You may be asking – where ya been, Jen? Given the fact that the
Swim Team Ate My Summer, we took the month of August to cram in all the trips
that we didn’t take in June and July: the Theta Tau Not-Canoe Trip, the annual
Escape from the Dream Cruise Trip, and a jaunt up to our beloved Leelanau Peninsula
(alas, not long enough!)(plus we started the month off with a sort-of
engagement party and a hailstorm). We were busy. I had grand plans for blogging
a recipe from each of our wonderful busy weekends but then I didn’t, and I know
that you will all get over it.
 |
| As lazy as I was this summer, I should have spent more time here |
The theme of the last few months has been Lower Your
Standards. There are all sorts of things I adore doing properly, but I’m trying
to embrace a more laid-back sense of
perspective about things (and amazingly, we all survived). And while my house is a disaster, our party involved a real live caterer
for the First Time Ever, and I wake up at night freaking out about the things I’ve
left undone, we’ve also managed to start the school year with nary a hiccup and
everyone in the family still likes each other after a completely unprecedented
amount of time together in the last 30 days. This is no mean feat with a tween
in the house.
Nonetheless, the official end of summer seemed to call for
some sort of celebration, so we invited one of my favorite cousins over to
dinner on Labor Day and I threw this salad together with roughly half the ingredients, which happened to be what I had on hand. Properly done, this particular salad is one of my new
go-to dishes of the year – but even the half-assed version is pretty darn good. Don't have avocados? Skip them. Only have cannellini beans on hand? Swap them for the chickpeas. This has lots of layers of flavors, it's hearty enough for a main dish, and it makes a great lunch the next day. All main dish salads should be this flexible and delicious.
This is the original version (with
husband-friendly modifications) from the summer edition of Simply Gluten-Freemagazine – with is simply the BEST GF magazine I’ve ever come across. Might I
respectfully suggest a subscription?
4 small beets, trimmed and scrubbed
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
Extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
5 ounces baby spinach or other leafy green, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup sliced scallions
¼ cup pitted and chopped dates (seriously, don’t skip this - it makes the salad)
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons lemon juice (worth juicing the lemon to get the
real deal)
1 garlic clove, crushed
Big pinch sea salt
½ ripe avocado, pitted and diced
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Wrap the beets in a large square of foil, then place on a baking sheet and roast for 50 minutes. Unwrap the beets and let them cool, then peel and dice.
While the beets are cooling, toss the sweet potatoes with 1
tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with cumin. Roast for 15 minutes. Turn
with a spatula and roast for 10-15 minutes more, until tender. Cool.
Toss the beets, sweet potatoes, and remaining ingredients together in a large bowl.
