Summer Veggie Lovin': Fresh Salsas

Summer is such a fun and easy time to prepare meals. All the bright, colorful produce demands to be eaten immediately, without much work at all. I have been loving salads. Some days I have some form of salad with breakfast, lunch, and dinner! And lately I have been mixing up what I call "salsas" for a fun salad concoction. I chop up veggies, add some olive oil and (usually red wine) vinegar or citrus (lemon or lime) juice, seasalt, toss them together, and then put them on top of a bed of good lettuce (my favorite is Little Gem from Blue Heron Farm!). Another way I've served these salsas is mixed with a pasta (Tinkyada rice pasta), or grain ~ such as brown rice or quinoa, or a combination! It also works on top of scrambled eggs. I love fresh veggies for breakfast (this morning I sauteed a handful of chopped dandelion greens with sliced garlic, added that to eggs, then topped it with leftover salsa ~ so good).

cherry tomato, Armenian cucumber, snipped basil, and red pepper flakes

Here's a list of ingredients from concoctions I've made just in the past few days:

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half (this is my favorite way to eat tomatoes right now

~ neat and easy)

A beefy heirloom tomato, diced

fresh-pressed garlic (I put this is almost everything)

basil leaves snipped with scissors

cilantro snipped with scissors

fresh oregano, minced

Armenian cucumber, sliced into rounds, then quartered

young (small) yellow squash or zucchini, sliced into rounds and quartered

Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

green beans, sauteed

avocado, diced

Sample Combinations:

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

basil leaves snipped with scissors

red wine vinegar

Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Armenian cucumber, sliced into rounds, then quartered

fresh oregano, minced

balsamic vinegar

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

avocado, diced

cilantro snipped with scissors

lime juice

young (small) yellow squash or zucchini, sliced into rounds and quartered

A beefy heirloom tomato, diced

green beans, sauteed

fresh-pressed garlic

A later edition:

Ooo!! A new combination!

diced ripe cantaloupe (yuuuummm!)

Armenian cucumber rounds, quartered

snipped basil

olive oil and seasalt

crumbled feta

Delicious!!!!