Healthy Potato Salad

Potato salads don't have to have mayonnaise.

In fact, the Italian and French way of tossing the warm potatoes in a vinaigrette makes a very flavorful salad. And it's healthy too.

I combined the potatoes with green pepper, broccoli and onion to make a colorful salad that hit the spot on a hot day.

Healthy Potato Salad
2-3 potatoes, cubed (enough to make 2 cups)
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped radishes
2 tbsp diced green pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (optional)

Peel and cube the potatoes. Put them in cold salted water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minute depending on the size of the pieces. Drain and toss with the salad dressing. Let it marinate in the fridge a couple of hours. (This is not essential, but it intensifies the flavor.)

Cut the broccoli in bite-sized pieces, and steam until tender. Add to the potatoes along with the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a little more salad dressing if necessary.

Serves 4-5

Farmers

In her 1922 book One of Ours, about a midwestern farmer who enlists in WWI, Willa Cather writes:

The farmer raised and took to market things with an intrinsic value; wheat and corn as good as could be grown anywhere in the world, hogs and cattle that were the best of their kind. In return he got manufactured articles of poor quality; showy furniture that went to pieces, carpets and draperies that faded, clothes that made a handsome man look like a clown. Most of his money was paid out for machinery, – and that, too, went to pieces. A steam thrasher didn't last long; a horse outlived three automobiles.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint

This is a great salad that keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge. The key is to cut the carrots in matchsticks to keep their texture. This is more work than I usually like to do, but it's worth it.

Start by cutting the carrot crosswise into 1 1/2" lengths. Then cut it lengthwise in thirds or quarters (depending on the size of the carrot). Then stack a few of these slices and cut them lengthwise again in thirds or quarters. You should have matchstick-like carrots sticks. It's not worth obsessing about perfection, but it's fun practice for knife skills.

And as you enjoy this lemony minty salad you will forget the labor involved.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint
3 large carrots
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp mint

Peel the carrots and cut as above. Blanch them in boiling water until just tender, about 30 seconds. Drain and place in ice water to stop cooking.

Combine the lemon juice and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil so it emulsifies. Stir in the mint, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the carrots with the dressing. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 2-3.

Arugula and Figs

There was beautiful arugula at the farmers market on Sunday. I brought some home and paired it with sweet figs - our first harvest of the year - and salty parmesan for a fun and zesty salad.

Arugula and Figs
1 bunch arugula, heavy stems removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 figs, quartered
a few shavings of parmesan
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Toss the arugula with the olive oil and lemon juice. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Pile the arugula on a platter, arrange the figs around the edges and sprinkle the parmesan shavings (made by running a vegetable peeler over a block of parmesan) and fresh rosemary over the top.

Serves 2-3

Simple Summer Supper

I came home from work pretty tired Saturday. Plus it was hot.

So a simple supper was in order.

I picked some basil and cherry tomatoes in the garden, and whipped up this simple pasta with pesto.

(Click here for my favorite pesto recipe.)

I would have made a salad too, but it was hot, and I was tired. Does pesto count as a green vegetable?

Summer Fruit

 The Hollywood Farmers Market is piled with peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, pluots, grapes, melons in more varieties than I can name, and strawberries.

That's along with all the apples and citrus fruit that I now take for granted.

It's hard to limit my fruit shopping. We eat fruit once a day - for breakfast - so we don't need basketfuls. I rarely cook fruit - it's too darned hot to cook, and why waste all that nutrition? So I control myself as I walk through the market buying two of this and two of that, restraining myself to a small basket of strawberries, two - oops actually three - melons.

The stone fruits tend to be hard - flavorful but not completely ripe. I leave them on the counter for a few days until they are fragrant. I check them each every day, looking for mold, squeezing gently for ripeness. When they are really ripe, I either put them in our morning fruit, or refrigerate them until we need them.

Melons, however, can be bought completely ripe and ready to eat. Last Sunday morning we bought strawberries and cantaloupe at Finley Farms stall and ate them for brunch. They were so sweet they tasted like candy. The accompanying omelet was a good counter-balance with heat from a homegrown anaheim pepper and some salty cheese.

We had the remaining strawberries and melon for breakfast on Monday morning, Tuesday was grapefruit and last week's Santa Rosa plums - finally ripe and incredibly juicy. Then on to the nectarines and peaches, and the other cantaloupe we bought. We still have a white Japanese melon that Mr. Ha says is good to eat now but if we can wait a week or two until it is soft it will be unbelievably sweet. Let's see how long we can wait.

Summer fruit: there's nothing like it.

Vegetarian Niçoise Salad

On these hot summer days, I don't feel like cooking.

But with the right produce in the fridge, dinner can be a nutritious and easy meal.

The other night I made this salad with leftover Greek Bean Salad as the main protein source.

I piled torn-up lettuce on the plate and dressed it with a simple red wine vinaigrette. I then added cherry tomatoes, diced avocado, hard boiled egg, black olives, cucumber and green pepper for extra crunch.

I spooned the bean salad in the center, and sprinkled a little extra dried oregano on top for color.

Protein from the eggs, beans and cheese, lots of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables, and a short time in the kitchen.

That's my kind of summer meal.

Eat organic

I'm fortunate to be able to eat a wide variety of organic produce. It helps to live in southern California and shop at the Hollywood Farmers' Market.

I know that not everyone is as lucky as me, so here is the annual list of foods that are safe to eat even if they are not organic.

Every year the Environmental Working Group tests US-grown food for pesticide residue. Although we don't know what long-term use of pesticides does to the human nervous and endocrine system, there are standards as to what is too much to consume.

The first list, The Dirty Dozen, refers to foods that should never be eaten unless they are organic, because the pesticide residue is too high in the conventionally-grown kinds.

The second list is of foods which have a minimal level of pesticide residue when conventionally grown.

Notice that greens must be organically-grown. Don't let that stop you from eating greens. Instead ask your produce manager or favorite organic farmer to stock organic greens. They're available, they're delicious and they're healthy. And even at $2.50 a bunch, they're a better deal than a multi-vitamin.


Dirty Dozen: eat only if organic
apples
bell peppers
blueberries
celery
cucumbers
grapes
green beans
kale / greens
lettuce
nectarines - imported
peaches
potatoes
spinach
strawberries

Low Pesticide Residue: These 15 foods are lowest in pesticide residue, and are considered safe to eat even if not organic.
asparagus
avocado
cabbage
cantaloupe
corn (probably gmo if not organic)
eggplant
grapefruit
kiwi
mangoes
mushrooms
onions
peas
pineapples
sweet potatoes
watermelon

Greek Bean Salad

Larry and I take bean salads to work most days. With a green salad and maybe some carrot sticks and an apple, it's a great meal full of protein and nutrients to keep us going all afternoon.

The other day I made a salad with the large white lima beans grown in Lompoc that I buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I added feta, cherry tomatoes, and dried oregano for a Greek bean salad.

Tossing the warm beans with vinegar and salt and pepper gives them extra flavor. If you're using canned beans, just drain them and stir in the dressing along with the other ingredients.

(If you don't have large white limas, you can use cannelini beans or kidney beans.)

The textures in this dish are all soft, so serve it with a crunchy green salad, or add some crisp red pepper or celery to give extra interest.

Greek Bean Salad
1 cup white beans
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 red onion
4 oz feta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Cover the beans with 2 inches of water in a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender. The length of cooking time depends on the age of your beans. The ones I buy cook in under 2 hours. If yours are really old, soak them in water overnight, drain, then cook in boiling water until tender.

Drain the beans and sprinkle with the vinegar and salt and pepper. Stir well and let sit until cool.

Slice the red onion. Dice the feta. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Toss all into the cool beans along with the oregano and olive oil.

Taste the bean salad and add vinegar, olive oil, or salt to taste.

Serves 4-6