Salad Days

Grain-based salads are a pretty interesting species of salad. Most people are familiar with tabbouleh - that tasty mix of bulgar, parsley, lemon and tomatoes. There are so many other delicious grains out there, though, that are worth playing with.

Quinoa is one of my favorites. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. Its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source. It is also a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. 

I obviously advocate eating it in salad form (below is just one suggestion), but you should consider eating it for breakfast too (mixed with honey, almonds and berries). 

Quinoa Pilaf Salad

3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
zest of one orange
1 can mandarin oranges drained
generous pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt, optional
several handfuls of salad greens, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

Place the quinoa and water in a small sauce pan, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.

In the mean time, chop the almonds and onion. Put them in the bowl with all of the remaining ingredients except the greens.

When the quinoa is done, mix it in with the fruit/nut mixture. If you want to serve this cold, cool the quinoa mixture. When you’re ready to eat, place a handful of greens on a plate and top with generous spoonfuls of the quinoa mixture.

This is the time of year that carrots AND blueberries are abundant in northwest gardens. So, what could be better than a salad that uses both of these beautiful foods?! The following salad is colorful, sweet, crunchy, earthy and oh..so...tasty. It makes a great lunch for one person, paired with a slice of crusty bread, or a side salad for two for dinner.

Carrot-Blueberry Salad
Inspired by Mark Bittman’s 101 Salads article in the New York Times

1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup blueberries
1 ounce sunflower seeds, toasted
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Combine the carrots, blueberries, sunflower seeds, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss to combine and top with a generous grind or two (or three) of pepper and maybe a pinch of salt if you absolutely can’t resist.

Nutritional Wisdom

Good news for athletes! The International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism reveal quercetin — a nutrient found in blueberries — boosts oxygen uptake and exercise endurance. Study participants followed their regular routines and diet for 7 days and then did the same thing for another 7 days, but this time they consumed 500 milligrams of quercetin. While on quercetin people had nearly 4% more oxygen uptake and took longer to become fatigued during exercise. Quercetin is great mojo! 

Mark Bittman, cookbook author and king of minimalist cooking, published another 101-list. This time it’s all about salads!

There are two things I love about this list. First, a lot of the recipes are vegan. Salad’s beneficial properties start to go downhill when you add meat and cheese. (Both are packed with saturated fat that is linked to cancer mortality and cardiovascular mortality). Second, the recipes include lots of summer fruits and herbs, proving that almost any fresh ingredient can become a salad.

Here are few salads that inspire me:

1. Cube watermelon and combine with tomato chunks, basil and basic vinaigrette. You can substitute peach for the watermelon or the tomato (but not both, O.K.?).

7. Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.

12. Combine sliced fennel and prune plums; serve with vinaigrette spiked with minced ginger. Nice pairing.

29. Pit and halve cherries (or halve and pit cherries), then cook gently with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar until they break down. Toss with chopped radicchio, endive, escarole or a combination, some toasted hazelnuts and more oil and vinegar, if necessary.

34. Grill quartered romaine hearts, radicchio and/or endive. Drizzle with olive oil and sherry vinegar, and add dill and chopped shallots. Teeny-tiny croutons are great on this.

41. Halve avocados and scoop out some but not all of their flesh. Roughly chop and toss with black beans, queso fresco, cilantro, chopped tomatillos and lime juice. Serve in the meaty avocado shells.

44. Make a crisp grilled cheese sandwich, with good bread and not too much good cheese. Let it cool, then cut into croutons. Put them on anything, but especially tomato and basil salad. This you will do forever.

60. [Sear tuna until rare (for that matter, you could leave it raw) and cut it into small cubes.] Mix with chopped apples, halved seedless grapes, chopped red onion, olive oil, a bit of cumin and black pepper.

For the whole list, visit the NYTimes Website.