There's
little better in this world than fresh sweet corn and tomatoes at the
end of the summer. This is a recipe I posted two years ago. I made it again recently and its wonderful.
Fresh Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad
Serves 4
Dressing
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. olive oil
1 t. balsamic vinegar
¼ t. sea salt
¼ t. black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Veggies
½ C. uncooked whole wheat orzo
¼ C. red onion, diced
1 C. tomato, diced
4 ears of fresh sweet corn, kernels cut off
½ C. cucumber, diced
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Cook
the orzo according to directions. While the pasta is cooking make the
dressing by whisking together the ingredients. Drain the pasta and put
it into a bowl. Spoon a little of the dressing over the pasta, stir to
coat and set aside to cool. Prepare the vegetables. When the orzo is
cool, mix the orzo, vegetables and remaining dressing together. Garnish
with parsley and serve.
This is a recipe I dreamed up two summers ago. And now with the tomatoes and corn just coming in, I made it again and thought it deserved a repeat performance. The
avocado dressing is wonderfully flavorful on top of the vegetables.
Avocado Sweet Corn Salad
Can be made quickly
Serves 4
Dressing
1 avocado
3 T fresh lemon juice
½ C. peeled and diced cucumber
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 t. sea salt
1/8 t. pepper
Salad
8 C. loosely pack lettuce – chopped romaine and mixed baby greens
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 large tomato, cut into large bite size pieces
½ sweet pepper (I used an orange pepper), cut into bite size pieces
1/4 C. sweet onion, sliced and cut into bite size pieces
1 cucumber – (use the remaining cucumber from the dressing) peeled, seeded and cut into bite size pieces
To
make the dressing, cut and scoop out the avocado putting it into a food
processor. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until blended and
smooth. Put the salad ingredients into a large bowl and pour the
dressing over the salad. Gently toss to mix the dressing with the
vegetables and serve.
This recipe comes from Ina Garten. She uses feta cheese in her recipe, which I omitted. Also, I added capers to the dressing for a little more flavor. It's a perfect summer salad, especially when using fresh vegetables from the garden. My family loved it and I will definitely make it again!
Ingredients
Good olive oil
1 small French baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices (approx. 6 cups)
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, large diced
1 yellow bell pepper, large diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or one large tomato large diced
1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
For the vinaigrette:
nocoupons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon capers, drained
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
Directions
Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper in a small bowl. While still whisking, add the olive oil and make an emulsion.
Heat a grill or grill pan. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a small bowl. With a pastry brush, lightly brush olive oil onto each piece of bread. Grill the bread turning as they brown. Once they are nicely browned remove and add to the salad.
Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the olives and grilled bread and mix together lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.
Now the story behind the recipe… I had company coming over for dinner and I wanted a quick, light salad that wasn’t leafy. I had read about combining cantaloupe with cucumber for summer salads, and I had both on hand, plus a kiwi! I put this combination together (very quickly) and served it with dinner. My daughter wasn’t impressed, but I really liked it and so did our friends. I’ll definitely serve it again (when she’s not around).
So now you have to make it and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your ideas!!
Cantaloupe, Kiwi, Cucumber Salad
Serves 4
1/2 cantaloupe, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 English cucumber, peeled,seeded & cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1/8 C fresh lime juice
2T orange juice
pinch of salt
Toss the ingredients together and chill at least 1/2 hour. Then, just before serving, stir to coat with the dressing. Serve as is, or with salad greens.
Do you know what a muffaletta is? Well it's not vegan, that's for sure! It's a submarine-style sandwich made with a kind of bread that originated in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It's usually starts with this bread and is layered with an olive salad (key ingredient), deli meats and cheese.
Long before I began eating as a vegan, I made one of these subs and it was excellent! (if you like smoked meats topped with an olive salad that is...) But it's the olive salad that makes the sandwich. It's very different and really tasty!
So, one day while I was cruising the internet I came across a recipe for a muffaletta salad. Reading the recipe brought back memories and I became intrigued with the idea of using the olive salad minus the meat. The base of this salad is from that recipe. I found it on the Food Network website. It's by Guy Fieri. As usual, I wasn't completely sold on the recipe as is. I thought I could improve on the dish, and I did!
Here are the changes I made...With the dressing, I changed the quantity of a couple of the ingredients and the length of time it is blended.Then, I changed the ingredients of the salad itself so it became more of a meal. The dressing is what really makes this dish. It's wonderful, really wonderful. You have to try it.
BTW, I took the salad to a neighbors house (with kalamata olives, not canned). She loved it, so I decided to post it. Thanks Joan!
Ingredients for the salad dressing
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup olive juice from can
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup diced black olives (I used kalamata)
1/2 cup diced green olives
1/2 cup diced marinated artichoke hearts, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
Directions
In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, olive juice, lemon juice, red chili flakes, pepper and all vegetables. Pulse until pureed. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator.
Salad ingredients
16oz. of orzo
1/2 red onion, minced
1/2 - 1 English seedless cucumber, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
3 green onions, sliced on a diagonal
the remainder of the black olives, sliced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
2-3 jars of marinated artichoke hearts
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Cook the orzo according to directions. Drain and coat with enough dressing to keep the pasta from sticking together and give it flavor. When the orzo is cool, add the vegetables and toss. Finally, add more dressing to taste and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate. You will end up with dressing left over, but it's great on greens and pasta!
Recently, my husband turned another year older. We decided it was a great excuse to have a party and invite our neighborhood friends. We are lucky to live in a subdivision filled with really great people and getting together is always a lot of fun! I decided to make it a “Strolling Cocktail Hour” with lots of bite size appetizers so people could easily mingle (although everyone stayed in the kitchen).
That night, the only appetizer I could eat without veering off my diet too wildly were the gazpacho shooters. These were itty-bitty martini glasses filled with gazpacho and each had a shrimp floating on top. The soup was really good and I ate a bowl of it during the evening (without the shrimp of course, but if I'm going to be honest, I did try other foods that night that were not on my diet, oops again). Anyway, the recipe called for olive oil, and as I tasted the gazpacho I wondered if its flavor really benefited from the addition of the oil.
So, as the tomatoes make their final curtain call for the season, I decided to come up with a recipe. A recipe that excluded oil and that I could be proud to serve to company. This is a solid start. The flavor is great, and you won’t miss the oil. My family likes it, I love it and I hope you will too.
Note: This is really good garnished with diced ripe avocado, but cilantro is great as well. If you like your gazpacho spicy, add ½ - 1 small, seeded and diced jalapeno!
Gazpacho
4 ripe tomatoes
2 C tomato juice
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
½ C red onion, chopped
½ C red pepper, chopped
¼ C cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. cider vinegar (I use Bragg's)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. kosher salt
¼ t. pepper
Avocado for garnish
Bring a large pot full of water to a boil. Make an X with a knife on the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for about 15 – 30 seconds. Remove and put them into an ice bath until cool. Pat dry, peel, core, seed and chop. In a large mixing bowl put the tomatoes, tomato juice, cucumber, red onion, red pepper, cilantro, garlic, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Put half of the mixture into a blender and puree for 30 seconds. Pour back into the bowl with the remaining mixture. Mix well, cover and chill for at least 1 hour, best overnight. Garnish with avocado, cilantro or both.
Right now fresh vegetables are at their peak and I can’t get enough of the sweet corn. In fact, I created this salad just so I could eat more! The avocado dressing is wonderfully flavorful on top of the vegetables. It was a hit with my family and I think you'll enjoy it.
Santa Fe Salad
Can be made quickly
Serves 4
Dressing
1 avocado
3 T fresh lemon juice
½ C. peeled and diced cucumber
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 t. sea salt
1/8 t. pepper
Salad
8 C. loosely pack lettuce – chopped romaine and mixed baby greens
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 large tomato, cut into large bite size pieces
½ sweet pepper (I used an orange pepper), cut into bite size pieces
1/4 C. sweet onion, sliced and cut into bite size pieces
1 cucumber – (use the remaining cucumber from the dressing) peeled, seeded and cut into bite size pieces
To make the dressing, cut and scoop out the avocado putting it into a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until blended and smooth. Put the salad ingredients into a large bowl and pour the dressing over the salad. Gently toss to mix the dressing with the vegetables and serve.
There's little better in this world than fresh sweet corn and tomatoes at the end of the summer. This is my take on a recipe I saw on television one morning. It does have oil in it, but if you play with the amount of lemon juice and balsamic, you can omit the oil.
Fresh Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad
Serves 4
Dressing
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. olive oil
1 t. balsamic vinegar
¼ t. sea salt
¼ t. black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Veggies
½ C. uncooked whole wheat orzo
¼ C. red onion, diced
1 C. tomato, diced
4 ears of fresh sweet corn, kernels cut off
½ C. cucumber, diced
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Cook the orzo according to directions. While the pasta is cooking make the dressing by whisking together the ingredients. Drain the pasta and put it into a bowl. Spoon a little of the dressing over the pasta, stir to coat and set aside to cool. Prepare the vegetables. When the orzo is cool, mix the orzo, vegetables and remaining dressing together. Garnish with parsley and serve.
