Hotter than Hell

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.