Snowy Bananas and Strawberries

Here is a very simple salad to welcome those warmer days, and one in which we can also reap the sweet harvest of strawberries already at our Farmer's Markets.  Enjoy!

Snowy Bananas and Strawberries

Ingredients:

3 bananas, sliced into rings
3 cups of coarsely chopped, fresh strawberries
1 cup of shredded, sweetened coconut

Directions:

Toss all the ingredients together right before serving.  Enjoy right away.  Feeds five hungry vegans.  So satisfying!

Patriotic Salad and Fourth of July, 2013

I know, I know, I know, I said I was going to get all my reviews and award out first...but, this is a timely recipe, and I just had to squeeze this one in.  On the Fourth of July, my mom and I decided to just serve up four salads.  She made three bean salad and coleslaw, and I made my Kids Love It! Potato Salad, which will be featured in my next review (hint, hint) and a fruit salad.  The fruit salad was going to have tons of different kinds of fruits in it, but I started putting berries in the bowl first, and then I added a few bananas, and then something struck my eye.  No, it wasn't a wayward blueberry; it was the look of the salad: it was red, white, and blue.  Hello?!  This was the Fourth of July, by golly, so I just to had leave it as is.  And, yes, I can tell you, that I made a big deal of it at my parents'.  "Hey, did anybody notice the colors?"  "Isn't it great that this salad is red, white, and blue?"  I ignored JK's comments that the blackberries were black; they look dark blue to me, humph.  "I know what!  I'm going to call this my Patriotic Salad, yes!"  Yes, indeed, I was very proud of myself, and you should be too.  Er, I mean, it's pretty, isn't it?

Patriotic Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries
2 and 1/2 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
3 bananas, sliced

Directions:

Make sure all the berries are rinsed and drained well.  Put all the fruit in a large bowl and gently toss.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Try to finish in one evening; it does not save well.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a Grannyma and a Poppy.

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad and Dinner

My family loves Mexican food, and Cinco de Mayo just gives us an excuse to indulge in it.  Realizing Sunday afternoon that I had nothing in the kitchen with which to celebrate it, I hurried on over to our neighborhood Mexican market to pick up a few things.  Besides the standard fare, I knew I wanted some kind of vegetable or salad to go with dinner, and I wanted it to be kid-friendly.  Knowing I'm not an expert at nopalitos yet, I looked over their produce for ingredients to make a yummy salad.  I think I came up with a really simple, tasty salad that will refresh on any hot day, but especially on Cinco de Mayo, ole! 

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad in the serving bowl

 

The requisite homemade chips with pico de gallo, guacamole, and spicy red salsa

 My Cinco de Mayo plate: plain flour tortilla, Cinco de Mayo salad, Sweet Potato candy (a sweet potato somehow softened with sugar and water!  I forget the Spanish name for it, but it was soft and sweet, and just three ingredients.), Pintos and Hominy with salsa drizzled on top.  So good!

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad

Ingredients:

3 avocados, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch of cilantro, about one cup packed, chopped, discarding bottom stems

Juice of one lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a large serving bowl and gently but thoroughly toss together.  Try to eat it all at this meal, for refrigerating it does it no favors.  Feeds five hungry vegans. Yumms!

Avocado Strawberry Toss

Aren't these beautiful colors?  Avocados and strawberries are in their peak season right now over here, and their flavors just pop with intensity.  I just knew I had to see what they tasted like when combined.  I cut up one ripe avocado and quartered six juicy strawberries and tossed them together in a small bowl.  I debated whether I should sprinkle a little salt or drizzle a little lemon juice over the top, but then I thought that any dressing would compete with the two flavors of the fruits.  The creaminess of the avocado is a perfect complement to the sweetness of the strawberry.  But, alas, I was the only one in my family who even tried this dish.  No one else would attempt it.  Will you?  I adjusted the recipe to feed five hungry vegans...in my dreams.

Avocado Strawberry Toss

Ingredients:

3 avocados, chopped
2 - 3 cups of quartered strawberries

Directions:

Add fruit together in a large bowl and gently toss.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy it!  Feeds five hungry vegans, supposedly. 

Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

I saw the first tomatoes at the farmer's market yesterday, so I had to pick some up.  They were perfect and tasted like we were already in the dead heat of summer.  Yum.  I also bought an English cucumber and realized right away how I was going to combine these two finds: into my Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad.  As far as cucumbers go, I really prefer the English kind; the skin is not waxed and not too thick, and the seeds are not too big.  I find that I peel the other version and scoop out the seeds, but I eat the complete English cucumber.  (I also like little pickling cucumbers.)  Also this salad is perfect with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper, but if you really want a dressing, just add a splash of olive oil and vinegar.  This can be a completely raw recipe, if you leave off the dressing.  If you've never had this simple pairing in a salad, you're in for a treat.

The whole salad in a serving bowl.

My salad plate.  I ate it all up!

Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 - 3 ripe tomatoes, quartered and wedged
1 English cucumber, ends trimmed and sliced in circles or semi-circles depending on the diameter of the cuke
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a serving bowl and toss well.  Eat immediately.  Don't chill; it will ruin the texture of the tomatoes.  So, no leftovers!  You have to eat it all in one night.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Do you ever nibble on vegetables that you've only experienced in cooked form - roots or otherwise - to see how they taste?  I've been doing that more and more the last year or so, and I've discovered some wonders!  Raw sweet potato and beets are very good!  I've known this for a few months but didn't know what to do with that information, until I thought of pairing them together.  Adding some sweetened coconut adds just the right amount of sweetness to make this a delicious salad with no dressing at all.  I grated them to make it easier to chew and to be more appealing to my Blessings.  Also, with the coconut, it makes for a nice, uniform appearance.  I knew my girls would eat it because it was dinner, but the big test would be JK.  I put some on a spoon, and he gingerly stuck his top lip out to take the minutest taste.  Then he came back for more and more.  I served him some with dinner, and he ate it all up.  Everyone was surprised that they liked this (except for me: I knew I would), and this will definitely stay on my list of salads to make.

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups grated sweet potato (approximately one medium sweet potato)
2 cups grated beet (about two medium ones or one large one)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, packed

Directions:

Make sure you trim the ends and peel the sweet potato and beet before grating.  I used my grater blade in the food processor; it made for a quick job.  Rinse the sweet potato shreds in a colander to get rid of any starch that might brown them.  Rinse the beet shreds in a colander to get rid of any loose juice, so the whole salad doesn't turn beet color.  You won't be able to get rid of all the beet juice, but you want to be able to enjoy this colorful salad's beauty.  Add the sweet potato shreds, the beet shreds and the coconut in a large bowl and stir.  Can chill or serve right away.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Fresh Summer Fruit Salad

We make a lot of fruit salads, and the summer seems to offer such a wonderful variety of natural sugary goodness.  This is an example of one of the salads I made a few weeks back, when the fruit was still at its most flavorful.  I added a bit of coconut and raisins for some extra variety.  I served this with some of my homemade rolls .  It makes for a nice lunch or a light dinner. 

Fresh Summer Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 of a large watermelon, approximately four cups, chopped
1 cantaloupe, seeded, cut away from rind and chopped
2 mangoes, diced   * See tip below on how to prepare a mango
2 bananas, sliced
1 nectarine, chopped
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 small snack box of raisins, approximately 1/4 cup

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a large bowl.  Gently toss together and serve immediately.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

* There are two ways that I have found the easiest to get at the succulent mango.  One is to peel the ripe fruit with a paring knife.  Once you get the peel going, it is easy to just grasp ahold with your fingers and pull it off the fruit.  Once the fruit is peeled, you can take a larger knife and slice the two wide halves of the mango away from the fibrous pit inside.  Then you can go around the edges and slice away any large chunks of mango still attached to the pit.  Anything left over but too small to cut off, can munched on directly.  Just wash your hands afterwards.  The second way is to leave the peel on and slice away the wide halves like above.  With the fruit still in the detached peel, you take your knife and carve cubes into the mango.  Then, laying the peel flat, carefully slice under the mango cubes, releasing them from the peel.  For the remainder of the mango still attached to the pit, you may do the same or peel and cut away as in the first option.  One of these choices should appeal to you more than the other.  Either way, don't let the fact that you have to work a little harder deter you from getting at a fresh mango.  They are worth it!