Recipe: Try A Summer Salad For Dinner

Growing up, there would be many summer nights where mom would make a big ol' salad - and that was it.  It was perfect: light and filling after a hot summer day.  As an adult, I've strayed quite far from eating healthy.  Now at 40, I'm finally making my own way back to eating healthier.  I came up with a fairly simple dinner that started with looking at whatever I had in the refrigerator and going from there.  

The ingredients that went into this were inspired by about half a dozen culinary experiences and without boring you too much, here's some insight into some of the not-so-ordinary ingredients.

This is a super healthy meal.  It's got a lot of kale in it, which I love.  It's got aduki beans in it.  It was a new bean for me to try - you should try it, too.  I read about it in a nutrition book and found them at New Morning in Woodbury.  If you like beans, you'll like aduki beans, too.  But almost any bean would be fine in this recipe.  

Oooh - it's got red quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa) in it!  I discovered the red variety while eating at Candle Cafe in NYC.  I love its color and that it's a little crunchier than regular quinoa.  Again, perfect for this salad.  If you're not familiar with quinoa, it's a grain.  It looks a little like couscous.  You cook it like rice and is a very healthy substitute for it.  

Not so unique to me is using Penzey's Spices.  If you've never used them before, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM.  They've got a shop right in Norwalk or you can order stuff online.  Their Adobo is insanely good; much better than Goya's adobo, which is basically just garlic powder and salt.  I actually use both brands in a lot of the food I cook.  Penzey's uses cumin in their adobo blend and it tastes amazing.  

Last thing unique was using tempeh (pronounced the way it looks).  I've been looking for a vegetable protein source to replace meat once in a while…  folks, this is it.  I do not like tofu that much and this is an excellent alternative to that.  I found one at New Morning that has wild rice in it - yummy.  The rest of the ingredients are relatively common as you'll see below.  So enough bantering - on with the recipe!

5 cloves fresh garlic, crushed, minced

1/2 vidalia onion, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat a large pan, generously - you’re sautéing a LOT of veggies)

1 fresh organic zucchini, diced

3 small organic peppers (red, orange, yellow), diced

1 can vegetable stock (I only used about 3/4 of it, but you could use more)

1 bunch organic kale, chopped

1 can aduki beans, rinsed

1 cup red quinoa

1/4 cup craisins

1 tablespoon Goya adobo

2 teaspoons Penzey’s adobo

7-8 strips of tempeh (feel free to use chicken, steak - some kind of protein source)

Get the quinoa started by sautéing about a quarter of the onion that you chopped up along with the craisins.  Sauté until the onion is translucent.  Cook the quinoa by using about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water, boiled.  Add quinoa, onion and craisins.  Simmer, as you would when you’re making rice, until it’s done.  

Get the veggies started by sautéing the rest of the onion and the garlic in some olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Honestly, my best guess is that I used 5-6 tablespoons of EVOO... It was enough to coat the large pan, and then some because I wanted to be sure that all the veggies would get coated enough while cooking.  I almost always cook at no more than a medium heat.  My understanding is that any more than that can destroy the goodness in the food that’s cooked.

Now add the zucchini and peppers and continue sautéing for about 5+ minutes, just until the veggies get a little softer.  

Now add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, add kale and bring down to a simmer for another 5+ minutes, until the kale is cooked thoroughly.  While that’s cooking, you can also add the aduki beans - they can really be added at any point, just long enough that they’re heated up with the rest of the meal.

Cooking up tempeh couldn't be easier.  Cut the bar of it into strips about 1/8" wide and either sauté them in olive oil (I used grape seed oil) and just a touch of soy sauce, or even spray them with a little Pam and grill them on the BBQ.  Cook them enough to brown the strips and serve it up!  Not feeling that adventurous?  Chicken, steak, or whatever protein source you like would go just fine with this salad.  Try the tempeh, if you can.  You could even dice it up after you cook it and enjoy it's nutty flavor in the salad.  Enjoy!  

I bet a nice glass of white wine would go perfectly with this dish.  But I am not very good at food and wine pairings, so feel free to suggest something nice in the comments below.  I did without the wine tonight and just enjoyed the healthy meal.