Sunday, November 13, 2016

Confetti Salad

I love salad but I hate the work: cleaning, cutting, chopping, etc ... 

Yet I spent a couple of hours in my kitchen this evening doing just that and I have a vat (you'll find I love hyperbole!) of good stuff to gnosh on throughout the week. It is inspired by a rainbow slaw from Rainbow Foods (peeps local to the Decatur, GA area will know this natural food store that has been around for 40+ years). 

Here's what I put in today's version: 
1/4 red cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, shredded (I wanted to put in two but only had one)
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped 
1 red bell pepper, chopped 
1 red onion, chopped 
2 apples, peeled and shredded 
1 cucumber, chopped 

I tossed it all together, then added the secret sauce: 
Brown Rice Vinegar
Toasted Sesame Oil 

I did not use any specific amount - I just chugged them over the confetti of veggies and tossed. Less is probably better than more, but then my personal preference is not to drown my food in sauce - whether it is a salad dressing or a gravy. (Butter would be the one exception!) You could also change the proportions on the veggies as well. 

I love Balsamic vinegar and Olive Oil - two great traditional combinations, but there is a certain "umami" flavor of the combination of Brown Rice Vinegar and Toasted Sesame Oil that just cannot be beat. Add the slight sweetness of the apples and the crunch of the veggies - yum! 

Earlier in the day I had set some dried garbanzo beans to soak, and then cooked them while I assembled the salad. Adding them to the salad makes for an easy meal. You can certainly use canned beans as well. 

If you want a more traditional salad with lettuce chop/clean your favorite type, put it in a bowl and add as much or as little of the "confetti" as you would like - toss and enjoy! For what it's worth - I have found that salad spinners are the best places to store lettuce if you do not use it all at once. I just wish they did not take up so much space in the fridge. 

I'll bring a container of this to work tomorrow to store in the fridge. I may supplement it with an easy chicken salad - drain a container of chunk chicken, mix with some mayo, add pepper and perhaps a few other spices and lunch is done while the coffee is brewing. 

I saved the odds and ends to be stored in the freezer for later use in making vegetable broth/stock. Peels went into the compost pile, along with egg shells I saved and powdered in the food processor. It's not much but it's my way of doing what I can to fulfill my "hippie-at-heart" self.  

I had a productive evening, as I also made a snack mix by toasting some slivered almonds and pecan pieces (together) - 350F, ~20 minutes. Once they were out of the oven I slipped in several handfuls of flaked coconut to toast as well - this isn't as forgiving as the nuts, so be careful to not overdue them, 350F ~10 minutes. I mixed the coconut with the nuts and once they had cooled I added some mini chocolate chips. Nummy to nosh! Some dried fruits would likey make a fab addition to this. It also is delish as a mix-in for yogurt. 


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