Salad Days

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.

Now that finals are here, I’ve simplified our meals. Anything that takes more than 20 minutes to prepare (about the time it would take to make a run to the teriyaki place for takeout) is out. That means an increasing reliance on salads, of course!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to compile my first mini-salad collection. (I hesitate to call it an eBook, because it only has seven recipes in it.) If you’re pressed for time like I am, or simply don’t like spending any of it in the kitchen, I think you’ll really appreciate these healthy recipes.

Pair any of these juicy combos with a basket of warmed tortilla chips and you’ve got a smashing Cinco de Mayo inspired dinner! Invite some friends, whip up a batch of margaritas (recipe included), break out the sombreros, and you’ve got a party!

Recipes included:

• Cucumber, Mango, and Black Bean Salad
  Crunchy, sweet, and earthy…oh-la-la! Eat it right from the bowl or pack it with you on your next hike.
• Tomato Salad with Guacamole Dressing
  This avocado-based dressing is heart healthy AND tasty. It’s great on a salad or as a dip.
• Jicama-Melon Salad
  Jicama is the most AMAZING vegetable. It’s a little sweet and very crunchy. Like tofu, it soaks up the flavors of whatever you put on it. If you’ve never tried it, this is a good first introduction.
• Mexican Bulgar Salad with Citrus-Jalapeno Vinaigrette
  This recipe takes a little longer to make than the other three. It’s so good though, that I didn’t want you to miss out. Double the recipe for a potluck and you still won’t come home with any left over.
• Mexican-Inspired S’mores
  A sinful bonus, because you’ve been so good about eating your salads!
• Ultimate Margaritas
  Because no Mexican feast is complete without tequila, and I hate to see anyone drinking margarita mix when the real thing is SO easy to whip up!

Special bonus: The collection also includes a shopping list, just in case you need one!

The recipes are available as a digital download in PDF format. That’s so you can save them, print them, spill on them, and print them again! Just click the donate button below.

Note: To access the collection, I am asking you to make a small donation (a dollar or two at most). I will pass on 100% of the proceeds (i.e. whatever is left after PayPal takes its fee) to Food Lifeline – a nonprofit that provides nutritious food to hungry people in Washington through its network of food banks, meal programs, and shelters. There’s no minimum donation amount, but consider that Food Lifeline really knows how to stretch a buck – for every dollar that is donated, they provide FIVE meals. Wow!

I also understand money is tight for many people, so if you are unable (or simply uninterested) in making a donation, please and I will send you the link to the recipe collection, no questions asked.