It's My Birthday Month!

I love summer! Not just because I was born in the summer, but I love the warmer weather, the sunshine and wearing light weight clothing. By the way, incase you were wondering, my birthday is July 17th and I accept all kinds of gifts and cards. LOL! 
I also love cooking on the grill, eating al fresco and summer foods. So here are 3 salads that I am serving for a family BBQ we are hosting for the 4th of July. The first one is a JICAMA SALD. Jicama is a starchy root vegetable, from Mexico, similar to a turnip or potato. It tastes slightly sweet, but is low in sugar, which is a healthy carb choice. It is a good source of fiber and it's also rich in inulin, which is a prebiotic fiber. Great source of Vit C and potassium. The second is an all American salad; COLE SLAW, which happens to be one of my husband's favorite. I altered his mom's recipe just a little. And the last one is EETCH, a favorite Armenian recipe that originally is made with bulgher, but because I am gluten intolerant, I substitute quinoa. This salad has so much protein with the quinoa, you can eat it as a meal. 
Enjoy your holiday as well as these salads. Let me know how you like them.
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  JICAMA SALAD                            

• 3-4 ears of corn on the cob
• 2 - 15 oz cans of black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 large jicama shredded
• 1/2 cup of shredded carrots
• 1/3 cup of sliced green onion
• 1/3 cup of parsley or cilantro
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
• 5 TBLSP of extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 2 fresh limes and grated lime peel
• juice of 1 orange
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 tsp of cumin

1. Grill corn on the cob,  let cool and cut kernels.
2. Place all veggies and herbs in large bowl 
3. Whisk together orange, lime, lemon juice and lime zest with olive oil, cumin, s & p to taste.

COLE SLAW

• 3 cups shredded cabbage - you can use any kind or a variety or cheat and use the bagged cabbage
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup mayo (I use no soy or egg version)
• 2 TBLSP dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of vinegar (I prefer apple cider vinegar)
• 1 - 2  tsp Celery seed
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all veggies together
2. Whisk Mayo, mustard, vinegar, celery seed, salt and pepper and gradually mix into vegges.

               EETCH
     1 Cup of cooked quinoa 
     1 bunch of parsley chopped very fine
     1 bunch of green onion sliced fine
     1 large white onion chopped fine
     1 bell pepper (your choice of color) chopped fine
     2 small cans of tomato sauce
    1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil 
    1 cup fresh lemon juice
    Cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste

1. Cook quinoa in water and let cool
2. Chop all veggies and place in mixing bowl
3. Add quinoa
4. Add tomato sauce
5. Lemon juice, EVOO and spices 

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