Summer Garden Vegetables & Basil Pesto Salad

Summer Garden Vegetables & Pesto Salad

I am extremely  happy to announce that our snow is almost all gone now and it was a beautiful, sunny 65 degrees today - my very favorite air temperature - and there was a slight breeze. It was perfect!

I thought I'd share this recipe with you, which is similar to one I found in an Atkins cookbook that I bought at the local thrift store.

Here's my version - served in the vintage, green Depression glass salad bowl from my mother-in-law. It makes almost anything look prettier.

Warning: Plan to make this salad shortly before you sit down to eat. I put the leftovers in the refrigerator, and the next day, although it had that same great taste, it had become kinda soggy - nothing you'd want to serve anyone else.

The star of the show:  A huge, perfect Beefsteak tomato which our dentist gave me - when I was there for a cleaning - after I reluctantly agreed to have new x-rays taken. I like to think it was a reward - kinda like when a kid gets a sticker - but actually I think he was giving them to all clients who had appointments May 1. Whatever the reason, I was thrilled. This tomato was hydroponically grown not far from where we live. I am going to stop in and see the grower's hydroponic operation one of these days. Anyway, the guy has a ton of huge tomatoes (3.5-4 inches diam.) that are ripe now.  Isn't it gorgeous!

And yes, I did eat a slice before it was put into the salad. Fresh-from-the-garden tomato in the winter! (If you don't believe it was winter, read Saturday's post.)

Summer Garden Vegetables & Pesto Salad, Recipe:

1 ripe avocado, cut into chunks

1 large ripe tomato, cut into chunks

3 small English cucumbers, cut into chunks

12-15 Kalamata olives, sliced

1/4 c. basil pesto (I used the pesto I'd made and put in the freezer last fall from the abundance of basil that came from our garden. So it's not another woolly mammoth story, you'll be happy to know. )

Handful of walnuts 

Mix the vegetables. Gently fold in the pesto, being careful to avoid breaking up the vegetables. Sprinkle the walnuts on top. If the stem end of the tomato is pretty, set that on top too. :-)

Hydroponic Beefsteak Tomato
Handpicked from the garden, more or less

  
I served the salad alongside the main dish, which was simply thin slices of chicken breast sauteed in olive oil and butter - then removed from the skillet - and a whole onion, sliced, sauteed in olive oil. Stir chicken slices back into the skillet with the onion.

It made a really tasty (and pretty) dinner!  

Loved that tomato! So what does your dentist give YOU when you go in for a cleaning???  :-)

*** 

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This post may possibly be linked to a few of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and le chateau des fleurs and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Share Your Creativity and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Avocado & Black Beans Recipe

And just  because we're not quite over St. Patrick's Day,

here's a little more green to bring cheer to your day.

My New Favorite Lunch

Enjoyed even more at Victoria Station, I'm sure!

Easy and Delicious Lunch - Recipe:

1/2 avocado, cut into chunks

1/3-1/2 c. combination of black beans and/or kidney beans

wee bit of minced onion or a sprinkle of onion salt

handful of almonds

juice of 1/2 lime

sprinkle of cayenne

Full of good things, such as soluble fiber, Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, this lunch is filling and tasty, especially with that little added zing from the lime and cayenne!

And of course, there's always room for a generous square of 85% dark chocolate. YUM. Just think of all those antioxidants!


(Did you ever see the 1978 scary movie 'Coma'? There was a Franklin Institute in there too, I think.  Yikes!)

ANYway...

From Franklin Institute's article on fatty acids and the brain:

or: Why we shouldn't listen to the people who are always telling us that we need to eat low fat! (my title, not theirs)

 

Membranes – the Working Surface of Your Brain is Made from Fatty Acids
"The membranes of neurons – the specialized brain cells that communicate with each other – are composed of a thin double-layer of fatty acid molecules. Fatty acids are what dietary fats are composed of. When you digest the fat in your food, it is broken down into fatty acid molecules of various lengths. Your brain then uses these for raw materials to assemble the special types of fat it incorporates into its cell membranes.		Passing through a cell's membrane into its cell's interior are oxygen, glucose (blood sugar), and the micronutrients the cell needs to function. Metabolic waste products must exit, so the cell won't be impaired by its own pollution."

Protective Myelin is 70% Fat
"Myelin, the protective sheath that covers communicating neurons, is composed of 30% protein and 70% fat. One of the most common fatty acids in myelin is oleic acid, which is also the most abundant fatty acid in human milk and in our diet. Monosaturated oleic acid is the main component of olive oil as well as the oils from almonds, pecans, macadamias, peanuts, and avocados."

I found this cute little casserole at the thrift store last week. It's one of the few things I've found there recently. Mostly, the shelves are quite bare, especially when it comes to dishes and pots and pans.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
(kp[r upi jsf s epmfrtgi; errlrmf@)
I need all the fatty acids I can get!

***

 

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 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and 3boysandadog and Trueaimeducation and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and home and garden thursday and  Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special