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Shades of Green Salad

June 4, 2015 By Lauren

mixin

In traditional Chinese medicine, Spring is representative of Earth, the wood element, and, in the body, the liver and tendons.  It’s said to create the color green, the sight of which “nourishes the soul through the eyes”, clearing the vision and the way towards new sight. (Pitchford, 317).

Geneva is currently teeming with green.  I notice that the tomato plants on our tiny balcony stretch taller each morning.  My legs feel less and less sore after every hilly bike-ride.  I dipped in the lake yesterday for a few fresh moments, and I’ll dip again today.  It won’t be long until a proper swim is within reach or stroke or paddle.

wildasparagus

This Winter was my first full Winter in Geneva, and it sometimes felt long, dark.  Untangling the threads of all of my interests, forging a path through what often feels like bramble hasn’t been easy, but where there is bramble there is also potential and as I’m submerged in so many shades of green this Spring my eyes no longer see only thorn, but white rose, sweet berry, and even sweet-berry-crumble with a side of raw cream.

The dietary recommendations for Spring, in traditional Chinese medicine, are to fill your plate with shades of green–sweet green, bitter green, pungent green, green that renews, that revitalizes–creating a “personal Spring within”.  (Pitchford, 317).  Not a tall order considering the bulk of market stands at the moment: asparagus, green peas, snow peas, sorrel, mâche, spinach, chard, butter-head lettuce, fennel, romanesco, kolhrabi, sage, mint, parsley, thyme–chartreuse, fern-green, hunter-green, jade, and on and on.

greenpeas asparaguss

Summer, in all its heat and expansiveness, is just a little more than two weeks away.  Soon there will be strawberries, and aubergines, and squash, and tomatoes, stronger legs and warmer waters and a path forged further ahead.

For now, a recipe with many shades of green for nourishing that personal Spring within.

sesame mix

What’s your favorite Spring-time green?

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Shades of Green Salad

Recipe adapted from Ottolenghi's Plenty More

Ingredients

    For the salad:
  • 10 asparagus spears, trimmed and sliced diagonally into 3 pieces
  • 100 grams or 2 handfuls green peas, shelled fresh
  • 100 grams or 2 handfuls snow peas, trimmed
  • 1 bunch wild asparagus (optional)
  • 1 bunch sorrel, sliced into ribbons
  • 1 shallot, very thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • For the dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • pinch salt

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with very cold water. Once water is boiling, place asparagus in pot and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and place in cold water immediately. Repeat this process with green peas (blanch for 5 minutes), snow peas (3 minutes), and wild asparagus (1 minute). Drain everything and pat dry.
  2. Toast sesame seeds in cast-iron skillet on medium heat for 5 minutes or so, or until seeds start to brown.
  3. Mix together oil, honey, vinegar and salt in a small jar, shaking vigorously.
  4. Place the asparagus, green peas, snow peas and wild asparagus in a large bowl. Add sorrel, shallot, sesame seeds and dressing. Mix all together and serve.
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Filed Under: Plant, Recipes, Seasons, Sides, Spring, Vegetable Tagged With: asparagus, greenpeas, greens, ottolenghi, salad, snowpeas, sorrel, spring, wildasparagus

Chicken Caesar Salad, Rediscovered

April 17, 2015 By Lauren

yasFrom the ages of 9 through 14, every time my family and I went out to eat, I’d order the same exact thing: a coke and a chicken Caesar salad.  And while I’d like to think that there was some prescient nutritional know-how occurring there (outside of the coke, of course), the truth of those chicken Caesar days-of-yore is that I just really loved grilled chicken and creamy dressing and the combination of those two things was my young idea of perfection.

Now, if this were any other nutritionally-orientated food-blog, this would probably be a cautionary tale.  Raw egg + anchovies + an ordinary (i.e. not kale) lettuce + toasted bread + a mountain (if prepared properly) of grated cheese?  Those ingredients certainly don’t fit within the restrictions of many dietary labels, and especially not all at once, all on one plate, or bowl, as it were.

parm-caesar

Up until this past Winter, I, too, had nearly forgotten this childhood obsession classic.  It wasn’t until I was preparing dinner with an exceptionally empty fridge–a couple eggs, half a head of frisée, a jar of anchovies for adding to take-away pizzas–that I remembered ye olde Caesar salad.  Naturalmente! And it wasn’t until I was on wikipedia researching the origins of this salad that I learned it’s not the ancient Roman tradition I’d always thought it to be–my vision being limited to togas, doric columns, orgies, gladiator sandals and chicken Caesar salads–but, in a shocking turn of events, a Tijuana one!

dressingmm caesar

Caesar Cardini was no emperor, but an Italian-American restaurant-owner who opened a restaurant in Mexico to avoid the restrictions of prohibition.  As in the case of my rediscovery of Caesar’s namesake salad, the original was created out of an empty fridge and an industrious spirit.  Some even say it all happened on the fourth of July.

The Caesar salad is my kind of tradition: one that combines many cultural influences, that improvises, that creates plenty from what is seemingly empty.  Sadly, the majority of the Caesar salads of today, and my days-of-yore, rely on bottled dressing, imported lettuce, battery-raised chicken and processed cheese.  This salad is a prime example of the importance of using quality ingredients to create a meal that is both satisfying and nourishing.

dressingtrois dressingdeuxChicken Caesar salad can be an incredibly nourishing mealtime choice, if prepared without the use of a bottled dressing.  I’ve spoken before about the enzymatic benefits of a condiment like the Caesar’s raw egg-and-olive-oil based dressing.  Prepared with oily anchovies, Springtime’s wild garlic, and a fermented apple-cider vinegar this dressing also contains anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty-acids, the anti-viral properties of garlic and the pro-digestive properties of fermented vinegar.

anchovie egg springarlic Use some locally-grown Romaine lettuce, some Spring onions or a stored Winter one, a chunk of raw-milk Parmigiano Reggiano (plain ol’ grocery-store parmesan is highly processed and made from pasturized milk), and some roasted chicken from a pasture-raised hen and you’ve got one heck of a nourishing and satisfying Spring-time meal.  Hail Caesar!

tableside

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Chicken Caesar Salad, Rediscovered

Ingredients

    For the dressing
  • 1 egg yolk, from a pasture-raised hen
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 4 anchovies, minced
  • 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup wild garlic, minced
  • pinch salt & pepper, to taste
  • For the croutons:
  • Chunk of rye, sourdough bread, sliced into bite-sized chunks
  • 1 teaspoon ghee
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • For the salad:
  • 1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 spring onion or 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 roasted chicken breast, sliced into strips
  • chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Directions

    For the dressing:
  1. Whisk together egg yolk, mustard and anchovies in a bowl. Slowly add olive-oil, starting with only a few drops at a time and increasing the amount as the mixture begins to emulsify (congeals). (This is the same technique as making mayo, the slower you add at the beginning, the more likely it is for the dressing to properly emulsify. Don't rush this step!) Whisk in vinegar, adding more tablespoons until the dressing is the consistency (the vinegar makes it more liquid and less creamy) you desire. Mix in garlic and add salt & pepper to taste. Pour into jar and set aside.
  2. For the croutons:
  3. Heat ghee in cast-iron pan on medium heat. Add bread-chunks in pan, adding salt and pepper. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn chunks to opposite side in pan. Let cook for another 2-3 minutes. Place on plate and let cool while preparing the salad.
  4. For the salad:
  5. Layer lettuce, onion, chicken and bread crumbs in a big salad bowl. Grate a mountain of Parmigiano on top. Pour dressing over everything and mix table-side. Serve and celebrate!
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Filed Under: Animal, Chicken, Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Seasons, Spring Tagged With: chicken, dinner, lunch, salad, spring, wildgarlic

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