Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The perfect palate-cleansing salad (no, really)

I tend to be faddish about food.
I'm the person that goes out to dinner and then recreates it the next day in my own kitchen.
I'm the person that makes up the menu while at the farmer's market depending on what looks good and fresh.
I am WAY fickle. Bouncing from one side of the world to another.
I got a little bag of herbs from the herb guy in Studio City yesterday, cilantro, parsley, marjoram, dill, mint, thyme, buying it not because I needed the herbs but because the little bouquet looked so pretty together.
This salad is one you must try.
I had it at my friend Tracy's house on Saturday night, a modified version of it -- a simple, sweet, quinoa with parsley and lemon zest. She served it with a little mixed grill, some sweet red peppers stuffed with goat's cheese, a perfect pink caesar salad. Bliss.
Tracy kindly gave me the recipe which I modified using Meyer lemons from my tree and some of the bag of herbs from my lovely herb man.

This might be the perfect salad.

Here's Tracy's recipe:
The Quinoa salad is just this: prepare the quinoa (1 1/2 cups) as you normally do, when it’s cooked, let it sit for 15 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste the zest of two lemons and juice of one. 1/4 to 1/2 cup good fruity olive oil and a cup of chopped parsley, et voila!
I used parsley, mint, dill, some marjoram, a tiny bit of cilantro as well as the zest of two Meyer lemons. Don't add too much salt and pepper. The beauty of this salad is that you can taste every ingredient. It's the palate cleanser of salads!

3 comments:

Katherine C. James said...

Your salad sounds heavenly. I'll try it.

And, you have a Meyer Lemon tree in your yard. I've a friend who lives on former Santa Clara Valley orchard land (now an oasis in the midst of Silicon Valley) who has Meyer lemon trees, cherry trees, and raised beds of vegetables.

Meyer lemon juice is served at table by the gods. In little yellow cups made from sunshine. There is a conventional lemon tree in the yard where I'm staying. I try to be grateful for its offerings, but I long for Meyers.

Wally B said...

Our Meyer lemon tree is more bush than tree, but we do get a good crop. We have to save the fruit for something special. This sounds lovely. I have all the herbs in the garden, so tonight's the night.

Marcheline said...

This sounds delicious! Right now I'm in a seemingly endless search for tabbouleh, which I love in the summertime - cold, with lemon juice and garlic and herbs. However, for some reason all the stores around here have stopped carrying it! May have to give quinoa a try, though I've never had it.