Leafy Salad

In The Garden
The vegetable patch started earning its place, self-seeded lamb lettuce is growing beautifully, sorrels are back, coriander and dill are ready to pick.  The garlic chives springing, and the winter lettuce that I planted lately is filling up space.  I thought today is the day to have a leafy salad.  It is cold winter, but salads are always there for a family to have.

Leafy Green for The Salad

Leafy Salad with Fresh Herbs Dressing

Prosciutto is added for the leafy greens salad for extra crunch and flavour, the dressing is mixed fresh herbs and lemon from the garden and olive oil.  

Are carrots ready? I thought that it would be good to have young carrots for tomorrow Sunday dinner.  Thinking of Ann, she said that she is not keen to plant, and when I saw the carrots are bent, skinny, then I understood her.  It is hard to clean, and they don't look attractive,  and all that, but I will use them, and serve them as a rustic carrot garnish.

Potted Carrots and Dill

Other leafy Salads 
Endive is a sweet, bitter vegetable, and one of my favourites. Served with baked meat, fish or chicken also tarts, or simply enjoy as it is after having a sumptuous main meal.

The bitter taste of the curly endive reminds me of 'kenikir'-a Javanese vegetable.  For that reason, I use it as its replacement, and this salad is dressed with shredded coconut dressing.  It is so fresh and very delicious. It is served with steamed white rice and meat dishes.

Recipe:

Savoury Coconut Dressing

Ingredients: 1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup of water
2 tablespoons grated palm sugar/coconut sugar
1 shallot and 1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 small sliced galangal
1 kaffir lime leaf
salt to taste (1/2 teaspoon)
1 cup water,  extra
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method
Place the peeled shallot, garlic, and coriander seeds, grind them to make a rough paste
In a saucepan, place the coconut, water, sugar, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, cook to soften.
Add in the rough paste, extra water and lemon juice, keep on cooking until all liquid is absorbed
Transfer to a bowl, add the oil, mix together.  It keeps well refrigerated.

Savoury Coconut Dressing

Endive Salad with Coconut Dressing

If you wish to boil the endive, you could serve it with peanut dressing, another delicious salad that can be served throughout the year.

For European people, it may be something new,  but if you are game enough to try,  you may be surprised.  Forget about the fruits, nuts and cheeses that usually go with the endive, instead enjoy the endive leafy salad with the coconut dressing.

I must pull more carrots out from my potted plants.  Roasted young carrots are delicious to go with a leafy salad and fried mushroom, it is an excellent combination for a vegetarian dish.

Vegetarian dishes next, stay tuned.




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Until Next Post
Susy