This salad is a slightly different take on Rick Bayless’ version in Mexican Everyday.
The Salad:
- 1 jicama, peeled and cut into sticks (use a paring knife rather than a vegetable peeler)
- 2 avocados, cut into 1 inch pieces (Here are tips on how to cut an avocado)
- 1 medium bunch watercress, large lower stems broken off (You can substitute arugula)
- 4 large romaine leaves, cut cross-wise into 1/4 inch slices
The Dressing:
- 3/4 cup oil (I used a combination of vegetable and olive oil)
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- A few squeezes of fresh orange juice (I used navel oranges)
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 1/2 cup roughly packed cilantro
- 2 serrano chiles (or 1 jalapeno) stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a jar and secure the lid.
- In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients. Give the dressing another shake to make sure it is combined. Drizzle about 1/3 cup of the dressing on the vegetables. (Save the rest of the dressing in the fridge for another salad). Toss to combine.
- Taste and add more salt if you think necessary. Serve immediately.
Every month, I get a package of fresh organic fruit as part of the fruit of the month club. (Thanks, mom and dad!) This month, I received a giant box of sweet and juicy nectarines. I made a fruit salad with some of them, mixed with blueberries and raspberries from the CSA. I also wanted to incorporate the nectarines into a savory salad as well. This salad is protein-packed, vegan, and gluten free. A triple threat.
Grain salads can be a little bit more work than green salads because you need to cook the grains. I recommend making a large batch of grains ahead of time, and keeping it in the fridge. Then you have ready-to-go grains which you can use for salads throughout the week.
The Salad
1 cup quinoa
1 2/3 cups water
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
2 ripe nectarines, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup raisins
The Dressing
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
additional salt and pepper to taste
1. Let quinoa soak in a bowl of water for 15 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse thoroughly and allow to drain. (This step takes out the bitter flavor of quinoa. If your quinoa is pre-rinsed, you can skip this step.)
2. Boil 1 2/3 cups water and then add quinoa. Bring to a boil again, and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the “halo” separates from the seed and all of the water has been absorbed. Spread quinoa out on a baking sheet, and allow to cool completely.
3. Toast the almonds and pumpkin seeds on a skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally. They are ready when the almonds start to turn golden, and the green pepitas begin to turn brown .Watch closely, as they will both burn quickly. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Mix the quinoa with the rest of the salad ingredients.
5. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients through paprika. Then, slowly whisk in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Toss dressing with the salad, and serve room temperature or chilled.
On a hot, hot day, nothing can cool you off quite like a cucumber.
1/2 cup peanuts
4 cucumbers, peeled, cut in half length-wise, seeded, and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (adjust according to your spice tolerance–I’m looking at you, El Diablo)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1. Set oven to 325 degrees. Place peanuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Chop peanuts (You can briefly pulse in a food processor).
2. Toss cucumbers with salt and let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Drain excess water, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry between clean kitchen towels.
3. Mix sugar and vinegar until sugar dissolves. Stir in cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeno, and peanuts.
Thanks to Peter Berley for this amazing recipe!
I had the pleasure of attending Peter Berley’s “Go With the Grain” class at the Brooklyn Kitchen earlier this week. He is the author of The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, and The Flexitarian Table. I learned how to create a variety of grain salads from a real expert. My friend JL and I teamed up to create the tiny vegetable salad. This was my favorite, and not only because of my love of all things miniature. We sharpened up on our knife skills, and then diced our way through the class to create this beautiful and healthy salad. I re-created it this morning to bring to a vegan-hosted July 4th BBQ.
I learned a lot about making grain salads. Here are a few take-aways from the class:
1. “Water is the flavor killer in salads, ” according to Berley. In order to avoid this, I patiently drained and dried all vegetables in colanders and between clean kitchen towels. I preemptively murdered the heck out of the water. The results are very flavorful!
2. When making grain salads, the ratio of acid to oil should be equal, or even add more acid. The grains soak up a lot of the flavor. This is way different from making a green salad, where the ratio is typically much more oil to acid.
Serves 6
Cook barley: I put 1 cup of barley into 2 1/2 cups of boiling water, and then let simmer for 35-40 minutes. Then, rinse and drain completely. His recipe says to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water when you add the barley. I omitted this salt.
1 medium yellow squash, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini, seeded and diced
1/3 c diced red onion
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 T thinly sliced scallion
2 T minced parsley and dill (or just one of these)
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T umeboshi vinegar (this is a delicious vinegar which is a by-product of pickled plums)
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 t fresh black pepper
1 or 2 bunches of watercress, for garnish
Add the squash, zucchini, and onion to a steamer, and steam for 3-4 minutes. Shock the vegetables in a large bowl to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly. I let sit between clean kitchen towels to get as much water out as possible.
In a large bowl, combine the steamed vegeables, barley, cucumber, bell pepper, scallion, and dill/parsley.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Garnish with watercress.
fresh from brooklyn 