Spectacular summer salad with apples, figs, mixed greens, radishes and pomegranate seeds

Vegan, gluten free

With its bounty of fruits and vegetables, the summertime is the best season of the year for salad eating and making. We can get out of our comfort zone and try new combinations of ingredients, introduce new herbs or spices and experiment with mixing our own healthy dressings. While we savor the weather and beautiful outdoors, we can easily enjoy the pleasure of these simple, healthy and affordable meal options.

In Ayurveda, salads are considered cold or cooling, which is one of the reasons why we crave them on hot or humid summer days. “Cold”, however is not beneficial for our digestive system, so adding healthy oils, warming herbs, lemon juice and black or cayenne pepper to the dressing will ease the digestion of the salad and improve absorption of its nutrients.

Please remember that salads should always be made from fresh, organic ingredients and eaten right away. If stored for more than six hours, they may become toxic and harmful to our health.

This refreshing salad offers plenty of nutrients and antioxidants and has lots of texture and crunch. It looks beautiful and I am going to make it this Sunday for a get-together with my girlfriends. I am planning to make the whole menu vegan and gluten-free, with an exception of the dessert – a cake that I saw last week in a great eatery in Three Oaks, Michigan. The recipe for the cake, if it comes out as great as it looked in the store, I may post on another occasion.

Here is the recipe for the salad.                              

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of mixed greens, tightly packed
• 2 apples (Gala, Granny Smith, Braeburn), thinly sliced
• 8 fresh figs (or 10-12 dried), cut in quarters
• 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red currants, separated from the stems (optional)
• 3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower sprouts
• salt, pepper

 Dressing:

• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt, black pepper

Combine fig quarters, pomegranate seeds, red currants and sliced radishes with the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix them well together. Add the greens and apple slices and mix again. Place the salad on the plates. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and sunflower sprouts.

Bright and flavorful lunch bowl with buckwheat, sunflower seeds, tomatoes and avocado.

Gluten free, vegan

Did you know that, despite its name, buckwheat is not wheat? It’s not even a cereal grain, but a gluten free seed related to sorrel and rhubarb. It's also easier to digest than grains and full of high-quality protein. Buckwheat (or kasha) is still less popular in the US that in Europe, especially in Poland and Russia, where it’s eaten all year round as a side dish or a part of a larger meal. When I was growing up in Poland, in my house it was served for lunch or dinner with a zesty meat goulash or delicious mushroom sauce and a sauerkraut salad or grated beets fermented with garlic and cumin. According to Ayurveda, kasha has warming qualities and hits the spot during cold fall and winter months. But it can also be served on warm summer days with a cooling and refreshing kefir or sour milk (zsiadłe mleko), which also improves digestion. In Brittany, France, crepes made with a combination of regular and buckwheat flour are very popular. Buckwheat flour often replaces regular gluten containing flour in pancakes, pastas, rolls, cakes and breads.

In general, buckwheat is a versatile and tasty food, that has yet to be discovered by many Americans. It’s suitable for people allergic to wheat and sensitive to gluten. It’s a great alternative to white rice, pasta, tortillas and mashed potatoes and can be easily found in whole foods markets, ethnic aisles of almost all grocery stores or in ethnic Eastern European grocery shops.

It has low glycemic index, meaning that can stabilize blood sugar, is alkalising and high in antioxidants, insoluble fiber, magnesium, calcium, iron and protein and contains all essential amino acids.

The beautiful bowl presented in this post is both satisfying and nutritious and easy to make.

I used roasted buckwheat as the base for the layers of seeds and veggies. It is important to use the roasted variety, as oppose to raw buckwheat, lighter in color, which can be sprouted and used in salads. Roasted buckwheat, when cooked, will come out fluffier and have richer nutty taste.

How to cook buckwheat to make it light and fluffy:

In a medium pot combine 1 cup roasted buckwheat with 1½ cup boiling water, ½ tsp salt and

½ tbsp. clarified butter. On a medium heat slowly bring buckwheat to a boil stirring it lightly to prevent the seeds from sticking to the bottom or the sides of the pot and for an even heat distribution. When the buckwheat reaches the boiling point turn down the heat to low, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and keep cooking for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it sit covered for another 10-15 minutes. You can periodically remove the lid and shake off the water into the sink. When ready, add additional 1 tbsp clarified butter and stir well.

Note: Even though I have tested this recipe many times, I can’t guarantee that kasha will be fluffy with all its grains completely separated. Some varieties still may have occasional clumps, which doesn’t take anything away from the nutritional value or taste of this dish, especially when a little more clarified butter or olive oil is stirred into it

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked roasted buckwheat
• 1 small red tomato
• 1 small yellow tomato
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 inch jalapeno pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
• 2 tsp dulse flakes
• 11/2 tbsp clarified butter or olive oil
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• salt, pepper

Ingredients for marinade for onions:

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp organic sugar
• 1/3 tsp salt

How to prepare the marinade:

In a small saucepan combine salt with apple cider vinegar and organic sugar. Bring to a boil over a medium heat. Add the slivered red onions. After 15-20 seconds remove from the heat. Let it cool and put into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

How to prepare the bowl:

Sprinkle toasted sunflower seeds on top of the cooked kasha. Over the toasted seeds place sliced avocado, chopped or sliced red and yellow tomatoes, marinated onions, chopped cilantro and jalapeno. Sprinkle with dulse flakes, add salt and pepper.

If you don’t like buckwheat and won’t it eat regardless of its fantastic super food qualities, you may substitute it for quinoa, millet, brown rice or lentils.

This bowl can make a great lunch that you can easily pack into a (preferably) glass jar and take to work or eat on the go.