{recipe} Buddha-Approved End of Summer Salad

Here in San Francisco we’re enjoying the delicious days of Indian summer- after being shrouded in fog through July and August, our warm September days come and shower us with summer sun. As such, it’s time to use up the last of the summer produce and highlight it a few more times, before saying goodbye until next summer.

You might be wondering why this salad is Buddha-Approved. My friend Linsey was visiting from New York, and we were cooking together. She was explaining that in essence, the Buddha’s diet advice was to eat things that were all different colors for the best nutrition and health. I have no idea if that’s true, but it sounds good and makes sense. Ergo she and I chose vegetablesof all different colors for our salad, including these pretty dark purple wax beans.

They lost some of their color in the cooking process but I think Buddha would still approve.

Buddha-Approved End of Summer Salad

Serves 4 as an appetizer. You don’t really have to measure the vegetables- feel free to eyeball, adjust, and play as much as you like.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb purple wax beans (green or yellow is OK if you can’t find purple)
• 1 cob white corn
• 3 cups arugula
• 1 cup mixed color heirloom cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
• 1 1/2 tsp dijon or grainy mustard
• 1/4 cup hazelnut or walnut oil
• 2 T white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp finely chopped marjoram
• 2 T finely chopped shallots
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil for sauteing

Method:

• Trim the beans and chop into 1 inch pieces. Cut corn off cob.
• Saute beans and corn briefly in a small amount of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, just to tenderize. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Combine mustard, oil, vinegar, marjoram, shallots, lemon juice, and salt and pepper until thoroughly mixed. (I like to do this in a jar so it’s easy to mix by shaking the jar.) Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
• Toss arugula, corn, beans, and tomatoes in serving bowl with dressing. Serve immediately.