Step 1: DO NOT Preheat Your Ovens...

It is officially, stupidly hot here in the "dirty 'Shwa". It hit 32C (90F) here today, and even in our air-conditioned house the three humans were sweating buckets and the fuzzy creatures were anything but comfortable. Luckily for us, while my poor mom and the animals were stuck at home my sister and I managed to escape to the local mall for an hour where it was blissfully cool (well, for me anyways... Teaghan still complained she was hot).

Needless to say, the tomato-quinoa bread recipe that I had concocted last night in my dozey stupor did not get made, nor did any sort of sourdough biscuits, cookies or muffins. I only had the stove on for 20 minutes total today to make my dinner, and even that was too long! Making lunch was much more comforting, heat-wise. Using up some of the languishing veggies in our crisper (even they were feeling the heat and humidity!) I made up this deliciously crispy and tangy Asian-esque salad. It's based on a Weight Watchers recipe from way back (pre-POINTS days, at least) but I swapped some stuff around (didn't have miso paste, so used an equal amount of soy sauce, and I added some leftover cooked bay scallops too) and enjoyed a deliciously cold, healthy meal.

Asian Vegetable Salad
Serves 2 (ish)
2 medium carrots, julienned
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber (about 8" long), sliced into 1/4" half-moons
2 medium scallions, minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp grated ginger root
2 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tsp red miso paste or soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, toss together carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and scallions.
2. In a small jar, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
3. Pour dressing over the vegetables and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 97.2
Total Fat: 0.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 426.0 mg
Total Carbs: 21.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.5 g
Protein: 3.1 g
WW POINTS: 1

The heat must have addled my brains today too - I forgot to take a photo! Next time, next time...

I was also fortunate enough to recieve awards from Valli at More Than Burnt Toast, which I will detail for you tomorrow before I head out to the Brooklin Fair with Andrew and Teaghan to watch some serious demolition derby action! Thank you in advance to you, Valli!