I don’t normally have a lot of patience for cooking, so when it gets hot out I have even less patience with things like ovens and meals that require more than 20 minutes to prepare. Enter the wonderful world of tacos/burritos and dinner salads! This recipe for black bean hummous is delicious and really fast/easy to make – as long as you have a food processor. Once I make a batch of this stuff, it’s useful as a snack, as a spread for sandwiches, and – I recently realized – in tacos. Here’s what I think is the best combination:
aforementioned black bean hummous
fresh pineapple chunks
fresh avocado slices
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro
brown or wild rice
optional: salsa? ham? sauteed mushrooms? really you could go nuts with this. wrap it all up in a whole wheat tortilla and you have a delicious and basically nutritious meal with no heat source required.
Now onto the salads. I’m a big fan of Everyday Food, and one of my favorite pasta salad recipes is from their magazine: I give you Pasta salad with goat cheese and arugula.
I recently discovered a recipe for Lemon Kale Avocado salad that doesn’t require cooking the kale in any way. You smush it up with avocado and lemon juice and that softens it enough to make it edible and tasty. This salad is reminiscent of fattoush (minus the pita) to me, but the combination of avocado and olives gives it a different flavor. It is my new favorite way to eat kale.
This recipe for Kale with orzo is my old favorite way. It requires a heat source, but I have to include it since it’s so quick, yet tastes like something that would take a lot longer to make.
Finally: Gnocchi with summer vegetables. The combination of lemon juice and the sauce from the tomatoes makes a delicious coating for the pasta that’s not too overwhelming as far as sauces go. The cheese helps too. Never skip the cheese! I recommend using some sort of stuffed pasta for this recipe, like tortellini or ravioli, instead of gnocchi.
Bon appetit, mes amis.