Margaret Riesen Cooks

. . . with this fabulous salad from Joan Nathan’s latest cookbook King Solomon’s Table. It combines two grains (barley and wheat), and five fruit (grapes, olives, dates, pomegranates and figs) – foods that were eaten during biblical times – with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some seasonings. I chose a quick-cooking barley and freekeh (a delicious green wheat) for the grains, and seasoned them with extra virgin Bariani olive oil, a little sea salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar. The cooked grains were combined with organic microgreens and then topped with the sliced fruit. It makes the perfect meal for a summer evening – filling, yet light with an exotic twist.

Now that the weather has gone from zero to sixty in record time, light summer meals are back in vogue. As a chef, I love learning about different cuisines from around the planet, as the foods of a region reflect its history of cultural influences and cross-pollination. Marrying into a family of Eastern Europeans, I came to appreciate many of the Lithuanian specialties prepared by my mother-in-law. Many of the dishes combined pickled or smoked fish with cooked vegetables and dill, and I found a similar dish more recently in a book of Tunisian cuisine – just one example of how foods travel across cultures.

For this dish, combine cooked carrot, potato, beet, and turnip with a vinaigrette dressing, dill, cooked egg and smoked herring . . . a most satisfying and light meal on a warm day!