Yummy Summer Recipes

The Union Square Farmer's Market in New York is one of the most famous farmer's market in the country, luckily for me, it's right outside my office 4 days a week! Every time I walk through the market, I'm inspired to try new recipes using all fresh veggies. Last week I made a couple salads that I am obsessed with and thought I would share the recipes with you:

First is a (Healthy) Potato Salad:

I don't know exact measurements, but here are the ingredients I used:

- Couple pounds of small new potatoes
- 1 red onion
- Fresh dill
- Capers
- Olive Oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Ground pepper

I started by cutting the potatoes into appx. 1 in. cubes (left the skins on) and threw them in boiling water for about 15 min. Don't let them boil for too long, you don't want mushy taters. While the potatoes are boiling, I cut up the onion into long, thin slices and grilled it up with some olive oil just until it was a little tender and browned. Once the potatoes are done, I drained them and ran them under cold water for a minute and then put them into a big bowl with the grilled onion. To finish it off, I added some olive oil, red wine vinegar, ground pepper, a jar of drained capers and lots of fresh dill. I did everything by taste, not so much by exact measurements (hence why I can't bake to save my life).

I served this at a BBQ this weekend and it got rave reviews. Best of all, it's much healthier than the typical mayo-laden potato salads that usually adorn the summer picnic table.

Here's the yumminess before I mixed it all up


The second salad is a Panzanella Salad:

Ingredients:

- Loaf of Ciabatta bread
- Bell pepper; yellow and/or green
- 2.5 Avocados
- Large cucumber
- Ball of mozzarella cheese
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil
- White vinegar
- 1 packet Good Seasonings Italian dressing

First, cut the bread into 1 in. cubes, spread it out on a baking pan, drizzle all of it with olive oil and then stick it under the broiler for a few minutes until it's brown on top (watch it carefully...this happens pretty fast)



Next, I chopped my yellow pepper into fairly big chunks, then did the same with my cucumber. I cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and then cut the mozzarella into smaller chunks.



If you're making this salad ahead of time, you should wait to add the avocados until right before so they don't go brown. When it's go time, cut up the avocados into slices and put them in the bowl.



Next up, I added most of the bread. I didn't use all of it because I knew if I was going to eat this salad as a leftover, I wouldn't want soggy bread in it, so I took out a small bowl of the veggies (enough for lunch the next day) and some bread.

Lastly, I made the Good Seasonings Italian dressing packet with olive oil and vinegar. Once again, I did this mostly by taste as well, and used less olive oil than the packet called for. You definitely don't have to use a packet, you can add your own spices and just some oil and vinegar and it will probably be just as tasty.

Once the dressing was made, I poured it over the salad and mixed it all up (make sure you save a little dressing for the small bowl of veggies and bread you set aside).

Voila, just like that, a healthy bread salad!