Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Summer Salad: Savory Bliss



Summer in the San Joaquin Valley, for my my wife and I, means savory tossed salads. It is local tomato and produce time, and we love to toss in every veggie we can think of. Prices are great this time of year too, in the stores and Farmer's Markets.
To boot, there is fresh lettuce, Romaine and Iceberg, spinach, tomatoes, regular and cherry [had a bunch of "volunteer plants" from last year's crop sprout up by themselves!], purple cabbage (for color) red onions, some basil, and a spice we recently discovered in our yard [which I thought was a weed] and Mexicans love, "Ipazote", which has an incredible aroma and taste, and maybe a dash of cilantro.
Sometimes, we use radishes, mushrooms, and always some celery. We love experiment, on occasion cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and bell peppers. The new red and orange ones have incredible flavor, an excellent way to clean out your "refridge"!
We experiment. Tossed some white grapes in one time and wow, a delight. Staple dressings are olive oil and vinegar and then to each his own! For lunch, we will open a can of Tuna and mix in some Ranch and stir it around. A nice touch is to shred some boiled egg over the top.
I suppose a big part of this feast is simply the textures and colors, Being an artist, the salad above was really a work of art, and I rushed to photograph it before it was spoiled by a fork.

Blessed be God, for this abundance and Daily Bread!

Thought I'd toss this out, for what it's worth. Double click the image for full effect.

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