A Relaxing Dinner at Home

When it was suggested to write a complementary food post to the previous post about relaxing in Child's Pose, my mind was flooded with ideas. And then I thought, what REALLY makes cooking a meal relaxing maybe has less to do with the ingredients used and more to do with the process of cooking. Since it's summer, and although it hasn't been too hot here, I know it has been hot in other parts of the country, I have decided to share with you what I made last night for dinner. It is simple, and cool and because of that, very relaxing.

Salad for Dinner topped with Chickpea "Tuna"
There are three components to the dish; the salad greens and veggies,

the dressing,

and the chickpea "tuna".

For the Salad Greens and Veggies, just use whatever you have and like in a big green salad. I used red leaf lettuce, tomatoes (both from my CSA:)) shredded carrots and cucumber.
For the Creamy Dressing
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 30 minutes or more
1 tbsp. Ume Plum vinegar, rice vinegar can be substituted, but try to get the Ume. You can find it at Whole Foods.
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 small clove garlic
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried dill
plus 2tbsp.-1/4 c water for thinning

Drain cashews from the water they soaked in and place them in the food processor with the garlic. Once smooth, keep processing and add the vinegar, lemon juice,and herbs. Slowly stream in water until the dressing is the consistency of creamy Ranch. Transfer to a bowl or jar.

For the Chickpea "Tuna"
1 can (about 2 1/2 cups) of chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic
Finely chopped carrots, onion(I used red) and celery
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2-3 tbsp. Wildwood Garlic Aoli, or your favorite mayo
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the chickpeas and garlic in the food processor and pulse until the chickpeas are flaky. Transfer to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients stir to combine.


The finished product.

How easy is that? And so wonderful when it's too hot to turn on the oven. With all the time you save not slaving away in the kitchen I'm sure you'll find quite a few things to do! Meditate? Practice yoga? Play with the kids? What will you do? Let me know!
Happy Eating! :)