Summer Squash Salad

I'm so excited to share with you my farmer's market inspired recipes!  The first thing that jumped out at me when I was researching seasonal produce was that summer squash & zucchini is in season right now.  I found a recipe for a summer squash salad featuring julienned summer squash that inspired me to create this recipe.  When you have fresh, local & delicious produce, you really don't have to do much to make them taste good.  All you want to do is keep things simple and let the ingredients shine.  So I knew I was going to do a julienned summer squash and wheat berries (the original recipe called for bulgar, so it was a simple swap).  Then I started to think of other ingredients that I could get at the farmer's market that would go well with these two.  Green beans are also in season and I love a good blanched green bean, so I decided that would be a great addition to the salad.  Toss in some fresh baby kale, basil, avocado, and a lemon vinaigrette and you've got yourself a delicious, healthy & seasonal summer salad.  

You could add feta to the salad if you want to give it an extra salty and creamy kick, but they didn't have it at the farmer's market, so I nixed it from the recipe.  I'm typically a planner and don't do well with going with the flow/adjusting when I've come up with a plan, but I think the farmer's market will challenge me to do this.  As much as I can research what's in season, I won't know until I get to the farmer's market what I'm going to find.  I look forward to sharing more farmer's market recipes with you and continuing to shop local, seasonal & organic produce!

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

2 medium yellow squash, julienned

3 cups wheat berries (or grain of choice), cooked

1 lb green beans, trimmed

3 cups baby kale or spinach

1 cup basil, sliced in thin ribbons

2 large avocados, thinly sliced

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup avocado oil

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbs red wine vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

Optional: 3/4 cup feta

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add green beans and cook for 3 minutes, until just cooked through.
2. Remove the green beans and add to a bowl of ice water to cool.  Allow to sit in the ice water for 1-2 minutes.
3. Julienne the summer squash and add to a large bowl with the wheat berries.  Once the green beans are cooled, cut into 2 inch segments and add to the large bowl.
4. Toss baby kale and sliced basil in the large bowl with the other ingredients.  Top with avocado and dress individual portions.