Winter Salad - 2013/I

I adore crunchy salads. 
Even more so in the winter. 
Each salad should be unique, gaudy and treated with the best, most luxurious dressing. 
The best dressing consists of the best olive oil and vinegar that you get hands on. 
It is simple as that.

Today's improvised salad consisted of chicory leaves, Romaine lettuce, orange filets, shaved fresh beetroots, pears, red onions, leeks, parsley and feta crumbles and the best mustard dressing.

There are more refined versions to come. So stay tuned!

  



   

summer fruit salad

Cherries, strawberries, blackberries, blue berries, peaches, cantaloupe melon & a ripe mango macerated in lime juice, flavored with crushed mint leaves and lime zest. That made up the prettiest, most luscious dish during the heat of July. As much as I hate hot weather, I adore summer food. I am a July kid.

The dish is inspired from here.

diner en blanc and a salad for june

The only but hopefully not the last picnic of this summer turned out to be magnificent! Thanks to dear friends who kindly organized a table for a bigger round (which basically was the only challenging part of this dining flashmob), we could join the third Diner en Blanc in Berlin (a coverage of the previous dinner found here). The road below the renovated railroad between U Station Eberswalder Str. and Schönhauser Allee served as a perfect roofed location on a partly rainy day. The white dress code and the candle light during twilight ensured a festive look as far as the eye could see.

I brought the salad that I devour throughout the month of June: a dish to celebrate the beginning of summer and to anticipate the glorious fruits and veggies that are about to follow from then on.

Strawberry and asparagus salad with shallots and raspberry vinaigrette: works with either white or green asparagus. No herbs needed. When taking white asparagus I like to add green leaves.

 
The moral of the table pic: disposable dishes and Tupperware are THE mood killers at picnics. Cut flowers and candles are THE warrant for a beautiful outdoor dining experience. Find some style ideas here.    

Corn Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado, Dates and much more

This salad is as sweet as a refined candy, its colors (and flavors) are as balanced as in a still life. The ingredients' list is long and although everything is available in a single season, it is said to be missed out easily. There seems to be some truth in it because it took me until spring to get every ingredient together. It was so worth to catch up but imagine, you could have had it throughout the winter, too! To faciliate learning the ingredients' list by heart I made a shot of it :)
What you need for a

Winter Salad with Dates (by Alfred Biolek & Witzigmann, Unser Kochbuch, 2001):

1. corn salad, thin slices of endive and fennel

2. filets of grapefruit and orange, cuts of avocado

3. toasted almond splits, cuts of dates

4. for the dressing: zest and juice of lemon, zest and juice of orange, chives, white wine vinegar, mustard, honey (I took agave), olive oil, salt, pepper.

How to eat the Bread

Naturally speaking, a bread that is made with some devotion and in a long process doesn't need much to be devoured. Just sweet butter, Fleur de Sel and a mild salad (in the picture: corn salad, corn, feta, beetroots and mustard dressing).