Sweet & Sour Carrot Salad

This recipe is from one of my yoga students. It's a chilled, marinated carrot dish that's best as a condiment or small side.

2 lbs. carrots, sliced
1 cup condensed tomato soup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup salad oil
1 tsp dry mustard
dash salt
1 large green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced

Steam carrots 5-8 minutes, until tender-crisp. Combine all other ingredients, and pour over warm carrots. Chill. Drain before serving. Keeps 2-3 weeks in refrigerator.

Fresh Tomato Zucchini Soup

This recipe, slightly altered from this version, came to me via an email from the Marshfield Farmers' Market. I made it with freshly-picked produce, and it was exquisite.

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
8 large tomatoes, cored
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced hot pepper of your choice (optional)
2 cups vegetable broth
fresh herbs of your choice, chopped (I use basil)
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in large skillet. Saute zucchini, onion and garlic. Set aside.

Puree tomatoes in food processor or blender.

In large pot mix puree, peppers and broth. Bring to boil.

Add herbs, zucchini and garlic. Turn heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

Israeli Za'atar Salad

Also from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, with a few tweaks. An ideal salad for when you've just come home from the farmers' market and need to figure out what to do with all that fresh produce.

1 cup peeled, seeded and cubed cucumbers
2 cups cubed fresh tomatoes
1.5 caups chopped yellow or green bell peppers
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 tsp za'atar (a spice blend, look for it in the ethnic section of your grocery)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/ tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3-4 slices multigrain bread, toasted and cut into 1" squares

Combine everything but the bread in a bowl. Prepare the bread, and stir into salad. Eat. It's yummy both when the bread is crunchy and when it has soaked up some of the salad juices.

Cucumbers with Arugula-Caper Dressing

This is so simple and so yummy. It is based on a recipe from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, leaving out a couple of dressing ingredients. Lately, it's one of my favorite things to snak on while making dinner.

3 cups cucumber crescents
1 cup fresh arugula leaves
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Combine arugula, capers and olive oil in a blender until smooth. Add salt to taste, if desired. Pour over cucumbers, or place in a dish and dip cucumbers into it.

Chick Pea Sandwich Spread

This recipe is from the Kripalu cookbook, in which it is called Chick Pea of The Sea. It think it's meant to be a vegetarian substitute for tune salad. It's an easy-to-make, delicious spread that could be used as a sandwich filling or an alternative to hummus/dip. My version contains only slight variations.

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mayonnaise or soy mayonnaise
3/4 Tbsp canola oil
3/4 Tbsp prepared brown mustard
1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
3/4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 Tbsp celery seeds
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp chopped scallions

Combine everything except celery and scallions in a food processor, pulsing until chick peas are chopped and everything else is well-distributed. Add celery and scallions and pulse until uniform. Serve at room temperature or chilled.