Cooling Veggie Salads

This time of year, I take a lot of the produce we receive and turn it into salads - squash/zucchini, cucumbers, beets, even green beans make delicious salads. July 4th weekend is generally quite hot and humid, so to have some type of grilled meat (last night was ribs) accompanied by room temp or chilled veggie salad, is so satisfying. I often make the salads early in the day on weekends - when I make several of the salads, we end up having them to eat for several days, so weeknight dinners are very simple.

Here is some of what we enjoyed this week, and if you have something to share, I would love to hear from you - please email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line to make sure I see your message.

Squash, mint - made a new dish called Refreshing Summer Squash Salad - I am adding this as a new recipe this week. This dish is so fast, simple to make that it will now be one of my go to dishes. Simply "zoodles" with lemon, mint, olive oil, salt, pepper and feta. The recipe also calls for proscuitto - we have bacon, but I didn't feel like cooking it, so we just used a little locally made feta on top and it was delicious - we didn't miss the pork addition at all and we are pork lovers. Had it with seared scallops and leftover salad with ribs the next day.

Cucumbers, mint, cilantro, garlic, scallions - another new dish! Vietnamese Cucumber Salad. The mix of flavors in this is so good! It calls for a hot pepper, but since they are not yet in season, I added a bit of Sambal Oelek to add some heat

Green beans, scallions, garlic scape, basil, parsley, oregano - made my version of a green bean salad. I cook the beans until tender - I cook them a bit longer than if we were eating them plain. Stop the cooking by plunging in an ice water bath, and drain well. Place in large bowl, chop everything else up and add. I also like to add a can of chick peas, both for the great taste and the color contrast. Make a simple red wine vinaigrette, stir well and let sit for a few hours to allow flavors to blend in - it is actually better the 2nd and 3rd day, and will last at least a week in the fridge. I sometimes top with some crumbled feta cheese and once we have cherry tomatoes, I cut them in half and add - these add beautiful color and taste.

Beets, scallions, tarragon and/or parsley - made a beet salad. Roasted beets in oven as described in previous newsletter - 425 degrees in a covered pot, such as a la Crueset. Roasting took about 1.5 hours for the large beets. Peeled when cool enough to handle. Made a vinaigrette with red wine vinegar, olive oil, a bit of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, scallions (I also use shallots I grow if there aren't scallions), fresh or dried tarragon. Pour over beets and again, allow to sit for awhile so flavors go through. Serve with mixed greens, a bit of goat cheese and some type of candied nuts if you like.

Fennel, parsley - used our fennel in the broth for making steamed clams - we sliced it real thin with a mandoline so it would get "melty" soft in the broth. Topped the clams with a lot of chopped up parsley.