Warm End of Summer Salad, by Meg Schwartz Spoon & Co

Liz Baloutine of Seedlings Gardening creates and maintains gardens for Central Texas restaurants and catering companies, including Spoon & Co. And chef Meg Schwartz creates beautiful and delicious dishes from the garden.

This is a great salad that you can make with many variations, so it is perfect for using up end of season ‘roasted bits and pieces’ from your garden. Sprouted grains are a wonderful pantry staple, there is no soaking required, so they are a quick and delicious way to add protein to a dish. I used Full Quiver Mozzarella in my salad, which is a great local product, but any fresh soft cheese will add the desired richness, alternatively feel free to omit the cheese for a vegan delight.

I love using flowers to garnish my salads, for this one I used Amaranth…great to have in the garden for many reasons, it is beautiful, it is full of vitamins, protein & it contains lysine** an essential amino acid, tough to find in other grains or plant sources and last but not least– hummingbirds like it. ~ Meg Schwartz

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of mixed sprouted grains (I used lentils, adzuki beans and mung beans)
• 5 Baby eggplants  cut into ¼ inch slices and each slice cut in half
• 1 Small butternut squash
• 1 lb Mixed cherry tomatoes
• 1 Handful of baby kale
• 4 Slices of Full Quiver Mozzarella  pulled into pieces
• Handful of fresh herbs-(I used some fresh thyme, oregano and basil)
• 6 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 Lemon (juice and zest)
• Agave syrup
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Amaranth flowers to garnish

Serves 4

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Preparation: Boil the sprouted grains in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes or until tender drain any remaining water.
3. Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds and half or quarter those, toss in olive oil to coat & salt and pepper to taste, place on a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Peel the butternut squash and cut into small chunks toss in olive oil to coat & salt, pepper & 1 tsp agave syrup (this enhances the squashes natural tendency to caramelize) to taste, place on a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until.
5. Wash cherry tomatoes and toss in olive oil to coat & salt, pepper to taste & 1 tsp agave syrup, place on a baking tray and roast for about 40 minutes or until starting to caramelize.
6. Putting it together: Place the cooked sprouted grains in a bowl with the roasted eggplant, squash, cherry tomatoes, handful of baby kale, juice of 1/2 a lemon, fresh herbs, drizzle of olive oil salt and pepper to taste and gently mix to let flavors meld. Tear fresh mozzarella into salad and garnish with more fresh herbs and Amaranth flowers for color and texture.

Enjoy!