Summer Harvest Salad

Summer Harvest Salad

As summer draws to a close and the warm weather fruits and vegetables are at their peak of ripeness, it is easy to create a colorful, nutritious dish with just a few fresh ingredients from your garden, local farmers market or produce section of the grocery store.  This salad requires no cooking.  It is a great dish for summer picnics or potlucks or when it's too hot to cook.  This dish comes together in very little time because the season's best ingredients need very little to bring out their full flavor.   With the addition of some grilled tofu, fish or chicken and some crusty bread, you have a light meal ready in no time.

Summer harvest salad

2-3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 ears of fresh corn, shuck and remove kernels from cob
1/4 ro 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
micro-greens or sprouts
fresh chopped herbs of choice (basil, thyme, mint)
sea salt and pepper
olive oil (optional)

Arrange the tomato slices on a serving platter.  Sprinkle the corn kernels over the tomato slices.  Sprinkle the onions over the corn.  Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the onions.  Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.  Top with some micro-greens or sprouts.  Squeeze the lemon over the salad and drizzle with olive oil (if using).  Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Thanks for reading!

Harvest from my garden

Kitchen adventure: Superfood granola

Granola with fresh picked strawberries, blueberries and cashew milk

Store bought granola can be loaded with more sugar and fat than you'd like to start your day.  This granola is packed with superfoods and sweetened with dates and dried fruits.  The traditional oil is replaced with banana and tahini (or nut butter of your choice).   This easy to make recipe works well for breakfast, snacks or dessert.  This recipe was inspired by this original recipe at Jenny Mustard's blog.  Although the ingredient list is long, it comes together quickly. Feel free to substitute any of your favorite nuts, seeds or dried fruits that you like.

Superfood granola

12 large medjool dates, soaked and drained (save water)
1 large ripe banana
½ cup tahini (or use almond, cashew or peanut butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 scoop (1 tablespoon, superfood green powder) optional
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup raw nuts roughly chopped, (I used walnuts and almonds for this batch)
8-10 prunes or dried mission figs, chopped (this batch had figs)
½ cup raisins or other dried fruit like cherries, blueberries or cranberries
1/3 cup goji berries (or more raisins)
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of cardamom 

- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a food processor or blender combine drained dates, tahini, bananas, superfood powder and vanilla extract until smooth.  If the mixture is too thick to process, add just enough date soaking water to make a thick smooth paste.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Add the date mixture to the bowl and mix until all the dry ingredients are coated.  
- Spread the granola evenly on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined large baking sheet and press flat with your hand or back of a spoon
- Bake the granola for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown
- Remove from the oven, let cool thoroughly and break into bite sized chunks
- Store in an airtight container.

Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, you may like:
Healthy cold cereal
Carrot cake granola
Overnight oat and chia seed pudding

Mother's Day

My mother's Julia Child yellow rose blooming in my garden

As I contemplate Mother’s Day this year, it is with a bit of sadness as it is the first one since my mother’s passing a few months ago.   I still reach for my phone to text her ,“Mom, you won’t believe what I just saw!” or to send a photo of an art project I’ve been working on or show her the progress in the garden. 

 My lovely neighbor gave me a beautiful yellow rose bush named after Julia Child for my garden to commemorate my mother’s life.  She gave it to me because my mother liked yellow roses.  She had no idea that my mother and I watched Julia’s cooking show on PBS together for years when I was growing up or that I endlessly watched the cooking channel with her the last time I saw her when she could no longer get out of bed as cancer had sapped her strength.   Any time I start to miss her, I only have to look out the window and see the pretty yellow blooms open to the sunshine to make me smile.  I smile at the thoughtfulness of my neighbor giving me a beautiful reminder of my mother.  I smile at the memory of my father giving my mother roses often: for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries and just because.  I smile for the times she and I spent enjoying Julia Child’s cooking shows and sharing our love of culinary adventures in the kitchen and at the table. 

Although I can't call her this year to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, in my heart my mother is forever holding my hand and encouraging me through the journey of life.   

Me and my mom on a stroll in Hof, Germany

2015 in review

Annual year end review workbook 

I can't believe that 2015 is over.  It feels as though it went by in a whirlwind.  In my annual tradition, I am ending the year with a look back to acknowledge the year's accomplishments and evaluate the misses and then set intentions for the new year.  I find that the busyness of life means I don't always get to savor some of the accomplishments as they happen or don't take enough time to take a look at what didn't work and why so I can make corrections or be at peace with letting go.  I know this doesn't work for everyone, but taking just a few hours for this makes me feel as though I am setting myself up to make the most of the coming year.  This process helps me put things into perspective and it's interesting and rewarding to see what I was able to accomplish and how differently some things turned out from what I imagined.

Last year's word was embodiment and I dug deeper into a few topics and projects that I had been dabbling in for awhile to see where they might lead.  I enjoyed my explorations which are leading to more changes ahead and my word for 2016 which is transformation.  This is just the beginning of the changes to come, and I look forward to sharing them with you.

Here are a few highlights from 2015:

Volunteering at the DC Food Bank 
My son and I usually volunteer at the DC Food Book once a month and we were able to make 8 times last year.

1.  Sorting food into bins  2.  View into the warehouse

Road trip to an ancient forest

A day trip to Beall Woods State Park in Illinois which is a forested area that has not been logged or altered and remains today pretty much as it was hundreds of years ago. 

Fall Craft Cornucopia with Hyattsville Aging in Place
A great day of demonstrations and teaching crafts along with some of my neighbors who are also crafters and artists.  I enjoyed teaching the participants how to make collaged gift tags.

Starting in the upper left:  1.  weaving demo, 2.  felting wool, 3.  some of the seniors group working on their needlework and sharing stories, 4.  my table with supplies for making tags, 5.  upcycled old t-shirt, 6.  origami instruction, 7.  wool for felting projects, 8.  origami examples, 9.  reclaimed t-shirts cut into strips ready for weaving, 10.  weaving on t-shirt strips on a stick loom, 11.  t-shirt weaving examples

Garden adventures
Lots of hard work in the garden yielded abundant harvests and filled our freezer for the winter.

Art exhibition at the Popcorn Gallery
Two pieces of my mixed media collage were chosen for an exhibition using reclaimed materials.

Thank you for reading and wishing you all the best in 2016!


Resources:
Unravelling the Year Ahead
Zen Habits: The Practice of Year-end Reflection

Sunflowers in the garden