Update: These salads continue to be some of my favorite eats. I love to make them on Sunday and then eat on them all week long for lunch. I started with the falafel and tabbouleh salads and have added the recipes for hummus and warm grain bowls. Perfect for all those veggies coming out of the garden or farmer's markets! Enjoy!
I know, I know. It's not technically summer anymore. But when you live in North Carolina like I do and temps are still close to 100 in September, it definitely feels like summer! And one thing I can't stand is to be in a hot kitchen and then eating hot food when it's Hot, Hot, Hot outside. So today, my friends, try these delicious, easy to make, refreshing summer salads. And the best part, they share a lot of the same ingredients but taste totally different so you can easily make them both at the same time and then add hummus and veggies or pita to make an awesome vegetarian/vegan meal!
MEDITERRANEAN WARM GRAIN BOWL
When Panera came out with their Warm Grain Bowls, I thought they sounded so strange. Warm grains with a cold salad? But I fell in love with them and decided to start making my own adaptation of them at home. Super easy, and you can use whatever veggies you have on hand. Here's my normal recipe. I make the farro and hummus in advance (and yogurt if I'm feeling ambitious), and just put everything together each day for lunch.
INGREDIENTS
1-2 cups farro (or wheat berries)
4 cups veggie broth or water
Spinach or other greens
Kalamata olives
Plain Greek yogurt
Feta crumbles
Carrots
Cucumber
Hummus
Rinse farro. Place farro and veggie broth (or water) in a medium pot. Bring to a boil; then simmer until slightly chewy, about 20 minutes. Don't overcook. Pour cooked farro into a sieve, retaining any leftover broth for another use. Run cool water over the farro to keep it from cooking further.
Prepare a salad bowl with farro and torn pieces of spinach. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste and mix. Then add all remaining ingredients on top. Enjoy!
Save remaining farro in fridge. Reheat in microwave about 30 seconds, then add spinach, seasoning and toppings.
NOTE: There aren't many quantities here as you can add as much or as little of things as you like. 1 cup of uncooked farro will yield about 2 cups of cooked farro. I typically use 1/3 to 1/2 of farro in my bowls, so 1 cup of uncooked will be enough for one person for a week. If you're a big eater like my husband or you're cooking for more than one person, you'll want to cook more farro.
HUMMUS
You can certainly buy pre-made hummus at the grocery store, and it isn't bad. But it is expensive and not quite as creamy as real-deal homemade hummus. When I have the time, I make my hummus using dry chickpeas that have been cooked all day. These make the creamiest hummus. If I'm in a pinch (i.e. decided I have to have hummus right now and don't have any chickpeas already cooked), I use canned. If you want the Goldilocks version, you can cook canned chickpeas for about 20 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup tahini
1-4 T water or cooked chickpea liquid (more if needed)
2 T olive oil
1/2 t ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 1 lemon (about 2-3 T)
1 15 oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed) or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
Add everything except chickpeas to a blender. Blend until smooth; add more water/liquid as needed. Add chickpeas and blend until smooth; scraping the sides as needed. If you're using hot/warm chickpeas, be sure to vent the blender. Add more liquid as needed for desired consistency.
Serve plain with veggies, as a side topped with olive oil and paprika, on a sandwich in place of mayo, or with the delicious Mediterranean Warm Grain Bowl mentioned above. So versatile. So good!
FALAFEL SALAD
Wow! This recipe has become one of my absolute favorite things to eat. I thank my lucky stars regularly that I came across this recipe by Budget Byte$ blog! Seriously, I could probably eat it every day and keep going back for more. The recipe is a slight adaptation from the original. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
1/3 C tahini
1/3 C warm water
1/4 C lemon juice, fresh
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
1 C dried chickpeas (soaked overnight, cooked) or 2 cans
1/2 C dried wheat berries or bulgur (rinsed, cooked)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, chopped
1/2 C feta crumbles
In a large bowl, whisk first seven ingredients (tahini through pepper) together. Next, chop parsley and cilantro and add to the bowl. I cut off the bottom portion of the stems and then use kitchen shears to chop the remaining amount (leaves and stems). Then, add cooked chickpeas and wheat berries, chopped tomatoes and cucumber, and feta. Mix thoroughly, making sure the dressing on the bottom gets incorporated.
NOTE: If you're making this recipe with dried chickpeas (which I recommend for health and budget reasons), you'll want to plan ahead as they must be soaked overnight and then they take a good bit of time (1-2 hours) to cook. I actually just add the wheat berries to the chickpeas the last 20 minutes so they get cooked together. Gotta love just using one pot and saving a bit of energy! You can cook the chickpeas and wheat berries a couple of days in advance if you'd like. Just store in the fridge until you're ready to combine them with the rest of the salad. If you use a can of chickpeas, drain and rinse the can before adding the chickpeas to the salad. Refrigerate any leftovers.
QUINOA TABBOULEH
Thanks to Jessica Gavin for this great recipe. It may not set my heart racing with excitement like the falafel salad above but it's a great compliment and is refreshing and delicious! This photo shows red quinoa but any quinoa will do nicely.
INGREDIENTS
1 C quinoa, rinsed
1/2 t salt, plus more to taste
2 T lemon juice, fresh
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 C olive oil
pepper, to taste
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 C parsley, chopped
1/2 C mint, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
Bring quinoa, salt and 1 1/4C water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce to medium-low; cover and simmer until quinoa is tender and water is gone (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes (or until you're ready for it).
Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, garlic, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add all ingredients to dressing; toss to coat. Refrigerate any leftovers.
