Summer is definitely HERE!! I know because we just got through a week-long heat wave here in Northern California. Needless to say, cooking in the heat is NOT fun! So, it’s time for a summer salad recipe. I’ve begun this summer trend of having a healthy chilled salad ready and available for snacking at anytime. I hope you’ll join me!
Summer Salad
Here is the recipe for the one I created this week. There is some flexibility in the ingredients – just go with your gut about what might be interesting additions.
Ingredients for Summer Salad:
- 4 limes, juiced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 ears fresh corn cut off of the cob (I microwaved them in the husk for 5 minutes before) – You could used 1 – 1 1/2 cups of thawed frozen corn too
- 1 cup cooked quinoa and brown rice mix
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced red pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1 medium avocado cut into cubes
- Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl or storage container, combine all the rest of the ingredients and toss with the dressing prepared above.
- Cover and chill for at least 4 hours. You can wait and add the avocado right before serving if you like. (I like to get everything ready and be done with it!)
Some suggested add-ins could include chilled marinated tofu cubes, shredded carrots, chopped jalapeno or also some chopped cucumber.
You may notice that this recipe is also vegan AND that I’m posting it on Monday – making it a great idea for a Meatless Monday treat.
Vegan Health Benefits
Updated August 2018 – I’ve recently been show a wonderful post written by Lily of Balance Me Beautiful about All the Health Benefits of a Vegan Lifestyle. There is some incredible information in this post (not to mention mouth-watering recipes). I’ve actually bookmarked it to refer to again and again!
You may already know a lot of the health benefits or eating a vegan diet, but just in case you need a reminder, here is a fabulous post from Jen Reviews with detailed, up-to-date information on the health benefits of going vegan. There are also some delicious vegan recipes at the end of the post, too.
Do you have any delicious summer salad recipes to share? Please leave me links in the comments or share with me on social media.
Happy Summer!
