Get your salad on
For me, salad is a vehicle to enhance tomatoes…now that might not seem like a big deal to you… but to me…well, I’m looking to enhance natural perfection, so I try just a little bit harder each and every day.
This brilliant concoction was my lunch. It started with some fresh corn, lightly cooked and chilled, then cut from the cob. To that I added a diced onion from my CSA share, and a crisp, bright green bell pepper that actually smelled like a green bell pepper that I purchased from the delightful Gassen family at the Westside Farmers’ Market. I added in some shrimp, and tossed it with a combination of mango chilli vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, chili oil, and dried chipotle. I was specifically look for a sweet, citrusy burn…one where the burn isn’t apparent right away but sneaks in…not overwhelming but more ladylike. But stand back now because this is where I got my freak on (so to speak), I added 4 slices of dried, chilied mango diced finely. This absolutely made the salad come alive and dance.
Easy as pie…really quick too. Obviously the bright colors made it a breeze to plate but I had the added benefit of those stunning red and green zebra-strip tomatoes. They have an nice acidic note so they married well with sweetish, citusy spice of the salad. Everything got a liberal toss of sea salt and that was it…the tomatoes and salad were not just marrying well…lord no…they were actually spooning. No lie!
4 Responses to “Get your salad on”
1 Ferdzy 28 July 2007 @ 1:12 pm
Wow, those are gorgeous.
2 Barry 28 July 2007 @ 9:00 pm
The tomatoes look like they are from Black Earth Valley (Dan Deneen) right next to the Gassen/Statz family at the Westside Community Market. They are wonderful at this point in the season. I agree that salads are vehicles for tomatoes; my problem is that I eat the tomatoes faster than I can ever plate them.
3 Amy 29 July 2007 @ 2:02 pm
Red currants always sit in our fridge too long. Eventually, we get around to making a syrup by boiling them in water and sugar (to taste), straining through mesh strainer, cooling, jarring, and sticking in the fridge until some flavor is needed in a cool, refreshing drink: Try a couple tablespoons of this syrup in sparkling water or iced tea.
4 Ros 30 July 2007 @ 9:06 am
Those are very pretty tomatoes, and with the salad on top, they look even better. The tomatoes I usually get here are so far from perfection that it’s not even worth bothering with them. I need to start making room in my rucksack for the nice ones at Borough.
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