Despite salads being a summer and spring thing, the winter yields the most delicious salad leaves; which is most likely life's way of telling us that we should not eat salad or something. That said, the odd warmer days in the winter are perfect for using these salad leaves!
The most beautiful leaves are currently growing in my garden. From wild amaranths to chickweed, to the freshest and most delicious salad rocket. I had an extra head of broccoli in the fridge, so I figured why not use it in a salad? The subtle flavour of the chickweed, paired with the peppery flavour of the rocket, went so well with the "healthy" tasting broccoli.
I mixed it all with a very flavorful berry-infused vinaigrette, which utilises the last bit of jam in your jam jar! What an innovative way to use every last bit, see below for more detail on this reuse-reduce-recycle method. I also added some toasted almonds, flavoured with smoked paprika and sumac. And I finished it with a healthy helping of parmesan cheese.
If you are interested in seeing how I made this delicious salad, please follow along for my recipe amounts and the steps that I took! Without further ado, please follow along with me.
Ingredients List/Recipe
I wish for the day that I can pick everything I need from my own garden, and using my own animals for the nutritional needs that I have.
For now, I managed to grow most of the ingredients! Here, I grew and used about 6 cups of:
- chickweed, and
- salad rocket.
I also used the following ingredient amounts, which yielded three healthy helpings of salad (along with the leaves above):
- 1 medium head of broccoli,
- 1 handful of almonds,
- 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan,
- 2 empty jars of jam,
- a splash of hot sauce,
- 1 tsp of coconut oil,
- the juice of three lemons, and
- a splash of brandy.
The spices that I used included the following:
- salt,
- pepper,
- sumac, and
- smoked paprika.
Process/Method of Preparation
The salad consists of three steps, first prepping the toppings, then making the vinaigrette, and then constructing the whole salad!
1. Prepping the Toppings
The easiest step is to grate the cheese. This will go along with the nuts.
Speaking of nuts, you will have to roast them if they are not roasted yet. I added some oil to the pan, and then slowly "toasted" (more like lightly fried) them a bit. I kept a close eye (or nose) on them so that they did not burn. If they burn, they will get an off-and-bitter flavour.
After toasting/frying them, I then immediately added salt, pepper, sumac, and smoked paprika. I also put them in the fridge so that they cool off, it is after all a salad!
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2. Turning Old Jam Jars/Bottles into Flavourful Vinaigrettes
I am in dept to my girlfriend, @urban.scout, who showed me this trick. I think she saw it on a video of some sort, but she told me to do it next time our jam bottles are empty.
As soon as the jam is done, you add your vinegar, in my case lemon juice, into the bottle and your chosen oil. You shake this and then you have an incredibly easy vinaigrette. You will have as many different flavours as jams which you like!
As above, I added all of my lemon juice into the old jars. I then gave them a good shake to get the bottles clean, especially in all the corners which never get cleaned out by a knife, and then I placed everything on a double boiler. The reason for this is that I used coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature. (If you used any oil this would not be a necessary step).
I also added a touch of brandy, just to spice things up a bit!
Because I heated my vinaigrette, I needed to cool it off as well. If you decide to use an oil/fat which is solid at room temperature, you will need to add this step (the double boiler). I think that some of these fats/oils, like coconut oil, are much more healthy than the other alternative neutral oils. But in the end, we pick our own poisons!
3. Prepping the Toppings
When the above steps are done, the salad merely needs to be constructed. I like to cut the things I add to any salad into small pieces, big and small enough so that you only need a fork to eat the salad. (I hate salads which you still need to cut when you eat it. I do the cutting beforehand.)
I then began the layering process. I like salads that are layered, or that is how I make my salads these days. You can also opt to add everything in a big bowl, mix it, and then plate it. But for this recipe, and for most of my main dish salads, I choose the layering method.
I began by adding the leaves to a bowl (photograph above-left).
I then added the broccoli (photograph above-right).
By layering the salad in this way, you have the added benefit of seeing that every bowl gets enough of everything, in balance of course!
I then moved on to add the nuts and parmesan cheese (photograph below-left). You can take this out, and the salad will be vegan (if the other ingredients are also free of animal products). Or to go the other way, you could also add any savoury meat element to make the salad a bit heavier and more "dinner" worthy.
And lastly, I added the vinaigrette that we made earlier (photograph below-right)! By now, it has cooled off (if you opt for the saturated fat/oil route).
And then, Enjoy!
And there you have it, it is that simple to make something so delicious. The simple vinaigrette, using only leftover jam, a vinegar, and some oil, you have the perfect dressing for your salad.
It is sweet, a bit sour, perfectly balanced, and full-bodied (thanks to the oil).
And how well does this vinaigrette not compliment the other ingredients? The broccoli goes so well with any vinegar and something sweet. The salad is delicate, and subtle, with only the peppery taste of the rocket coming through. But this was complimented by the berry flavour (berries and pepper go so well together, ask any gin and tonic fan!). The nuts and parmesan also helped with this element, especially by adding some much-needed savoury notes. The smoked paprika and sumac (which also adds to the sourness of the dish) complimented all of the above, and all of the above complimented the touch of smokiness coming from the paprika.
With the most simple ingredients, one can make the best-tasting food. Salads are no exception! People often do not spend enough time, creativity, and effort on salads, and therefore they are always bland, or the same, or boring. Now, with the trick of the empty jam bottles, your imagination can go wild with creating different flavours for your salad!
I am already thinking of a fig and camembert combination! Or think of apricot jam vinaigrette with burnt/charred apricot, feta cheese, and burnt apricot pieces!
Alas, before I add too many additional ideas... I hope that this post inspires you to make salad an event, one which you look forward to revisiting over and over.
Happy cooking and keep well.
All of the writings and musings are my own, albeit inspired by the strange recipe that I somehow thought of. Actually, it was inspired by another dish I made which I then thought would work just as wonderfully in a salad. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.