Let's talk about SALAD!!

Forget the dinky old side salad with iceberg lettuce, a pale chunk of tomato and a few pathetic slices of flavorless cucumber with bottled dressing. No no no. It is time to start making salads that we want to eat. Let's make them the delicious centerpiece of our meal. I am talking flavor train with multiple stops - salads are the perfect opportunity to get super creative in the kitchen and pump up the body with ultimate nutrition.

My college drawing professor, the amazingly talented Barry Moser, told me that "great art relies on the tension between opposites".  This idea struck a deep chord and has greatly affected how live I general and how I create meals specifically. I have found that salads are a fantastic avenue for exploring this idea. When you go beyond the cliche salad and start thinking about various greens and veggies, herbs, fruits, cheeses, beans, nuts and homemade dressings, it becomes clear that the possibilities are literally endless. Sweet fruits paired with bitter greens, crunchy nuts juxtaposed by creamy cheeses, hearty beans contrasted by light herbs -  this is where things start to get interesting.

With a fresh new bounty of CSA goodies, yesterday I created what might possibly be the best salad I have ever eaten. Let me explain.

First I began with the greens. Arugula and CSA lettuce and chard were chopped into uniform sizes (the way you cut the salad ingredients goes a long way in making the whole thing come together, so give it some thought).

Then, the herbs. CSA parsley and basil from my garden, coarsely chopped.

Next came the reds. CSA radish and beets from last week's share, along with organic tomatoes from vermont (found at Hannaford in New London).

Then CSA carrots and farmer's market cucumber. Also, some pineapple I had in the fridge, chopped pretty small (this is a great accent-flavor, not the highlight of the salad but a nice little surprise) and some canned organic garbanzo beans (that don't cost much more than non-organic canned beans, so it is an easy transition to make to ensure minimal chemical intruders). All tossed together.

Finally, I made an other-wordly salad dressing, the idea for which just seemed to be channeled through me from some divine source (like all good ideas are). It was a raspberry, balsamic, garlic glaze that went something like this:

• Farmer's market raspberry jam 
• Balsamic vinegar 
• Juice from half a lemon
• A few cloves of finely chopped garlic
• Not Just Salt seasoning
• A few dashes of cayenne pepper

The end result was a sweet and hot dressing that almost rearranged the soul. The two different sweetnesses of the raspberry jam and the balsamic went perfectly with the bite of the garlic and the warm, tingly sensation delivered by the cayenne pepper. It really worked. Adding some large flakes of parmesan cheese, the salad was complete. 

As my boyfriend Jon and I enjoyed this salad, the room was silent. After 10 minutes, he set down his fork in his empty bowl and said he could feel himself "leveling up". And I agreed. Marvelous. Try it.