Meatless Salad

Believe it or not, this is the first salad I've made as a part of my Meatless Month!
I was a vegetarian over a decade (*sigh*) ago when I was in my last years of high school and into University. I ate so much salad that when I went back to my carnivore ways, I declared that I had eaten enough salad for a lifetime. And I still stick by that declaration! Sure, I indulge and have a salad every once in a while but they are full-on, jam packed salads that would make a foodie proud. I was just so sick of your plain lettuce-tomato-cucumber salad that seem to appear in every restaurant and dorm cafeteria buffet.

This salad contains no lettuce. Well...actually it sits on a bed of lettuce, but the actual heart of the salad is a mixture of veggies that include:

• chickpeas
• avocado
• pepper
• tomato
• cucumber

The dressing was the juice of one lemon and a few generous drizzles of olive oil finished with salt and pepper. It's that simple and very delicious! I also bought a package of imitation crab (actually pollock, another kind of fish) for some additional protein.

What I love about making salads is that it's very much free form. You can't have "too much" of a certain vegetables. Love avocado? Go crazy! Love tomatoes? Knock yourself out! There's no...imbalance of ingredients. Sure, you may want to adjust your dressing (if needed) a bit but generally you decide how the rules go as you go along.

Nom nom nom

Celebrating Summer's Bounty

One of the many things I love about the summer is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables at the local markets - and for cheap! I love checking out the local farmers markets - whether it is the one 10 minutes away or an hour - each one offers something special and unique. This weekend I went to one fairy off-the-beaten path for me. Usually the one I go to is about a 25 min run away (hey, gotta get your exercise!) but this one is about...a 35 min transit ride away - and on an express bus at that! But it was worth it!

I had indulged a bit too much at the end of the week - with too many meals out and felt like something fresh and whole and loaded with some seasonal goodies!

My buys:
-two bunches of locally grown 'baby' carrots
-one bag of yellow and orange peppers ("all you can pick" for $4/bag)
-three bags of assorted spices

Not a ton of stuff, but definitely enough to kick off my dinner of "Summer Panzanella." This summer salad is a great way to use an abundance of leftover or plentiful veggies - namely, tomatoes! This Italian salad is also more commonly referred to as a 'bread salad' - with stale chunks of bread tossed with veggies and a vinegar-based dressing. What is really terrific about this salad is that it is so..."what you make it". I went more traditional and used tomatoes, bread, and fresh herbs - but why not add some fruit to the mix? Peaches, strawberries, and oranges would complement the salad well, as well as some grilled asparagus, grilled  peppers, or cucumbers. I actually wanted to do a side raw carrot salad, but ran out of time (shaved carrot strips tossed with lemon juice & olive oil, with lots of salt & pepper!). I came up with a basic panzanella on top off romaine lettuce and avocado.