A Quick and Easy Salad

Mozzarella & Tomato Salad
(from Time To Cook: Great Meals in 10, 20 and 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 lb 5 oz tomatoes
10 1/2 oz mozzarella cheese
16 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Directions:
1) Cut the tomatoes into even slices about 1/4 inch thick. Drain the mozzarella cheese and discard the whey.
Slice the mozzarella cheese evenly.

2) Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella slices, overlapping slightly in concentric circles on a large plate

3) Sprinkle the basil over the salad and serve with the olive oil for drizzling.

If you want to spice it up a bit, use spiced olive oil, or drizzle some balsamic vinegar.
Bon appetit!

Beautiful Bean Salad

1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1 can corn
1 large purple onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper (or a yellow pepper if you like yellow better)
2 medium-sized tomatoes
fresh cilantro
olive oil
vinegar or lemon juice (whichever you like)
cumin
garlic powder or fresh garlic

Chop the veggies into bite-sized pieces. Combine all of the ingredients. Dress with chopped cilantro, olive oil, vinegar/ lemon juice, cumin, and garlic.

Beautiful, delicious, and filling. Obviously, you can vary any of these ingredients to your heart's content, but this is how MY bean salad rolls.

Tomato Kale Yumminess

2 bunches of dinosaur kale
6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 lb pasta or 4 cups quinoa
1 large jar tomato sauce or two large cans diced tomatoes
1 chili pepper, crushed or 1 tsp chili powder
olive oil to taste (optional)
chevre goat, feta or parmesean cheese (optional)

Clean the kale and chop into pieces small enough to bite. Steam with garlic (and 1 tsp olive oil, optional) until it cooks down. In other pot, make the pasta or quiona (according to the direcitons on their package). Add diced tomatoes or sauce to kale. Add chili pepper. Stir on a low heat. Add pasta or quinoa. Stir. This dish can be made 1 or 2 days in advance, be refrigerated, and served hot or cold. I put the cheese on the side a special optional add-in. It is a delicious healthy meal - and virtually fat-free without the olive oil or goat cheese. Also, all ingredients are easily available as organic. Enjoy!

Sustainable potlucks

We got this email from a reader:

If you have suggestions for sustainable potlucks, put them up. The waste generated by so many disposables really bothers me. I'm sure the paper plates, plastic "silver"ware, and plastic cups I've used and tossed at potlucks over the years adds up to a shamefully large number.

I have been to some eco-potlucks where people bring their own reusable utensils, and just tote them home to wash. It's a great idea. It takes a lot of promoting and reminding for people to adopt this habit, but it's defnitely an eco-mitzvah.

Suggestions?

A Simple Chana Masala

Americanized Chana Masala (Dairy)

I learned this recipe from my friend Rajiv Kumar when we were college housemates. It is quick to prepare, healthy, and highly scalable. I generally serve it with rice which can be revived by microwaving with water. Below are my spice choices but depending on tastes there is room for liberal adaptation. It is similar to traditional chana masala though this recipe is easier to prepare and perhaps slightly less authentic. You can double/triple/quadruple the recipe as you wish, just make sure you have enough room in your pots.

2 medium onions, cut into long slivers

oil for sauteing

1 30 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed

1 30 oz can diced tomatoes, or use fresh tomatoes

2 oz. heavy cream (if unavailable you can substitute unsweetened whipping cream)

pepper

1/2 t salt

1 t coriander

1/4 tumeric

1 t cumin

4 dashes dried chili pepper

1 t garam masala seasoning

Slice onions into long slivers. In large fry pan,
saute onions in oil.
Add 1 rinsed can of chick peas (30oz +/-) and 1 can of diced tomatoes (30oz +/-) or use fresh tomatoes.
Add roughly two oz of heavy cream.

Season with pepper, salt, corriander, tumeric, cumin, dried chili pepper and garam masala powder to taste.

Serve with rice.