Cool As A Cucumber SaladWith Garbanzos And Cherry Tomatoes

Beat the heat with this cucumber salad.

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We've had record breaking heat this last week. Sebastopol topped its record with 111 degrees. So needless to say, we've been eating a lot of raw foods and foods that are cooling. Cucumbers are very hydrating and I just happen to have a cucumber plant that is presenting me with 2 enormous and perfect cucumbers a day! 

Here's a quick salad that we made for lunch yesterday. It also uses our garden cherry tomatoes. With protein-packed garbanzo beans and good fats from the avocado, this is a perfectly balanced vegan and gluten-free meal for two hungry people or a side dish for 4 to 6. 

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Cucumber Salad with Garbanzos and Cherry Tomatoes

Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free

[Serves 2 large meal-size salads or 4 to 6 sides]

Ingredients

Salad

1 long English cucumber or 2 smaller ones

2 dozen cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 avocado, diced

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 serrano pepper, minced (optional)

2 tablespoons red onion (optional)

Dressing

1 tablespoon EVOO or cold-pressed hemp oil

1 tablespoon lemon balsamic vinegar

1 large clove garlic, pressed

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped

Peel the cucumber and slice vertically. Then slice into half moons.

Place the cucumber in a medium bowl and add the tomatoes, avocado, garbanzo beans, pepper (if using), and red onion (if using). 

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a cup or small bowl and stir with a fork until well incorporated. 

Pour over the cucumber salad and toss gently. Serve immediately.

And remember to stay cool!

2-Minute Instant Pot Lemony Potato Salad

Enjoy this Italian-style potato salad in minutes.
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Working my way through our Potato Harvest
In my quest to use the 50+ pounds of potatoes that we harvested, I whipped up this potato salad yesterday using my Instant Pot.

This is an Italian-style potato salad that my dad used to make for me using lemon and oil instead of mayonnaise. It also uses parsley from my garden and fresh garlic that I harvested a while back.

New potatoes only take a few minutes to cook in the Instant Pot and don't need peeling, just a good scrub.

I only use 1 1/4 pounds of potatoes in this recipe because it's best when served warm and fresh.


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Lemony Instant Pot Potato Salad
Vegan, gluten and dairy free
[makes 4 cups]

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/4 pounds of new potatoes, 
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup small diced celery, center stalks
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Make the dressing. Mix the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, black pepper, oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl or cup. Set aside.

Scrub the potatoes and dice in 1" cubes. You should get about 4 cups.

Place the potatoes in the Instant Pot with 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle 3/4 teaspoons of salt over the potatoes. 

Secure the lid, press the “Manual” button, and set for 2 minutes at high pressure. When done, press the “Off” button and quickly release the pressure. Then, remove the lid carefully with the steam vented towards the back. If the potatoes are not done, just place the lid over the pot and let sit. Check each minute until the potatoes are just fork tender.

There will be a little water in the bottom of the pot. Do not remove as the potatoes will eventually absorb it.   

Pour the dressing over the potatoes along with the celery and parsley.

Toss gently and thoroughly to coat the potatoes. Serve immediately while warm.

Enjoy warm

Buckwheat Soba Noodle SaladVegan And Gluten Free

Here's a great dish for your 4th of July celebration!

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Perfect for Guests
If you are going to a potluck, picnic, or entertaining at home this 4th of July, this salad is sure to please your guests. Besides being delicious, it's gluten and dairy free. It's also served at room temperature so no worries about making it at the last minute or heating it up. I know the dressing has a lot of ingredients, but it really is quite easy to put together. You can also make the dressing ahead of time.

Buckwheat is rich in high quality protein.It's also high in dietary fiber and is a good source of iron, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and potassium. It also provides a good amount of B vitamins.

If you are gluten intolerant, make sure the package says 100% buckwheat as some brands mix buckwheat with wheat.

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Buckwheat Soba Noodle Salad
Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Free
[makes 6 to 8 servings]

Ingredients
For the dressing:
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon sesame tahini
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon gluten-free Tamari soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions plus some for garnish
1/4 cup chopped herbs (parsley and cilantro)
For the salad
8 ounces 100% buckwheat noodles
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon hemp seeds

Directions
To make the dressing, mix the ginger, garlic, and tahini into a paste and slowly mix in the oils, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Add the pepper flakes, scallions, and parsley and stir until well combined. Set aside.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. Do not overcook and rinse well with cold water.

Drain the noodles well and place in a salad bowl. Add the grated carrot and seeds, saving some black sesame seeds for garnish. Toss with the dressing, garnish with a few sliced scallions and black sesame seeds and serve.

Results Of This Year's Corn CropFresh Corn, Tomato And Cucumber Salad

Fresh corn makes a great salad topping.

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Corn
I love corn. I love everything about it. I love to eat it raw, right off the cob. I love throwing it into soups, salads, muffins, well - you name it. But the thing I love the most is growing it. This year was our second crop and we actually harvested it on time at the peak of its tenderness (lessons learned from last year!)

Having grown up in apartments in New York City, where one is lucky to have a flower pot of parsley on the fire escape, the very thought of having enough land to grow such an enormous vegetable still blows my mind. My corn stands proudly in the entry to our little farm - a monument to a more sane life. 

Me and my daughter, Linda, playing in the corn.

Last year we planted 35 seeds and got about 48 ears of corn. This year I planted 65 seeds which yielded about 85 ears (hard to keep track as I kept eating them before accurately counting.) It looks like for each seed planted, I have gotten 1.3 to 1.4 times the ears of corn. If you google "how many ears of corn do you get from a plant", most experts say 1 to 2 ears. So my yield might be on the low side, but since it's heirloom corn, not GMO, it's naturally bred for flavor and sweetness, not high production.

Extra tender, midseason bicolor corn from Johnny's seeds.
We planted the end of May and harvested the end of August.

With all of this corn, we obviously had to freeze most of it. To freeze corn, see last year's post on Freezing Summer Corn for Winter Pleasure.

Sometimes corn can get lost when tossed in a salad so I often like to use it in a layered salad where it happily sits on top. I brought this salad to a pot luck last week where I was able to use the cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, and basil from my garden. Corn goes incredibly well with tomatoes, so you will be seeing them together in future recipes - stay tuned!

Drizzle this salad with a simple vinaigrette or your favorite dressing.

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Fresh Corn, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad
Raw Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free
[makes 6 servings]

Ingredients
For the salad:
1 large English or other cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 large yellow heirloom tomato
1 large red heirloom tomato
Kernels from 1 large ear of non-GMO corn
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
Handfull chopped fresh basil, chopped
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Layer the bottom of a salad bowl with the sliced cucumbers.

Slice the tomatoes and place in a colander to drain. If they are particularly juicy, lay them on paper towels. Once they are fairly dry, place them over the cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and some of the basil.

Mix the corn kernels with the red onion and place over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with more basil and seasoning.

Cover and refrigerate until you serve. Right before serving, stir or shake the vinaigrette well and drizzle the amount desired evenly over the salad.

Enjoy!

Shaved Cucumber Salad with Lemon DillLess Than 50 Calories Per Serving

Use a mandoline to thinly slice cucumbers.

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How Slicing Makes a Difference
How a vegetable or fruit is sliced can make a big difference on its texture and even its flavor. My daughter was here this week and when I asked her to make a side dish with the garden cucumbers I just picked, she made this beautiful salad.

Although this recipe has few ingredients, the thinly shaved cucumber slices give it an elegant presentation. Its tangy lemon dill dressing coats every little slice and makes a great low-calorie summer side dish. If you are a fish eater, this lemon dill salad pairs perfectly with grilled wild salmon.

A mandoline is used to slice the cucumbers 

To cut the cucumbers this thin, you will need a mandoline slicer. Please be careful when using this tool and ALWAYS use the guard, although it's tough to do when cutting these thin cucumbers. This is what happened to me last year when I didn't take my own advice while making dehydrated apple slices!

Be super careful when using a mandoline

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Shaved Cucumber Salad with Lemon Dill
Raw Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Free
[makes 6 servings or more]

Ingredients
2 English or 8-inch, tender garden cucumbers, with skin
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 1 tablespoon fresh
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Directions
Wash the cucumbers but leave the skin on. Carefully slice on a mandoline using a thin setting.

Be VERY careful not to cut your fingers.
My daughter is not using the guard in
this picture despite my pleas.

Mix up the lemon juice and oil and pour over the cucumbers. Season with the dill, salt, and pepper. Let the cucumbers sit in the dressing, in the refrigerator, for 30 minutes and then serve.

Nutrition
Per serving: 46 calories, 4 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 31 mg omega-3 and 358 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 1 g protein, 4 g dietary fiber, and 196 mg sodium.

Creamy Vegan New Potato Salad With DillRed, White And Blue New PotatoesPerfect For The 4th Of July

This new potato salad is perfect for summer BBQ's.

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My Expectations are High

If you've been following my post on "How to grow your own potatoes", you'll see that my plants are doing exceptionally well. After 6 short weeks, the plants have taken over the bed, are 3 feet tall, and have begun to flower! Since my expectations are high, I've begun to think about what I'm going to do with all of these potatoes.

In the meantime, while I anxiously await the birth of my own purple and gold new potatoes, I found these adorable baby new potatoes at the market this week. I thought they would make a very colorful and delicious salad using the dill from my new herb garden.

These cute little multicolored potatoes are only 1" across

Dill from my garden

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Creamy New Potato Salad with Dill
Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free
[makes 6 to 8 servings]

Ingredients
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 pounds baby new potatoes (1/2 pound white, 1/2 pound purple, 1/2 pound red)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 cup finely diced celery (~ 2 center stalks)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons vegan sour cream

Directions
Combine the red onion, garlic, oil and vinegar and set aside. Sitting in the vinegar will cut the intensity of the red onion.

Scrub the potatoes and dice into 1/2 inch pieces. If they are tiny, one-inch new potatoes, just cut in half. Place in a medium saucepan of boiling water with one teaspoon of salt. Cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook. 

Drain the potatoes and let them cool. Place in a salad bowl and toss with the oil and vinegar mixture. Add the celery, another 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste), black pepper, dill, and sour cream. Toss until well combined.

Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Nutrition
Per serving (6): 128 calories, 3 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g protein, 24 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 242 mg sodium.

Per serving (8): 96 calories, 2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 181 sodium.

Fuju Persimmon And Pomegranate Relish Perfect For Thanksgiving!

This simple and colorful side dish is vegan and gluten free.

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Getting the Menu Together
Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away so I'm finalizing my menu. I've got a full house this year so I'm trying to pick recipes that are delicious, simple, and that can either be prepped or made ahead. 

Since my persimmon tree finally blessed me with over 4 dozen fuyu persimmons, I will definitely serve them in at least one dish. They pair beautifully with pomegranates, so I'm thinking of making this simple raw vegan relish. 

Persimmons and pomegranates pair
beautifully and reflect the colors of fall.

A lot of people avoid pomegranates because they think they are difficult to clean. I know I avoided them for years until I figured out how to clean them. It's really pretty simple with the trick being that you have to do it with the fruit submerged in a bowl of water. Check out my post on How To Clean a Pomegranate. 

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Fuju Persimmon and Pomegranate Relish
Raw Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Fee
[makes 8 (1/4-cup) servings

Ingredients
2 cups pomegranate arils
2 persimmons, finely diced (2 cups)
1 jalalpeno, finely diced (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds*
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice

* make sure you ask ahead if any of your guests have a nut allergy.

Directions
Toss all ingredients together and serve. It can also be stirred into freshly made cranberry sauce.

Nutrition
Per serving (with pecans): 114 calories, 5.5 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 69 mg omega-3 and 1,456 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 2 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.

Per serving (without nuts): 67 calories, 1 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 mg omega-3 and 51 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 1 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.


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For more Thanksgiving recipes and menu ideas, download my ebook, Health Begins in the Kitchen: Delicious and Easy Vegan Recipes and Seasonal Food Plan.

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Creamy Asian Cabbage Salad With Black Sesame Seeds Featuring "Just Mayo" From Beyond Eggs

Raw cabbage is inexpensive, delicious and healthy!
And it's only 53 calories per serving!

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Hampton Creek's Egg Replacer
Whether you eat eggs or not, there's something interesting brewing in the food industry. Hampton Creek, a fast-growing food company, is trying to develop food that is eco-friendly, compassionate, and healthy. And, of course, delicious - something many vegan food products are not. Their first target is to replace the egg.

They haven't come out will a product that will make scrambled eggs yet, although they are supposedly quite close, but they have developed a pretty delicious mayo substitute called "Just Mayo." 

Just Mayo comes in four flavors:
Original, Chipotle, Garlic, and Sriracha.

I'm not a big mayo eater but now and then you need a little bit for a creamy dressing like the one I'll share with you today. I'm also not terribly fond of vegan mayo because it doesn't have the taste or texture of real mayonnaise but this product really does. It's not that I totally exclude eggs from my diet. I'm lucky enough to have several friends who raise the happiest chickens on the planet. But when you buy regular mayonnaise, you can bet that the chickens that produce those eggs are from industrial farms and I don't like to support companies like that. 

What's in Just Mayo?
The ingredients include expeller-pressed non-GMO canola oil, while vinegar, and 2% or less of the following: organic sugar, salt, pea protein, spices, modified food starch, lemon juice concentrate, fruit and vegetable juice (color), and calcium disodium EDTA to preserve freshness. 

1 tablespoon provides:
90 calories
10 g total fat
1 g saturated fat (no trans fat)
Zero g of cholesterol 
80 mg sodium
Zero g carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, and protein

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My Favorite Cabbage Salad
There's a Japanese restaurant nearby that has the best cabbage salad. It's big and it's meant to share with the table but every time I go there, I eat an entire bowl or two of it. The last time I was there, I came home determined to make it myself. I think my recipe is a bit lighter (more vinegar, less mayo), but it's pretty darn close to what they serve at the restaurant. I'm excited to use Just Mayo as the base.

Besides being delicious, raw cabbage is extremely healthy to eat. First of all, it's a cruciferous vegetable which can help prevent cancers such as bladder, colon, and prostate but only if it's eaten raw or lightly cooked. Plus, it's a great source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium and manganese. It's also a good source of vitamin A, B6, thiamin, calcium, iron and magnesium. All this for one of the least expensive veggies you can find!

Creamy Asian Cabbage Salad with Black Sesame Seeds
Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Free
(makes 1/2 cup dressing)

Ingredients for the dressing
1/4 cup Just Mayo
1/4 cup Marukan organic seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pressed or grated fresh garlic
2 teaspoons black sesame seeds plus some for sprinkling

For the salad
1 to 2 cups very thinly sliced cabbage per person

Directions
To make the dressing, place the Just Mayo in a small bowl. Slowly stir in the rice vinegar and then the ginger, garlic and 2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds. I don't think it needs any salt but if you do, add a little pinch. There's already some in the mayo.

Place the cabbage in a large bowl and dress with the desired amount of dressing. To keep the calories low, start with 1 tablespoon of dressing per 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cabbage. Add more if needed. Sprinkle with a few extra black sesame seeds. Serve with chop sticks.

Nutrition
Per tablespoon of dressing: 53 calories, 5 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g protein, 1.5 g carbohydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, and 160 mg sodium. 

Per 1 1/2 cups of cabbage: 18 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, and 9 mg sodium.

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