Salad Days

Lunch Salad
Serves 1

When it comes to lunch, I'm a creature of habit. I eat a salad pretty much every day. When I was working, it was easy to throw everything into Tupperware every morning, and, now that I'm retired, it's even easier.

So, anyway, in order to keep from getting tired of this meal, I follow a few simple rules...hmmm, I seem to recognize a pattern here: Simple...Easy...:
   1. Make it beautiful: We eat with our eyes as well as our mouths. Herbs and edible flowers can turn
everyday salads into delicious works of art.
   2. Make it big...in fact, make it humongous. You can always finish it as a snack later in the day (although that's never been an issue for me...I eat every last mouthful at lunch).
   3. Vary the ingredients--the more veggies the better, and change up the protein and garnishes.
   4. Whenever possible, grow your own salad and go for the unusual. That means you need to plan ahead. When you are drooling over the seed catalogues next winter ( and judging from the temperature in Maine this morning, that's going to be sooner than we think),opt for the exotic like tatsoi, mizzuna, arugula, mesclun, mustard greens, as well as romaine, kale, and some of the more unusual lettuces. And don't forget the herbs...I especially like mint in salads.

Choose an assortment from each category, below:

Greens: Kale, romaine, lettuce, mesclun, arugula, mizzuna, tatsoi, etc., washed, dried and torn into pieces

Other vegetables: Carrots, cucumber, fennel, radishes, sugar snap peas, haricots verts, leftover roasted vegetables like beets and cauliflower, and avocado ( yes, I know it's a fruit)

Herbs: Mint, dill, parsley, savory, etc.

Add-ins: Sliced apples, raisins, raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, raw nuts, dried cranberries (only without oil, and sweetened with fruit juice), and edible flowers such as nasturtiums and marigold petals

Protein, choose one: Canned wild-caught sardines in water, drained; small can tuna or salmon in water, drained; hard-boiled eggs, leftover chicken, meat or fish

1. Toss the greens in a salad bowl
2. Add your choice of other ingredients from the list, above
3. Toss with "The Only Salad Dressing You'll Ever Need ( and the easiest, too)

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"The Only Salad Dressing...etc."

Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 TBS olive oil ( I like Trader Joe's Sicilian Olive Oil)
Pinch of coarse sea salt

1. Shake ingredients together in a jar and pour over salad and toss ( or, if you don't feel like getting a jar dirty, just squeeze the lemon juice onto the salad, drizzle the olive oil over it, add a pinch of salt, and toss...see, I told you it was easy).

Salade Niçoise
Serves 2

One of the easiest dinners ever, and also one of my husband's favorites. The only cooking you have to do is hard-boil the eggs, cook potatoes in a little salted water, and ditto the string beans.

You will notice that there are both potatoes and tomatoes in the accompanying photo. While tomatoes are technically o.k. on Paleo, if you are experiencing inflammation, joint pain, etc., best to steer clear of all nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers). The Paleo jury is out on potatoes ( but sweet potatoes are definitely a Paleo staple), but, again, if you are avoiding nightshades, best to skip them, too. I skip them both, but serve them because my husband could live on potatoes and tomatoes. But not to worry, there are enough
ingredients in this salad so that you will never miss them.

Assorted greens
1 can imported tuna ( I use Cento Solid Pack Light Tuna in Olive Oil-- this salad is just not  
   as good with regular old canned tuna, and,  
   surprisingly, it's not as good with fresh
   cooked tuna)
4  hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1 cucumber, sliced
6 anchovy fillets
6-8 baby potatoes, cooked in salted water,
   optional
String beans, fresh or frozen, briefly cooked
   in salted water to retain color
Cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes,
   optional

In addition, you can add sliced radishes, avocado slices, canned artichoke hearts (drained), hearts of palm, pitted black olives.

1. Place greens on platter
2. Arrange other ingredients on top of greens
3. Serve with "The Only Salad Dressing You'll Ever Need", see recipe above.

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Indian-Spiced Zucchini-Coconut Soup
Serves 4

Surprisingly, zucchini did not run rampant in my garden this summer. Not so the pattypan squash: Every day, there would be at least 2 to 3 bright yellow frisbee-sized squash waiting for me. You can make this soup, an adaptation of Molly O'Neill's recipe from the NY Times Cooking website, with any summer squash.

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium ( or one giant) zucchini or pattypan squash, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch cayenne
1 tsp sea salt
Ground pepper to taste
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (I use Imagine brand)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (I use Native Forest Classic, not low-fat)
2 tsp chopped mint

1. Heat oil in large pan. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add zucchini and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the salt and spices, then stir in the broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft, about 25 minutes.
4. Use immersion blender to purée soup
5. Serve with chopped mint to garnish.