A salad CAN be a meal
I am a salad lover. I think there are so many possibilities to a salad, and unlike cooking, you really can’t go terribly wrong if you have too much or too little of an ingredient (except maybe the dressing).
This particular salad is more of a Jonny creation, than a Rachel one, which is why I will give him FULL credit.
The Ingredients:
- Two kinds of lettuce: looseleaf lettuce in both purple and dark green
- Red peppers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cooked and seasoned chicken (Cambodian ground pepper and sea salt)
- Chopped dates
- Sliced green olives
- Avocado
- Chopped broccoli
- Chopped walnuts
- Dressing: Balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil and lemon juice
Now, I could tell you how we made this salad, but is that absolutely necessary? Personally, I don’t think so. When it comes to salads, the ingredient list is more important than the steps of preparation. A child can whip up a salad, so you should be able to without instruction from one who doesn’t follow instructions anyways.
My main point is to get creative with your salads. If you don’t have dates, that’s fine! Use figs, raisins, or another dried fruit. Add nuts, legumes, any kind of vegetable, and try various meats. Experiment with flavors and surprise yourself! Some things will be a hit, others not so much.
The only thing you can really screw up is over doing the dressing. A salad that looks and has the texture of soup, can no longer be a true salad. So if you happen to get too dressing happy, you better hope and pray that you have extra lettuce to soak up the excess!
I baked up some cubed sweet potatoes to go alongside the salad and seasoned them with olive oil, salt, and our ‘go-to’ pepper. I baked them on medium heat in our little toaster over for about 25 minutes, then turned up the heat to high for another 10 minutes to give them a nice brown, crispy outside.They are so delicious and remind me a little of sweet potato fries.
We tried a new wine this time from HomePlus. It is a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from Frontera Vineyards. This may be one of my favorites that we’ve tried in Korea. It is a nice dry and bitter wine with A full body and a good aroma. I will definitely be buying it again!
Overall, this was an excellent meal. I know some people say that salad is not ‘filling’, but with the right ingredients you should be able to feel both full and satisfied from a salad style meal. In addition, it is nice to have something cool and fresh to eat for the summer that doesn’t leave you with that gross heavy feeling in your stomach.
So, try out our suggestions and a new ingredient, and start tossing!
