I’m not a cilantro fan, but watermelon as a salad with a little heat is actually yummy.

The ingredient list is easy:

Chunks of watermelon – bite size
Cilantro chopped
Jalapeno – diced really itty bitty
Red Onion – diced really small

Toss and serve.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 canteloupe cut into small chunks
• 1/2 honeydew melon cut into small chunks
• 1 1/2 cups black berries

Mint simple syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp agave
• 1 to 2 tbs chopped mint

Heat up the one cup of water in a small pot or pan.  Add in the agave and mint.  Stir together while simmering for about 4 or 5 minutes.   Pour the mint simple syrup (and leaves) into a small bowl and place the small bowl inside a larger bowl filled with ice.  This is the way to cool the syrup before pouring it over the melons and blackberries.

After the mint syrup is cooled, toss the melons, blackberries and the mint simple syrup together.  Store in fridge until you are ready to serve.  Yum.

Beet, Feta, Spelt Salad with a Strawberry Vinaigrette

My Beet, Feta and Spelt Salad was my favorite of the two salads (the other was a pasta salad with peas, lamb mint sausage and a dill mint pesto) that we brought to the 3rd of July family gathering.  It’s a potluck and I try to bring something new to the table, to make it interesting.  Of course the young boys wouldn’t touch it, because it was healthy looking, and an aunt said she didn’t eat beets because they taste like dirt.  I say earthy – she says dirt.  Her husband liked it, and so did my family.  I made a pretty big batch, so we had leftovers for breakfast and then some for dinner again.  I also left a small bowl behind for my daughter because she had to work and wasn’t able to go with us.  Feel free to cut down on amounts, I was cooking for a potluck, and had plenty of leftovers for us, which I wanted by the way – so I didn’t need to cook on the 4th.  This is great for dinner, but I brought out the leftovers for breakfast and it went over well then too.

Spelt berry is similar to faro – or wheat berry.  I intended to buy faro, but the shopkeeper told me I could have faro, or a more locally produced spelt which is similar.  The spelt came from Stutzman Farms in Millersburg, which is not too, too far from me but I bought mine at the Greener Grocer.  I seem to have a lot of their products in my home, I didn’t even realize it until today.  Roasted beets are new to our family this year, and yes they have a very earthy taste, but I am enjoying it.  I added basil and parsley from the garden, that was a suggestion from my daughter, who is getting into trying to figure out what herbs to use in our recipes.  Feta seemed like a really good choice crumbled into the salad, though wait until it is cool, or it will be melted feta.  I also threw in dried cranberries and chopped walnuts, plus don’t tell my husband but some itty bitty minced shallots.

This is a really delicious, healthy salad.  Made ahead, you can portion it out for lunches or breakfast because it travels well in a covered bowl.  It will also make a great side dish, or main dish for dinner. Best of all, it’s a quick fix with lots of chopping and a little bit of cooking.  You make ahead and set to cool in the fridge.

I did roast my beets in the oven, but you can try the toaster oven, microwave or stove top if it’s too warm – today at 95 would be too warm.

The method I used to cook spelt was kind of a risotto method.  I added the same amount of water as there was spelt, and heated in the microwave in a glass measuring cup more water.  I slowly cooked out the water in the pot with the spelt, and then added a ladleful of warm water.  I continued this way until the berries were almost the correct consistency and then I pulled the pot off the heat and allowed it to finish absorbing the water left in the pot.  The berries were nice and chewy, not mushy, and not hard.

For the beets, I placed them into a glass bowl with a little water and cooked them until they were soft enough to chewy.  Then you peel the skin off and dice.  The walnuts I chopped with a knife, and also the basil and parsely.

Beet Feta & Spelt Berry Salad

• 2 cups spelt berries (before cooking)
• 5 or 6 roasted beets, peeled and chopped
• 2 handfuls of basil chopped
• 1/2 handful of parsley chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup crumbled Feta

Directions:

Toss it all together, serve with a bottle of strawberry vinaigrette – my daughter used balsamic, but redwine or raspberry would work well also.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

• 4 oz Strawberry Vinegar
• 2 oz olive oil
• salt/pepper/chopped basil leaves.

Shake well before serving.

Recently, we were discussing breakfast.  It came out that one person ate her breakfast as a salad. She cooked up her eggs and bacon, and ate it over salad.  Well, here we were a week later, and out of bread, rolls, wrap, pita, etc.  I thought, well, what the heck – let’s try breakfast as salad, because well, heck it’s salad season.  So I cooked up my breakfast and put it over some nice greens with avocado, and salsa.  The salsa is difficult to see under the egg, but it’s there.  I really enjoyed my breakfast this way though I will let my salsa warm up a little first next time. Really cold salsa with warm eggs is too much of a temperature difference.  A zap in the microwave or letting it come to room temp would be a little better.

Ingredients:

• Salad Greens
• Home made Salsa
• Avocados
• Pancetta
• Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Miscellaneous Herbs

Prepare your eggs and Pancetta in your favorite way.  Create a salad and place the cooked eggs and pancetta on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs.  Enjoy!

Tonight’s dinner was both quick and easy to prepare and all the ingredients in my fridge, so I didn’t have to run out for anything.  The quinoa was made up in a big batch but frozen in dinner size portions.  You can set it to defrost in the fridge, or if you are like me and deciding at the last minute, you can microwave for one minute, stir it around a little and it’s ready to go.  The rest of the ingredients came together into a nice salad topped with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.  Not only was it declared delicious by my college girl, but she made herself a second round.  Yummy.

Ingredients:

• Salad greens
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 can tuna (drained)
• 1 avocado
• 1 tomato chopped
• small bunch of olives (for me only)

Ingredients:

• 1 Grilled Turkey Breast
• bacon pieces
• shredded cheese
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2 small – medium tomatoes
• bed of lettuce
• Your favorite dressing or salsa

Throw down a bed of lettuce and then layer with vegetables.  I would add cukes and red peppers too if you had them.

The temperature has dropped a little, but don’t stop the grilling and eating fresh food. Scrumptious.

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 green onions diced
• 1 small celery stalk diced
• a couple of handfuls of almonds, chopped
• a handful of tarragon leaves
• a handful of parsley leaves
• a handful of dill leaves
• salt
• pepper
• 4 ounces feta crumbled
• 2 – 3 tbs mayo – just enough to moisten the chicken.
• Romaine leaves

Pull all of the good meat off of the chicken and chop into bite size pieces and put into large bowl.  Toss in green onion and celery.   Toast almonds and throw into the bowl.  Chop herbs and throw into bowl with chicken.  Season with salt and pepper, toss in feta and stir in mayo.

Place romaine leaf on plate and arrange chicken salad on top so that it can be rolled together.

Enjoy!

Wild Rice Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon

• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1(19 oz) can of chickpeas (garbanzos)
• 3 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbs cold water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Combine rice, onions, feta, dill and chickpeas in large bowl tossing gently to combine.

Combine juice, olive oil, and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Drizzle juice mixture over rice mixture; toss gently to coat.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who leans towards making and eating salads over the summer over cooking a heavy meal. I’m not sure how it is in your neck of the woods, but here on the East Coast, we’re having one of the hottest summers on record and the last thing anyone wants to do is to turn on appliances that make the house hotter. My family has been grilling and rocking the salads as a way to keep cool.

I have to admit though, I’m not much of a tossed salad girl.  I don’t like lettuces, especially those that turn my salad into something representing lawn clippings. However, I’ll also admit that there are other items that make or break a salad and that I can live with bitter, purple lettuces if the rest of the salad is filled with good stuff.

Here are my top 5 salad fails. Tell me how many you agree with:

1. Mayonnaise

My cousin used to eat salad manually. He would take each individual lettuce leaf and top it with a glob of mayonnaise and eat it that way. I used to get nauseated watching this because I wasn’t a fan of mayonnaise as a salad dressing to begin with, but to paint each individual leaf is overkill.  We’ll get to overdressed salads in a bit, but mayonnaise covers flavors, it doesn’t enhance them. It’s artery clogging unhealthiness. Creative salad makers know better than tossing mayonnaise into some pasta, a bunch of potatoes or some random veggies and calling it salad. Mayonnaise on a salad, any kind of salad, always tastes like too much mayonnaise. If you’re into creaminess on a salad, try some healthier options such as low fat yogurt dressings, certain cheeses and even salad dressings. If you must have a mayonnaise flavor, try diluting mayonnaise with fat free sour cream or yogurt.  Mayonnaise is for sandwiches and even then should be used sparingly.

2. Too Much Dressing

Too much dressing kills a salad. Why bother finding all those fresh vegetables, herbs and spices when you’re just going to muck it up anyway? Salad dressing is only supposed to add additional flavor, or, better yet, enhance the flavors.  If you like a lot of taste to your salad, experiment with herbs such as dill or basil and use onion, garlic, and mushrooms for some flavorful zing. There shouldn’t be a pool of salad dressing leftover at the bottom of your bowl when you’re done eating. In fact, you shouldn’t taste the dressing much at all. By all means, dress your salad, but don’t cover up all the good stuff making up your meal.

3. Limp Veggies

Brown, soggy lettuce. Mushy tomatoes. Peppers that are chewy instead of crunchy. Yeah you can call this a salad, but really it’s just a limp veggie mess. The best salads are made with the freshest ingredients, otherwise why bother?

4. No Imagination

Salads are more than lettuce and tomato. Use your imagination and add more exotic vegetables and even some fruit. Oranges, dried cherries, cranberries, apples and walnuts are terrific in lettuce based salads. Also, try being creative with more “meal-type” salads. A relative (who shall remain nameless) once invited us to dinner and fed us cold rigatoni with cooked frozen vegetables tossed in, her version of a pasta salad.  Just because you’re trying to make something quick or healthy, or you don’t want to use the oven doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be creative about it. Go nuts. Use avocado or artichokes. Try tossing in some bits of sharp cheese a little bite. Pick fresh herbs and use spices for flavor. Lettuce & tomato is fine, if that’s what you’re into – but that’s all it is, lettuce and tomato. Visit the farm market and the gourmet food section of your supermarket for inspiration.

What are your salad fails? Share them in the comments.