A nice bright salad

Why are things that taste good so labor intensive? Not everything of course, but this certainly qualifies. My mom found the recipe and we made it twice while I was in WI visiting. I made it today to go with a Mexican-inspired dinner.


Fiesta Salad

1 (1 1/2 pound) jicama, peeled
1 medium zucchini
1 red apple, cored, quartered
2 green onions cut into 2 inch pieces
6 sprigs fresh parsley
1 (1/2 ounce) package fresh cilantro
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 c (2 ounce) pine nuts, toasted

Cut jicama, zucchini and apple into 2 X 1/8 inch julienne strips; combine in bowl.

With blender or food processor running, drop onion, parsley and cilantro through feed tube, processing until minced. Turn machine off; add lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper. With machine running, slowly add oil through feed tube, processing until thick. Pour dressing over salad; toss to combine. Refrigerate, covered, 1 to 2 hours.

To serve: Drain excess dressing; sprinkle with pine nuts.

Makes about 8 cups.

Tomato share

Tomatillos, cherry tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes, mesclun, sweet salad turnips, zucchini, eggplant, sweet peppers, basil, cilantro, Maplebrook Farm mozzarella, Elmore Mountain bread, and Butterworks Farm yogurt.

Whew! Not an onion in sight! It's a bit of a relief given the share over the past several weeks.

When I get the share I usually try to process some of the veggies right away to make room in the refrigerator for other things. Today, I made salsa with the tomatillos and cilantro, cleaned and sliced the turnips for quick snacking or use in salads, chopped, blanched, and froze the turnip greens for future use.

I also used some of the veggies to make dinner. First I followed my neighbor's recipe for zucchini which is shred it, squeeze out all possible moisture, chop some garlic and cook in olive oil for a minute, add the zucchini and cook until the moisture is gone. I liked it but Sam didn't.

I also fried eggplant...dipped in egg then cornmeal and fried in sunflower oil. Not a hit.

Then, in order to use the tempeh we got ages ago I cooked it with hot sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger and we all hated it.

It was a dinner of misses. No one really liked anything. Ah well, live and learn.