Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Summer Salad Suppers:  Main Dish Salad Ideas

Seems that for the past month or so, I've been making a variety of main dish salads, but I haven't been very good about taking photos.  In fact, there are no photos, but visualize colorful and delicious.

Quinoa and Black Beans

If you haven't yet discovered the grain, quinoa, look for it.  An ancient grain, it is a bit like couscous but isn't wheat so is gluten free, and it is higher in protein than any other grain.  Put the grains in a fine sieve and rinse under cold water to clean it.  Evidently it sometimes has a bitter powder residue on it that needs to be removed.  

I use an electric rice cooker to cook the quinoa, but the stove top is fine and the package probably also has microwave directions.  In the rice cooker, the quinoa takes about 12-15 minutes to cook.

In a large bowl, toss together:

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 teaspoons lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 large tomato, diced 
1 small seeded jalapeno pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.

Adapted from "Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites."

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Black Bean and Corn Salad

In a serving bowl, combine the following:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, not cooked (it thaws in the salad)
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 small seeded jalapeno pepper, diced
Optional:  1 hard boiled egg, chopped
                1/2 cup shredded cheese

For Dressing, mix together:
1/4 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons prepared salsa

Stir dressing into vegetables and serve.

Adapted from "Weight Watchers Meals in Minutes Cookbook."

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Jicama and Mango Salad

In a serving bowl, combine the following:

1 small jicama peeled and thinly sliced into matchstick pieces

1 mango, peeled and chopped

1/2 red pepper, also cut into matchstick pieces

1/4 cup diced red onion

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper

Adapted from "The Heart-Smart Diabetes Kitchen."

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Tomato, Cucumber, Purslane Salad

This last one comes from Farm Fresh Boxes, the community supported agriculture (CSA) I am currently a member of.  In the box this week were all the ingredients.  It calls for purslane, which was a new green to me.  I think this would be equally good with arugula.  Purslane is supposed to be very high in anti-oxidants.

Combine the ingredients in a serving bowl:

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch purslane, thick stems removed and chopped, or arugula, chopped

1 seeded jalapeno pepper, minced

3 tablespoons lemon juice

salt to taste

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Moroccan Sweet Potato Salad

Peel and cut 2 sweet potatoes into 1" cubes.  Place in a pot of boiling water, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes until tender but still firm enough to hold their shape.  Drain in colander and place in serving bowl.

Toss with dressing (ingredients can be premixed or just added directly to the potatoes):

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sliced green olives

Adapted from Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food."