3 Laborless Salads that Leave You with Free Time for Your Labor Day Festivities!
Want three new quick and delicious salad ideas? Here are three that are undeniably EASY. The secret to making it quick is using very few, but quality organic ingredients to let the flavor of local and seasonal vegetables shine through!
I love this time of year. It's still warm and sunny without the humidity, but I'm savoring what I know, are the last bastions of summer. The farm stands are over flowing with so many colorful vegetables. The bright local and seasonal produce easily led to these salads for my labor day family barbecue. Here are the three super easy, super fresh and delicious salads that I made yesterday to share with you for your labor day, or any day, without the labor!
So by the way, what’s the big deal with heirloom vegetables?
Heirloom seeds are "pure bred" seeds unlike the seeds of hybridized plants. Heirloom produce is more flavorful, sweet, nutritious, and colorful. Not only do these original seeds cost less that hybrid seeds, but they are not genetically engineered, and you can save your own seeds from year to year. That’s the deal.
Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad
Mise en Place of Heirloom Tomatoes and Watermelon
Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad
Ingredients
1 red, yellow & orange heirloom tomatoes, each
1 C watermelon, cubed
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 Tbs minced fresh basil
Salt & pepper
Process
Cut tomatoes in wedges, and then in half again.
Add cubed watermelon.
squeeze lime juice on top.
Toss gently with fresh basil.
Season with salt & pepper and serve.
Organic Sweet Corn & Avocado Salad
Mise en Place of Corn and Avocado
Organic Sweet Corn and Avocado Salad
Ingredients
2 ears of organic corn
1 avocado, cubed
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs. minced fresh mint leaves
Process
Cut corn kernals off the cob.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and squeeze lime on top.
Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Heirloom Cauliflower Rice & Pea Salad
Mise en Place of Heirloom Cauliflower and Peas
Heirloom Cauliflower Rice and Pea Salad
Ingredients
1/2 head heirloom cauliflower, can mix two or three different color cauliflowers for a confetti effect.
1 C peas, fresh or frozen
5 sundried tomaotes, chopped
2 Tbs hemp seeds
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
1 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp dried italian herbs
Large pinch salt & pepper
2 Tbs. coconut oil, melted
1 drizzle white truffle oil
Process
In a food processor, blend the cauliflower until it's the size of rice.
In a large bowl add riced cauliflower, peas, hemp seeds and chopped sundried tomatoes.
Add lemon & lime juice, coconut oil, spices, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste.
Drizle with white truffle oil over the top
Taste and season to your preference and serve.
PS: For more recipes like these sign up for my blog and check out my recipe and nutrition guide eBooks on my shop page!
Happy Labor Day and thanks for joining the Rawception!
xx nk
4 Easy Ways to Cook Oil Free and 3 Important Reasons Why
Why cook oil free?
1. Oil is the most calorie-dense of all foods.
Oil is 100% pure fat. Two tablespoons of olive oil has 240 calories which is calorically equal to two pounds of green vegetables (broccoli, string beans, brussle sprouts or asparagus)
2. Oil is nutritionally devoid.
Oil comes from nutritious plants but when it’s processed into oil, all the nutrients, phytochemicals, fiber and antioxidants are diminished. We do need healthy fat in our diets so instead of consuming olive oil, coconut oil, avocado or sesame oil, instead eat olives, coconut meat, avocados, seeds, and nuts.
3. Oil is a highly processed food.
Since many brands use different procedures, you have to read labels. If you are going to buy oil, make sure to purchase raw and cold-pressed oils because they aren’t heated to high temperatures during the extraction process. This means they are able to preserve more of the nutrients, making it a higher quality option.
High oleic sunflower and safflower oil is the new “healthy” oil of choice used in “healthy food” packaged chips, cookies, and crackers. These oils were created because they have no flavor and contain no trans fats which is good BUT these oils are highly processed from hybrid plants that are not created with traditional methods, instead radiation and toxic chemicals are used to speed up the growing process. since they’re new on the market there has been no testing for the long term effects on humans. So for me moderation at best is key.
When we cook at home we can control our oil consumption but restaurant food is always laden with oil - unless we remember to request steamed vegetables.
4 Easy Ways To Cook Oil Free.
1. Use vegetable broth or water to sauté veggies. It works perfectly and you wont miss the oil, ever!
2. Slow and Low. Bake on low oven temperature (300 degrees for one hour will make your veggies crispy) and use parchment paper for non stick action.
3. Cookware that enables oil free cooking; air fryer, panini maker, pressure cooker, slow cooker. I personally don't own any of the aforementioned because I'm old school and just use a simple sauté pan or bake in the oven, but if you're into that, I hear they're super time saving.
4. Bake with oil replacers. Substitute oil with banana, apple sauce, sweet potato or black beans.
The goal isn’t to be 100% oil free. Try the 80/20 rule. Try being oil free 80% of the time and enjoy the yumminess of oil 20% of the time! Enjoy this oil-free hearty stuffed potato recipe below.
Oil Free Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
Filling
1 onion
10 asparagus stalks, chopped on the bias into small pieces.
1 C broccoli, chopped in small pieces
1 large carrot, diced small
½ zucchini, diced small
(mushrooms or any other veggies you like)
¼ C water
Cream Sauce
1 avocado
½ zucchini
⅓ cucumber, peeled
juice of ½ large lemon
Sprinkle garlic powder
Sprinkle dried coriander,
Pinch sea salt and black pepper
Season to taste
Process
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Poke sweet potato with a fork a few times.
Place in oven about 45 minutes or until it’s soft.
Remove and let cool
In the meantime, chop onion in rings and then cut rings in half.
Heat skillet with 1-2 tablespoon of water until bubbly and steam/sauté onions on medium heat until softened with the lid on the pan. Occasionally lift lid and add more water, one tablespoon at a time, so onions stay moistened and don’t stick to the pan while they caramelizing. Then remove lid and sauté until browned.
In another skillet, add 2 tbs. water and steam/sauté other veggies. Same method as onions.For Sauce: In a blender add all ingredients and blend until smooth. Check for thickness and add more cucumber if it’s too thick and season to taste.
Assembly
With a fork, pull the soft potato meat away from the skin and mash it a bit with the fork. Top with sautéed veggies and spoon on sauce. Serve while warm.
* Can substitute sweet potato with a white Idaho potato.