The heat is still at its peak. Even after a few spell of showers it has not cooled down, & knowing Texas it will not get better soon. We are still on low carb. diet. Breakfast, lunch & snacks are still mostly salads- fruits & vegetables, nuts, beans & grilled fish/chicken;
No we are not trying to lose any weight, no stiff programs, but getting ourselves used to eating light, & right.. Evening dinners are mostly regular food but less grains still. I am not putting my kids through our diet, I am cooking my for my kids, tho I must bless my stars that my kids are happy campers eating steamed vegetables & grilled food. We relax the eating habits over the weekends & once in a while give in when we really crave something. Otherwise it has been good, & less work for me; I cannot get myself to be cooking 3 meals a day in this heat, I rather spend that time with my kids while they still are at home enjoying the summer.
Well this salad had been in one of our lunch menus. We found a bottle of lemon, lavender mix in a bottle in the whole foods the other day; I immediately wanted to try it as a dressing for salad. None of us are fond of creamy salad dressings, we usually do not even have dressing in our salads other than a squeeze of lemon & some black pepper & may be some extra virgin olive oil once in a while. The lemon & the irresistible lavender worked really good.
Feel free to use whatever you want. I have some unusual things here, green mangoes, scallions, oranges, nuts, spicy sprouts & rice noodles along with other summer delicacies.
Summer Salad with Citrus Lavender Dressing
Ingredients: (Serves 2)
- 1/4 Cup Rice Noodles, soaked & drained (Bean thread noodles are even better)
- 1/2 Raw Green Mango, peeled, chopped into small pieces
- 2 Carrots, cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 Cup Scallions/Green Onions, both green & white part very thinly sliced
- 1.5 Cup Black Beans, cooked & drained
- 1-2 Tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
- Lots of Spicy Sprouts (Alfalfa & Radish)
- Fresh Snap peas
- 1/2 Cucumber Cucumber, Peeled & diced
- Toasted Walnuts, roughly crushed
- 1/2 Cup Slices of oranges
For the dressing:
- 4 Tablespoons Organic Lemon & Lavender Mix (3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice + 1.5 Tablespoon Honey + 1/2 Teaspoon crushed dried Lavender)
- 1/4 Cup fresh Cilantro/Coriander Leaves, finely Chopped
- 1 fresh hot pepper minced
- 1 Tablespoon Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
- 1 Teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
- Salt – very little (just for the balance of taste)
- 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Combine all the ingredients for the dressing & let it sit for about 15-20 minutes for the flavors to infuse.
Combine all the salad ingredient. Add the dressing & toss & serve.
Since there is not much of a recipe here, I am posting some pictures for those of you who want to “vanish” hearing of a Salad diet; Salads can be Beautiful & Colorful!
I love this kind of veggie fruit combination in salads. For me it was meal in a plate with the beans & rice noodles added to it, & this is the kind of lunch I really enjoy. The flavors & taste was awesome, sweet, tart, spicy with the fresh crunch munch & the divine, delicate aroma of lavender.
Priya of Akshayapaatram won the last round of HHDD. She is hosting HHDD 27, & the theme is Summer Salads. This salad is going to HHDD hosted by Priya & facilitated by Denise, of Chez Us who took over the reins of this event from Bron.
Related Posts:
Chicken & Roasted Capsicum Pasta– For HHDD
Beautiful…!! no vanishing as the pics are so colorful n gogeous..I’d love to keep it as just decor there on table..:D
That was a good one;-)
The picture looks so lovely and really makes me drooling…:)
Fresh, summery and healthy. Looks beautiful and that earns extra points:)
Okay – the colours are brilliant. And that’s enough for me. Thank you.
Beautiful summer salad and I love the idea of lavender dressing!
great colours there! even I don’t like the creamy dressings, lavender sounds so refreshing!!
looks very inviting soma!
Gosh!I love the colors in the salad and the dressing is new to me!
I am in for such salads anytime..though not just as a meal on its own(I know its a complete meal in itself, still for Idiotic mind like mine, its THE salad…to be eaten with a meal).I am simply bowled over by the vibrant colours and awesome flavors…Brilliant …Muaahhhh 🙂
I agree perfectly with sunshinemom.Beautiful and perfect and quick and summery
What an unusual, colorful and delightful summer salad ! Looks beautiful 🙂
hehe, going by the number of pics you uploaded for this post, I can see how much you love your colors in a salad 🙂 I adore fruits in salads, they give a supple juiciness that is refreshing. Will look for the lemon-lavender mix in WF 🙂
We are having a very wet and cold summer. When I leave for work, the temp is in the early 60’s, peaks to a 75F in the afternoon and drops back down again! I have not switched on the a/c in my apt all this season.
hehe I am trying still convince someone that salads can be meals;-)
I wish we had 75 here! All the AC are running nonstop. Early mornings are nice but gets hot even at 9.
Thats really lucky for you to get such children who love to have steamed veggies and all..perfect for the season..and yes happy that you can keep away from kitchen like that during summer..
The salad in itself looks too much a nice meal to resist..who cant adore the colorful salad like that ? no wonder why your children have them without forcing..wonderful clicks !!
Thats a colorful salad and such a healthy one!!
Oh my the salad looks gorgeous Soma, i totally can have this for lunch or dinner, fabulous clicks!
Lovely salad and that lavender dressing sounds divine! Lucky family of yours to enjoy such beautiful food.
I love salad, especially if it is so colorful and fresh..very interesting ingredients, Soma & your pics are as usual gr8 gr8 gr8..never heard of lavender dressing
That is one amazing looking salad! All those colors seem to say eat me, I am healthy and delicious. This is the kind of lunches I am enjoying myself too 😀
delicious !!! beautiful !! colorful !!! what more does one need??
That is a beautiful salad! Absolutely gorgeous, I would have trouble disturbing it to eat it… but I would 😀
With colors like that who in the world would like to vanish? Kudos to you all for the excellent eating habits. I need to take a page from your book about that 🙂
It’s beautiful! and the dressing sounds delicious!
What a beautiful summery salad! The weather has been really hot here as well lately and this is perfect for one of those lazy hot summernights… 🙂
I just planted some Spanish lavender (found out that French lavender isn’t as fragrant). Your lavender vinaigrette recipe is the perfect way to make good use of it. thanks for sharing
The salad look so fresh and appealing! Beautiful click!
That’s gotta be the best looking salad I’ve ever seen! It is way too pretty to eat Soma!
I done similar salads but the dressing … oh my that I’ve got to try. Looks excellent!
vat a great salad dish.. this is very colorful and beautiful.. i shud give a shot soon!!
cheers!!
Love the salad!!! looks fantastic and the dressing sounds delicious….
Soma,
Where do you find green mangoes in the USA?
Wow have to say that looks like just what I would want to be eating if it was super hot. Unfortunately it isn’t anything like that here in Ireland 🙁 Love the colors in this pic, looks nearly too good to eat!
Thank you for participating in HHDD. Beautiful salad and very creative use of ingredients … the lavender is a very interesting addition to it. I have used the herb for roasting, baking and some desserts but never a salad, will have to try it out.
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