Recipe

Main Course Salad Formula

Accompanying article: Cook without Recipes

Serves 2 as a main course

Here's a grain salad formula that invites improvisation to create an endless variety of satisfying one-dish meals that also pack well for lunch. If you're using black beans as the protein source, rinse them until the water runs clear or their liquid will discolor the other ingredients.

A substantial, grain-based salad welcomes a more liberal amount of either vinegar, lemon juice or ume plum vinegar than does a garden salad. It also welcomes experimentation with other ingredients such as cooked sweet corn, alfalfa sprouts, snow peas, fresh herbs, olives or sun-dried tomatoes.

2 cups cooked quinoa, kamut, rice, millet, barley, posole, wild rice or pasta shells
1 cup cooked chicken breast, salmon, tempeh or beans
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery or fennel, diced
1 small red or green bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, chopped
Handful of lettuce leaves for each serving
1/3 cup salad dressing of choice
For garnish: toasted chopped nuts, sunflower seeds, egg slices, or grated cheese

Combine the salad ingredients, toss with the dressing and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve on a bed of lettuce and top with your choice of garnishes.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood