The secret to refreshing summer wraps?

Shaved cucumber slices (use your veggie peeler).

Seriously.  It's that easy.

The avocado, tomato, yellow pepper, lettuce, mustard seed salami helped too.  All piled on top of a plain corn tortilla.

Add a splash of lemon juice with a dash of hot chili pepper and grind some fresh white pepper corns and it is really an easy masterpiece to pull off when the temperatures outside are hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk and you can't bear the thought of any food being heated.

Cucumber is a 'cooling' vegetable too, did you know that?  That is why Indian food often includes a side dish of cukes, usually with plain yogurt.  So shave away those cucumbers and keep the heat down.

Boring old rice cakes? Not here!

Living a gluten free diet usually involves the use of rice cakes. I don't eat very many of them anymore because of their processed food status.

This recipe at least makes them interesting ;)

I purchased all of the ingredients at Karma Food Co-op. The cabbage is from Ontario...the purple kale is from Florida.

Organic Brown Rice Cakes (3 cakes)
Organic Purple Cabbage (1/2 cup chopped)
Avocado (1/2)
Organic Purple Kale (1/2 cup chopped)
1/4 cup organic ground flax/sesame/pumpkin/sunflower seed combo (I grind this in batches fresh from seed in a consumer grade coffee grinder...use a 2:2:1:2 ratio)
4 pickled hot finger peppers (in glass jar, Melo's Hot Finger Peppers, product of Thailand)
1 tbsp hemp oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Creamy Sweet Salty and Spicy Chicken Salad (could be warmed)

Organic Beet (raw or cooked) - 1 medium sized root per person, I used raw finely chopped.
Organic Chicken (cooked) - one handful per person, I used leftover cold chicken.
Organic Squash (cooked) - 1/4-1/3 per person, I used leftover so it was cold but previously baked.
Regular Avocado (raw)- 1/2 per person, finely sliced after scooping out entire half
Regular Olive tapenade from Quebec (no tomatoes only olives and oil) - about 1 tbsp per person (at centre for garnish)
Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne, Hemp Oil, Sea Salt and Dulse to taste.

The dish could be warmed or slightly grilled. I've been enjoying the crunchy taste of raw beets this season so I didn't want to heat this salad. I like to eat all salads at room temperature so taking the ingredients out 1 hour before eating accommodates this.

Did you notice the creamy reference again? I'm only about 2 months completely off of dairy - I quit goat's milk/cheese @ Dec 1/2007 - so it's no wonder I'm seeking out ways to incorporate the creamy goodness of avocados into my diet more often!