Summer eating……sane, sensible and quick salads

Take time when you select greens and vegetables for salads. Sundays are a good day to buy for a few days. If you prepare the ingredients ahead of time, you will have a ready meal when you walk in famished and ready to eat.

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, radish, parsley and mint, are good basics. Wash and "dry" the lettuce in a spinner. Peel carrots and wash the rest of the vegetables. Place all in a dish with a lid.

Raisins, pecan nuts, cashew nuts and cut up dried fruit. Apricots, figs and dried apples are good. Use only two of each. Do not cut up tomatoes early. You can place them in a separate dish.

Salad dressing should be added when you eat. It is advisable to skip commercial dressings, full of preservatives and additives. I find the average person likes a tang on salad. Use olive oil with a dash of pepper and herb salt, dried onions and some dried basil and oregano. You can add lemon juice and this is a great dressing.

For a yogurt dressing, use one yogurt with a teaspoon of mustard, a little soya sauce and quarter teaspoon of curry powder. Add herbs and salt and pepper. This is good on pasta, baked potatoes and lovely to mix with boiled eggs.

My feeling with salad eaters is that we need new ideas constantly. I find that vegetables in season need one or two additions to make it more exciting. I bake potatoes with their skins. Then cut them up into slices and spice with onion salt and parsley. Place in the oven with a sprinkling of olive oil and sesame seeds and bake for ten minutes. Serve on the salad. Some pumpkin seeds can be sprinkled on before serving with two teaspoons of Parmesan cheese.

When you have guests and need a great vegetable dish, prepare this the day before. It is time consuming to prepare and when it is ready the final work is halved.
Take potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, garlic cloves, onions, zucchinis, carrots, beets and pumpkin, cut into squares. It is a good idea to steam the cut up carrots, beets and potatoes, until a little soft.
Place all the vegetables in an oiled oven dish. You use olive oil and some coarse salt around the edges. Put the vegetables in neat rows, with the colors that look good next to each other. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. You will need to turn them over once or twice.
I use some rosemary on the potatoes, a cinnamon stick or sprinkle cinnamon on the yams and the zucchini do well with a little oregano. When they are soft, I remove the lid and sprinkle a little cheese mixed with olive oil on top and grill for two minutes. This is great with couscous, quinoa or on a bed of brown rice. To give the rice an interesting taste, mix in two tablespoons of wild rice with a cup of rice.

All of us want salads that are quick and easy to create. There is nothing that satisfies people more than a fresh plate of great looking vegetables when you walk in hungry. Have lots of carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers radishes and the odd vegetables in season. The idea is to prepare ahead.
Wash and dry the lettuces and all the vegetables. Store in containers in the fridge. Prepare a salad dressing in a large bottle. Take it all out, create and bingo, lunch is ready. You can toast good bread and add cut up cheddar cheese and it looks good. A great idea is when figs are in season, is to wash and cut them in half. Place in an oven dish, with a slice of goat's cheese on each. Sprinkle with olive oil and grill for two minutes. Serve with triangles of toasted health bread.

Have a fun week with easy, sane and nutritious eating.
Love and light, Rona