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

December Garden Update

Giant bowl of mixed greens:  rainbow chard, spinach, arugula and kale

At this time of year I'd normally be snuggled up in front of a cracking fire to write this post. However, this year, we've got the windows open and the warm weather feels more like late September than December.  Whether it's because of global warming, El Niño or just a normal shift in weather patterns, we are enjoying harvests far longer than usual.  Amazingly, the last of the summer peppers were just picked in mid-December!  The hoop frame tunnels only have a layer of light garden fabric over them instead of the usual layer of fabric topped by heavy plastic that is usually need to protect the fall and winter garden from cold weather.  Here are a few photos of the late fall garden as we head into winter.  

A view inside the fabric covered tunnel where collards, Swiss chard, beets, carrots, onion seedlings grow during the cool weather months

A sea of arugula

Tender spinach

Swiss chard

The last harvest of this summer peppers

Thank you for reading!

Discovering aquafaba - Vegan Lemon Pound Cake

Pound cake is a favorite dessert from my childhood, and every family seems to have a prized recipe.  My Aunt Carolyn makes one of the best as does my friend Lisa.  Now, how to make this delicious treat vegan friendly...

I was inspired by Popsugar's recipe for a vegan version of Starbuck's lemon pound cake and research into aquafaba (canned chickpea water) as an egg substitute.  Vegan baking can have mixed results as the chemistry isn't always quite right when you substitute for an ingredient like eggs, let alone all the dairy products in a recipe.  The finished recipe can sometimes be quite dense and sometimes more soggy than the original version; usually still edible, but not always as satisfying as imagined. That being said, I've had mostly good success with my vegan baking adventures because I do so much research to learn from others' mistakes beforehand.  I am happy that the aquafaba worked well and that I again have a great pound cake recipe for special occasions.

Vegan Lemon Pound Cake

makes 12 slices

Lemon cake:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup almond meal (ground raw almonds)
1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (coconut, olive, canola)

2/3 cup aquafaba (water drained from canned chickpeas)
Juice from half a small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

grated lemon rind from half a small lemon
2 teaspoons almond extract

Lemon Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar

Juice from half a small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

grated lemon rind from half a small lemon

1 -3 teaspoons non-dairy milk

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
2. Lightly oil or spray a large loaf pan.
3. In the medium bowl add the milk, aquafaba, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, grated lemon rind and mix well.
4. Make a well in your dry ingredients, pour in the wet and stir until just combined and fairly smooth. 
5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Let sit for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool thoroughly on a wire rack.
7. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and rinding for the icing and drizzle in just enough milk until you have a smooth icing that is not too thin.  
8. Drizzle icing on top of the completely cool cake.

I'll definitely be ready with this cake next spring when the strawberries are ripe in the garden to make a strawberry shortcake.

Thanks for reading!