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IN THE KITCHEN: Put the chill into summer with salads

By Faith Bahadurian, Special Writer
   When the really hot days of summer arrive – and they will – we look for easy ways to put meals on the table without a lot of fuss and heating up of the kitchen.
   I’ve developed various strategies for this, especially during the years I didn’t have central air conditioning. I’d grill up a bunch of vegetables on the weekend (basted with olive oil and lemon juice), then used them at room temperature during the week. Indoors, you could flash roast (i.e. at high heat) or broil your vegetables on a baking sheet in the cool of morning.
   If you also cook up a batch or two of a hearty grain, say brown rice, wheat berries or barley, or maybe a legume like lentils, you can combine the vegetables and grains to produce various main course salads on weeknights.
   You can add leftover grilled meats, seafood, or tofu or tempeh, or just go with the veggies and grains, maybe adding hard-boiled egg.
   Fruit also can be used in a salad, whether a main course at lunch, or alongside grilled chicken or pork at dinner, so I included a recipe from a favorite (and artistic) vegetarian cookbook by Mollie Katzen, one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time.
   David Tanis, who has a weekly column, “City Kitchen,” in The New York Times, chefs at Chez Panisse in California half the year and writes from Paris the rest of the time. While he’s not a vegetarian, I always think vegetables are a special strength of his, although, frankly, almost any recipe he writes about makes me hungry, including the one below from “A Platter of Figs.”
   Salads comprising raw vegetables appeal, too, including Middle Eastern tabbouleh. I like mine with plenty of parsley and mint, but others play that down in favor of the wheat and tomato. Cucumber usually sneaks into mine, and even, sometimes, crumbled tofu or tiny broccoli florets. Other recipes would have you add cumin and maybe paprika, and even tomato paste thinned with water instead of fresh tomatoes.
   My own recipe reads something like this: Put a small amount of very fine bulghour – wheat kernels that have been steamed, dried, and crushed – in a bowl. (If your bulghour is not that fine, moisten it just a little with hot water before adding the rest of the ingredients.) Cube some juicy tomato into it, which will moisten the wheat. Add chopped cucumber, scallion, parsley, and mint. Add lots of lemon juice, and a glug of olive oil. Let it sit or refrigerate for a while, so the juices of the tomato and cucumber will thoroughly moisten the wheat. Serve on Romaine lettuce.
Watercress, Beet,
and Egg Salad
Adapted from “A Platter of Figs,”
David Tanis, Artisan (2008)
Serves 8-10 as a side course
   3 bunches watercress
   2 large shallots, finely diced
   2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
   1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
   Salt and pepper
   1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
   ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
   2 teaspoons grated orange zest
   6 medium beets, roasted (see below), peeled, and diced small
   6 hard-boiled eggs, the centers still a little soft
Roast beets at 350 degrees, about 1 hour, adding about an inch of water to roasting pan at start.
   Swish watercress, still bunched, in large bowl of water and drain upside down in a colander. Give it a shake and wrap in a towel and refrigerate.
   For vinaigrette, macerate (soak) diced shallots in a bowl with vinegars and a good pinch of salt for 10 minutes. Stir in mustard until dissolved. Whisk in olive oil, add orange zest, and grind in some pepper. Taste and adjust for acid and salt; it should be somewhat tart, so add more red wine vinegar if needed.
   Put diced beets in a different bowl, season with salt and pepper. Whisk the vinaigrette and pour over beets. Toss, and leave at room temperature.
   Trim tough stems from watercress and arrange sprigs in a fluffy pile on a platter. Scatter beets over watercress. Carefully cut eggs into quarters and garnish salad with them. Just before serving, sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper.
Fruited Grain Salad
Adapted from “Still Life with Menu Cookbook,”
Mollie Katzen, Ten-Speed (1988)
8-10 servings
Note: While you do have to cook the grains separately (and the wheat berries take a while), once that’s done, the salad is quickly assembled. F.B.
   1 cup uncooked wheat berries
   1 cup uncooked pearl barley
   1 cup uncooked short-grain brown rice
   3 tablespoons cider vinegar
   1 tablespoon lemon juice
   3 tablespoons canola or other oil
   ½ teaspoon salt
   1 ½ cups packed golden raisins
   ¾ cup packed minced chives, or finely minced scallions
   6-7 fresh mint leaves, minced
   4 to 5 firm ripe plums, sliced
   1 or 2 tart green apples, sliced (optional, or in place of plums)
Soak wheat 30 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse barley well and simmer with 2 ½ cups water about 30 minutes, until tender. Simmer rice with 1 ¾ cups water about 35 minutes, until tender.
   Drain wheat berries and simmer in 2 ½ cups water about 1 to 1 ¼ hours, adding more water if needed.
   Combine cooked grains in large bowl, stirring to let excess steam escape. Add remaining ingredients, except fruit. Cover and chill well. Mix in fruit gently just before serving.
Faith Bahadurian blogs at www.packetinsider.com/ blog/njspice (also www.twitter.com/njspice).