I've eaten enough of it in my lifetime to be able to say this comes close.  There would be no mistaking it for real feta but it has a nice tang and crumbles well.

The miso marinade made a great dressing for the raw veggies.  I tossed them in a little of that and then topped it with the tofu feta.  So yummy!!  There is a lot of marinade left so I saved it to use as dressing on salads.  It's a little reminiscent of Greek dressing so I definitely see a Greek salad in my future with fresh roasted beets.  I marinated it for less than 24 hours but would do longer if I had the time.  Be sure to press the tofu again or drain it well after marinating or else it will be too soggy.

Brian ended up firing up the grill after all to make a delicious loaf of whole-grain garlic bread.  Combined with the veggie salad and a tall glass of wine, this was a simple yet satisfying meal.

Raw veggies -  cucumber, red and yellow bell peppers, carrots and green beans; canned chick peas

Tofu Feta 

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:   

1 pound extra-firm tofu

Juice of 1 lemon plus enough water to equal 1 ½ cups

½ cup mellow brown miso (could also use white or chickpea)

3 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. salt

Dried oregano, to taste

    

Directions:  

1. Drain and press tofu well.  I used my TofuXpress.  Cut the tofu into ½-inch cubes.

2. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a shallow dish with a lid.  Place tofu cubes in liquid, making sure that they are all covered.

3. Marinate tofu in refrigerator for 24 hours, longer for a stronger flavor.

4. Remove tofu from marinade.  Gently squeeze or re-press tofu to remove excess marinade, or drain well.

5. To serve, crumble over salad, pasta, or veggies.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.