Winter’s finally here and I haven’t been talking much about the rains here in Northern California because I don’t want to jinx it. Shhhh.. no more talk about that. But, I do want to mention again that I am really thankful that our local farmers market is open year-round, even when it is raining! I went late this weekend, around closing time, and was disappointed that I had to scrounge for veggies, but I did not do so badly. See my basket filled with cabbage, fennel, romanesco broccoli, daikon radish and a few others like onion.
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| My farmers market basket (January 2016) |
I was looking through the Veggie Sutra archives and last year, around this time, I had posted a recipe for Warm Kale Salad with Pear inspired by Alice Waters’ book. Maybe it is something about those beautiful cruciferous vegetables that makes me want to put together salads even in winter time!
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| A Winter Salad with Harissa Dressing |
While a light olive oil + lemon juice dressing is perfect for a summer salad, winter time calls for something more substantial and spicy. So I flipped through a few of my books to find a suitable dressing. The inspiration, finally, came from Mildreds, which has recipes from the eponymous restaurant in London. I modified it quite a bit, but was intrigued about adding harissa in a salad dressing.
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| A Winter Salad with Harissa Dressing |
Recipe for a Winter Salad with Harissa Dressing
Ingredients:
Salad:
Salad:
- 1/2 cup of fennel, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of radish, thinly sliced
- 1 cup of greens like spinach, arugula, etc.
- 1 cup of shredded cabbage, carrot, etc.
- 1 avocado, sliced in to wedges
Dressing:
- 2 tsp harissa (add more after tasting if desired)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4th cup olive oil
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 3 tsp brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 inch piece ginger, grated
Garnish:
- 2 Tbsp hemp seeds
- 2 Tbsp shelled and toasted pistachio nuts
Method:
- Whisk or shake together all the dressing ingredients until it is blended well. Add more harissa if desired after tasting
- Mix all the salad vegetables except avocado in a salad bowl
- Add the dressing and toss to combine well
- Serve with avocado wedges on top, sprinkled with hemp seeds and pistachio nuts
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| A Winter Salad with Harissa Dressing |
I love fennel and it’s available in our farmer’s market only around this time of the year. The first time we tasted fennel was in a very fancy restaurant in Aswan in Egypt. They served the whole bulb cooked with a curry sauce and it was absolutely divine. I use up every part of the fennel, basking in the lovely aroma as I am cooking. Last week, I made a fragrant pesto with the dill-like leaves and it was wonderful. Good timing too, since the basil in my garden has dried up completely.
Oh, and I know avocados are not a winter produce, but I could not resist getting some when I went in to Trader Joes especially because the produce guy was just stacking it up in a great big pyramid near the entrance as I was walking in!
The salad came together quite nicely for a great, quick lunch on a busy day. I usually pack the salad in the lunch box minus the dressing and nuts. I pack the dressing separately in a bottle so that it can be poured on and tossed right before eating. This is a lunch that you don’t have to place in the refrigerator at work. If you leave it at your desk, it will be the right temperature around lunch time!
Any one else crave salads in winter?