Summer Means Salads, and Other Things I’m Thinking About (6-17-2014)

Even though the official first day of summer is a few days away, lately I’ve been thinking of those things I love to cook in the summer but never make any other time of year, and grilled vegetables that get turned into salad are at the top of that list.  I love grilled vegetable salads, and there are a couple on the blog that are my all time favorites, starting with the Whole Wheat Orzo and Grilled Vegetable Salad with Feta, Olives, and Herbs shown above.  I could eat this all summer long!  Two more grilled summer salads I’m equally crazy over are Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Basil, Thyme, and Feta and Grilled Zucchini Greek Salad.  Did you notice the common ingredient in these three favorite grilled salads?  Yes, I do love Feta cheese and recently my favorite Feta cheese showed up again at Costco after I hadn’t been able to find it for a couple of years.  It doesn’t take much to make me happy; finding that Feta at Costco again totally made my day, and the summer has gotten off to a good start.

From The Daily Beast, scientists in the UK are studying how one of the main nutrients in tomatoes are good for your heart.  They don’t have to tell me twice; I can’t get enough of the fresh summer tomatoes when they’re in season.  (Sadly the tomato plants I talked about in the last edition of Things I’m Thinking about on Tuesday have been totally devoured by deer, so I’ll be getting tomatoes at the farmers market for one more year.)

 

I loved this Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables from The Kitchn.  (And don’t let me catch you storing tomatoes in the fridge!)

 

Totally drooling over this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad from So Hungry I Could Blog.  Arugula.  Chickpeas. Red Onion. Cucumber. Olives. Lemon Vinaigrette.  And of course, there’s Feta!

 

I’m fascinated by this graphic of The World as 100 People by Jack Hagley.  (Click the link, then click again to enlarge and see details.

 

For anyone who’s avoiding dairy (or just for a fun change) here’s a tutorial on How to Make Whipped Coconut Cream from Coconut Milk. 

 

And finally, just in case you’re not spending enough time on the internet, here are 13 Google Search Tricks that Make Life a Lot Easier.  (Some of these are actually really useful!)