I love salad but the act of making one on a busy night is often not a pleasure for me. This will sound insane but the lettuce bugs me the most. I refuse to buy it bagged and cleaning it isn’t that hard but it’s a step that can lead me to abandon the salad if the stars aren’t aligned.
I have several tricks up my sleeve and one is my box grater. I had a large jicama and after peeling it, I grated it and made a salad with orange pieces, red onion, our Oregano Indio, and cilantro. I added olive oil and salt. No vinegar was needed with the citrus.
I would do this again in a heatbeat. I can’t wait to tell Republic of Salad‘s Emily Nunn about this and see what she thinks about the grater as a tool for salads. Hey. You get your kicks where you can.
Like it will give it a try this weekend
I’m with you on cleaning lettuce. I really hate it, even with a lettuce spinner. I do cucumber salads instead – and the English style ones don’t have lots of seeds. Very easy, and you can go many ways with it: Israeli-style with tomatoes, red bell peppers, parsley and cilantro dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, Thai-style with shallots, red hot peppers, peanuts, cilantro, dressed with vinegar, sugar and fish sauce, Indian-style with onions, tomatoes dressed with cumin, chili powder dressed with lime juice. Add avocado to any of them.
I live in MA…my first cold-frame harvest of arugula and lettuces just started so I haven’t reached the burnout point of cleaning the greens but it was cathartic to know I’m not alone.
Also, my Oregano Indio just arrived and a bowl of the (likely) last of the season Cara Cara oranges sits on the counter. Off to the market for the jicama and cilantro.