Wow.  My days of salad are starting to blend together.   My “100 Days” will be far more than 100 by the time I get to the number 100 in the blog entries.  This is mostly a function of salad redundance.   My goal is to inspire, not bore. 

So for this salad, the two exciting elements were the use of leftover quinoa– such a great source of protein and also texture–and preserved lemons, which I used to keep the quinoa from being too monotonous or bland–a common problem with grain and pasta salads, in my opinion.  In other words, I wanted to create a “warm salad bowl” experience but maintain vibrant flavor.  The dressing was a vinaigrette that also included some finely minced preserved lemons.  If you don’t have these in your fridge, I highly recommend making them and having them on hand.  They will light up your life and fill your nights with song.  The dressing and the quinoa transformed this potentially dull lunch salad into a hearty and zesty pleasure. 

There is no recipe, but take your basic salad, toss it with quinoa, and mix preserved lemon bits into a basic vinaigrette.  Make sure there’s a generous amount of salt in the dressing as well, to offset the grain.  Voila, you have added sass and gusto to your day.

Ever walk into an unknown restaurant and immediately know you’ve entered one of your new favorite places?  This happened today to me at Thrive.  The minute I set foot in this place I felt both uplifted and relaxed.  The friendly staff was smiling while they worked.  Beyond the eating area was a store to buy healthy products and equipment such as bulk grains and juicers.   The owner of the restaurant, Monika Kinsman, was working the register, and my friend and I found her instantly easy to talk to. 

Did I mention that everything on the menu is raw, organic, and vegan?  Oh, yeah.  Thrive’s food is both delicious and specially desiged to fill your body with robust health. 

Everything I tasted was perfectly and speedily prepared, full of vibrant flavors and life.    In addition to enjoying a wonderful lunch (I ordered Oh My Samurai, a teriyaki noodle dish), I brought home a salad to go, the one pictured above. This salad, called Enlighten, brings walnuts, mushrooms, spinach, and spiralized zucchini “noodles” to delicious heights with a perfect, creamy Thai dressing.   I also had a taste of my friend’s lunch, Chili con Marvelous. Only good manners kept me from gobbling all of his chili right there in front of him.  As it was, I also bought an order of that to go “for my husband to try.”  He loved it, too. Yes, I did let my husband eat some when I brought it home for him.   Now that’s love.

And I love Thrive.  You think I’m kidding? I’m going back tomorrow. I’m going to take my little Rosalie there for lunch.  I feel virtuous already that my daughter will have such a healthy lunch tomorrow  (and I will generously finish it for her if she needs me to).

I usually think of chard and kale as veggies to eat cooked, but Emerald City Salad has a special something, and I think it’s the rugged texture that the uncooked veggies have.   Seattle’s largest coop, Puget Consumer Coop, has an awesome deli, and Emerald City Salad is a standard you can usually find at one of the PCC locations in the (Emerald!) city. 

The ingredients are simple, flavorful, and hearty.  This is a list of the ingredients as found on the label on a to-go package from PCC.  

Emerald City Salad

Ingredients:

• Chard
• Kale
• (Cooked) wild rice
• Fennel
• Red peppers
• Lemon juice
• Canola oil
• Green onion
• Italian parsley
• Salt
• Garlic
• Black pepper

If salad is one of my favorite foods, then fruit salad is a favorite of the favorites.  Here’s my favorite way to make this favorite-favorite: 

In the cookbook Vegetarian Nights: Fresh from Hawaii, Bonnie Mandoe recommends making your fruit salad with very small cubes of fruit, so that each spoonful contains several different pops of juicy, bright flavor.  Ever since reading this over 10 years ago I have used this technique in my fruit salads so often, and I’m always glad I do.  It’s pure party joy in each bite. 

Tonight I whipped up some of this fruit salad for breakfast tomorrow. My plan is to pour it over my morning oatmeal–though it would be wonderful poured over a bowl of other cereals, a bowl of yogurt, even atop a piece of toast. 

Can I just tell you how happily I’m looking forward to the morning?

I first made this slaw to go with fish tacos, but glory be, I generally cannot stop eating it, even without the tacos. It’s so refreshing, crunchy, and tart.  It’s the perfect bright and juicy counterpoint to Tex-Mex dishes, such as the chicken enchiladas we had for dinner tonight.   I’ve tried adding other ingredients and spices to this slaw, but we’ve decided it’s gilding the lily to do so.  It’s just right this way, in its role as supporting salad.

Cilantro-Lime Coleslaw

This salad is fine on its own but is a total delight in conjunction with other dishes that are heavy in garlic, cumin, and peppers.

Ingredients:

• 1 small head cabbage
• 1 onion
• juice of two limes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

Directions:

1. Slice cabbage in quarters and remove core.  Shred each quarter thinly so that the individual shreds are slender in width but a few inches in length. 
2. Put cabbage in a bowl and mix in all the other ingredients.  Adjust seasonings to taste. 
3. Serve immediately or chill for half an hour before serving.

Nope, didn’t make these.  The number of degrees on our daughter’s thermometer has an inverse relationship with the number of minutes we spend in the kitchen.  In other words, she had a fever today and we ordered takeout.  Man, I love Thai food.  And I love salads gift-wrapped a go-go.  More time to spend snuggling on the couch.

This salad was just perfect.  I had a few extra minutes while I was doing other things, so I threw some lentils in a pot with stock, carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf, and thyme, then I cooked them for about 45 minutes.  They were so great with the crunchy cold veggies! The tart lemon and the mild heat from the chile pepper tied the veggies and lentils together beautifully.

Lentil Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• Chopped celery
• Chopped tomato
• Chopped Carrot
• Lemon Juice
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Mild Chili Powder
• Cooked lentils (see above)
• Baby spinach leaves

Directions:

1. Blend together the chopped raw veggies with the lemon juice, oil, and seasonings. 
2. On a bed of baby spinach leaves, arrange the veggies, then pour over some lentils. 

This “creamy” dressing is made by making a puree of pistachios with grapefruit juice.  Bring out a green color in your dressing by adding a few spinach leaves to the mix. 

Grapefruit Pistachio Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• Juice of one grapefruit
• 2 handfuls of pistachios
• small cube of fresh ginger (about 3/4 inch)
• 1 T orange blossom honey (or other honey)
• 1 or 2 T rice vinegar
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pepper, to taste
• Basil or tarragon, to taste
• A few spinach leaves, for color

Directions:

Whiz all ingredients together in a blender or mini-food processor until smooth.  Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with greens and some chopped grapefruit and pistachios.