Pasta and couscous with salmon, grilled and raw veggies

Summer is here, which means time to start putting my favorite salads into the weekly rotation. If you don't know, I heart heart HEART salads.

Tonight I'm serving my family a pasta/couscous based salad with raw and grilled vegetables and baked salmon. You can grill your salmon if you prefer. Oh, and don't forget the cheese!

Instructions: 

Cook and chill: 

Tri colored pasta

Couscous

Salmon (My family doesn't prefer salmon as the focal point in this salad, but rather as an accent. YMMV.)

Raw vegetables:

Basil

Grape tomatoes

Beet greens

Red, orange and yellow sweet peppers

Thawed corn
Radish

Baby radish tops

Cilantro

Grilled vegetables:

Carrot

Asparagus

Zucchini

Garnish with:  

Grated Parmesan

Feta

Dress with: 

Newman's Own Italian Dressing, or your favorite Italian dressing 

Enjoy!

Couscous and Red Quinoa Garden Salad

Quinoa and couscous make delicious bases for salads of all sorts. When it's garden season, I throw whatever is ready for harvest into chilled quinoa and couscous and mix it all together. I dress it lightly with balsamic and olive oil or the delicious vegan French dressing referenced here in this blog. So delightful!

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa, chilled
1 cup cooked couscous, chilled
**or 1/2 cup each quinoa and couscous depending on side of salad**

Fruit:
strawberries, mango, peaches

Fresh, raw veggies:
kale
red onion
salad greens
tomatoes
yellow, orange or red sweet bell pepper
cilantro
basil, ripped

Trimmings:
blanched almonds, or
Marcona almonds
raw sunflower seeds
raw pepitas
feta cheese, or
goat cheese

optional: black beans

Enjoy!

Raw Banana Brownie Ice Cream

2 - 4 frozen bananas, in pieces
4 - 6 raw brownie bites
1/4 cup water to start
optional: cayenne

Simply Delicious Vegan French Dressing

2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup raw cashews or raw sunflowers (or mixture of both)
2/3 cup lemon (or less)
1/4 cup tamari soy, namu shoyu, braggs
1 cup olive oil
2 - 4 tbsp agave
2 tbs basil
3 coves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
Water

Raw/Vegan Brownie Bites

1 cup cashews
1 cup medjool dates (pitted)
6 tbs cocoa or 3 tbs cacao
1 tbs pure vanilla extract

Oven Roasted Tomato Bruschetta (on focaccia)

This bruschetta is not like typical bruschetta, which is made with raw tomatoes and usually served on a more crusty bread. This bruschetta is made with "candied" tomatoes piled high on soft, toasted focaccia (substitute with whole grain bread if you like), with mozzarella and fresh basil from the garden.

It's a nice twist on the old standard. Additionally, these tomatoes would be fabulous in paninis, and for that reason I'll indicate their preparation separately from the entire dish. My grade for the bruschetta: B+

Oven Roasted Tomatoes


Several ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and cored
Good balsamic vinegar
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Take the prepared tomatoes and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Drizzle as liberally as you like with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

When finished, chill and then set aside. Reserve some if you like for a jar. These last awhile in your fridge.

Oven Roasted Tomato Bruschetta (on focaccia)
One loaf store-bought focaccia (I use Trader Joe's)
Butter
Olive oil
Reserved oven roasted tomatoes (chilled)
12 - 15 leaves fresh sweet basil
Buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced

I realize I don't have exact measurements here, and that's because I like a lot of basil and a little less mozzarella. I often omit the butter (though I like the taste it imparts). Prepare according to your proclivities.

Slice focaccia about 1/2 inch in thickness. Lay on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Add a little bit of butter to each slide if you like. Broil on hi for approximately 5 minutes. Watch closely; they toast quickly and can burn. When finished, set aside.

Grab your oven-roasted tomatoes, now chilled, and if you like, add some garlic. If they need some more balsamic, add conservatively. Slice sweet basil in long thin strips. Arrange mozzarella on top of toasted focaccia, and then add tomato mixture and basil. Serve immediately.

Delicious Caprese Paninis

Have you ever had a Caprese salad?

They're delightful, really; thickly sliced tomatoes piled with fresh buffalo mozzarella and sweet basil leaves, and drizzled, typically, with balsamic vinegar and fine olive oil. They're fabulous in the summer. I sometimes add a little salt to my Caprese salads, but not always, since fine herbs and good vinegar/oil usually does the trick.

I decided to kick my Caprese salad up a notch, making a panini sandwich out of it. I thought I'd incorporate my Easy Breezy Every Day Pesto to add some nice punch and flavor. Because it's important, I made sure that all the ingredients were as fresh as possible.

The result was something out of this world -- fresh, light and even healthy. I made mine in a waffle maker because honestly? Do you think I'm going to spend $50 for a panini maker? Hardly. A waffle maker will do just fine, and if you don't have one of those, try toasting the sandwich in a cast iron skillet, the sandwich weighed down by another heavy pan or pot. Works expertly. My grade? To the moon and beyond! A++

Delicious Caprese Paninis
Ingredients:

3 Roma tomatoes
Good balsamic vinegar
Good extra virgin olive oil
1 container buffalo mozzarella in water
15 - 20 leaves fresh sweet Basil
pesto
1 loaf sliced Italian bread (or ciabatta)
butter

Directions:
About an hour before panini making, marinate thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The tomatoes will let off liquid into the oil and vinegar, creating a nice marinade.

About ten minutes before panini making, turn on waffle maker or begin to heat pan.

One hour later, arrange two bread slices for sandwich making. Slather both pieces with homemade pesto (the more the merrier, depending on how much you like the green stuff). Atop the pesto create a layer of marinated Roma tomatoes. Atop the tomatoes layer thinly sliced buffalo mozzarella. Atop the mozzarella drape the sweet basil leaves. Create sandwich, lightly buttering the outsides of both pieces of bread, and then brushing on a light layer of olive oil.

Place sandwich into waffle maker and close lid. Watch closely, making sure cheese melts and tomatoes and basil become sufficiently wilted. Pull sandwich when bread is golden brown. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook time: 30 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking (per panini)