Summer Salsa

I’ll admit, I have tomatoes coming out my ears, and they will continue to do so until we get a frost. Perhaps I over planted, but you can never be sure how many will be produced, and if you’ll get enough or get blight. So far the only things attacking my tomatoes are the pumpkin vines, which have caused some of them to topple, but even this hasn’t stopped the force.

Every year I can salsa for my family, but after 48 pints, I believe I have enough to last the year, hopefully. Tonight when I came in from picking, I started craving a fresh chunky salsa to munch on. Here is what I tossed together.

3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes (mine is a combination of large and small, yellow, purple and red.)

½ of a purple onion, minced (it was large, so I’d say 3/4 cup)

3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

2 jalapeño peppers, minced (+/- depending on your heat preference, wear gloves!!)

juice of 2 lemons

¼ cup minced fresh cilantro (don’t omit the stems, they have the best flavor)

It is pretty simple, combine all the ingredients, mix well and chill for at least a half an hour before eating. I’m munching on it right now as I type.

Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Avocado and Citrus Vinaigrette

This was the quinoa salad that started my salad rush lately. I loved it, they loved it, and I bounced off of it in many directions. I have a passion for avocados and citrus, so this one was a no brainer. I ran across it online, and knew it would be a hit.

Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Avocado and Citrus Vinaigrette

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups water

2 cups Quinoa

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1 lime, zested and juiced

1 orange, zested and juiced

1 shallot, finely minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper to taste

⅔ cup olive oil

1 bunch radishes, trimmed and sliced paper thin

2 avocados, pitted, skinned and chopped

⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley

In a medium saucepan bring stock, water and quinoa to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes until seeds are split and liquid is absorbed. If preferred, the stock can be replaced with all water, but it does give a nice flavor.

When done, transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, whisk together the lemon, lime and orange juices and zests, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a thin stead stream, whisking continuously.

Add the radishes, avocado and parsley to the quinoa. Pour the vinaigrette over the quinoa mixture and toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

In continuing my summer salad adventure, I will continue to go with the few I picked around with lately. A week or so ago, it was requested last minute that I whip up a few salads for the "guys" at my husbands work. I was not in the mood for the traditional pasta or potato, for some reason I had beans and sweet potatoes in my head. So this salad and the Sweet-Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette ended up in my file. I didn’t hear any complaints, and I don’t know if that is just because they were being polite, or fail to understand the method of my madness. New recipes enter this house on a trial basis, and after consumption, it is determined if they are a “keeper” or not. So until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume a keeper.

This salad makes about 8-10 servings in single form. I used canned peas in replacement of the dry because they were already on my shelf and were faster.

Black-Eyed Pea and Spinach Salad

2 15-ounce cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed completely

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1 jar of sliced sundried tomatoes in oil, about 8 ounces (do not drain, it all goes in)

1 cup Kalamata olives, drained and sliced in half

3 finely minced green onions

2 minced fine, garlic cloves

1 pound spinach, washed and chopped

zest and juice of a lemon

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl except the lemon juice. This includes the oil from the tomatoes. I ended up slicing my tomatoes smaller, so that they were not in large chunks throughout the salad. Mix well, and lastly add the lemon juice mixing to combine. I realize this salad feels like it is missing something, and isn’t exploding with a ton of flavor. However, the combination of ingredients lends to a subtle flavor, and doesn’t mask the spinach.

Sweet-Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is so simple, so basic, yet so good. I had a very hard time letting it go out the door after I made it. I have a love of sweet potatoes, in fact I have a few cookbooks just for them. When I combined this one, I kept thinking that something was missing, how can this be enough? Yet, if there was more here, it would be too much. This is all that was needed, end story.

Sweet-Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This photo really doesn't do this salad justice. but it is the one that I had.

2 ½ pounds sweet potatoes

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 Tbs + 1tsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup olive oil

4 scallions (green onions) thinly sliced

Peel potatoes, and cube into 1“ hunks/cubes. Steam potatoes in a steamer over boiling water, covered until just tender. This only takes 10-12 minutes, watch them because they can go from not quite there to too far quick. *

While the potatoes steam, whisk together mustard, vinegar and salt in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Add hot potatoes and scallions to dressing and gently toss to combine well. Cool to room temperature, if needed add salt to taste.

* Here I amaze myself. I didn’t (but now I do) own a traditional steamer. Instead for years I have used a bamboo one over my wok.

However I now have a new wok that doesn’t sit as well on my stove, and the act of having to balance the wok using the toaster so that the water doesn’t spill out during the steaming process was too annoying. So I invested with my coupon at BB&B.

Citrus Quinoa and Kale Salad

I have been on a summer salad kick lately, I will attribute it to the heat outside and my lack of desire to heat up the house. Also I have been making things to send in with my husband to work, which has enabled me to try a few new recipes that looked promising. I am sure I am not alone in collecting recipes that I want to try, I find reading recipes and cookbooks to be a fun activity because I can imagine the flavor combinations in my head.

This salad is a knock off of a few different ones that I had, so it is my creation after combining the bunch. It got good reviews, so here it is. I apologize, I cannot locate the photo of it.

Citrus Quinoa and Kale Salad

2 cups quinoa, I had red in my cupboard

4 cups water

½ cup green onions, sliced and diced small

2 cups chopped fine kale

1 chopped sweet pepper, (yellow, orange or red)

In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until water is absorbed and seeds are split and tender. Remove, fluff with a fork and chill.

In a large bowl (the one you plan on serving in) mix chilled quinoa, onions, kale and sweet pepper.

Dressing

1 cup orange juice

zest of one orange

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup fresh basil, washed

1 tsp sea salt

¼ cup honey

1 cup olive oil

This can be mixed 2 ways, either by hand or with a blender. If you are using a blender, combine all ingredients except the oil first to mix, then slowly add the oil as the blender is running to emulsify.

Otherwise, be sure to mince your basil and do the same thing in a bowl, whisking continually as you add the oil.

Add the dressing to the salad and mix well, this can be served immediately, but is best if you let it sit for a little bit to meld.