Simple Thai Salad

A simple and easy salad to accompany a Thai, or other meal. I had mine today with Thai pot stickers and pad thai. As a testament to its greatness, it was eaten before I could take a picture. This salad is also a great way to use up the center of a head of lettuce after the outer leaves are used for sandwiches.

1/2 head iceberg lettuce (outer leaves removed ok)
1/4c chopped mint
1/3c sweet thai chilli sauce

Slice the lettuce into 1/2 inch (1cm) slices. Sprinkle with mint and drizzle with chilli sauce. Eat.

Pasta bean salad

This is a great salad that can be made quickly and is perfect for summer dinners. Feel free to add other vegetables as available.

8oz macaroni or salad pasta, cooked and cooled
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1/4c finely diced red onion
1-2 dill pickles, diced
2-3T prepared mustard
1T olive oil
1T raspberry vinegar or other vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Chill before serving.

The joy of salad

I don't care much for salad. Salad in my mind, has three flaws, it is covered in oil, nothing fits on your fork, and it is mostly lettuce.

To address the first problem, avoid the oil entirely, substitute some pepper and salt and use the dampness of the salad to help it adhere to the vegetables. In addition to tasting better, removing dressing makes salad a healthy food rather than a guilty indulgence.

To solve the second problem, cut everything into fork sized pieces. Restaurant chefs don't understand that it takes between one and five minutes to get a cherry tomato on a fork. Cut the tomato in half, and it takes about a tenth of a second. Make sure that the item can also fit into the mouth easily. Whole green beans do not fit in the mouth, even if they can be speared easily.

The third problem is more fundamental, and requires rethinking salad entirely. Lettuce is a perfectly acceptable vegetable, but there are 600 or so other nice vegetables. A salad that is iceberg, grated carrot and two cucumber slices is a waste. Cut the lettuce in half, add mushrooms, onions, cauliflower, beets, oranges, soybeans, ....

A salad following the above guidelines will be more interesting, more flavorful and much healthier.