recycle, repurpose, reuse…

My cousins are visiting from New York. Yes, oh yes, they came bearing bagels, a beautiful bagful! I would love my cousins even if they came empty-handed, but there is a certain reassurance in seeing a freezer full of chewy yummy real true honest-to-goodness bagels. I mean, if I’d never had a David’s Bagel (that’s Bagel with a capital B for sure) I might not be so fussy, but I have been to the mountain so to speak, and this is the real deal. Mmmm…

But, I’m not here to rave on about the difference between real bagels and roundish bread. Nope, I’m here to tell you we had a wonderful salad for dinner last night. When my cousins are here we eat lunch out, alot. Mostly this is because we’re not often right near home at mid-day; weather permitting we tend to range far afield.

Yesterday morning we went to the Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market, and did a little shopping (and noshing – the samples abound!). Later we had a very good lunch at Sarah’s, which is one of my favorite places to eat when I’m in north Austin. It was busy, but not SxSW crazy as it is a bit off the beaten path and not too hip. But I’m not here to talk about lunch either.

Late afternoon we went to Ruta Maya for coffee and just to hang out for a bit. It was hopping! There was a poetry slam going on inside and live music out front on the wrap-around seating area. We got lucky, though, and found some folks just leaving a table on the side where it is quietest. We enjoyed the sun and the breeze and our coffee, and listened to a murmuring melange of music and conversations. Its a great place to people watch. But that’s not really the point of this week’s musings either.

I wanted to tell you about last night’s dinner. We weren’t really very hungry; we’d had a big breakfast and a late lunch. And it was a very windy day; we were a bit tired from being outside for most of it. I had thought, at the Farmers’ Market, that we might want a nice salad for dinner, and had purchased a beautiful bag of mixed baby salad greens and a small bunch dandelion greens as well. Mmmm…

So, last night it took me all of about 6.5 minutes to make dinner, and half of that time was was setting the table! The salad turn out very pretty and highly yum-worthy (according to my cousins, who are of course totally unbiased). Oh, they said, you should blog about this! So, here’s what we had:

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Salad

good and good-for-you!

mixed baby greens
dandelion greens, washed and chopped
feta
olives
two bean and corn salad
sliced mushrooms
chopped walnuts
balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Mix the above in any proportions that please you. I like feta so I put lots. You can leave it out entirely for a vegan version. The dandelion greens are totally optional as well. By the way the vendor was astonished to hear that the French call ’em “pis-en-lit” (“pee the bed”) for their supposed diuretic quality. Hmmm… I only added a little but they sure are yummy!

Dress with a balsamic vinaigrette, and serve with good crusty bread to swab your plates. Mmmm!!
***
You may ask, what does any of this have to do with “recycle, repurpose etc”? Well, remember that two bean and corn salad from back in January? The one that I thought it might be good in soup? It is! I’ve had a “working” container of it in the fridge since I first made it, and I’ve been eating it straight up, in soup (especially in tomato-red pepper soup, mmmm!) and last night it ended up in the salad. Versatile and delicious, I may try it in some sort of frittata next!

Any way, the point of all this is that “salad” can be pretty much anything you like. You could add meat (cooked chicken, tuna, sliced rare beef, duck…) or you could add dried cranberries or blueberries, or pecans, or blue cheese or… you get the idea.

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