Sunday Thoughts On Salads

Have you noticed that summer is the season in which we joyfully embrace salads?

I guess it's the hot weather that makes salads sound cool and refreshing.

Here are some entertaining  quotations about salads.

"If you have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say Cool Whip on the side, you might be a redneck. —Jeff Foxworthy

(JOAN: I'm happy to say I have NO Cool Whip containers. I don't like the stuff. To me, it tastes like plastic.)

"Salad can get a bad rap. People think of bland and watery iceberg lettuce, but in fact, salads are an art form, from the simplest rendition to a colorful kitchen-sink approach." —Marcus Samuelsson

(JOAN: My salads sport the kitchen sink method. I throw in vegetables, different kinds of greens, fruit, seeds, nuts, and a homemade dressing.)

"There are many things to admire about Japan but this is the one thing I love the most and probably the only time I eat breakfast. Fish, eggs, soup, salad, veggies; all in the tiniest bites. It's a full meal, but it's so refreshing." —David Chang 

(JOAN: When I lived in Japan is when I first saw salads made of finely shredded cabbage instead of lettuce. So I've always put some in my salads ever since then.)

I have some weird habits. For instance, I love beets. Show me a salad bar and I will clean them out of their beets. —Chris Pratt

(JOAN: My dad planted beets every year, and my mom canned them as pickled beets. They were absolutely delicious. Thankfully, Darling Hubby grew up eating beets too. I pickle them now and put them in salads.)

"As I see it, a green salad is an open invitation to carrots, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and the sprouts that grow in jars on my kitchen counter." —Victoria Moran

(JOAN: I too grow sprouts in jars on the wide window sill above my kitchen sink.)

"As a student of Alice Waters, the patron saint of salad, I'm no stranger to the art of lettuce washing." —Samin Nosrat

(JOAN: Even if a container of greens or vegetables says, 'Pre-washed,' wash them. Put the greens in a colander, dunk it in a large bowl of water, swish the greens around. Pull the colander up and observe the dirt or other residue remaining in the water.)

Takeaway Truth

Take that last quotation to heart. Wash the greens, vegetables, and fruit.