All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Thursday, September 10, 2015

the wonderful veggie salad!







We had several very warm days last week, not as humid as New England, but muggy enough to curl up with a book in air conditioned splendor inside.  That kind of weather keeps me far away from the oven, even with air conditioning - all I can think about are fresh fruits and salads.  So when the memory of my Veggie Salad popped up in my thoughts, I sliced, diced, and chopped willingly , ending up with a very large bowl to tuck in the fridge.

You can use up all those summer vegetables that are so fresh right now:  green cabbage, spinach, scallions, parsley, and juicy tomatoes, which is definitely a bonus.   Fill a bowl and it's lunch.  Add a heaping tablespoon to your hamburger bun and top with a hot grilled burger.  Layer over a smoked turkey sandwich, or serve as a side to fresh fish or lobster. I love the versatility of this salad for just about any meal - even breakfast.  I often add cottage cheese to the vegetable mixture, which adds a little more heft to the salad, especially if that's all you're having.

In the past, I've used the shredding cone for my KitchenAid mixer, but a part has gone missing, so I sliced everything by hand.  I wasn't able to slice it as thinly as I prefer, but it was delicious as always - I love the oregano dressing, so I made twice as much.


Veggie Salad


2 cups shredded or thinly sliced fresh green cabbage
2 cups de-stemmed thinly sliced large-leaf spinach
1-2 cups chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
6 scallions, sliced (both tops and bottoms)
4 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
1 cup cottage cheese (optional)

Place in a large bowl.


The dressing:
(you can easily double this if you like a lot of dressing)

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1-2 teaspoons dried oregano 
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss the salad well before serving.  This keeps well in the fridge in a covered container.

                                        ********************






One of my neighbors offered me some somewhat wild pears from a tree she has tucked in the corner of her yard - so many pears some of the branches have broken.  Not a clue what to make when they're ripe - right now they are very hard.  Ideas?

Happy After-Labor-Day!  

9 comments:

La Table De Nana said...



It's still incredibly hot and humid here in QC..less a bit today and apparently tomorrow the heat breaks.

Still I am into making most of our dinners early in the morning..like roasting beets and veggies to add to salads..later in the day..
That salad looks terrific Katrina..
I still want summer to stick around though..when I look at everything that needs to be cut back..
OY.You know..for fall.

Anonymous said...

Many years ago my in-laws had a wild, or maybe feral, pear tree and I had tons of small hard grainy textured pears that smelled like heaven on earth. Turned out they were GREAT in chutney, I recall onions, peppers, raisins, vinegar/sugar, maybe some curry type spices.....it was lovely.

SO I envy you your pear bounty.

Ceci

Linda said...

Perhaps if you let them ripen a bit more...
Or...
Slice and poach....yum!
Have a great weekend
Cheers!
Linda :o)

katrina said...

Ceci - thanks! I've never made chutney, but I'm a big jam and jelly fan, so think I'll do a little research on chutney.



And Linda, I LOVE poaching fruits - thanks for that nudge!

katrina said...

Oh Nana - can you believe there has been no hot and humid here, aside from a few days of sunny, hot afternoons? I'm so shocked (and happily so) not to suffer through those months of wheezing through the day, and baking early in the morning. But it is an adjustment. I hope warm days stick around for a while, with all the gorgeous flowers and herbs blooming like mad, but today was already a little windy and chilly, and the squirrels are racing around, chattering and fighting over nuts they find in all the gorgeous trees here. OY, yes, I know. Fall.

Lisa from Iroquois said...

If you investigate the types of pears you will find that some, often called winter pears, have to ripen OFF the tree. Personally I'd be inclined to can them with light syrup and a single cardamom pod in the jar. After a year they will be soft and delicious. Otherwise the chutney idea works too with firm pears. Or you can just let them sit for anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks and when they get soft enough to squeeze they should be delicious with a piece of cheese. Or you can create pear sauce (think apple sauce) and it is delicious substituted for apple sauce in pancakes, alongside pork chops or in an apple/pear spice cake. Hmmmm, perhaps you don't have enough pears for all this :)

katrina said...

Lisa - what wonderful ideas! I instantly thought of a spice cake I haven't made in years - and my favorite gingerbread cake! Oh, that would be so good with chunks of pear. You are right - I think I'll walk down to my neighbor's house and ask if I can pick more in exchange for cakes or jams or chutney. Thank you so much for your ideas!

La Table De Nana said...

Can't for the life of me find your email..Hope you are not too much under the weather..

I get you though.Totally.

katrina said...

Nana - I can't find YOUR email either - Gmail seems to have erased some of my emails, though it HAS been a while!