Sunday, February 4, 2007

The strangest, most beautiful salad I've ever made (and the rest of dinner)

My husband ate seconds--he loved the salad. My mind was spazzing a bit, but the flavors were good together. Here's what we had:

Big Dinner Salad

mixed greens
toasted pistachios
avocado
feta
nasturtiums
violets

Yes, nasturtiums and violents: after weeks of intense curiosity while looking at the edible flowers at the Saturday farmer's market, I gave in and bought some to include in a salad. The flowers tasted like flowers, but that really wasn't a bad thing, just different. And, as I said, my husband gobbled it up.

For a dressing (makes enough for maybe 6 servings or for several nights, if refrigerated), we had this: the juice of a lemon mixed with 1 T lavender sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and three times as much walnut oil as lemon juice.

It was beautiful.


For our 'main' course (though really, the nasturtium salad stole the show), we had an easy lentil-tofu stew over three kinds of mixed brown rice. It was tasty as well--my lentil-loving husband was in heaven this meal. The lentil-tofu stew was very hearty . . . comfort food, you might say.

And hey, I actually managed to post a meal with no winter squash in it!

8 comments:

lisa jane said...

Your photos are just gorgeous,such vibrant colours!

I love pistachios,in salad,in cous cous and the homemade pistachio gelati just down the road.Yum.

Kim L said...

I don't know if I could bring myself to eat flowers ... but it sure looks beautiful!

Weight Master said...

It looks beautiful. I'm not sure I'd have tried it, but it looks great.

PearShapedGirl said...

Yum! I've had dried edible flowers mixed into baking before, but never anything fresh. It definitely looks delicious! I love, LOVE pistachios, and I think I'll try a salad with them and some feta, great combo!

Take care,
PSG

Krista said...

That salad truly was beautiful. Kudos for being adventurous.

i i eee said...

Oh my goodness, that salad sounds sooo yummy to me right now -even though I've never tried eating flowers myself.

Sally JPA said...

Lisa, thanks for the compliment. I also am a huge fan of pistachios . . . in any form, really.

K, thanks--it tastes better than you might think. Strange, yes, but tasty. :)

Weight, I do feel it was a rather adventurous meal.

Pear, I'm glad the combo excites you! I always keep a variety of nuts in my freezer so that I can add any nut I choose to a dinner at the last minute.

Sally JPA said...

Krista and Meta, thanks!