Happy Labor Day! Try these non-dairy salads this Labor Day. They have great picnic portability and are very tasty!

Tabbouleh

Black Bean and Tropical Fruit Salad

Rice Salad

Quinoa Salad

Crunchy Salad

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Pretty soon we’ll have breezes that feel like you’ve turned on a hair dryer and pointed it straight at your face and night time temperatures that don’t  dip below triple digits. And when all your phone conversations to home have some sort of comment about the Arizona dry heat.

My summer cooking regiment in Arizona is an odd mix of “mix it in” salads and cupcakes. Salads because they’re cool and refreshing and cupcakes, because summer is the time of year when I feel most confined to the house. I celebrated one of the last heat tolerable nights of the Spring by making a Black Bean and Tropical Fruit Salsa.

Black Bean and Tropical Fruit Salsa

1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup of yellow corn
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 cup diced fresh mango
3 T finely diced purple onion
2 T finely diced jalapenos
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 chopped cilantro
3 T fresh lime juice
Season with garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl and give it an hour in the fridge so the flavors can mix.

This “salsa” ate more like a spiced up black bean salad although that didn’t stop me from using a chip as my preferred delivery device.

Other mix in salads on this blog:

Confetti Salad
Quinoa Salad
Black Bean Couscous Salad

Other salad recipes:

Black Bean Confetti Salad at Smitten Kitchen
Confetti Pasta Salad at Good-bye Martha

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Now, it’s back to usual in the Valley and I really need to get back in the saddle with taking my lunch to work. I cannot stress how much better I feel during the day when I bring my own lunch, rather than eat whatever is available. Because if I was left to my own devices my daily nutrition would consist of a breakfast Jack, Sonic Wacky Pack and Hostess Cupcakes from Circle K. I’ve actually survived for days on that diet. Ugh.

Part of what helps me during the week with taking my lunch to work is prepping lunch on Sundays. My goal with weekday lunches is to:

• Prepare something that will last at least 4 days in the fridge.
• Look for recipes that I don’t have to reheat.

I typically end up with some freshly cut fruit and some sort of salad. This summer so far has been all about confetti salads. For me, those are rice based salads with lots of mixins. This past week, I learned that you can spice up your rice by combining in spices while the rice is cooking. Adding a teaspoon of cumin, tumerick or lemon zest to the boiling water before adding the rice can add a new level of flavor to the rice.

Cumin Rice Salad

Ingredients
1 t ground cumin
1 t olive oil
1 cup rice, uncooked

Chopped roasted red peppers, green peppers
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1/2 can drained and rinsed sweet corn
Sprig of Cilantro

Method
Heat the cumin in your rice pot, add olive oil and when the flavors release add your water and rice and cook according to the directions on the package. Once rice is finished, allow it to cool and add peppers, beans, corn and cilantro.

Check out these other lunch perfect salads:

Citrus Quinoa Salad

Black Bean Couscous Salad

CRUNCHY SALAD

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1. My main course
2. A side item
3. Fruit
4. Something crunchy

AND, I know this may sound lazy or lame, but I want a lunch that I don’t have to heat. It’s so far from my office to the breakroom, that I want to be able to pack my lunch and not have to make the long haul from point A to point B. (remind me later to tell you how I don’t drink water till the afternoon so I don’t interrupt my morning with trips to the RR).

This week my side item kicks main course’s tushey. I’ve wanted to make quinoa for a while. I’ve heard that it’s tasty and so good for you. And if what I’ve read is true, it really is a powerful little ‘grain.’

It’s not as quick to make as couscous, not as long to cook as rice. It’s snuggled right in the middle. 2 parts liquid to one part grain. Cook for 15 minutes and it’s ready to go. I chose an heirloom red quinoa. The taste didn’t deviate too far from the white. One source describes the flavor as:

The grain itself is soft and delicate and the tail is crunchy which creates and interesting texture combination and pleasant “crunch” when eating the grain. Quinoa has a fluffy consistency and a mild, delicate, slightly nutty flavor that borders on bland.

Citrus Quinoa Salad
Makes 5 cups of salad

1 cup dry red or white quinoa
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Cook quinoa according to directions using broth instead of water.

6 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 t. ground cumin
1 each: cucumber, green pepper, tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Dash salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients into chilled quinoa. Allow time to chill and serve.

Other useful sites:

ChetDay

Wikipedia

Whole Foods

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I love that I’m 30 years old and my parents still take the time to send me an Easter basket. Today my whole family is in Texas, cooking a big Easter lunch, hiding eggs for the two who are still young enough to hunt them and going to the Lake to try to get some hint of a tan.

There’s something that has always been deceptive about sunshine, Easter and tanning for us. It’s this time of year that it’s sunny enough that the lure of brighter days tease that it might be warm enough to actually get some sunshine and start working out the gray that’s set in over the past 3 months. And it never fails that after Easter lunch, someone will say, “Hey. Let’s head out to the lake and lay out for a bit.” And it never fails that we get swim bags put together, drive out to the lake and get settled out on the pier, only for 20 minutes to pass before the first person says, “Hey. I’m going to head inside.” It’s not long after that one by one we all start to head back into the house.

Since I’m too old to hunt Easter eggs and I’m not going to be around any kiddos today, I didn’t dye any this year. But I have been craving egg salad and today seemed as good as any to make some for lunch this week. Egg salad is simple, so paying attention to the quality of the components is important.

Boiling eggs as you can imagine is pretty fundamental when making egg salad. When prepping to boil the eggs, set them out for 10-15 minutes to help take the chill off of them. This will help ensure that they boil evenly through out. Put enough water in pot so that all the eggs are submerged in water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add the eggs. For a hard boiled egg, it only needs to boil for 10-12 minutes depending on the size egg. (Soft boil eggs require 4 minutes for runny, 5 for medium and 6 for a partially firm yolk). When they’re finished cooking run cool water over them and I allow mine to sit for a few minutes in the cold water. Crack and peel. And don’t be fooled you can over boil and egg.

Easter Egg Salad
Makes 2 big sandwiches

5 hard boiled eggs (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade if you have it)
1/2 juice of a lemon
1 t yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients and serve on a sandwich or crackers.

And in case you were wondering, it’s 65 degrees in Central Texas today.

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My work routine has changed this past quarter and my plans to ride the bus one day a week haven’t been working out. So, in thinking about how I can change just one thing in my day to help out Mama Earth, I’ve been taking my lunch to work more. I’ve been pretty good these past few weeks and as I was packing my lunch, I kept thinking how useful a bento box would be.

This weekend I acquired my very own bento box! I’m so freakin excited and it’s so much fun thinking about how much flavor I can pack in on little box!

This week I’m working through a batch of Sonoma Chicken Salad and Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey.

I don’t know what website I was trolling when I saw this simple recipe for Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey, but it’s super tasty and has really hit the spot this week.

Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey

1 Cantaloupe (balled)
2 t locally harvested Honey and Mint
1-2 t chili powder

Method:
Mix it all together and enjoy!

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I was just preforming an act. Following. But do you know what began happening? I starting seeing so many other opportunities in my life to be more conscience. AND IT FEELS GOOD.

This weekend I became uber conscience of the pantry. Ugh. How many times when running to the store did I pick up another can of Rotel or Cream of Mushroom soup?

Guess where all this goodness is going? To the food bank. It’s amazing how so much food came out of the pantry and I had a stock pile still.

The good news, since I’m more aware of what I have, my mind is just bouncing with all the goodness I can still cook with what I have. Lunch today is Black bean Couscous Salad. Delish! I might, I dare say, be starting to feel a little motivation!

Black Bean Couscous Salad

Prep 10 minutes Cook 5 minutes Serves 6

1 1/2 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a 2 quart or larger sauce pan and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add green onions, red pepper, cilantro, corn and beans and toss to coat.

3. Fluff the couscous well, breaking up any chunks. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Makes 4 cups
Prep: 10 minutes

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 T lite soy sauce
1 T dark sesame oil
4 cups shredded napa cabbage
1 large carrot shredded
1 red bell pepper, cut into very thin strips
2 T sesame seads, roasted (optional)

Whisk togehter first 3 incredients in a large bowl. Add cabbage, carrot and bell pepper, tossing to coat. Sprinkle with optional sesame seeds.

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Last time when I was home, I copied a bunch of recipes from my mom’s cookbook and I’ve been waiting to make this Crunchy Salad.

So, when I called on Saturday to make sure we were still on. I got a message back:

That’s great Kee, but the party is next Saturday.

CRUNCHY SALAD

1 bag cole slaw

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 packages Oriental Ramen noodles

1/2 cup toasted almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup Wesson oil

1 cup white vinegar

Dump everything in a bowl, crunch one package of the Ramen, mix in two of the seasoning packets and chill for a bit.

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