Last night's dinner consisted of peanut noodles and my new favorite salad, courtesy of the lovely Aimée by way of Anandamayi, who made it for me my first night back in Berkeley. It is fresh and tasty and lively, and thus the perfect thing for this time of year, when one is sure that soon the only food in town will be a giant dusty parsnip. But then it is also cooling and light, which would make it the perfect thing for summer, too. But the main thing is that it is very, very tasty, and I want to eat it again and again. I feel myself about to enter a phase.
For this salad, you will need some green stuff. Only half of the volume of this green stuff should consist of what are normally considered salad greens. If you can get an assortment, all the better -- I indulged in one of those exorbitant but especially tempting at this time of year bags of organic prewashed mixed greens to fill this role. The other half should be herbacious. Consider flat-leafed parsley, cilantro, mint and basil -- again, as many as you can manage, but even if you forego the tonier stuff, it will be good.
The dressing, which is splendidly simple, is the heart of the matter. Make a classic Asian dipping sauce by heating equal parts sugar and rice wine vinegar (1/4 c. of each is plenty for 3 people, possibly even 4, but err on the side of plenty) with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and then a couple of minutes longer to get it syrupy.
Divide the greens among individual salad bowls, sprinkle with some chopped peanuts (it is really much nicer with the peanuts, though you could do without), and dress to taste. Eat!
The original version of this salad also featured those rice noodles that puff and frizzle when they touch hot oil. Heavens knows they are a lovely addition, but we didn't have any in the house, and besides, I just wanted a salad, not a whole salady dish. But either way is great.
Confidential to S., king of winter food: cholent (look it up).
For this salad, you will need some green stuff. Only half of the volume of this green stuff should consist of what are normally considered salad greens. If you can get an assortment, all the better -- I indulged in one of those exorbitant but especially tempting at this time of year bags of organic prewashed mixed greens to fill this role. The other half should be herbacious. Consider flat-leafed parsley, cilantro, mint and basil -- again, as many as you can manage, but even if you forego the tonier stuff, it will be good.
The dressing, which is splendidly simple, is the heart of the matter. Make a classic Asian dipping sauce by heating equal parts sugar and rice wine vinegar (1/4 c. of each is plenty for 3 people, possibly even 4, but err on the side of plenty) with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and then a couple of minutes longer to get it syrupy.
Divide the greens among individual salad bowls, sprinkle with some chopped peanuts (it is really much nicer with the peanuts, though you could do without), and dress to taste. Eat!
The original version of this salad also featured those rice noodles that puff and frizzle when they touch hot oil. Heavens knows they are a lovely addition, but we didn't have any in the house, and besides, I just wanted a salad, not a whole salady dish. But either way is great.
Confidential to S., king of winter food: cholent (look it up).
