How To Make A Super Salad
It's easier and
more delicious than you think
"I don't believe we've
even halfway explored the world of salads yet - that would be like
asking the Beatles in the 1960s if they'd run out of songs!
There's so much out
there to experiment with and get excited about; anything is possible,
and yet, let's be honest, how many of us get much further than lettuce,
tomatoes, maybe a bit of chopped pepper and spring onion?" -
Jamie Oliver
"If you have an eye
for detail and know what's important, chances are you can really cook.
You can tell the people who just can't cook because they make bad
salads. Sorry but that's how it is..." - Jennifer Newens and
Sebastian Dickhaut
Before we dig into the
nitty-gritty of how to make a super salad let's get some background
from Leslie Kenton on raw foods and why they are such an important part
of your daily diet.
Leslie says that
doctors and scientists working with raw foods to restore health and
normal weight to patients have long been aware that living foods such as
fresh raw fruits and vegetables, and life-generating foods such as seeds
and sprouts are extremely beneficial for reducing fat deposits.
When consumed on a
daily basis these raw foods:
-> encourage
detoxification,
-> heighten enzyme activity,
-> improve cellular metabolism,
-> encourage fat-burning.
She says that eating
raw foods encourages the biochemical functions in your body to return to
normal. Fostering a high level of health and good looks. That is why,
depending on how rapidly you want to loose weight, raw foods should form
between 50 and 75 per cent of your diet. She believes that accomplishing
this is easier - and more delicious - than you think.
(Note: There are strong
indications that you should not loose weight at a rate faster than about 1 kg
per week if you intend to keep it off permanently.)
We
fully agree with Leslie. Making super salads is easier - and more
delicious - than you think. And summer is such a great time to
experiment with salads.
While it's not
essential that you base one of your meals each day purely on a raw
salad, it is the best possible way to get optimal support for rebuilding
your cells and tissues, rebalancing your biochemical processes and
restoring normal metabolism.
Leslie's classic super salad
formula...
Are you ready for
creating a delightfully simple and
nutritious salad?
All Leslie does is take a
root vegetable, such as grated turnip, carrot or parsnip, and combine it in equal amounts with both a leafy vegetable, such as
watercress or lamb's lettuce, and a bulb vegetable such as red or green
pepper. (See examples below.)
We've been using this
formula for some time and it's hard to go
wrong following it.
Cut all the
ingredients into bite-size pieces, except for the lettuces and greens
which you either break into pieces or leave in larger pieces to form a bed
for the the salad. Occasionally add some protein (eggs,
chicken, fish, nuts, etc.) and home-grown sprouts.
Finish your
salad with a lavish garnish of herbs, and a beautiful salad dressing.
When available, herb
flowers are our favourite
salad
garnishes.
All herb flowers are edible. They have the same
taste, but more perfume, than the herbs they come from. I prefer the
perennial flowers such as chives, thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary. I
find the annual flowers too bitter for my taste. But nasturtium, basil,
chervil and dill blossoms are very tasty and pretty. So I use them a
lot.
Here's more advice
for
making super herb salads from Carolyn Dille and Susan Belsinger:
"Sometimes,
particularly for festive occasions, we enjoy making rather extravagant
herb salads modelled after those of the Renaissance. We use mild greens
to allow the herbs to be fully savoured.
Handfuls of lettuce and
smaller handfuls of Italian parsley, dill or fennel leaves, basil,
chervil and sorrel, with some sprigs of tarragon, marjoram, chives,
cress, or lovage compose a glorious salad.
We dress the whole
lightly with flavourful olive oil and lemon juice or wine vinegar, then
sprinkle it with nasturtiums, violas, and borage blossoms, or perhaps
lavender, sage, or rosemary flowers. We have found that such
a fanciful salad gives us and our guests a sensual appreciation of fresh
green things.
Experimenting with the
amounts of greens and herbs will lead you to the combinations and
balance you prefer."
Carolyn and Susan also say that just gathering the salad ingredients from the garden is a modest
but genuine aesthetic experience. To them, choosing the right lettuce and
spinach, picking a few peppery leaves of rocket and garden cress,
snipping the tips of the new green dill and parsley, and then deciding
which blossoms to use for garnish is like preparing a palette for
painting.
The salad forms in
their mind and hands as it will appear on the table: a feast for the
eyes and a relish for the tongue.
Examples of salad
ingredients:
Root Vegetables:
carrots, celeriac, turnips, beetroot, radishes.
Bulb or 'Fruit'
Vegetables: tomatoes, red and green peppers, fennel bulb, avocado,
cucumber, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, courgettes, mushrooms, onions.
Leaf Vegetables:
lettuce, young dandelion leaves, red or white cabbage, spring greens,
spinach, rocket, watercress, sprouts.
Herbs: sweet basil, rocket, parsley
and flat-leaf parsley, chives and garlic chives, salad
burnet, spearmint, sorrel, lovage, chervil, coriander, nasturtium,
fennel and dill.
"I don't care what
anyone in the world says about salads - as long as they are dressed
intelligently and have a contrast of salty and sweet, crunchy and soft,
bitter and smoky, you're probably going to be in for a treat." -
Jamie Oliver
If you want to learn
more about a raw energy diet I recommend you get a copy of Leslie
Kenton's "The Raw Energy Bible". Ask your local bookstore for help. ISBN 0 09
185664 7
Do
you need some salad recipes to explode your taste buds and to
fire your imagination? Then visit our
Salad Recipes and
Salad Herbs With A Difference pages.
|
