Nutrient rich Summer Salad

In the hot months, if you’re like me, it’s hard to find the energy or interest to cook food, especially after being outside in the heat all day working. It’s simple enough to throw a salad together and make a quick & complete meal with it.

And salads don’t have to be just lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots or something basic like that. You can make them into a full meal by adding good fats and protein to your fibrous and phytonutrient rich plants. Aim for 10 different foods in a salad (and change them up) to be 1/3 of the way to your functional variety of 30 different foods per week. (More on this in a later blog!)

Here’s the salad I fell in love with this summer and several ways to flavor it differently so it never gets boring and you get a variety of nutrients each time:

Nutrient rich Summer Salad (Base ingredients)

  • 1/2-1 English/Persian cucumber* - sliced in quarter rounds

  • 1-2 big handfuls of Purslane* and/or Peashoots - chopped

  • 1/2-1 cp Chickpeas - drained and rinsed well

  • 1/4 cp or less of sweet red/yellow Onion - chopped

Now for the different styles, you can add any of the following combos -

Cool & Fresh:

  • 2-4 stalks of Mint (leaves only) - chopped

  • 3-4 tbsp of Hemp Seeds

  • 1-2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 1/2 - 1 Lemon juiced

  • Pinch of Mineral Salt (Like Himalayan or Real Salt)

Mediterranean:

  • Pint of Cherry tomatoes - halved

  • 4 tbsp Kalamata Olives - pitted and sliced

  • 2-4 stalks Fresh Oregano - de-stemmed & chopped (sub 1 tsp dried & crushed)

  • 1 stalk Fresh Basil - de-stemmed & chopped

  • 1-2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 1/2 - 1 Lemon juiced

  • Pinch of Mineral Salt (Like Himalayan or Real Salt)

  • 1/2-1 cp Briney Cashews* - optional

Asian style:

  • 1/2-1 Avocado - diced

  • 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds

  • 1/2-1 Red Carmen or other Sweet Pepper - chopped

  • 1-2tsp Tamari or non-GMO Soy Sauce

  • 1/2 Lemon Squeezed over the top

  • 1/2 in grated fresh ginger - optional

  • OPTIONAL - sub Edamame for Chickpeas

NOTES on * items
Cucumbers - unpeeled! get that vit K, magnesium, potassium and silica which is only in the peels - so I prefer the thin skinned English or Persian varieties which are usually unwaxed, or get an organic cucumber from your local farmers market. PS - ask the farmer if they have any hoop house cucumbers, most of those varieties are the thin skin, seedless kind.

Purslane - high in Omega 3’s, vitamins A, C, and more, magnesium and potassium. It is cooling & hydrating and our favorite summer weed - may be growing in your garden, though it does prefer our hoop houses. Make sure you ID correctly if wild harvesting your own - don’t confuse with Spurge that looks similar and aptly has the word PURGE in its name.

Briney Cashews (bonus recipe!) - a new favorite of mine to sub for feta, especially if you are dairy free.
Soak cashew pieces 2 hrs, rinse well. Mix with salt to taste (you want it salty like feta), a tbsp or more of a plain sauerkraut juice. Mix well and allow to sit 2-4 hrs on your counter, tightly covered with a cloth so probiotics can start to proliferate. Cap and put in fridge for up to 1 week.

You’ll notice I have a range of amounts (1/2-1) on most of my ingredients. I’m not much of a measurer when it comes to cooking; mostly I follow my intuition and adjust to taste. I encourage you to do so too, or to start at the lower amount and add more as desired. The larger amounts will also make a larger bowl of salad for maybe 2 people depending how hungry you are!

ENJOY!
~ Sunshine, your dedicated herbalist and farmer foodie

RECIPESSunshine Dawson