I’ve immediately gone from making raw soup after raw soup to throwing together various fresh salads. Literally. Spring has finally sprung and I’ve started wanting larger amounts of sprouts and light green leafies. I say “light” green as opposed to heavier greens such as collard and kale. Hearty green leafy vegetables like those are always welcomed additions to my menu, however recently romaine lettuce and fresh herbs such as cilantro and parsley have taken center stage. And my body is immensely enjoying their performances. [giggle]
Behold my latest creation… I call it my “Apricot-Dressed Anything Salad”. “Apricot-Dressed” because I made a quick and easy salad dressing of dried apricots, fresh lemon juice, first cold-pressed olive oil, Celtic sea salt and water. Yummy! “Anything Salad” because I just grabbed whatever I had available inside and outside of the fridge. Simple! So all together I guess you could say that what I ate was “Simply Yummy!” Hee! [squint]
I didn’t measure the ingredients for either the dressing or the salad. Sometimes I prefer to create by feel and taste rather than by a set of ratios. Times like that I’ve termed “Recipe FreeStyle”. Of course, whenever I want a dish to turn out as I expect it to, I’ll most definitely follow instructions. But not tonight! Tonight I went with the flow and the salad was perfect, dare I say nom-nom-licious!
You want to know what was in the salad, right? Sure you do! [wink] The ingredients gathered from inside of the fridge were romaine lettuce, sweet pea sprouts, red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, a shiitake mushroom cap (Yes, “a” shiitake mushroom cap. It was leftover from making a recipe the other day. Save those bits!), some broccoli, raw shelled hemp seeds, and raw walnuts. (The walnuts had been previously soaked and dehydrated, ready-to-go!) The ingredients gathered from outside of the fridge were raw black sesame seeds and raw dulse flakes (an excellent source of minerals). Like I previously mentioned, nothing was measured. I simply grabbed, chopped, sprinkled, tossed and then peered into the bowl to see if I wanted to add more of anything. Since I was mostly craving light greens and sprouts, I added a lot of romaine lettuce and sweet pea sprouts. It looked like two cups of roughly chopped romaine and about 1/3 cup of sweet pea sprouts. There was only a small piece of red bell pepper left, but I didn’t want much of that so the amount was perfect. It was maybe two tablespoons of red bell pepper chopped large. Maybe? There was already a small piece of onion cut away from the red onion bulb, so I just used most of that. I think it ended up being close to what looked like a tablespoon of medium-chopped red onion. The cilantro was also left over from a previous recipe, probably four stems. I plucked the leaves from the stems, tore them by hand into smaller pieces and added them to the bowl. (No mincing for me tonight!) I adore cilantro, though before eating raw I used to absolutely hate it (one example of how my taste preference changed). So chomping down on a chunk of cilantro every few bites is actually now, for me, a treat. I only used two stems of broccoli, each about medium thickness. I cut away the toughest part of the each broccoli stem and chopped them into pieces about a 1/4 inch thick. Then I chopped the two flower tops into small pieces and added all of the broccoli bits to the bowl. I think I ended up with about 1/4 cup of chopped broccoli bits. The one shiitake mushroom cap added a nice earthy element. I sliced it in half and cubed it medium. I have no idea how many walnut halves I included. Maybe 5 or 6? I actually just broke the nuts into small pieces by hand and dropped them into the bowl. At first I thought I added too many walnut pieces, but after giving the ingredients a quick mix everything seemed balanced (for how I felt). Last I sprinkled the top with what appeared to be a tablespoon or so each of hemp seeds and black sesame seeds, and what appeared to be a half of a teaspoon of dulse flakes. Then I gave the mixture another toss. Remember when I mentioned here that sometimes I’ll be lazy about making salad dressings and will just drizzle a few things over the top of my mix and then toss and tweak where necessary? I almost decided to do that, but then I noticed the apricots.
So for the salad dressing, I first blended together a few dried apricots* with a small amount of water until I reached the texture I wanted. Even though the initial mixture only included apricots and water, I tasted it to gain a better sense of what all to add next. It was sweet enough, thick enough and not too watered down. After I sampled it, I knew that I definitely wanted to add some lemon juice for tartness and zing. I squeezed the juice from half of a lemon directly into the blender. Then I thought to add a splash of olive oil as I knew it would give the overall flavor more depth and also help create an emulsion. After another quick blend, I tasted the mixture again. The only thing I felt it needed was salt, but only a tiny pinch. One last whiz and the flavor was just right. The lemon juice gave the dressing a nice tang and complemented the sweetness of the apricots. The splash of olive oil and tiny bit of sea salt enhanced it further. Don’t let my explanation of the process fool you. It was a quick and simple dressing to make. Really!
The last step was to marry the salad with the dressing. The size of the salad and the amount of dressing matched perfectly, and the medley of flavors blended together wonderfully. I even made a last-second decision to sprinkle some fresh-cracked black pepper on top. And it was “mmmmm….” Oh, but I said that already! [smile]
A few tips…
To help limit your exposure to harmful pesticide residues and waxed coatings often associated with conventional produce, try to purchase organically grown fruits and vegetables as often as possible.
*If your apricots are not soft and pliable, you can soak them in a small amount fresh water, just enough to cover the apricots, for fifteen minutes or longer until they plump up enough for ease in chopping and blending. If you store your apricots in the refrigerator, they will become stiff from the cold but will usually soften up somewhat after being left out at room temperature for a while. If they still seem hard, then definitely utilize the soak method.
Ingredient recap:
Recipe FreeStyle: “Apricot-Dressed Anything Salad”
Anything Salad Ingredients (freely measured)
- romaine lettuce
- sweet pea sprouts
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- cilantro
- shiitake mushroom
- broccoli
- raw shelled hemp seeds
- raw black sesame seeds
- raw dulse flakes
- raw walnuts
Apricot Dressing Ingredients (freely measured)
- dried apricots
- pure water
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- first cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil
- Celtic sea salt
Garnish (optional)
- fresh-cracked black pepper
For more salad ideas, check out:
Motley Mix with Creamy-Style Dressing
Ginger-Citrus and Spinach
Red Kale and Bok Choy Salad
A Bowlful of Yum
And also these posts from the “What I Ate” category:
What I Ate: In The Midday
What I Ate: Leaning Tower of Kimchee
What I Ate: Early Morning Salad
So! I made a salad. “And the crowd goes wild!” *green leafy confetti* I call it “Motley Mix” because I threw together left-over raw pizza ingredients (yes, we had pizza night again, as promised) along with some cucumber, zucchini, avocado, fresh basil, and green leaf and romaine lettuces. It was a surprisingly filling yumfest. The only things we didn’t have left over from raw pizza night were the buckwheat crust and the “roasted” onions. However, we did have “roasted” mushrooms and peppers, red tomatoes, and enough raw savory spread to make two comfortable helpings of “Motley Mix with Creamy-Style Dressing”. I peeled and spiral sliced the zucchini, peeled and chopped the cucumber, finely shredded the lettuces and fresh basil, and seeded and chopped the avocado. Into the bowl those went. Since the mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes were already prepped, I simply threw them in with the other ingredients and gave everything a thorough toss. I decided to give my salad some kick and added a nice dose of red chili flakes. “Mmmm…” Next I made the dressing. This is where the raw savory spread came in. I was in a vinaigrette mood so to the savory spread I added some raw apple cider vinegar, a dash of raw agave and a few generous pinches of Celtic sea salt. The dressing ingredients were barely measured as I went mostly by taste. After I blended the salad dressing with the ingredients, the only thing more I felt was need was another pinch or two of salt. I divided the ingredients between two medium-sized bowls and topped each salad with a sprinkling of fresh-cracked black pepper. “Voila!” Dinner was served. [big smile]
