QlinArt: Toss Aside Boring Summer Salads...Give Way to Savoury Ones

On a hot summer's day, I often feel like doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, including cooking. Going for a good swim, or lounging around the terrasse with a refreshing drink, is just about the only thing I'm able to do when the temperature hits above 35C. However, eating is not an activity that goes away easily when the temperature rises, especially when I decide to have an active day - going for a swim to divert myself from the heat. Doing laps can certainly stimulate hunger as quickly as a snap of your fingers. But when it's scorching hot, I don't feel like eating anything hot and heavy, but something refreshing, yet gratifying. A salad is the least gratifying food on my list when I'm famished.

If I were to be at a buffet, a nice green salad would always be on my plate, not for the enjoyment of eating it...but more to settle a guilt-free conscience. In my earlier years, I grew up in a family who would indulge in meat dishes, sweet drinks and rich desserts like pastries or ice cream. Salads or raw vegetables would always be served, but they were the last thing we would consume at dinner time. We were people whom you would call "de grands gourmands" . Glutton is a strong word, but we weren't far off. Fortunately, as we're all aging and growing more health conscious, I've been noticing that my family and I gradually changed our eating habits over the years. We've all taken the righ turn to maintain a well balanced diet, without sacrificing the pleasure of eating luscious foods. Food that will please our belly, food with lotsa flay-va....

All that to say that a salad doesn't have to be boring. We can all make it more interesting. It can be both tentatlizing and satisfying. This beautiful and delicious-looking salad is incredibly tasty and healthy. It's packed with protein, from the beans. It's nutritious, from the brown rice pasta and greens. Most importantly, it's so yummy, from the added spices. Tumeric/curcuma, paprika, salt and pepper are the spices, nutritiously sufficient for our bodies, mixed in this salad for added flavour. These words are coming from a meat lover. It can be prepared with chicken or shrimps, or simply as a vegetarian dish. A complete meal for a hot day like today.

Recipe "au pif":

Soy or brown rice pasta (available in most supermarkets), cooked al dente

14-19 oz can of cooked mixed beans (kidney, lima..etc.), drained and rinsed

leftover chicken strips (I used chicken seasoned with garlic and lemongrass)

fresh baby spinach

cherry tomatoes, diced

handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp low-fat and low-sodium mayonnaise

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp ground tumeric/curcuma

1 tsp ground paprika

2 tbsp olive oil