Summer Salad
added chickpeas and quinoa - a full meal - protein, fats, complex carbs
Salads are a great way to eat your veggies and party like a health guru! As I always say in my classes, you are your own guru - G U R U!
If you’re like me, then it's all about the dressing. There are those few people that eat salad without the dressing and kudos to them; but for me, dressing is the key to eating lots and lots of salad. So treat your pantry, fridge, and culinary experience to ingredients that will bedazzle your salads, dips, and veggie sticks.
This salad is light and satisfying. It’s an easy recipe you can whip up really quickly after a long day, or prepare this salad and dressing in advance and refrigerate. You can even marinade these vegetables in the dressing, although, I personally like my veggies crunchy, so I pour my dressing on my salad right before serving.
This salad is perfect for this time of year because it includes seasonal veggies such as zucchini, corn, peppers, avocado, cilantro and cucumbers.
Grill, roast, saute, or enjoy raw (if your digestive system can handle raw vegetables)
Recipe
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 bell peppers: red, yellow, orange - quartered
2 medium zucchini grilled or roasted or raw - halved
2 kirby cucumbers - small and seedless - quartered
1 avocado - halved and pitted
optional: fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
optional: 4 ears of corn grilled or heated in pot and kernels cut off the cob
optional: 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed well
optional: chickpeas
Salad Dressing
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove - minced
2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves - minced
optional: 1 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1/4 tsp salt - himalayan or celtic - add more if needed
optional: 1 tsp umeboshi vinegar
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- If grilling your corn or roasting your zucchini and peppers, brush them with some coconut oil and season with salt and black pepper. Grill corn for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Using a sharp knife, stand the corn in a shallow dish and remove the corn kernels from the cob by slicing downward.
- If grilling or roasting peppers and zucchini, season with salt and black pepper. Grill for 10-15 minutes or roast for 15 minutes at 350.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, fresh lime juice, garlic, cilantro, maple syrup (optional), salt, and black pepper to taste.
- Salad: quarter the grilled or raw peppers and zucchini and place in a large bowl. Slice and add the avocado, corn kernels and dressing, and toss to combine.
- Season to taste with salt and black pepper
- Optional: you can add black beans to salad or place on the side for anyone to include in their salad for a protein rich dinner - the vegans and vegetarians will thank you
- Optional: you can add cilantro to garnish salad
- Serves 4-6 (or 1 serious salad lover)
Cilantro is the leaf of the coriander seed and called a cooling herb. It’s a blood purifier and detoixifier. In the summer when our body heats up it’s important to cool and cleanse the blood. Add it to salads, dressings and soups.
Genia’s Spoon Me Corner
Raw salads can be challenging to digest if your digestive fire is compromised. Grilling, roasting, sautéing, and/or blanching your veggies are healthy and delicious ways to enjoy your vegetables. If your digestion is strong, enjoy your veggies and salads raw.
According to Ayurveda (an ancient, holistic and natural approach for physical and mental health), the best time to eat your salad is in the afternoon when your digestion is at its peak. Salads are also cooling foods, therefore, eating salad to beat the summer heat makes sense.
In Ayurveda, it’s not just about what you eat, it’s about what you’re able to eat. So here’s an idea to make your salads more digestible: you can add a warm base to your salads like quinoa or roasted vegetables. But keep your salad simple - don’t load it up with every ingredient you have just because they’re healthy on their own. Less is more!
Cheers to salads,
Genia