Late Autumn Salad

I'm sitting at my kitchen table admiring the cleanliness that surrounds me. This past Sunday I threw a dinner party with a total of 8 adults and 4 children. It was a trip. Usually I'm up to my ears in preparation right up until, and while the guests arrive. I know it's not fun running around and doing all this crap while people are coming in the door, not fun for me or for my guests. So, I decided to set a new goal for myself when it comes to having guests over: get everything done before they arrive, leaving enough time to chill and have a cocktail. I accomplished that goal and it really made a huge difference. I still get lost in the chaos that is a party; the million conversations going on at once while the children are running around trying to find my terrified cat who is huddled inside the box-spring of the bed hiding for dear life. I have these clear-headed moments when I can follow along like a normal person, participating in a dialogue. Yet more often than not I find myself solely paying attention to my food or to the little four-year-old girl walking by in my 3" pointy toed black patent leather stilletos. When I look up from my current distraction I find someone is looking at me wondering what I think if what they just said. My reply is usually: "Hey in the what now?" So poised I know. I'm telling you, preparing all the food ahead of time and keeping it warm in the oven until needed reduced my "hey in the what now" moments by at least half. And that's a good thing, because you need your wits about you with party shenanigans, or else you too will find a raw onion in your watering can the next morning.

This is not the salad I served at my party. I served a totally awesome spread of Caribbean dishes which were vegetarian with vegan options. I've always got a vegan, vegetarian, and plethora of omnivores at a single party and unlike most people I find it a (positive) challenge to cater to all. It always forces me to find new ways of looking at recipes. I will be posting the recipes of that meal here sooner or later, no worries. The salad here is from the November menu at Plumpest Peach the biz. I am in awe of its color and texture. I love finding salads like this, salads without greens that are entirely crunchy, raw, and delicious. It would impress anyone I think. The more colorful options you can get in there such as different colored beets, multi-colored carrots etc, the more gorgeous it becomes. A mandoline is another must here because you don't want any of these raw and crunchy veggies to be sliced on the thick side because you'll already be chewing assertively as it is. Plus, there's something about having wafer-thin vegetables piled high on the plate, it is a work of art no?

Another recipe adapted from Skye Gyngell's A Year in My Kitchen. This woman is incredible!

Late Autumn Salad

serves 4

1 pomegranate

1/4 red cabbage, cored

1 fennel bulb

4 raw beets, washed

3 carrots, peeled

2 apples

small bunch of fresh tarragon, leaves only

salt and pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Dressing

2 organic free-range egg yolks

1 tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp cream

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp pomegranate molasses

200ml mild vegetable oil

Extract the seeds from the pomegranate, avoiding the bitter membrane. A good way to separate the little pieces of membrane from the seeds is to collect the seeds and bowl, fill with cold water and the membrane bits should float to the top.

Using a mandoline slice the red cabbage into thin ribbons. Cut off the base of the fennel bulb and remove any tough layers and slice finely again with the mandoline. The same goes for the beets slicing into very thin rounds. Using a vegetable peeler this time, shave the carrots into long ribbons. Quarter and core the apples and (I think using a knife here would be fine) thinly slice with the skin on.

Place the cabbage, fennel, beets, carrots, apples and tarragon in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice over the veggies. Toss gently together with your hands and set aside while you make the dressing.

Put the egg yolks into a bowl. Add the honey, mustard, cream, cider vinegar and pomegranate molasses and whisk together to combine. Season with a little salt and pepper. Pour in the oil in a slow stream, whisking as you do so to emulsify. It should have the consistency of a very loose mayonnaise.

Divide the salads among individual plates and pile it high! Drizzle over the dressing and scatter the pomegranate seeds around the plate and serve. A little extra tarragon for garnish looks great too!