Close to 10 years ago I was invited to my now mother-in-law’s dinner table on a lovely fall Sunday afternoon. The sun was shining, the trees were still in bloom, and it was a perfect day to spend with family and friends. This was the typical Sunday routine on the prairie acreage, as the family and some of their closest friends would converge for some amazing cooking, great conversation and a lovely relaxing evening to wind down the weekend. Generally, the aroma from a roast, salmon or chicken made its way throughout the home, while the sounds of vegetables hitting oil in a hot pan mixed with chatter, and clinging dishes of busy people working to prepare the meal. I was unsure of what to expect on this specific Sunday, as it was my first time meeting the family, and after only a few weeks of dating, I was careful in my actions and I did my best to hold back any opinions I may have had at the time.
Family dinners are not unfamiliar to me, as I grew up in a tremendously large, yet very close extended family. We planned regular weekend gatherings, elaborate holiday feasts and special occasion celebrations throughout the year, all of which were centered around food, and coming from a traditional Maritime culture, most of our meals were based on meat, potatoes, boiled veggies and a vast selection of sweet tasting deserts.
Fast forward to a beautiful September evening in 2001, as the sun began to begin its decline into the horizon, we were all asked to sit my mother-in-law’s well set table, and as I did, a salad that looked very much like the one in the photo above was placed before me. I didn’t know what to do…honestly, I was dumbfounded. Immediately the uncomfortable feeling of a salad being placed in front of me was apparent and Jen gave me an elbow to the ribs, and under her breath said “Just eat it, it’s a salad, haven’t you had salad before?” You see, salad was something that I had not been exposed to in the past, as most of my meals had meat and some form of mashed starch along with vegetables that were generally boiled to the point of falling apart. I am sure that there were salads available in my youth, but just like my aversion to tapioca pudding, which I recently overcame and think is quite wonderful, I was always too afraid to try the green leafy mix of veggies and sauce, and filled my plate with potatoes and corned beef.
I ate the salad, nothing bad happened to me, and that colorful fruit and green leafy dish, launched me on a 10 year culinary experiment through a number of wonderful family dinners, outings to various restaurants, and a host of cooking and diet book experiments that have taught me to embrace food, and the value of serving great tasting wholesome meals for my friends and family.
Far too often though, I tend to get excited about food and try to out do my culinary skills, which in my mind are low. such an attitude often results in over stepping the budget, making too much food, or completely thrashing a meal in favor of keeping it simple so that we can enjoy the abundance of foods available to us.
One such example is this salad. Made with spinach leaves, blueberries, chopped mango and a pinch of raisins, it is a great tasting addition to a meal that can be fixed in seconds, looks wonderful and tastes great… all while providing a good mix of nutrition for my family.
To make this salad, all you have to do is set out a few plates, sprinkle the plate with some greens of choice, and toss some fresh fruit on top and you are set. Top with a raspberry vinaigrette or something as simple as a splash of olive oil and you have a salad to add to the meal. Sometimes we use strawberries, but apple, pomegranate, papaya, orange or pretty much any other fruit will serve the purpose, while a nice splash of toasted seeds will add a warm nutty flavor as well.
Happy Eating,
sumber dari: beef4breakfast.wordpress.com
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