Salads!

I know I am due for another "catch up on food" blog (as I've still got July and August to talk about. If I can remember any of those, even...) However, I wanted to show my vast reader base [pause for laughter] some interesting salad recipes. My friend, S, found these; Mark Bittman, author of the How to Cook Everything series, writes a column for the NY Times called "The Minimalist." While I haven't read too many of these, I can only assume that he's trying to get people truly back to simple, delicious food. So, without further ado, please visit Bittman's 101 Simple Salads for the Season. And then go make some.

S and I declared Friday night "food night." Original plan was to make some salads, then go see Food Inc. (Clearly we had to eat before seeing the movie, as the movie was going to make us feel terrible about everything we eat. And we're vegetarians...) Between an addition to our duo and some wine, the movie changed (to Julie & Julia,) but the salads remain.

So, I bring you: Five of a Hundred-and-One

[Also, apologies on the poor image quality... I was tweeting, so I used my phone to take the pictures.]

No. 2

"Mix wedges of tomato and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Astonishing."

And "astonishing" it is. S has actually made this a couple of times recently, but it's just so fresh and delicious, we couldn't NOT have it at salad night. (We used lime juice, and, lacking red pepper, added a bit of cayenne.)

No. 7

"Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft."

This was such a WEIRD combination. But it worked. SO GOOD. I joked through the meal that I kept trying to pick a favourite and couldn't; while this is true, this was one of my top three. (Of five, but whatever.)

No. 9

"Chop or slice jicama (or radishes or kholrabi) and mango and mix with coconut milk, lime juice, curry powder and cilantro or mint."

By default (lack of certain produce at Shaw's,) we used radishes here. I love love love jicama, so I was a little bummed at first. However, the little heat that radishes bring worked perfectly with the mango, curry and lime juice. Kind of inspired me to want to do more with radishes - they're so good, but vegetables that I wouldn't normally think of... (Another top three.)

No. 10

"Cook whole grape tomatoes in olive oil over high heat until they brown lightly, sprinkling with curry powder. Cool a bit, then toss with chopped arugula, loads of chopped mint and lime juice."

Again, with the lack of selection at Shaw's, we bought baby spinach instead of arugula. Then, getting nervous that spinach and mint wouldn't do well together, we made two versions - one with spinach, one without. They were both lovely. And, the tomatoes cooking in the oil smelled amazing.

No. 39

"Yukatecan street food as salad: Roast fresh corn kernels in a pan with a little oil; toss with cayenne or minced chilis, lime juice and a little queso fresco. Cherry tomatoes are optional."

And, the final of my top 3. Instead of queso fresco, we used smoked fresh mozzarella. (Queso frsco = fresh cheese = fresh mozzarella?) Which was amazing. Going forward, I'd add some black pepper. But, this was just so good...

And, there ends the Friday night of salads. There shall be more to come (salads with strawberries or cherries??? Yes, please!) But, if you decide to try any out, let me know how they go!