Avocado Salad -- Gluten-free

This is a great salad to take on a kayak trip. You’ll want to rinse off your hands when you are finished enjoying this wonderful lunch.

On our way to the Everglades National Park, we stopped at Robert’s Fruit Stand near Homestead, FL, and picked up this avocado salad and fresh mango to make a nutritious meal. With a little trail mix we had plenty to sustain us through an active day.

Avocado Salad

Halve and pit an avocado. Then without breaking through the tough outer skin, cut through the soft green meat of the avocado in about ½” to ¾” parallel lines. Then cut lines in the other direction, 90 degrees to the first ones. This will allow you to easily scoop out the avocado when it comes time to eat it.

Sprinkle with lime juice (Key Lime juice is great if you have it).

Chop a ripe tomato into bite sized pieces and place in the center of the avocado where the pit had been.

Optional:  Top with a little chopped Cilantro and green onion.

Drizzle with a bit of your favorite salad dressing. We used Caesar salad dressing.

Pack in a liquid tight container with a spoon if you are traveling and keep cool. Enjoy!

Avocados are high in fiber, Vitamin B, and fat (unsaturated).

Nutritional Information about avocados from the Tropical Fruit Growers of Southern Florida

Apple & Pumpkin Vinaigrette -- Gluten-free

It's a good time of year to focus on things that are green - like salads. I read recently that most prepared salad dressings that we buy in the store have ingredients that are not good for us. What next?!!

Pumpkin and apples seem to complement each other, so when I found Pumpkin Seed Oil (from the Styrian area of Austria) in my search for alternatives to prepared, bottled salad dressings, I thought this might make a nice combo. I was so pleasantly surprised with the taste that I was able to overlook the cost of the oil, $14.99 for 8.5 oz. The ease of preparation also added great value.

I combined the ingredients in a small cream pitcher. Though cruets look lovely they are so hard to clean -- even in the dishwasher. This vinaigrette can easily be stirred, not shaken, and spooned over the salad to one's liking. Bottled salad dressings seem to flow out so fast.

Spicy salad dressings mask the delicate flavors of veggies, where this one enhances them.

Recipe

Pour 3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a small pitcher or cruet and add ½ Cup Pumpkin Seed Oil. Spoon lightly over a mixed green salad. Enjoy!

Mango Salsa Salad Dressing -- Gluten-free

This recipe comes from Jennifer and is wonderful for dressing up a simple salad of a few ingredients. She used spinach, avocado, and cantaloupe for this salad, and the tangy flavors of the dressing give it a unique and interesting flavor. Plus the colors jazz it up and give it visual appeal -- an important aspect of any meal.

1 mango, peeled and chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped finely

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 sweet orange pepper, seeded and chopped

4 tbsp Chives, chopped finely

Juice and zest of one lime

2 tbsp. grape seed oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix above ingredients in a bowl. Leave for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow flavors to blend. Serve with tortilla chips or spoon over a bed of spinach and add sliced avocado.

Fresh & Colorful Green Bean Salad -- Gluten-free

Green beans are sweet and crisp, fresh from the garden this time of year. Steamed, raw, or 
partially cooked and added to a salad, as in this recipe, they are delightful and abundant at farmers’ markets as well. Purple cabbage, feta cheese, and walnuts add color, texture, and contrast, making the taste and presentation of this dish interesting and unique.

My mother told me that if you massage cabbage with your hands just until it begins to wilt it will taste much better. I am often tempted to skip that step of preparing fresh cabbage because it’s a bit messy and takes extra time. But I am more satisfied with the taste when I do.  Kale is a member of the cabbage family and tastes much better as well when massaged.

This is one of my favorite recipes – even in winter when fresh green beans are available. It was inspired by one I found in the book in RAISING THE SALAD BAR, by Catherine Walthers (Lake Isle Press, NY, 2007).

Salad:

1 lb fresh green beans

1 cup shredded or chopped purple cabbage

½ cup toasted walnuts

1/3 cup of crumbled Feta cheese (Blue cheese works well with this recipe too)

Steam the green beans about 5 minutes until tender but still crisp. Drain and run under cold water. Pat them dry – I pour them onto a clean terry dish towel to dry, thus saving half a roll of paper towels – and put them in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Slice and shred or chop enough red cabbage to make about a cup. Place in a bowl and massage with your hands for a about a minute until the cabbage just begins to look a bit wilted as this helps to take away any bitterness and improves the taste. Add to the green beans and mix.

Roast walnuts (whole or chopped) in the oven at 300° F for about 10 minutes or until slightly   browned or stir constantly for a few minutes in a dry fry pan over medium high heat.

Dressing:

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/8 cup of olive oil

Garlic powder to taste

Salt & pepper

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic powder, add to the green bean mixture, and stir. Chill for an hour or until ready to serve. It can be refrigerated overnight. Add Walnuts and cheese and transfer into a serving bowl.

Spinach Kohlrabi Salad with Roasted Almond Oil – Gluten-free

This recipe was inspired by a love of kohlrabi, a mystery vegetable I discovered a few years ago in our weekly farm share. I had never seen it before, and was pleasantly surprised when the whole family gave it a thumbs up.  From the cabbage family, the taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter.  It can be eaten raw or cooked.  If you can’t find it for this recipe, simply replace with broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage for a sweet crunch.

Layer the following in a large salad bowl:

I package or bag of chopped, fresh baby spinach

1 kohlrabi, chopped into ½ inch pieces

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 carrots, peeled & chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped

Handful fresh basil, chopped

Toast one cup slivered almonds until golden.  When they are still hot, pour over the veggies.  The heat will “cook” the scallions and basil and bring out their flavor.  (This step smells so good!)

Allow the almonds to cool on top of the veggies for at least 10 minutes.

When you are ready to serve the salad, add:

½ cup shredded fresh parmesan

3 tbsp roasted almond oil (any favorite oil can be substituted if needed, but the almond oil is what makes this recipe special)

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper (to your liking)

Toss gently and enjoy!

Winter Potato Salad

Here’s a winter potato salad recipe that combines comfort foods with early spring greens – perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day feast. Change out the blue cheese for parmesan to make it gluten-free.  (For more information, see "Is Blue Cheese Gluten-free?")

Ingredients

Winter Potato Salad

2 white or yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into bit sized pieces

1 slice of red onion, chopped

¼ - ½ cup chopped, fresh parsley leaves

1 small yellow summer squash, raw, cut into bit sized pieces

2 cups of Spring Mix salad greens or your favorite delicate greens

1 slice of cooked, crisp bacon

¾ cup of crumbled blue cheese or shredded parmesan

Boil the potatoes just until soft, about 8 – 10 minutes, and let cool.  Add chopped onion, parsley leaves, and summer squash. Mix well.

Dressing:

3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

¼ cup tea (I use decaffeinated)

1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Stir all ingredients for dressing together and pour over potato mixture. Then add lettuces, bacon, and cheese. Stir gently, then place in a clean serving bowl or onto small individual plates.

Serves 6

Corn and Black Bean Salad -- Gluten-free

The fresh herbs in this salad add flavor without adding salt, making it a wonderful summer salad for those who need to watch salt intake. Serve it for lunch or to accompany a fish or chicken dinner.

1 (14 oz) can corn (low salt)

1 can black beans (reduced salt), rinsed

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, & chopped

1 carrot peeled and finely chopped

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

½ cup chopped chives

¼ - ½ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. You can add ½ - 1 cup leftover veggies such as cooked green beans if desired.

Dressing

Mix in a measuring cup and pour over salad.

Juice from 2 limes or about 5 – 6 tablespoons

4 – 5 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon cumin (or to taste)

Black pepper to taste

Pinch of Cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix well & let refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Will keep refrigerated for about 5 days.

Baby Salad Greens with Fruit

Fresh baby greens are now available at farmers’ markets as the growing season (in Maine) gets started and wonderful fruits from our southern friends appear in local grocery stores. The two make a wonderful combination. Plus a green salad with fruit kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. No need to make a fruit salad too.

You can substitute other fruits if you don’t have these and you can adjust the mounts to what you want. This makes a wonderful spring or summer salad for entertaining, and it is gluten-free. Here is the recipe which will serve about six.

6 cups baby lettuce, washed and dried

1 cup cantaloupe cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and cut up

1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried

5-6 leaves of fresh basil cut into thin strips (or fresh mint)

Dressing

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (I couldn’t find this item so I used maple vinegar, but you can substitute apple cider vinegar or some other vinegar just as well).

4 tablespoons olive oil