A bright and beautiful salad leaves room for healthy cookies for dessert. Karen Schneider photo I love recipes that have a bit of wriggle room so I can substitute ingredients when I’m out of something or can experiment with different options just for fun. It certainly is okay to play in the kitchen.
You don’t have to be too serious — not at all. For instance, this colorful, flavorful salad is fun to “mess with” and always makes me feel so healthy when I eat it! Sometimes I add cooked quinoa, chicken, shrimp or even seared scallops, or use a different cheese such as goat cheese, mozzarella pearls or even gorgonzola. And any toasted nuts work — walnuts, pecans .
.. just use the recipe as a guide and use your beautiful imagination.
The berries can be swapped out for any fruit in season — try strawberries, peaches, nectarines and watermelon. Likewise with the greens — spinach, baby kale and mixed spring greens are all good choices. If you’re looking for a sweet treat to add to your dessert repertoire that’s free of gluten, refined sugar, dairy and soy, this vegan cookie recipe is just for you.
These cookies have that fabulous combination of being crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle. When I make them, I simply use my blender to whirl gluten-free oats into flour, and I also use the almond meal left over from when I make almond milk. If you use almond milk, have you ever tried just making it yourself? This will give you a drink and/or a cooking ingredie.