If you don't want yet another hot, heavy meal, try a single salad that has all the elements of a full lunch
By FAYE LEVY
For those days when a hot meal just doesn't appeal, make a whole-meal lunch salad with plenty of tasty, colorful components.
Whether you use a base of rice, bulgur wheat or greens, add freshly roasted salmon and a garnish of toasted nuts to turn your salad into a special-occasion dish. For a vegetarian main course, make fragrant yellow rice as your base and stud it with red peppers, wholesome, protein-rich beans and your favorite fresh herbs. Moisten it with extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice, or vary the dressings with nut oil or wine vinegar. Make it lively with s'hug (Yemenite hot pepper relish), pitted olives or capers.
Naturally, you have lots of leeway as to what to add to these entrees. If you have some grilled eggplant around, or some boiled green beans, they are a terrific addition to either one. Basically, you can add any vegetable that you like, as long as you cut it in bite-size pieces so you can mix them easily with the other ingredients.
If you make your salad with a base of grains rather than delicate greens, you can prepare it in advance so it's ready when you need it. And if the temperature takes a turn downward, you can always serve these salads warm instead of cold.
YELLOW RICE SALAD WITH RED PEPPERS AND BEANS
Hot sauce, olives and capers enhance this multicolored salad, which makes a fine appetizer, side dish or light entree. It's based on Yemenite yellow rice, which is seasoned with cumin and turmeric instead of the saffron used in other parts of the Mideast.
Instead of black beans, you can make the salad with cooked frozen lima or fava beans.
To make the salad with brown rice instead of white, see the note following the recipe.
If you prefer to serve the salad warm, omit the vinegar or lemon juice.
Makes 6 servings
4 3 to 4 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
4 1 large onion, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
4 1 small or 1â„2 large red bell pepper, diced small
4 2 small zucchini or pale-green-skinned summer squash (225 gr.)
4 Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 11â„4 cups long-grain white rice
4 1 tsp. ground cumin
4 1â„4 tsp. turmeric
4 21â„2 cups hot water
4 2 small carrots, diced
4 1 to 11â„2 cups cooked or canned white, red, pink or
black beans, drained and rinsed
4 2 to 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (fresh coriander), parsley or dill
4 1 to 2 Tbsp. tarragon vinegar, rice vinegar or lemon juice
4 2 to 3 tsp. s'hug (red or green, whichever you like) or other hot sauce, or to taste
4 1â„2 cup green olives, pitted and halved
4 2 tsp. capers, drained (optional)
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saute pan. Add onion and cook over medium-low heat for 7 minutes or until soft but not brown. Remove from pan. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat it. Add red pepper and zucchini, sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute over medium heat for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat.
Return 1â„3 of the onions to pan and heat them. Add rice and saute over medium-low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes or until grains turn white. Add cumin, turmeric, 3â„4 teaspoon salt and scant 1â„2 teaspoon pepper. Pour hot water over rice and stir once.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover tightly and simmer for 7 minutes. Scatter diced carrots over rice, without stirring. Cover and cook for 7 minutes. Scatter remaining sauteed onions over the top. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until rice is tender.
With a fork, fluff rice lightly and transfer to a bowl. Lightly fold in beans, red pepper, squash and dill. Let cool completely. Fold in vinegar, hot sauce, olives and 1 tablespoon oil, if you like. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve at room temperature, garnished with capers.
Note: To substitute brown rice for white: Use the same proportions and cook the rice for 35 minutes before adding the diced carrots; then continue as in the recipe above.
SALMON AND BULGUR SALAD WITH GREEN PEAS, CUCUMBERS AND TOASTED NUTS
Flavored the eastern Mediterranean way with coriander, cumin, green onions and dill, this salad makes a perfect summertime lunch or supper. I particularly like it with toasted pecans, but it's also delicious with the area's native nut - the pistachio - or with hazelnuts or walnuts.
If you have extra roasted or grilled salmon, it's ideal for this salad, but salmon cooked any way is good; or, for an easy way to cook salmon, see the note following the recipe.
If you don't have time to cook fish, you can substitute high quality canned fish, like red salmon or tuna in olive oil. If you have cooked white or brown rice, barley or orzo (barley- or rice-shaped pasta) on hand (about 31â„2 to 4 cups), you can use it instead of the bulgur.
Makes about 6 servings
4 3 or 4 Tbsp. extra virgin
olive oil or vegetable oil
4 1 onion, chopped
4 2 garlic cloves, minced
4 11â„4 cups medium bulgur wheat
4 11â„2 tsp. ground coriander
4 1 tsp. ground cumin
4 21â„2 cups vegetable broth, water or a mixture of both
4 Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 11â„2 to 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar or lemon juice
4 1â„3 cup chopped green onions
(white and green parts)
4 1 to 11â„2 cups fresh shelled or frozen peas, cooked
4 1 to 11â„2 cups diced cucumbers
4 3 to 4 cups cooked salmon (see Note), flaked gently in bite-size cubes
4 2 Tbsp. chopped dill
4 1â„3 cup toasted pecans
4 Cayenne pepper to taste
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add bulgur wheat, coriander and cumin and saute, stirring, for 2 minutes to lightly toast the bulgur and the spices. Add broth, salt and pepper and bring to boil.
Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until bulgur is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Fluff bulgur gently with a large fork. Transfer very gently to large bowl and let cool.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining oil with vinegar and fold into salad. Add green onions, peas, cucumbers, salmon, 1 tablespoon dill and half the pecans and fold them in gently. Adjust seasoning, adding cayenne to taste. Serve cold, topped with remaining dill and remaining pecans.
Note: For a fast way to cook salmon, sprinkle 700 to 800 grams salmon fillet, about 2.5 cm. thick, lightly with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set salmon in a foil-lined roasting pan and bake it in a preheated 225ºC oven for about 10 minutes, until its color inside has changed from translucent to opaque (check with a thin knife), or it just flakes.
Faye Levy is the author of Feast from the Mideast and Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home.
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