Do you have troubles with salad? Not filling enough? Not really….you know, a MEAL? We hear you. Food and travel writer (and Mamamia reader) Victoria Haschka is here to solve your food dilemmas and she swears she can make salad sexy which is good news for everyone whose January plan is to eat more of the stuff. Victoria writes..
Greens and tomatoes
There’s a great quote from Homer Simpson; ‘you don’t win friends with salad’.
Except at the moment, I really should.
The mince pies might have something to do with it. So does the fact that left over Christmas pudding tastes frightfully good when beaten to rubble and folded through vanilla ice cream. Especially if it’s then topped with chocolate sauce.
So it might be time to turn to turn over a new leaf, so to speak and start serving some salads for tea. And not just as something to pick at on the side.
It’s a hard hurdle to mount. Over the years I’ve been scarred by specimens soggier than sports socks and others that could double as astroturf. There was the brief period where a trip to Sizzler’s was the most fun I could have. But that was back when I also liked ‘choose your own adventure’ novels. I think they were cut from the same cloth (sneeze guards aside).
These days I’m old enough to know shredded ice berg and wedges of greenish tomato aren’t much of a substitute when there’s the winking prospect of pesto pasta for tea.
Added to this is the challenge of convincing a hungry spouse that a salad actually is dinner. “Yes, but what’s it going with?” is what often comes as he searches around for half a cow.
You don’t make friends with salad.
Though a US salad chain might disagree with me. ‘Just Salad’ has launched an online dating portal which matches people based on their preferences for salad components.
There’s a guy called ‘beans 42’ who’s has a 96% compatibility with me. I’m not sure about that math. I’m also not sure how my husband would feel about that.
In the efforts of maintaining domestic harmony I’ve been working on a formula of my own.
Salad
To pass as a meal at my place a salad needs protein. It needs crunch. It needs something a little bit sweet and something a little bit salty. And some fresh herbs chucked in don’t go astray.
If it still looks a little mean I can bulk it out with pearl barley or quinoa (both which once cooked it keep ok cold in the fridge). I can add some nuts. If they’re toasted a little they usually taste even better. If I take a vegetable peeler to a zucchini, fennel or a carrot it looks like ribbons or noodles- both of which make them more festive to eat than as raw chunks.
Recently I’ve even been shirking a long held fear of combining fruit with meat . I’ve been launching mandarin and blood orange segments, bits of pear and mango into the bowl if it feels right.
As for dressings, on the days when I just can’t face balsamic again there’s always watered down hummus or natural yogurt with lemon to trick my body into thinking it’s having something creamy.
I might not always make friends with salads, but at least I’m making progress.
A formula for friendlier salads
2 part leaves + 2 parts protein
+ ½ part sweetness (from fruit or vegetable)
+ ½ part salty (from nut or condiment- olives, capers, salsas)
+ ½ part fresh herb
+ light dressing
= friendlier salad
Some examples
Rocket + chicken of grilled fish + shaved fennel or green beans or both + mandarin segments + slivers of black olives + mint.
Dress with lemon juice and a dash of olive oil, or hummus thinned with water.
Mixed leaves or iceberg lettuce diced + kidney beans or black beans + diced avocado +cucumber + red peppers + drizzle of spicy tomato salsa + coriander leaves .
Dress with natural yogurt thinned with lemon juice.
Baby spinach + grilled chicken or white beans + mango or peach + toasted almonds + mint and basil.
Dress with yogurt thinned with lemon juice or lemon juice and olive oil.
Mixed leaves + chick peas and/or chicken + pear slivers + almonds and toasted pine nuts + basil.
Top Comments
This. Is. Genius!
i have been playing with a food processor that was lurking in a cupboard and have discovered that it shreds, slices or juliennes, depending on the setting. I aim for every color to be in the bowl, as well as size, resulting in a very pretty dish. It is also easier to eat bc there is less chewing, which reduces the boredom level. So I shred purple and/or plain cabbage very thinly, then add thinly sliced carrots, shredded spring onions, celery and cucumber pieces, cherry tomatoes, some kind of bean, some kind of nut, some thinly sliced apple, handlful of sultanas, some kind of cubed cheese, yellow capsicum (or corn kernels) and some kind of cold meat or tinned fish. Plus yogurty/ lemony sause and crusty bread. Voila.