Two Fun and Fruity End of Summer Salads

It’s already almost the end of August, and summer too is coming to an end. I can’t believe the time has gone so fast. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a summer fly by me so quickly as this one has. Although to be honest, I’m excited for some down time. I’ve been away adventuring the past six weekends in a row which has been amazing and fun but also means I haven’t gotten to sleep in my own bed and cook in my own kitchen for more than a few days each week.

But to celebrate the sun, before it’s gone all too soon, here are a couple great fruity salads to make the most of the beautiful remaining weather.

Minty Watermelon Salad

Ingredients

2 cups watermelon, chopped
1 cup cucumber, diced
1 cup blueberries
2 tbsp mint, chopped
1 lime, juiced

Directions

1. Mix it all together in a big bowl and serve.

Serves 2

 

Peashoot, Nectarine and Orange Salad

Ingredients

2 nectarines, sliced in rings
2 oranges, sliced in rings
1 cup pea shoots, cut in half
1 small shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch pepper
1/2 tspn cumin
1 tbsp parlsey, finely chopped

Mixed bean sprouts (optional)
Sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds (optional)
Chia seeds and/or hemp hearts (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare dressing by combining olive oil, vinegar, shallot, sea salt, pepper, cumin and parsley and mixing well in a medium sized bowl.
2. Add pea shoots to the dressing and toss.
3. Spread orange and nectarine rings out in a circle on the edge of the plates. Add pea shoots to the centre. Top with any (or all if you’re me) of the optional ingredients.

Serves 2

Blueberry Salsa

When the time rolls around when you can begin buying big boxes of blueberries for super cheap, I feel like it’s finally summer. I am a huge fan of blueberries. They are without question one of my all time favourite foods. This evening I figured I’d get a bit more creative with them though and I made three different blueberry dishes, all in an hour. So all of them are easy to make: blueberry banana loaf; blueberry, watermelon and mint salad; and this blueberry salsa. I don’t have time to post them all on here this evening, but I’ll try and get them up here soon because it is blueberry season and there are so many delicious ways those juicy little tidbits can be enjoyed.

This salsa literally takes five minutes to make and it has a super unique flavour. I’m testing it on some of my coworkers tomorrow to see what they think, and I’ve got my fingers crossed. I personally find it a really refreshing take on salsa. It’s not too sweet because of the red onion. I’d recommend just eating it with chips, like you would a regular salsa. Alternatively you could spread it on bread as a sort of fruity bruschetta or use it as a chutney type spread on chicken, fish or a similar veggie option.

Inspired by Honest Cooking

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
5-6 medium sized strawberries
2 limes, juiced
1/4 red onion, chopped
5-6 basil leaves
salt, a pinch

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times until ingredients have been broken down into very small chunks, or to whatever consistency is desired.

2. Serve! It’s that simple.

Toasted Walnut, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad

I apologize for being absent for so long from this. I’ve been away on holidays and at work have been super caught up with a national campaign I’m working on launching, while at the same time trying to teach myself Spanish, fit in running and yoga, and maintain at least the essence of a social life. Cooking has been on the back burner for sure. So I thought I’d ease back in with something simple, just a salad.

I tend to feel a little silly posting salads to a food blog as I feel like they are so basic. What can I tell you about it that’s really exciting or innovative? But this has got to be my new favourite salad so I figured – hell, why not. With the walnuts toasted in thyme or rosemary it’s really got something special. I used a bit of both thyme and rosemary to toast the walnuts in but you can also just use one or the other. I’m sure the flavour will be just as lovely.

Recipe:

Ingredients

4 cups mixed greens
1 pear, sliced
2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
2-3 sprigs rosemary and/or thyme, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2

Directions 

1. In a small skillet over low to medium heat, add the walnuts and herbs to the olive oil. Leave to heat for ten to fifteen minutes allowing the oil and walnuts to absorb the flavours of the herbs. Stir occasionally, ensuring the walnuts don’t burn.

2. Move the walnut, herb and oil mixture to a small bowl and add the juice of a lemon along with salt and pepper to taste. Pour this over arugula and pears and crumble the goat cheese on top.

 

Oven-Baked Veggie Melts

Work has gotten so busy. I’m getting involved with some really exciting organizing work and am trying to learn how to balance everything I want to fit into a single day. I’ve never been very good at playing the balancing act, and trying to fit in work, studying, yoga, running, healthy cooking, blogging, and other volunteer work while still finding time to enjoy the sunny summer with the people I love is proving somewhat challenging. But I am storming forward fearlessly because that’s the only way to do it. Moral of the story: I’ll probably be posting on here a little less often than I would like, but I think that’s okay.

Today, I wanted a quick dinner that was still scrumptious and delicious and I found it. This is so easy and so tasty. Oven-Baked Veggie Melts!

Recipe:

Ingredients

Pesto:
1 cup basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
1 tsp black pepper

Veggie Melts:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 slices of the whole grain bread of your choice
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 cup spinach
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shaved
black pepper

Makes 4 open-faced sandwiches

Directions

1. Prepare pesto. Add pine nuts, basil leaves, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, parmesan cheese and pepper to a blender. Pulse until mostly smooth.

2. In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add chopped yellow onion and saute covered on medium heat until caramelized, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

3. Turn the oven to broil. Toast the bread for one minute.

4. Meanwhile, lightly saute the red pepper strips in 1 tbsp of olive oil in anther small pan.

5. Once everything is ready, assemble each veggie melt. Begin by spreading a generous helping of pesto on the bread. Top with spinach, caramelized onions, and red pepper strips. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and black pepper. 

6. Broil on the top rack of the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the surface is beginning to brown.

 

Dragon Fruit Raspberry Smoothie

Every time I walk through a farmers market or grocery story I am amazed by how much of the produce I’m not familiar with. Yet I always steer clear of it. Sometimes I see recipes with ingredients I have never heard of and I stay far away, not daring to buy such exotic and foreign sounding things. But I realize that this is silly, and I should be absolutely head over heels excited to try new tastes and flavours. So the other day, I was walking through a store with a very large asian food section and I randomly picked two things off the shelves that I’ve never tried before. One of them I didn’t recognize at all: that story to come. The other was dragon fruit, also called pitaya, which I have eyed multiple times but never bothered trying.

In addition to having some of the dragon fruit itself, I decided to try and actually do something with it, and thus this smoothie was born. Using dragon fruit as the base instead of banana is super interesting. It provides a slightly less dense final product that is extremely refreshing. I really enjoyed it, and although, at least where I live, dragon fruit is not nearly as reasonably priced as bananas, if you want to spice things up and get fancy, this is a really delicious and refreshing option. Definitely recommended for a sunny day.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 dragon fruit
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup almond milk

Directions

1. Cut dragon fruit in half. Scoop out the white portion of the fruit into a blender, avoiding adding in any of the skin.

2. Add frozen raspberries and almond milk. Blend.