Three Salads and One Dressing

Salads are a healthy source of nutrients and enzymes. What better way to get those nutrients and enzymes than in a delicious daily salad? 

Eating a variety of colorful salad vegetables such as greens, reds, purples, and whites contain a variety of antioxidants may be anti-aging and may protect against cell damage.

 I am sharing three of my favorites salads and one delicious salad dressing in this post today. 

Quick and Easy Eggplant Marinara Sauce for Pasta, Rice, or Quinoa

This is no ordinary tasting marinara sauce. 

Cooked eggplant in a simple sauce brings it to a whole new level. Do you ever feel like you want to find more ways to use eggplant?

This thick and rich eggplant sauce is quick and easy to make and tastes hearty and delicious. Perfect over your favorite pasta (I use GF chickpea pasta), rice, quinoa or any kind of grain. Or I've even used it as a cold dip with chips!

 

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Baked Cauliflower in Tahini Sauce

The combination of cauliflower in a tahini sauce is amazingly delicious. After assembling the ingredients, I baked it in a casserole dish in the oven for 20 minutes.

I recently was invited to lunch at a friend's home in our condo building. Suzanne is from Morocco and is one fabulous cook. She made all kinds of salads and interesting dishes.

She served many traditional Moroccan salads, such as a cooked beet salad, a cooked carrot salad, a cucumber and onion salad, a tomato salad with cilantro and herbs, red pepper salad, and a hot rice and vegetable salad. 

The star of her luncheon recipes (for me) was a baked cauliflower and tahini sauce casserole that I just loved. (she also had a platter of fish and a platter of meat- which of course I did not eat).

Like most good cooks, Suzanne's recipe was in her head and she did not have precise measurements. I wanted to duplicate it, so I had to experiment. I also wanted to reduce the fat content. This is what I did. 

Tahini, like natural peanut butter, often separates in the jar when it sits on the shelf- leaving a layer of oil and a layer of paste. To reduce the calories and fat, I poured off the oil and discarded it. The thick paste that was left was not as rich tasting or creamy as with the oil, but still had the flavor.

That's a lot of oil

However, Suzanne's recipe was made with full fat tahini - if you prefer that, do not discard the oil when it separates. Simply stir it back in. It will be a richer, creamier sauce.

Cauliflower: 

Cut up a large cauliflower into large floretes and steam the floretes  until firm soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Lower fat less rich tasting tahini sauce : 

3 tablespoons of tahini  (I poured off any oil from the top of jar)

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 cup of almond milk 

1/4 cup of aquafaba (the liquid from cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas) or water

1 tablespoon of non GMO corn starch

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

Suzanne's tahini richer sauce: 

1/2 cup of  tahini paste

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of garlic powder 

1/2 cup of water or more by the tablespoon if needed for consistency

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

Directions: 

Place the cooked cauliflower in a baking dish. Pour 1 cup of tahini sauce over the cauliflower distributing oner all of the cauliflower and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Serve and Enjoy 

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Quinoa Tabouleh -Vegan and Gluten Free

Looking for a salad that is bursting with flavor? Think Middle Eastern inspired tabouleh!

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