Not for the faint-of-heart...

 Hello, everyone! The Fresh Pioneer is back and it is still HOT. I'm not really melting anymore, but I sure don't want to cook. I want to eat, mind you, just not cook. So, what's a hungry girl to do?
Let's see what we can rustle up!


Now, when I was 14 I decided I was going to go live in France. Don't ask me why. I think it was mostly about this

 

and this

 

and this

 

But enough of that.

 *sigh*

We live here, and are starving for dinner, so let's see what we can find. Now, since I moved to that lovely country right after I turned 15 (merci, Maman!), I have a deep and abiding love for STINKY CHEESE and usually have some on hand.

Well, looky here! Feta!

Not French, but close enough. And it comes in low fat varieties.

 So, let's make sure it's not date night, or your 25th wedding anniversary, or even a night when your husband might ask you to go sit under the stars and chat.

No? Excellent.

 Let's eat some STINKY CHEESE.

We reach in the cupboard and pull out this bottle of balsamic vinaigrette. Who knows why it was there. It must have been waiting for this exact moment all its life. If you don't care for all the stuff they put in these dressings. you can make your own dressing for this dish with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and some olive oil.

Now, the original recipe calls for pasta or white bread toasted, or (*sob*) crusty French bread, but we're going to put in a little more fiber to the dish to balance out the olive oil.

Here is some bread my husband refers to as 'nuts and twigs'. It has double the fiber and lots of flax seed which is good for... memory? I honestly can't remember. (Okay, I Googled. It's good for your HEART. Thank goodness. If it was for my memory, I'd want my money back.)

You can use 12 grain or even just whole wheat. It adds a nice, nutty flavor. Toast and cube.

At this point we're going to start cutting our fresh ingredients.

Tomatoes, a little sweet onion (they were free, let's use them!), basil, cucumbers (more free produce!), and whatever other fresh veggie you'd like to put in. Maybe some pretty yellow bell peppers?

 

Mix the feta in with the fresh ingredients. Add several tbs of the vinaigrette. Toss to coat. Put your cubed, toasted, nutty, high fiber grainy bread in the bottom of the bowl and toss on the feta salad mix. 

However you want to make it, add a little lime and some yoghurt to the side and you've got a super fresh, super tasty, no-cook dish.

Just don't go breathe on anybody.

 

(That's me on the left. My non-feta eating hubby on the right. Doesn't he look thrilled? Mmmmm. Revenge for all that cilantro.)

Hope you all are staying cool! Until next time!