Vegan Buffalo Chik'n Chickpea Salad with Fresh Peaches (from the sewing room. . .with love, Frankie)

This dinner salad is quick, cool, yummy, satisfying and PERFECT for when it's Hot as Hades like it's been here in Missouri. And folks, it's been that way for a looong time now. I am no fan. 

It's a good thing I love salads for dinner and would eat them every night if I could. 

What attracted me to the recipe I riffed on was the inclusion of peaches.

 Peaches and Dinner=Love. 

Roasted Corn, Avocado and Black Bean Salad (A Yankee as "Miss Maudie" reading . . . To Kill a Mockingbird)

This salad is a result of a time-honored tradition as head chef of this household: It's a hundred and thirty here in St. Louis. Cripes almighty! No cooking will happen--we are all raw foods here. This salad took literally five minutes to prep. I have tomatoes and cucumbers galore from the garden--I pulled out whatever else I had on hand to make a lovely main-dish salad. It was dressed with a yummy balsamic vinaigrette and fresh lemon juice. I had so little energy yesterday afternoon, I could barely scoop the avocado from its shell. Chopping and peeling the cucumber from the garden nearly did me in. And the corn roasting part!--I was able to muster only because I had made a quick dash to the store after my morning run, husked it right away and put in a bag in the fridge. All I had to do was place the corn over the open flame of the stove for a few seconds to add a nice color of "I-worked-hard-to-make-you-a-salad-for-dinner" appeal. Simple. Straightforward and filling. I topped the salad with some quinoa for an extra protein boost. Salads are an essential summer staple right now. 

Kelp Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing (Um, I may have a yarn "problem" plus we go hither and yon)

It was only a matter of time before "kelp" entered this blog. Last month, DH and I were searching for a vegan eatery in St. Louis. Finding a vegan restaurant in STL is very simple--there are only a handful. I overwhelm easily, so it's a win-win for me in deciding. We were near Forest Park, PuraVegan was ohsoclose. So that settled it for us. This isn't a restaurant review post, but if it were, major kudos would be handed out. I decided to have a kelp noodle salad. Dr. Thyme had the vegan burger. (No surprise there.) What happened next changed my eating for about two weeks. Kelp was all I could think about. Kelp was all I wanted. 

Vegan Winter Salad of Quinoa, Radicchio, Cabbage, Tart Cherries and Pistachios with Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (a return to running, there's a new guitar in town and why I used to love winter)

I keep our refrigerator continuously stocked with all of the greens necessary to whip up an impromptu salad like this one at the drop of a hat. Winter demands it, as I've found I feel one hundred percent better after consuming a meal of raw veggies (tossing in a bit of cooked quinoa amps up the protein level to boost my stamina). Mentally I need it. Physically I need it, too. The salad information will be covered shortly below if you care to skip this next part.

Tomato Salad . . . "Infused" (On Reading "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother")

I walked ten feet out my kitchen door, traipsed through the veggie patch and whipped up this tomato salad for dinner. Better living through vegetable gardening. Tomatoes made an appearance in every meal we had this weekend. Right from my very own Victory Garden. I made breakfast hash--topped with tomatoes. I made veggie pizza--topped with tomatoes. Temperatures FINALLY dipped below 95 (only reached 90!)-- so I broke out the pizza stone--topped the pizza with tomatoes. Then last night made a tomato/eggplant risotto in my best friend: the pressure cooker. One can never have enough tomatoes. I have a bit of pride over this year's harvest. After all, I grew these little punkin' pies from itty-bitty seeds beginning in March! That seems like a lifetime ago.

Savory Wheat & Cornmeal Flatbread or "Tikkar" (Where Dinner Became The Flatbread)

Sometimes dinner dictates the bread. Pasta: Ciabatta. Sandwich: Sourdough. But sometimes the bread dictates the dinner--enter flatbread love. I was covered in flour, smelling of garlic, ginger and onions, rolling pin working--it was pure kitchen heaven. I could have made a meal of this bread on its own. Easily. But then I got busy making an entree decision, finally settling on a red and brown lentil curried stew with a cucumber salad to accompany. (We all know that the cucumber was not a problem because I have the mutant cucumber plant in my garden--ten paces out the back door with scissors in hand and salad was done!).

You simply must try this. It's a fast meal. . .  sort of. (I will admit to using my pressure cooker to crank out the lentil stew in fifteen minutes in what might have taken over forty-five minutes sans the pressure cooker.) It bears repeating: my pressure cooker rocks.

Vegan Monte Cristo Sandwich with Chive Talkin' Potato And Pea Salad

Anything between bread works in this house. The bread in the Monte Cristo is made luscious by dipping and frying (much like two slices of French Toast.) Key to this is the sauce: a yummy vegan Thousand Island sort  drizzled over the top. The grill marks are a nice touch, and will happen after you have assembled the sammich. Simply grill it, then flip it and viola--a great vegan meal is made!

I had a yen for something with peas. I also craved potatoes. (What else is new?) This is a fast and simple salad but packs a powerful taste punch. My chives are in full bloom and seem to double in size each week! I had to find a way to use these bad boys! I would traditionally use chopped onion in this salad, but the chive situataion warranted my attention last night. My garden peas are not quite ready yet. They are climbing and really getting tall--so I suspect by next week we may be seeing some pea pods. Very rarely do the peas make it into the house, I am too tempted by their beauty and crunch that I just pluck and eat right off the vine!

When I say we love sandwiches, I mean we LOVE sandwiches. This is our second "sammich nite" this week. The traditional Monte Cristo is more like a bistro sandwich. It got its start in Paris or some other place. It's usually carrying ham (eww) and maybe some sliced chicken (eww) with Swiss cheese. You can totally vegan-ize this with plenty of lattitude in what and how you dress it. Topping it with a sauce is a must!

There is something about a gooey mess sitting between two ciabatta slices. And I know I am not in a minority when I say, if it has mayo, it works for me every time. 

Vegan Baked Romaine with Caesar

Yesterday on Martha Stewart was guest chef Eric Ripert (he will soon have his own PBS cooking show--Rock On!) and he made this amazing looking baked Caesar gratin! I just had to try it, and make it vegan (of course!). He took a head of romaine lettuce, sliced it in half and brilliantly poured his version of Caesar dressing on top, added some Parmesan, set it in the oven for about 3 minutes at 400--just to warm the lettuce and to let the ends brown a bit. I made my own dressing, with some help from the The Candle Cafe Cookbook. To make this, simply scour your cabinets for the fixins needed for your favorite Caesar dressing (please, please, please--no bottled versions!)--and follow the above directions. Use some common sense and sort of keep an eye on the cooking time. Trust me, though, this tasted delicious as a warmed side. I served it with tossed pasta and some fresh tomatoes, basil, a dash of olive oil and balsamic to taste--dinner for one, it was perfect!

Vegan Caesar Dressing

1/2 package of Nori Soft Tofu (the kind in the vacuum packed box)

1 sheet of nori seaweed (crumbled)

1 tablespoon vegan mayo (Veganaise)

2 teaspoons drained capers

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Spike all purpose seasoning

some shredded vegan cheese for topping the romaine lettuce wedge

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.