Eat What Grows!
A simple way to think about eating locally and eating with the season, is to eat what your local farmers are growing, or what’s growing in your garden.
What Grows Together Goes Together
A simple way to think about how to create a dish with your local farmers produce, is to create with the vegetables, fruit, and herbs that are growing together. Intuitively, have fun mixing and matching different colors, textures, shapes, and sizes.
Right now in Arizona, in late August, it’s still hot, with temperatures above 105 degrees. With the heat, hydrating foods, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and watermelons are still growing.
Thank You Farmers & Farmers Markets!
As always, thanks to our Arizona farmers markets and farmers for continuing to serve our community with incredible food throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic and our extra hot summer.
Special thanks to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market and the following farmers for the produce in the Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower. Crooked Sky Farms (cucumbers, tomatoes), Blue Sky Organic Farm (parsley).
Arizona Summer Veggies
Lemon Cucumber Tower Salad Recipe
This quick salad, inspired by the beautiful, unique crisp lemon cucumber, is paired with an heirloom tomato, along with a fresh parsley gremolata.
Use this recipe as a guide to create your own fresh summer salad with your favorite cucumbers and tomatoes. Add flavor with a simple parsley gremolata as a dressing.
Have fun plating your own version of Food Art with this dish. Post it on Instagram and Tag #ExperienceNutrition
Serves 1
Simple Ingredients
Cucumber Tower
- 1 lemon cucumber, sliced in rounds
- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced in rounds
Gremolata
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- ¼ cup raw almonds, rough chopped
- ¼ lemon, juiced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
Garnish
- Few basil leaves
- Few parsley leaves
- Few olives
- Optional: Dehydrated tomato (previously dehydrated)
- Optional: Dolmas: Stuffed Grape Leaves (Not use in plating)
Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower Mise En Place
Simple Steps
Gremolata
- Rough chop the basil, parsley, and almonds.
- Place all ingredients (basil, parsley, almonds, lemon juice, olive oil) into a small bowl.
- Toss gently.
- Add more lemon, olive oil, or sea salt to suit your taste.
Gremolata Ingredients: Basil, Almonds, Parsley
Plating
Enjoy mindfully plating your salad to create your own Food Art.
- Place a cucumber round on the bottom of plate.
- Add a tablespoon of the gremolata and a few capers.
- Place a tomato slice onto the gremolata.
- Add a tablespoon of the gremolata and a few capers.
- Continue with a few more layers of cucumbers and tomatoes.
- Garnish with fresh basil, parsley, olives, capers, and dehydrated tomato.
Plating Mise en Place: Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower
Watch the plating video and then have fun plating your own Cucumber Tomato Tower.
Enjoy your Cucumber Tomato Tower
My tower tipped over….but…still delicious, so wanted to share it with you.
Lemon Cucumber Heirloom Tomato
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.
We have now, with careful consideration of the Coronavirus Pandemic, postponed our Sedona Plant-Based Culinary and Self-Care Retreat to November 13-16, 2020.
If you’re interested in a once-in-a-lifetime memorable weekend, please reach out to me. Would love to chat and get to know you and answer any questions. Also, please let me know if you’d like to create a custom retreat for a group of friends or your business.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Culinary Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
A few memories from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Culinary & Self-Care Retreat.
