Warmer weather means one thing-BIG cold salads. Washington experienced a heat wave a couple weeks ago and made it all the way up to 82 degrees! This is a big deal. Better than catching your cat sleeping in the litter box (anyone else’s cat do this?) Although I did eat plenty of HOT meals on the hot days, I usually opt for something refreshing. It was time to bring out the big guns.
Not only did this salad fill my belly, but it emptied my fridge. I was able to do a clean up with some left over produce! SCORE. Cleaning out the fridge is better than seeing a naked mole rat. Lots of “better than’s” going on in this post be prepared. I also used plenty of items purchased specifically for this meal, but the best part was the CHARD used from my garden. I love saying, “my garden.” I feel so proper. Almost like I should have a cup of tea with my pinky out every time I say the phrase.
Oh my chard. Simply beautiful. I get chills just looking at this picture. Please raise your hand if you get more excited over produce than you do about going to the mall. You better believe both my hands are high in the sky. Using produce from your own garden is better than a Tasmanian devils squeal . If you want to know what happens when someone trys to stick their fork onto my plate (dad) this is what will go down. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
From the chard working my way around the plate is: Chard, lentils, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, avocado, wasabi almonds, and underneath is a bed of spring mix/spinach/and carrots. Topped with a combination of red wine vinegar and EV olive oil. This is what I call a salad mountain.
Perfect summer salad. Along with this salad, a vegan potato salad was created. Into this mix went a hefty amount of red potatoes, (this tastes just like mayo it’s almost creepy), chives, TJ’s spicy mustard , jalopeno’s, basil, and pepper. This was so easy to make, you literally just eyeball everything..add enough “mayo” and mustard to coat the potatoes to your liking and then add the fixings depending on how much you want!
This is the perfect summer side to bring to a BBQ, but don’t tell anyone it’s vegan until AFTER they eat it. I made these vegan brownies for my mom to take to a pot luck and she told everyone they were vegan, and EVERYONE was skeptical. I was shocked! Fortunately this meant she had left overs to bring home, but I swear these are some of the best brownies I have ever tasted..the word “vegan” scares people. I wish I could take credit for this potato salad, but it was all Manfriend’s idea. I knew he was a winner.
Q(s):
What are your favorite summer salad toppings?
Do you find that people are skeptical when they hear words like “Vegan,” or “gluten free?” Yes, yes..absolutely, yes. People need to open their minds and TRY something new, when I see chocolate topped with more chocolate I don’t care if it’s vegan, gluten free, or vegan AND gluten free, you better believe I am shoveling as much into my mouth as I can fit!
Warmer weather means one thing-BIG cold salads. Washington experienced a heat wave a couple weeks ago and made it all the way up to 82 degrees! This is a big deal. Better than catching your cat sleeping in the litter box (anyone else’s cat do this?) Although I did eat plenty of HOT meals on the hot days, I usually opt for something refreshing. It was time to bring out the big guns.
Not only did this salad fill my belly, but it emptied my fridge. I was able to do a clean up with some left over produce! SCORE. Cleaning out the fridge is better than seeing a naked mole rat. Lots of “better than’s” going on in this post be prepared. I also used plenty of items purchased specifically for this meal, but the best part was the CHARD used from my garden. I love saying, “my garden.” I feel so proper. Almost like I should have a cup of tea with my pinky out every time I say the phrase.
Oh my chard. Simply beautiful. I get chills just looking at this picture. Please raise your hand if you get more excited over produce than you do about going to the mall. You better believe both my hands are high in the sky. Using produce from your own garden is better than a Tasmanian devils squeal . If you want to know what happens when someone trys to stick their fork onto my plate (dad) this is what will go down. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
From the chard working my way around the plate is: Chard, lentils, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, avocado, wasabi almonds, and underneath is a bed of spring mix/spinach/and carrots. Topped with a combination of red wine vinegar and EV olive oil. This is what I call a salad mountain.
Perfect summer salad. Along with this salad, a vegan potato salad was created. Into this mix went a hefty amount of red potatoes, (this tastes just like mayo it’s almost creepy), chives, TJ’s spicy mustard , jalopeno’s, basil, and pepper. This was so easy to make, you literally just eyeball everything..add enough “mayo” and mustard to coat the potatoes to your liking and then add the fixings depending on how much you want!
This is the perfect summer side to bring to a BBQ, but don’t tell anyone it’s vegan until AFTER they eat it. I made these vegan brownies for my mom to take to a pot luck and she told everyone they were vegan, and EVERYONE was skeptical. I was shocked! Fortunately this meant she had left overs to bring home, but I swear these are some of the best brownies I have ever tasted..the word “vegan” scares people. I wish I could take credit for this potato salad, but it was all Manfriend’s idea. I knew he was a winner.
Q(s):