Shredded Veggie Rainbow Salad

I recently returned from a week-long trip to Israel with some family members. One of my key takeaways was to never visit Israel in August. It was blazing hot! We kept hearing "heat wave, heat wave, blah blah", but man we roasted. Second, and far more exciting to me, Israel has AMAZING produce. I'd heard that Israeli farmers do some impressive things, but it wasn't until I visited that I realized how impressive it is. We saw all different types of farms and orchards and fields and the produce in the markets was always fresh and gorgeous.


One of my favorite meals we had (and we had some really great meals) was at a lovely restaurant in a small town in upper Galilee. We sat, sweating, on a lovely veranda overlooking the valley and gushed over the amazing food. I absolutely flipped over one of the salads we were served. It was a combination of simply-dressed shredded raw vegetables topped with candied walnuts and Parmesan cheese. The light flavors of the raw vegetables balanced out the rich nuts and cheese and dressing just perfectly and it was so lovely in the heat. (Technically it wasn't actually my salad, but I'm confident the rightful owner didn't mind that I ate most of it.)

In all of of its grainy glory, here is The Salad. So delicious we're making it a proper non.  

My sister and I went back and forth trying to break down the ingredients. She was convinced it was dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, but I just couldn't believe it was that simple. We finally asked the waiter in what turned into an embarrassingly long ramble about "how much we loved the salad and how we wanted to make at home and could he please oh please tell us what was in it because we couldn't quite figure it out, and would he be so kind as to tell us, please and thank you." He stared at us for what seemed like way too long and then, with what I'm sure was a heroic effort at suppressing an eye roll, confirmed that the salad was dressed simply with lemon juice and local olive oil. Bam.

Of course, I knew immediately I had to recreate this salad. Dear readers, these are the lengths we go to for this blog: embarrassing ourselves in front of Israeli waiters and a healthy lack of self respect. Dedication, folks. Dedication.

Veggie Lasagna Roll-ups

We love lasagna over at our house, especially since we can fill it with delicious veggies and it is always a hit. I tried numerous recipes for lasagna and lasagna roll-ups over the years and through trial and error this recipe was born. The beauty of this recipe is how completely versatile it is, you can add meat or leave it out. You can use an mix of vegetables that fits your fancy, or what you have in your fridge. I happened to use a mix of things that I had on hand from the garden for this batch.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

For a few weeks this summer my husband went to Rhode Island for his Navy Officer school. While he was gone I ventured out on some trips and ended up in Las Vegas with my parents for the last few weeks. My mom is gluten free and has a wonderful America’s Test Kitchen Gluten Free cookbook, which I frequently used. One night I was flipping through the book and saw a shepherd’s pie that looked absolutely delicious. It was a success, but as I was eating it I instantly came up with ideas to lighten and spruce it up a bit!

Two Bean Salad

I have another easy and perfect-for-summer side dish for you today. This one was inspired by the three-bean salads that are served so often during the summer. You probably know what I'm talking about - they're generally green beans plus chickpeas and red beans pickled in a strong vinegar and sugar base. I always like the idea of the three-bean salad and occasionally I find one that tastes pretty good, but usually I'm disappointed.

A few months ago while flipping through an old Everyday Food magazine I ran across a tuna-green bean-salad-thingy recipe that looked pretty tasty. I didn't love the original recipe, but I played around with it for awhile and it easily adapted into a really great three-bean salad update. I ditched the third bean and kept the other ingredients really light and fresh. It's just terrific for the summer and I LOVE serving it with grilled fish or tuna sandwiches. The green beans are just barely cooked, so they're fresh and crunchy and pair really well with the creamy white beans.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Everyday Food was a little magazine from the Martha Stewart Living company that I absolutely loved. Sadly, it went out of publication several years ago. So many of my staple recipes came from this publication and I was a real shame that the publication went under. Fortunately, it evolved into a terrific video series and you can sign up to get daily emails from them, which I highly recommend. Also, I hoard old copies and find myself pouring through them for ideas more often than I care to admit. Nostalgia runs in my family so I'll just blame it on the genes.

Simple Summer Squash

I found a recipe similar to this in a magazine years ago when I was in college and still trying to figure out the "cooking for myself" thing. I remember the recipe being very forgiving for a novice cook, quite fast, and easy on my college budget. I don't remember where I got the recipe and the oil-spotted clipping I loved so much has long-since gone to the great compost pile in the sky, but I have mostly committed it to memory. Over the years I've tinkered around with what I remember and I'm excited to share with you my current version.

This recipe cooks the squash for a short time over high heat, almost like stir frying. The mix of crisp-tender squash, sweet corn, and melty cheese is just so satisfying, plus it cooks up really quickly and requires very little time over the hot stove. Since I do not have air conditioning, this is extremely important to me! I often serve this along side baked fish or a grilled cheese sandwich. Although the recipe feeds 4-6 as a side, I've also been known to eat half a batch for dinner and the other half for lunch.

This recipe is in heavy rotation at my place during the summer when summer squash is cheap in grocery stores and when friends and neighbors are unloading their zucchini surplus in a near panic. I'm happy to give you an excuse NOT to make another loaf of zucchini bread.