Featuring a not-so-common herb, this summer savory garlic salt is absolutely delicious sprinkled on fresh sliced tomatoes or lightly steamed green beans.

My friend Teri religiously listens to The Splendid Table on NPR radio. Knowing I’m always looking for fun and easy recipes using the fresh herbs we find in our farm share box, she recommended a Splendid Table broadcast about Sally Schneider’s Tuscan Herb Salt. This summer savory garlic salt is a riff on Ms. Schneider’s Tuscan herb salt.

Summer savory garlic salt is super easy to make. You pulse the garlic in a food processor, and then mix in the salt and fresh summer savory herbs. Transfer onto a baking sheet and let dry a few days in open air. Use it to season vegetables, eggs, pasta, or whatever you want. Follow this easy method to make any flavor herb salt you wish.

A little bit about salt that you’ll find in my pantry:

• I use Kosher Flake Real Salt. For its sweet taste (as opposed to bitter), its slight pink color, and calico flecks of brown and grey from the extra minerals, Real Salt is the best! Real Salt is mined in Redmond Utah, in the center of this state. It comes to us unrefined, with more than 60 trace minerals intact. It is not processed by heat nor does it come from a huge industrial plant that makes sodium chloride mainly for fertilizer and de-icing.
• I have some specialty“ finishing” salts too. Like Australian Murray River flake salt, which is fantastic on fresh vegetables. To dress up potatoes and eggs, I like to sprinkle them with black truffle salt.
• Is all salt–table salt, kosher salt, flake salt, rock salt and sea salt nothing more than NaCl, sodium chloride? Technically and chemically yes, salt is salt, but I’d like to convince you that when it comes to seasoning with, and enjoying it, there is much more to salt.

Learn more about salt:

• In his beautifully illustrated book, Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes (affiliate link), Bitterman explains how and why and to appreciate salt’s diversity, especially when it comes to the kitchen. He details the craft and history of salt, with sidebars about our sense of taste, and the science of salt. He discusses salt’s relationship to our body, and the iodization of salt.
• Years ago I was lucky to attend a salt tasting workshop with “selmelier”Mark Bitterman. I learned how geography, environment (terroir), and production methods affect salt’s crystal shape, its flavor, color, and mineral makeup. We sampled more than 20 salts, including a Japanese flaked salt that’s evaporated over fire. In miniscule pinches, We got to try a fine delicate grey salt skimmed from the sea and then evaporated by the sun, and a pink rock salt mined in Pakistan. 
• Learn for yourself. Choose a few of the salts suggested in Bitterman’s book and try them on something simple, like potatoes.

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Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Summer Savory and Garlic Salt

Make more of this herb salt than you’ll need, put it in little jars and give it as gifts! This salt takes 10 minutes to put together and a couple of days to dry on the kitchen counter.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic , peeled
• 2 teaspoons plus 4 teaspoons larger flake salt (like kosher)
• ½ cup fresh summer savory leaves

Instructions

• Drop the garlic and the first 2 teaspoons of the salt into the work bowl of a food processor while the food processor is running. Process until the garlic is uniformly chopped.
• Add the summer savory leaves and pulse until the leaves are well chopped.
• Transfer to a baking sheet and mix in the remaining salt.
• Let the pan sit out for a few days until the herbs and garlic are obviously dry.
• Store in a jar.

This Kale and Quinoa Salad showcases two nutritional powerhouse ingredients! With a tangy lemon dressing and crunchy pumpkin seeds, it makes a great main course salad on a hot summer day, or a side dish for a barbeque or potluck party.

Massage your kale!

Massage the kale with your hands to break down the fiber, making it more pleasant to eat. The massage also gives the kale a brighter emerald color and helps the kale absorb the oil and lemon juice dressing.

You can use regular quinoa or tri-color rainbow quinoa.

You might also want to try this Outstanding Kale Salad with Sunflower Seed Pesto and Apricots.

Mind your Ks and Qs with kale and quinoa salad!

Make  it a wonderful week–get in the kitchen and make yourself a healthy salad!

To get my latest recipe posts and newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)

• Follow me on Instagram!
• Peruse my Pinterest boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
• Find more vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Kale and Quinoa Salad

This healthy salad can be varied in myriad ways using vegetables and grains of your choice. Makes 8 to 10 servings, depending on what you put in your salad.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: kale, quinoa

Servings: 8 servings.

Calories: 231kcal

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup tri-color or regular quinoa
• ½ teaspoon plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ cups water
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice , or rice vinegar
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• Large pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 bunch curly kale , washed
• 4 each green onions , chopped
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

• Rinse the quinoa. In a saucepan, bring the water and ½ teaspoon of the salt to a boil. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
• Let stand and allow to cool 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
• Make a dressing with the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, remaining salt and cayenne. Set aside.
• Strip and discard the stems from the kale—them chop into ¼-inch by 1-inch strips. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the kale and massage theleaves with your hands, until the leaves are darker and have reduced in volumeby about one-third.
• Add the cooled quinoa to the bowl. Add the green onions, cilantro, and pumpkin seeds. 
• Pour the vinaigrette on top and toss everything together. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. This salad keepswell, chilled, for several days.

Notes

• Vary this salad according to what you have on hand. Start with 2 cups of any cooked grain. Add your personal mix of crunchy and leafy vegetables, including a flavorful allium, like garlic scapes, green onions, or chopped chives. Dress with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.
• To wilt your kale, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. If you don’t want to use a microwave, blanch the kale in boiling water, then shock it in ice water to keep the bright green color.

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 157mg | Potassium: 256mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1791IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg