Heat-Wave-Proof Food

It's time for the annual heat wave, folks! Which means it's time to think about food that doesn't heat up the house. The Market can help.

And I don't just mean ready-made food, though there's that:

Beef Picadillo was a-w-e-s-o-m-e

A cool soup, paired with salad?

And then there's the pizza, the falafel, the hum baos, and other food trucks, of course.

But supposing you wanted to have guests over? We recently had a surprise guest roll into town, and I wanted to share our Market-Fresh dinner menu with you, with all Market-available items marked with an asterisk (*).

hors d'oeuvres

carrot* and celery sticks

cubed Ladysmith with Chives cheese*

cubed Cheddar (although a second Market cheese would've been great)

raw or roasted almonds or hazelnuts*

sliced pepperoni*

main courses

Grilled Two if by Seafood salmon brushed with Seven Red Tagine's Elemental Basil Sauce

Strawberry*-Spinach* salad

Steamed sugar snap peas*

Brown rice pilaf

dessert

Blueberry Pie* with vanilla ice cream

A couple notes: strawberries are ending soon! Grab them and cherries while you can. Spinach can be hard to find, but you can substitute another favorite green. I did cook the pilaf on the stovetop, but since it only takes about five minutes of active attention, I don't count that as "slaving away." Finally, we made our own blueberry pie out of Market blueberries and the pie-crust recipe featured in the Bellevue Farmers Market Cookbook, but pie-baking definitely counts as heating up the kitchen...

They're promising another shipment...

I'll leave you with the salad dressing I adapted from an Allrecipes version. It's delicious for summer salads because it pairs well with fruit/greens combinations.

Summer Salad Dressing
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (toasted, if you like)
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 cup honey*
1/2 cup olive oil or hazelnut oil*
1/4 cup rice or apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp minced fresh onion*

For Spinach-Strawberry Salad, blend and serve over 
 
10 ozs fresh spinach or greens of your choice*
1 cup sliced strawberries*
1/4 cup sliced almonds or hazelnuts* 
1/2 avocado, cut in chunks
2 green onions, chopped*

Have a great week and keep cool! As a P.S., I did get around to reading Wheat Belly and will give my report at a later date. In the meantime, suffice to say we will continue to eat wheat products in the UrbanFarmJunkie household...