The Stars of Summer are Salads
by Stacey Tress

Summer is here. We are gifted with an abundance of fresh produce and peak flavours that surround us at this time of year. For me, there’s something very satisfying about walking out into your garden to pick (or forage) a few fresh items. Summer is full of entertaining and unwinding with friends, family, and food. For us, the stars of summer are salads. I love to cook, but I look forward to putting the crock pot away and look to the garden for inspiration.

What are some of your favourite salads? Salads can be a partner on the plate or the main course—use these tips and tricks to ensure you are ready to easily whip together something yummy and nutritious.

Tips

• Soak and sprout your beans, lentils, and chickpeas (peas and grains, too!) for easier digestion, maximum nutritional assimilation, and to have a quick and healthy protein choice ready at a moment’s notice.
• Cook extra meat and fish! You’ll use it, whether its chicken salad the next day or warmed steak sliced thin served over a bed of sautéed Swiss chard drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. Salmon is a great leftover for salads and packs a healthful dose of omega-3 fatty acids. The high amount of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon (and to some extent walnuts and flax seeds) is associated with cardiovascular benefits, improved mood and cognitive (brain) health, joint protection, eye benefits, and decreased cancer risk.
• Save your bread ends (especially if it’s homemade bread) to make a quick batch of homemade croutons. My favourite croutons are made by cutting up the ends of my sourdough bread and then doing a quick sauté in butter with fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, parsley, and rosemary. This lovely aroma wafts through the windows calling everyone for supper.
• Have fresh herbs on hand. Herbs grow amazingly in containers and be sure they are as close to your kitchen as possible. Besides being that fresh pop of flavour, herbs are also very nutritious. Parsley, for example, is a rich source of anti-oxidant nutrients, an excellent source of vitamin C, and a good source of vitamin A (notably through its concentration of the pro-vitamin A beta carotenoid, beta-carotene).
• Support your local farmers’ and gardeners’ markets—it’s more than just fresh produce, as these local vendors have stories to share and recipes, too.
• Invest in a mandolin or a spiralizer as these handy tools add variety and, honestly, some fun into your salads. A kid-friendly tip—they may not like zucchini in its original shape but put it through the spiralizer and now it is zucchini spaghetti!
• Have cultured foods/drinks on hand. Eating cultured foods (i.e. sauerkraut) with your meal will help you digest it better. Learning how to make cultured veggies, for example, isn’t that hard and again is just another healthful way to add another layer of flavour and nutritional density to your meals. See below for more on cultured (fermented) veggies, along with a quick “how-to.”

RECIPES

Green Goddess Dressing

This is the ultimate summer dressing. Versatile, thick, creamy, and bright green in colour, this dressing brings all the bold flavours of your favourite herbs to the table. Serve it over fresh or steamed greens or vegetables and enjoy.

Makes 4 cups

2 cups packed fresh herbs*
1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup miso paste
1 seeded and minced jalapeno
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 cup sunflower oil

Tip—do not underestimate the heat of a jalapeno. To avoid “pepper burn,” wear latex gloves or coat your hands in oil before mincing this spicy pepper.

1. In a blender, combine the herbs, vinegar, and water thoroughly, mixing for about a minute on high. While mixing, add the miso, jalapeno, and garlic, and process for another 30 seconds. Then, begin to drizzle in the oil while still mixing. Stop blending as soon as all the oil has been added. The dressing will be thick and creamy.
2. Keep refrigerated. Allow the dressing to warm slightly at room temperature before serving. It will keep for up to two weeks.

*Choose herbs such as parsley and basil with smaller bits of other stronger herbs such as oregano, dill, thyme, cilantro, chives, and rosemary.

Recipe Credit: Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Body, Mind, and Soil with Linda Solomon and Moreka Jolar

Sprout Salad with Cultured Veggies and Labneh

This salad wasn’t initially created from a recipe but was more a throwing together of things I had. Following some of the tips I suggested above, I had these ingredients to create this lovely summer salad.

Makes one bowl

1 cup chopped up chicken
1/2 cup spicy lentil crunch sprouts
3 tbsp curtido
A few fermented beet slices (see instructions below)
1 chive labneh ball (made from strained cultured milk)

How to do a single slice ferment—i.e. Fermented Beet Slices

Here’s a quick and versatile recipe for making fermented beet slices or “single slice ferment.”

1. Make your brine: 2 tbsp salt for every 4 cups of water. Bring water to boil, add salt, stir, and let boil 5 minutes. Cool. Or you can use whey and salt to make your brine (great use of the whey you got from making your labneh balls).*
2. Prep your veg. This recipe we are using raw beets, so peel and slice them.
3. Take a clean mason jar with bevelled (not wide mouth) top and pack in your beets until they are just below the bevel. Label jar.
4. Pour cooled brine over the beets until they are covered; again make sure everything is still below the bevel. (The fermentation process produces gas, so if too full they will overflow.)
5. Weigh down the beets to ensure they are under the brine. You can do this a few ways. I like to use a cabbage leaf and kind of wedge the leaf under the bevel keeping beets under the brine. (I discard cabbage leaf before consuming.) Another way is to purchase fermentation weights or make your own. You could also cut some of the beets like long thick matchsticks and use those on top to create a trap to keep the beets under the bevel, which works great but again make sure the brine is over these beets, too.
   Cap lightly and place on a tray on counter (out of direct sunlight). It should start bubbling after about two days. Burp twice a day to release gas. To burp jars you slowly loosen lids to let gases escape and then gently close (the tight close is when they go into cold storage).
6. Leave on counter about five days. Now twist lid on tightly and put in cold storage (for us it’s our fridge) for about a month before they are ready to eat. (They may be too salty after a week and it takes a few weeks to maximize the probiotics.)

The fermented beets will last many months in the fridge.

*Making brine with whey—recipe is 4 tbsp whey to 1 tbsp salt per jar. Fill jar with veg, as in above recipe and pour dissolved whey mixture over veg. Top up to below bevel of mason jar with water (check your local town water supply for chlorine and fluoride. When in doubt, boil or let sit on counter 24 hours OR use reverse osmosis water).

Recipe Credit: Stacey Tress, Garden Therapy Yorkton

Yellow Beans with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette and Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

What beautiful partners yellow beans and cherry tomatoes make. This salad is equally delicious hot or cold. Crumble a bit of soft goat’s cheese or feta on top to create a richer and creamier dish.

Serves 8–10

6 cups whole cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp crushed garlic
5 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
8 cups yellow beans, snapped in half
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 400ºF

1. Toss the cherry tomatoes with the garlic, 3 tbsp of the olive oil and the black pepper. Roast the tomatoes in a casserole dish in the oven for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Steam the beans just until they are tender.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, basil, and honey and pour over the warm beans. Place on a serving platter. Arrange the warm cherry tomatoes over the beans and serve immediately.

Recipe Credit—Hollyhock Cooks with Linda Solomon and Moreka Jolar

Dandelion Cream Salad

Dandelion is a super-nutritious leafy green, high in minerals and a great liver cleanser. However, it can be a little bitter for most people. This salad is a wonderful way to get the great nutrition of dandelion with a reduction of the bitterness.

20 dandelion leaves, finely chopped (main stem removed)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup coconut water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Celtic salt

Massage chopped dandelion leaves well with salt to break down the fibre. Let sit for at least five minutes. Blend macadamia nuts with coconut water and lemon to cream. Mix well to coat dandelion with cream and add red bell pepper.

Recipe Credit: Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens, MD and the Tree of Life Café Chefs

References:
www.whfoods.com
Books listed above

Stacey Tress, a Holistic Nutritional Therapist (HNT), lives in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, with her husband and two daughters. She is the owner of Garden Therapy Yorkton which offers skill-building workshops, design work, organically-grown produce, and more! To learn more, please contact Stacey at 306-641-4239, email: stacey.gardentherapy@gmail.com, www.gardentherapyyorkton.ca, or on facebook. Also, see the display ad on page 9 of the 21.2 July/August issue of the WHOLifE Journal.