Saturday, February 9, 2013

Feelings and a winter salad


With the knife steadily thumping against the cutting board, I chopped the ripe pomegranate into sections. Several seeds spilled out, their juices coloring the wood. I slid them into the palm of my left hand and popped the bright, bursted bits into my mouth. The tang and the sweet played on my taste buds; the seeds wedged themselves into the grooves of my back teeth. I tried to pry them out with the tip of my stained tongue. Nope. They seemed to sink deeper. Nothing more than annoyance, just an annoyance. I'll get over it. The flavor still holds me over, keeps me lifted. An annoyance is nothing. Just nothing. Right? 
~~~
I crave salads sometimes. Crunchy vegetables, juicy fruit, smooth toasted nuts, a light dressing that binds it all together. Granted, my eagerness to shovel salad into my mouth happens after a long session of pilates or a night of binging on tortilla chips and spicy salsa and catching up on The Mindy Project. (I did the latter last night.) 

The best salads are infinitely adaptable, hit all the right flavor and texture notes, and are filling. This salad does just that. It fueled the rest of my slow but productive day. 

~~~ 

Tart Winter Salad
Loosely adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 T. sour cream
2 T. mustard
1 T. grape seed oil
1 T. rice vinegar
pinch of salt
1/2 T. agave nectar

1/2 head of cabbage 
1 Granny Smith apple 
several handfuls of pomegranate seeds 
12 baby carrots 
handful of toasted walnuts 

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. 

Shred your cabbage and toss your shreds into the large bowl. Use a mandolin to thinly slice the carrots. Add that into the bowl. Slice your apple into matchsticks. Mix in with pomegranate seeds and toasted walnuts gently and enjoy! 

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