Summer Blueberry and Chickpea Salad

Everyone views summer as a great time for salads; the fresh ingredients paired with a light dressing really hits the spot when it’s hot. For me salads are all about fresh ingredients so I try to find recipes that incorporate whats in season - there is nothing worse than a tomato in January - they are pale in color and taste like cardboard no matter where you have purchased them. 

This year we planted red cabbage and honestly I’m not sure what I was thinking. I like red cabbage but I’m struggling to figure out what to do with 4 large heads of cabbage. Actually I’m still working on head #1 and I feel like the other 3, which are still in the garden, are taunting me every time I go outside. 

In addition to red cabbage I had some blueberries in the fridge, some hemp hearts and greens so I entered the ingredients into the Pinterest search bar and poof the recipe for Summer blueberry and chickpea salad recipe showed up - so I gave it a try. Dan loved it - actually we’ve had it 2 additional times this year and I find him pulling it out of the fridge to snack on later. 

Shout out to Running on Real Food for the recipe. 

INGREDIENTS:

TAHINI MAPLE DRESSING

4 tbsp tahini

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp water (use more as needed to adjust consistency)

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sea salt

CHICKPEA SALAD (PER SERVING)

1 cup very finely sliced red cabbage (use a mandolin if you have one)

1/4 cup dried cranberries 

3 tbsp hemp seeds (or other nut or seed of choice 

1/2 cup chickpeas

2 handfuls of mixed salad greens, arugula or spinach

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

INSTRUCTIONS:

To make the tahini maple dressing, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy. You can add a bit of extra water to adjust the consistency as needed.

Add all the salad ingredients to a bowl then top with the tahini maple dressing.

Serve and enjoy!

NOTES

The tahini dressing makes enough for 4 salads, adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly.

Dinner with Good Friends

We had a most wonderful evening last night with friends. It was a perfect evening to sit on the deck, grill some salmon, drink a little wine, and enjoy lively conversations.

I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t try new recipes when you are entertaining. Personally, I think that’s just plain silly. I look at entertaining as an opportunity to flex my creative cooking muscle and get good feedback from multiple sources. I will admit not all experiments have turned out but by the same token I’ve made a tried and true recipe with equal disaster.

Tossing caution to the wind, I spent a bit of time on Pinterest looking for a roasted cauliflower recipe that was not too spicy, contained fairly common ingredients and didn’t take hours to prepare, after all I want to spend time with my guests not my stove. 

Cauliflower has become one of my favorite foods, it’s so versatile; you can roast, steam, eat raw and grill it. It pairs nicely with other foods and it has some health benefits - like lowering inflammation, it’s high in fiber, and it helps to maintain heart health. 

We had 2 vegetarians among us so and added requirement was that the dish needed to provide some protein on that front. So without further adieu I give you:

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and a Yoghurt Herb Sauce 

Ingredients

2T smoked paprika

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 head cauliflower, cut into four 1-inch thick slabs

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup plain coconut milk yogurt

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Whisk together the olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, turmeric, and cayenne in a small bowl. Arrange the cauliflower steaks on the prepared baking sheet so that they are not overlapping. Brush the olive oil mixture over the tops of the cauliflower steaks.

Toss the tomatoes and chickpeas with the remaining olive oil mixture to coat. Arrange them around the cauliflower. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, flip the cauliflower steaks, and continue baking until cauliflower stems are fork tender, about 10 more minutes.

While the cauliflower roasts, mix the yogurt, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and salt together in a small bowl. Plate the cauliflower steaks on a serving platter, cover and surround with chickpea and tomato mixture and drizzle with the yogurt sauce. Serve!

We served this with honey roasted carrots and wild rice with onions, mushrooms and cranberries.