My appetite changes in April or May away from stew and heavy to lighter fare.  I don’t really care for lettuce-salads very much but chilled salad food has a definite presence in my summer menu.  I have a recipe for pasta & 3 bean salad from that I made about a month ago (from Cuisine at Home; you mix pasta, salami, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and peppers with a garlic and lemon dressing) but today’s project is black bean salad.

I was thinking that it would go well with roasted corn and maybe some veggie kebabs on the grill? I’m working on a pretty relaxed dinner for 3, so something that doesn’t involve much prep? I made sangria to drink and we have corn…Maybe chicken?

Point being, salad.  I did some dried beans this morning and then mixed them with some salt and minced garlic, sliced grape tomatoes, cilantro, chopped green pepper, red onion, and olive oil.  The fridge now smells like cilantro.  My general philosophy is that most things taste good when you mix them with olive oil and garlic, though I’m interested in other summer salads? I think my next culinary adventure will involve olives and other marinated ingredients — like an antipasto platter but in a salad.   Not that lettuce is a waste of time, per say, I like lettuce.  If I’m going to have an ‘entree salad’ though I think it should have a stronger base; olives, pasta, protein…mayonnaise.  It might not be as nutritionally sound as an all vegetable dish but it’s just as easy to make and a lot easier to do in advance without it wilting.

Salad projects for this week include:

Black bean salad, carrot/garbanzo/cilantro/mirin salad, and perhaps a caprese because the tomatoes I got yesterday at the Dutch Country Market are so beautiful.

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