March 11: Watercress and Herbs

The last time I tried this "herb salad mix" it was very short on herbs, so I decided to spice it up a bit with some watercress and a dill dressing. This was one of my busiest salads, with a lot going on, but it was also pretty good if you can judge by how quickly I downed it. I was a little iffy about the watercress when I tried it on its own, but in the salad it was lovely.

Tonight while I was making this, I was babysitting my youngest grandchild, who is developing quite the personality. I convinced him that he likes carrots, but that's as far as we got with vegetables tonight. He's just cut his second tooth, so he's not ready for salad yet. My eldest grandchild makes up for that; she not only likes her salads, she's made them a cool trend at her high school! She took fresh salads every day, no matter how much her friends laughed at her, and before long, she had them all converted. That's my girl!

Recipe:
Toss a purchased herb salad mix with watercress leaves. Add bacon bits, yellow grape tomatoes, cubed kohlrabi, and toasted whole natural almonds. Toss in a creamy dill dressing.

Dressing: Whisk together amounts of brine from garlic dill pickles and  mayonnaise (if you can tolerate milk products, this would be excellent with sour cream/yogurt). Add a bit of dried dill for an extra flavour boost.

March 10: Fruity Spinach Salad

Today's salad was inspired by my son's lunch. My daughter-in-law packed him the most beautiful salad for lunch, and I couldn't resist making my own version of it. His had a few more ingredients, but I know there is no way it's better than mine!

My son works in a cheese factory, where the employees have milk and chocolate milk on tap. Luckily, he's not lactose intolerant, so he gets to enjoy it. He tells me that in years past they threw away all kinds of bi-products of the cheese making process, but nowadays, they don't waste anything. They sell whey to makers of protein drinks, and lactose to makers of pig food, and they refine the waste over and over until all that is left is a product called "cow water," which they use as a coolant for their machinery. Now that's pretty cool! It gives me hope that industry has finally figured out that we need to stop wasting so much.

My son's fridge is full of cheese choices, although they don't come from work. He and his wife have higher tastes in cheese, like the lovely soft goat cheese I found in their fridge and added to my salad today. It's always a good choice with fruit. The lemony dressing was the perfect finishing touch.

Recipe.
On a bed of fresh baby spinach, sprinkle fresh raspberries and seedless grapes. Scatter on some crumbles of soft goat cheese, and drizzle with a creamy lemon dressing.

Dressing: 1/3 cup mayo, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 packet Splenda (or 1 teaspoon sugar). Whip it all together until it's foamy.

March 9: Sashimi Salad

 I'm spending the weekend with my second son and his family in the Fraser Valley, where Spring is finally happening. They are all foodies, so I love raiding their fridge and cupboards for my salads. (Today I found this beautiful Spring Mix to use as a base, and a strawberry-kiwi applesauce for my dressing.) They also make a special effort to make me feel welcome-- actually, come to think of it, all of my kids do that. I'm a pretty lucky mommy.

Lunch today was sushi with my #1 granddaughter, made even more exciting because for the first time ever, she got to drive me around town! She's a pretty good driver too; the only thing she needs is a bit more confidence, but then, don't we all? We ordered a huge plate of assorted sashimi, so of course I had to take some home for salad, because I just love a good sashimi salad! This one has an applesauce dressing, which is absolutely divine with sushi, although I found out today that I prefer just plain applesauce in this dressing.

Of course it goes without saying that sashimi must be refrigerated and treated with care. I prefer to do everything else first and add the the sashimi at the very last minute, so that it is in the fridge for as long as possible. I have never made my own sashimi because it makes me nervous, but I'd like to hear from anyone who has, whether or not you've had any success with it. Maybe I will get brave enough to give it a go.

Recipe:

For dressing, mix together 1/2 cup applesauce, 2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey.


Toss together Spring mix with shredded daikon. If your sashimi is in large pieces, you will want to slice it into smaller ones using a very sharp knife. Toss in the sashimi (I used red and white tuna, salmon, red snapper and octopus) and top with dressing. Garnish with pickled ginger and lemon slices.

March 8: "Everything's better with basil"

My daughter has a huge basil plant growing in her windowsill, and she invited me to raid it today. In fact, this salad was entirely her idea, which is proof that I raised some pretty smart kids! This was my lunch, but it would make a perfect starter, or even a dessert, if the strawberries are as ripe and sweet as these.

The basil plant is living in a high window, out of the reach of baby Tommy, who is almost one-and-a-half. When I came in last night, the first thing I noticed was that the dining area looked huge. This is because the table, which was always in the centre, is now pushed up against a wall to keep Tommy from climbing up it and trying to climb onto the chandelier. He's as that great age, jut like his cousin Delilah, when babies discover the vertical. It keeps their moms hopping, and today it's keeping me hopping too.

How-to: pinch basil leaves off a plant and arrange in a dish (this is one of my daughter's corn-cob dishes; I liked the shape for this salad). Slice strawberries over top and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar.

March 7: Herb Garden Salad

Today I wanted something simple and fresh. I found a nice spring herbs mixture and some tiny gold tomatoes (they are a lot more yellow than they look here) and tossed it with a few snap peas and some seed. Add a little oil and vinegar, and that's all it takes. You don't need much when you've got some nice herbs to work with. That said, this particular mixture was kind of short on herbs; I would like to find one with a better balance, but I will probably have to create my own.

How-to: Start with a mixture of baby lettuces and herbs, along with tiny sweet yellow tomatoes, halved, and chunks of sugar snap peas. Add some pumpkin and sunflower seeds, a splash of white vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch each of salt and sugar.

March 6: Chinese Barbecue on Spinach

I am nuts about Chinese barbecue- I like it as much as I like dim sum. What I love most is soy sauce chicken, but barbecue pork, or sui chow, is a pretty close second. It's sweet, with a hint of ginger, and kind of chewy. I bought it at the Richmond Public Market, which is an experience in itself. I lived just a few blocks from the market for a few years, so it's got a sort of homey feel for me. When you go into a barbecue shop, or to a stall in this case, there are chickens, ducks and half-pigs hanging in the front window. The barbecue pork (different from barbecue pig- that's the one hanging up) is usually in huge trays underneath, in big chunks or slabs. It's boneless and covered in yummy sauce. You choose the piece you want, and the server takes a huge cleaver and chops it up for you. they are pretty amazing with those cleavers, and not a little scary when they chop into a chicken or duck. They put it into a container and ladle in some more sauce, which is what I used for dressing on this salad.

I used kohrabi today, as and it provided a lovely crunch and sweetness. In fact, this salad was all sweet; the pork, tomatoes, snap peas, kohlrabi and especially the sauce. Another time, I would mix a little vinegar with the sauce to give it some tang. The tomatoes, by the way, are not under-ripe; they are an heirloom pink tomato, and they were pretty good.

How-to: On a bed of  fresh baby spinach, sprinkle diced kohlrabi. Top and tail snap peas and cut in half, and quarter small tomatoes. Arrange the veggies on top and finish off with slices of hot Chinese barbecue pork. Drizzle the sauce from the pork (I'd add a little rice vinegar to it first) on top as a dressing.

March 5: Tak Kao Choy Salad

This is tak kao choy. It's not something that is usually served raw, but being a salad addict means seeing every vegetable as a potential salad. 

This is my tak kao choy salad, and it's pretty much as scrumptious as it looks, although the greens were a tiny bit on the chew side. This may have been because they were not quite as fresh as they could have been.

Tak kao choy is related to bok choy and sui choy, and a lot of other choys. Since my success with sui choy salads, I've been dreaming of trying  other Chinese greens in salad. Since I'm visiting Richmond for work, I dropped into my favourite Chinese market, where there are always eight to ten types of interesting greens, and most of them are called something with "choy"  (which according to my sources, means green). 

This morning when I popped into my very favourite dim sum place in Richmond, the waiter saw me and immediately went to the kitchen  for a plate of choy sum. This is my favourite choy to have cooked. It is quite a lot like swiss chard, but with a fuller flavour. They serve it steamed and stacked in uniform rows on a plate, like little soldiers. The stems are always on top, with the leaves underneath, because stems are considered the best part. I however enjoy both equally, especially dipped in the oyster-flavour sauce they always bring with it. I've tried most of the dim sum places in Richmond (which is actually a pretty amazing accomplishment) but my fave is called South Ocean Seafood. The food is not necessarily better than anywhere else, but the prices are good, and the people are wonderful. They treat you like you are a guest in their home, and they are there just to please you. One thing I really like about this place is that they don't make you order by ticking boxes on a little card with incomprehensible names (some don't even have English translations, which is how I ended up eating jellyfish salad and chicken cartilage one day). Instead, they wheel around little steam carts or carry huge trays full of goodies and you can choose what you like. If you ever go there, be sure to try the shrimp spring rolls, the stuffed eggplant and the mushroom rice rolls. I'm drooling again just thinking about it!

I picked up a couple of other things at the market to give my salad some interesting flavours. Daikon, that giant white Japanese radish, adds a nice little bite, and sugar snaps balance it with sweetness. Even sweeter are the roasted chestnuts on top. Peeled and roasted, sealed in a little foil bag, these things are a lovely snack. They are quite soft, with a texture a little like a bit of roasted potato, and a very mild, sweet flavour. The dressing was really good, and I wish I'd taken time to toss it with the greens and let it marinate.

Recipe: slice tak kao choy in 2-inch pieces. Top and tail sugar snap peas and cut into 1-inch pieces. Quarter cherry tomatoes and dice a chunk of daikon. Sprinkle roasted chestnuts on top. 

Dressing: 1/4 cup canola oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon apple-lime juice, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons soy sauce. Whisk it all together until the sugar is dissolved and drizzle over salad.