Rhubarb-Spinach Chicken Salad with Rhubarb dressing

As we head into August and the days (and nights) are hitting their peak hottness, I find myself preparing lots of cooling meals. Nothing that requires an oven for certain; even better if you can make it ahead of time and serve it cold. And so, various traditional summer fare, including salads, are heavy in our meal rotation.

When rhubarb was coming into season, I decided that there must be something to do with rhubarb, aside from bake it into a pie. As it turns out, I was right. This rhubarb-spinach chicken salad is a light, yet filling, summer dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lg bunch of spinach
• several rhubarb stalks - amount will vary depending on length and thickness - approximately 1 lb
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 6 Tbsp safflower oil
• salt & pepper
• Roasted chicken
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut rhubarb into small chunks. Put into a saucepan and cover with about an inch of water.
   
2. Add honey or maple syrup
   
3. Bring to a boil and boil for one or two minutes.
   
4. Strain rhubarb - set aside & return liquid to pot.
5. Add vinegar, salt & pepper.
6. Simmer until liquid volume is roughly reduced by half
7. Remove from heat.
8. Whisk in oil.
   

Serve with rhubarb spooned over chopped spinach leaves. Add chopped roasted chicken. Pour dressing over top. Enjoy! We usually serve some cut up raw veggies on the side. Veggies + "dip" (i.e. dressing) = children will eat plenty. I've recently made some homemade dill pickle slices that would go fabulously as well.

Yield: Serves four. There will be plenty of dressing left over. We use it as a regular salad dressing or as a veggie dip.

ALTERNATIVES:

• (vegetarian & vegan): replace chicken with brown rice. Sprinkle nutritional yeast over top.
• Add minced raw red onion either to dressing or over salad
• Replace chicken with bacon.
• Add fresh herbs to salad - dill, mint, parsley, etc
• Substitute in-season berries for rhubarb - strawberry, cherry, raspberry...

zucchini fritters

I'm getting a little "grained-out" in the morning, so those soaked pancakes will have to wait another day.

We went to the farmer's market on Wednesday and got some amazingly delicious (and large) zucchini. They were so beautiful (and cheap) that I got a bit more than we could use in a week. Thus a zucchini brainstorm yielded this easy and nutritious meal/snack.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large zucchini, grated
  
• 1 egg
• approx 1/4 cup rice milk
• approx 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• sea salt
• safflower oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grate zucchini, sprinkle with sea salt
   
2. mix egg, sorghum flour, rice milk and grated zucchini
3. drop by small spoonfuls into heated safflower oil
4. turn them over when you can see the edges getting golden
5. put on wax or parchment paper to cook. sprinkle liberally with salt.
   

Lily liked to dip hers in basalmic vinegar. Aevryn just ate bits and pieces as she ran around the living room. I thought they were fairly good - I admit I'm not a huge zucchini fan, so my recipes tend to be along the lines of "how can I hide this wonderful veggie so I don't have to taste it so much?" I think they would be fantastic dipped in homemade spicy mayo.

Yield: 16 small-medium sized fritters

ALTERNATIVES:

• (Vegan): use flax meal gel instead of egg (1 Tbsp flax meal to 3 Tbsp water, whisked & heated in microwave, per egg)
  
• add grated onions or chives
• add carrots and bean sprouts and an extra egg and you get egg foo young
• add fresh herbs - cilantro or parsely or basil