Salad Theory
I was never really a fan of salads , until I figured out what it takes to make a salad great. This recipe came from a Nigella Lawson article in the New York Times and it changed my salad making ways forever. When I ate it, a light bulb went off and I came up with my salad theory. What you need for a really stellar salad is some distinctive greens, a cheese, a nut and a fruit (or a sweet vegetable like beets or roasted squash). 
Nigella's recipe is lost but you don't really need one anyway. Just chop up a head of radicchio, roast some butternut squash, toast some pepitas, crumble some feta and add your favorite dressing. Today I made mine with fig balsamic and some of the oil from the feta yummies (my friend Sue and I came up with this name when we were young and poor and these were a splurge. I know now that I could make my own but then they wouldn't feel like a treat.) This is a visually stunning salad and it's delicious too. The flavors and the contrasting textures combine to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.Next time you are stuck for a salad idea, start with a green, a cheese, a nut and a fruit. You won't be disappointed.
posted by leedav @ 8:59 PM
4 Comments:
I was under the understanding that squash is a vegetable. As are tomatoes.
Thanks for the theory - so simple, but so right!
(Sam, botanically speaking, squash and tomatoes are fruit, but you're right, in cooking they're considered vegetables. Either way they're good, eh?)
Great blog! I think this one could be developed into an artice. Catchy title.
Technically, squash are berries, believe it or not. From wikipedia:
"Squash is considered a Berry, with outer wall or rind formed from receptacle tissue fused to the exocarp; the Fleshy interior is composed of mesocarp and endocarp."
And, technically, there is no such thing as a "tomato".
Thomas
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