By Beth Dooley

The beauty of summer cooking is that meals come together quickly. Toss your choice of meat on the grill and supper’s ready. Cook up a batch of pasta and you’ll have the base for a week of lunches. And a trip to the farmers market not only fills in the gaps, but opens the door to new culinary combinations.

These recipes highlight the best of farmers market finds, and can be adjusted to individual tastes and to what’s in season.

Most Southern picnic salads are lush with creamy dressings and finished with bacon and cheese. Here, a bold vinaigrette is sparked with tart-sweet dried cranberries. Feel free to toss other green veggies in with the broccoli — spinach, kale, chard. Do make this ahead so the bold flavors have time to marry.

Lighter Brighter Classic Broccoli Salad

INGREDIENTS

For the dressing:

½ c. dried cranberries

¼ c. chopped red onion

2 tbsp. orange juice or water

¼ c. apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. coarse mustard

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3 tbsp. neutral oil, such as avocado, sesame, rice bran

For the salad:

2 lb. broccoli, about 2 heads

2 green onions, trimmed and sliced

¼ c. dried cranberries

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ c. toasted unsalted pepitas, for serving

DIRECTIONS

To prepare the dressing: Put the dried cranberries and onion in a small bowl and stir in the orange juice, vinegar, honey, mustard and salt and pepper. Allow the ingredients to marinate for 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil. Set dressing aside.

To prepare the salad: Separate the broccoli florets and then peel away the woody exterior of the stalks and cut into ¼-inch pieces. Place the broccoli, onion and cranberries into a large bowl. Whisk the dressing and toss into the broccoli. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight to allow the flavors to marry. Serve topped with the pepitas. Serves 4 to 6.

Crisp, crunchy and best served cold, this salad makes a satisfying vegetarian dinner or hearty side dish. It can be made ahead and toted to a picnic or the lake. Vary the peanut butter with almond, sunflower or cashew butter and toss in whatever crisp vegetables you find at the market.

Many Veggie Soba Noodle Salad

INGREDIENTS

For the Spicy Nut Butter Dressing:

½ c. peanut or any nut butter

¼ c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. dark sesame oil

Generous dash hot sauce, to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ to ½ c. water, as needed

For the salad:

Coarse salt

10 oz. soba

6 radishes, trimmed and diced into ¼-in. pieces

4 salad turnips, trimmed and diced into ¼-in. pieces

1 cucumber, trimmed and diced into ¼-in. pieces

1 c. sliced snow peas

½ c. roasted, salted nuts, chopped

2 scallions, trimmed and chopped

¼ c. chopped cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish

Lime wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS

To prepare the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, oil, hot sauce, garlic and enough water to create a smooth, thick sauce. (The dressing should be the texture of heavy cream.)

To prepare the salad: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop in the noodles. Stir and cook according to package instructions until they’re just tender. Transfer to a colander and run under cold water until the noodles are completely cold. Thoroughly drain and then transfer the noodles to a large bowl, separating the noodles with your fingers.

Toss the prepared vegetables in with the noodles. Drizzle in enough of the peanut dressing to coat the ingredients. Toss in the nuts, scallions, and cilantro and serve garnished with more cilantro and lime wedges.

Serves 4.

Tribune News Service