This is your quick meal night. The worst thing about cooking your own meals is doing dishes, and so I love meals like this where there's only one pot to clean at the end of the night. To cut even more time off the actual dinnertime cooking, make the sorbet the night before and the cucumbers in the morning. You could even cook barley either the night before or the morning of and store it in the fridge for later.
Looked for hulled barley, which still has the entire grain intact. Pearled barley will also taste good in this dish, if you can't find hulled. If you don't have barley on hand, you can use couscous, bulgur, spelt, quinoa, or any other whole grain.
1 c. hulled barley
2 c. water
15 oz. white beans (cannellini, garbanzos, or kidneys)
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
2 c. arugula, chopped into smaller pieces if the leaves are big
1/2 c. balsamic vinaigrette with oregano and paprika or leftover cilantro dressing from salad!
To prepare the barley, bring the water to a boil, add the barley, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the water is absorbed and the barley is tender, about 30 minutes.
While the barley is cooking, make the balsamic vinaigrette. Mix the onions, beans, and mushrooms into the vinaigrette to marinate. Add the bulgur while it's still warm, and mix well. Chill. This will taste better the longer it sits.
Per serving: 365 calories, 7g fat, 57 calories from fat, 64g carbohydrates, 14g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 27mg sodium, 163mcg folate, 1.8mg manganese
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. favorite dried herbs
dash of salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients except the oil and then, while stirring, drizzle in the olive oil. This will make a creamy, well-mixed vinaigrette.
Per serving: 64 calories, 7g fat, 60 calories from fat, 0g protein, 1g carbohydrates, 0g dietary fiber, 0mg cholesterol, 19mg sodium
Before I ever had a fresh, local cucumber, I liked cucumbers well enough, but I didn't truly appreciate them. Fresh cucumbers have thinner skins and don't come with the waxy stuff on the outside that grocery store cukes usually have, and they have so much flavor! In the summer, I often end up with loads of them and am always searching for new cucumber recipes.
3 medium cucumbers, sliced thinly
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
4 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 tsp. dill (dried, if using fresh, use more and chop it)
Arrange sliced cucumbers on a platter in a single layer. Sprinkle the vinegar over the top, making sure to coat each piece. Dash on salt and dill, and serve.
Per serving: 34 calories, 0g fat, 2 calories from fat, 8g carbohydrates, 2g protein, 296mg sodium, 1g dietary fiber, 252IU vitamin A, 0.6mg pantothenic acid, 30.5mg magnesium, 55.5mg phosphorous, 340mg potassium, 0.2mg manganese, 6.4mg vitamin C, 37mcg vitamin K
I love the combination of lemon and basil, and it's so unexpected to have the two in a sweet dessert. I first tried something like this at an Italian restaurant in Prague, and it was insanely good. If you have children who are really, really averse to green things in their sweets, you can just leave the basil out and go for simple lemon sorbet. And, if you have no time at all, you could always pick up a pint of lemon sorbet at the store. Let it warm slightly at room temperature and fold in the chopped basil.
If you have an ice cream maker, this recipe is simple. If not, the next best option is a very powerful blender like a VitaMix. I personally use my blender to make this sorbet, and instead of water, I use the same amount of ice. The mixture comes out a bit harder than it would in an ice cream maker, but it's just as delicious.
6 lemons
1 1/4 c. water
1/4 c. basil, chopped
1 c. agave syrup
Cut the tops off 4 of the lemons and scoop out all their flesh. Freeze the shells... later you can serve the sorbet inside these frozen shells. (For those of you with no extra time, skip this step and simply cut the peels off to compost or throw away.)
Cut the peels off the last 2 lemons and combine them with the others, putting them in a saucepan with the agave, basil, and water. (For the blender users, just throw everything in the blender at this point-- skip the saucepan.)
Strain the mixture and put it into a bowl to cool in the fridge. Once it's completely cooled, transfer to your ice cream maker and follow instructions for your machine. Once it's done, put the ice cream in the frozen lemon shells and freeze in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Hint for blender-users: I sometimes will take the frozen mixture out of its container and throw it back into the blender to break up the ice crystals. This will make your final product creamier and softer. It's not necessary, but it does help.
Per serving: 186 calories, 0g fat, 0 calories from fat, 0g protein, 51g carbohydrates, 0g dietary fiber, 0mg cholesterol, 46g sodium, 32.7mg vitamin C