Dish 13: 3/4 Salad

Tasty as it is blurry.

I checked out an awesome book from the library- The Flavor Bible. I've only started to delve into it. The main draw for me was the flavor matchmaking section. Pick an ingredient and its very likely in the book with recommended pairings. 

There were a few quotes for salads (I know, you're thinking, again with the effing salads)- one that I liked was from Sharon Hage: "Every salad should have elements of bitter, salt, heat and texture." It goes on to describe some things she does at her restaurant, but in general it's a good starting point. But I'd say something more along the lines of sweet, salty, bitter and umami?

The greens were just a mix of romaine and red sails lettuce (a little bitter). I had a little less than a quarter loaf of last weekends sourdough getting stale, so I cubed it and made croutons with a little oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper (salty). I made them on the stovetop which I don't recommend.

My favorite part of the dish were the pickled beety onions (a little sweet). They're leftovers from my adaptation of this awesome recipe from Alton Brown. I use a lot of rosemary. Pickled beets are summer to me.

The salad got a little oil and apple cider vinegar for dressing, then some sunflower seeds. That all had an unctuousness that was nice.

I really enjoyed it, not sufficient for a meal but definitely tasty.