Oh my god. Something has happened to my brain. It might be fried from the 96 degrees of heat. But after getting my Hasselhoff on at the beach for 6 hours on this fine Sunday- I was super excited to cook my old time favorite summer salads. Over a HOT stove. I have not sweat this much since the 1993 Chicago heat wave- several hundred people died from heat stroke that year.
Last week I took all these vegetables from my work that no one used and they were going to go to waste...beets, cabbage, carrots etc...what's a girl to do?
When I first moved to Seattle I worked at this god awful place- PCC. And although I DO NOT recommend you go and get a job from them, I highly suggest checking out this web site for really great recipes: http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/recipes/index.html
These two were and still are my absolute favorites: Ok, maybe the first one is lengthy..but the best food ever!
Recipe: PCC's Spicy Tofu and Spelt Salad
Makes about 6 servings
Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons Asian-style sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh garlic
Salad:
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup spelt kernels
- 14 to 16 ounces firm or extra-firm tofu
- Cooking spray
- ¾ cup sliced red bell pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley
- ½ cup thinly bias-cut carrots
- ½ cup thinly sliced red cabbage
1. Whisk together tamari, sesame oil, vegetable oil, vinegar, cayenne, ginger and garlic; set aside. You will use this in three different parts of the recipe.
2. Cook and drain spelt kernels: Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan; add salt and stir in spelt kernels. Return to a boil and boil gently until tender, about 1 hour, adding more water if needed.
3. Drain the spelt well, and then toss cooked spelt with 4 tablespoons of the sauce. Set aside to cool.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain the tofu and cut into 20 to 24 cubes, depending on package size. In a medium to large bowl, gently fold tofu and 2 tablespoons sauce together to evenly coat tofu. Lightly spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread tofu cubes on the baking sheet; do not crowd. Bake for about 20 minutes. Cool.
5. Toss cooled spelt and tofu with bell pepper, green onions, parsley, carrots, cabbage and remaining sauce.
PCC's FRESH MARINATED BEETS
6 to 8 organic beets
1 organic red onion, quartered and sliced thin
1 cup organic raspberry vinegar
Salt to taste
Steam beets in a pot until tender. Slip off peels under cool running water while beets are still warm. Cut into bite-size pieces. Toss with red onion and vinegar. Salt to taste.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
