Category: Week 4

No doubt the unrelenting heat is inspiring you to cook outdoors or embrace salads in place of hot foods. Here are 2 more recipes to inspire you, however you end up tweaking them!

So I tried the cauliflower grilled- it is definately a do! If you cauliflower is a little small, try adding your asparagus (whole shares) or zucchini. I was proud to get my husband to enjoy cauliflower without the cheese sauce.

Cauliflower Asparagus Barbecued Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1/2 bunch (or more) asparagus or 1 medium zucchini, cut into thick strips (so it doesn’t cook too fast)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (or to taste)
• Montreal Steak Spice or pepper, salt  and garlic to taste
• olive oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat barbecue to a medium-high heat. Meanwhile, cut/pull apart cauliflower into large pieces. Cut asparagus spears into 2-in pieces, or cut zucchini down the middle widthwise and cut into strips about 1/2 inch thick. Place vegetables on barbecue safe pan or tin pizza/pie plate (what I used) and spray a generous layer of cooking spray over them. Cover with tin foil. *Note, if using thin asparagus spears, add part way through cooking.

2. Place in barbecue with lid down and grill about 15 mins or until tender but not mushy, flipping part way to ensure even cooking. In the last few minutes, drizzle the veggies in lemon juice and add the seasoning. Enjoy!

I did a little “guesstimating” in this recipe, so please keep an eye on the veggies as they grill. This serves about 3 adults, but if you add more veggies it’ll easily go farther.

Also, I suddenly had the urge to make macaroni salad and noticed every recipe I could find used late summer/fall veggies. I thought, why can’t we make a recipe that uses local vegetables harvested  in June and July?

Early Summer Macaroni Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry elbow macaroni (makes 4-ish when cooked)
• 1 pint snow peas, stems removed and cut into 1/2 in. bits lengthwise
• 1/2 bunch radish, finely chopped
• 2 small kohlrabi, leaves removed and finely chopped (I didn’t peel it but cut a little off by the root)
• 1-2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste (I used white pepper)
• 1-2 tbsp. fresh herbs or 1-2 tsp. dry herbs (parsley, dill or cilantro would be good)

Directions

1. Cook pasta until tender but still slightly firm. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine macaroni, snow peas, radish, kohlrabi, green onions, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar, spices and herbs. Mix well and place in serving dish with lid. Chill in refridgerator to combine flavours.

Feel free to get creative with this one. Amost any crunchy vegetable is great in this cost-effective salad. Serves 6.

With a little imagination and a few tweaks, seasonal vegetables can replace the late summer stand-by’s (like tomatoes, carrots and celery) in your basic recipes. Lucky for us, these staples are coming soon!

Enjoy and stay healthy and hydrated in the heat!