Kaliflower Kitchen: Summer Salads...

that travel well into the Fall

I've been grilling nearly all vegetables from the farm that can be grilled because I don't have to deal with being in the kitchen on a beautiful warm day and as I've posted earlier, grilling brings out some great flavors. In two of the salads below, I used grilled green beans and beets. And just to thrown in a third salad, I included one with cucumbers since we were getting so many of them and it's a great way to use them up. All of these are pretty easy to make with minimal fuss and ingredients. And as a trio with some grilled flat or pita bread or naan, they make a healthy, filling meal all on their own.

1). Potato and grilled green bean salad:

Snap ends of green beans and rinse and let dry. Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and grill in a grill basket (see earlier post) until done. Or you can roast them at 375 degree, tossing occasionally for about 20-25 minutes or until desired doneness. Meantime, cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes and boil the until just fork-tender. Thinly slice red onions or shallots or a little of both. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, sherry vinegar, grainy mustard, salt pepper and chopped tarragon. Add potatoes, grilled/roasted beans and onions/shallots to the bowl and toss well to mix. Let stand a while for flavors to meld.

I also make a slightly different variation of this- my interpretation of a salade Niçoise. I add to potatoes, beans and onions/shallots, capers, kalmata olives, tuna (either canned but packed in olive oil, drained or olive oil-poached fresh tuna) and toss with a homemade caesar salad dressing. You can also top that one with quartered hard-boiled eggs.

2) Green, beets and lentil salad

My next salad is one of my favorites that is a meal in itself, I used the beets, swiss chard and onions from the farm. I always have on hand a box or two of cooked refrigerated lentils, I buy mine from Trader Joe's and they are immensely handy to have for salads, soups, etc. First, roast whole beets on the grill and peel and slice them, then wash and chopped swiss chard and sliced up onions and garlic.

Warm olive oil and sauté onions and garlic until just transparent; add the chopped swiss chard, salt and pepper and let wilt. Then add a few splashes of sherry vinegar (or other vinegars) and a tablespoon of brown sugar; separate and fold in the lentils and sliced beets. Taste to make sure salt, vinegar and sweetness is balanced. That's it, it's done.

3) Cucumber, yogurt and dill salad

I included this one because I had so many cucumbers that needed using up fast and also dill from the farm. Slice cucumbers lengthwise, scrape out seeds and slice thinly. Place in a colander and sprinkle generously with sea salt (coarse if you have it), weight down with a plate and something heavy and let drain for about 30 minutes. In a bowl, mix plain greek yogurt, pepper, chopped dill, a tablespoon sugar and rice vinegar (no salt because the cucumbers should be well salted). Add sliced red onions and drained cucumbers and mix throughly. Taste to see if you need salt and adjust accordingly.