Spring Salad, Mustard Vinaigrette
Today I was out at Sooky’s salon, Noel Sy, everyone seemed abuzz with appreciation in the renewed spring weather.
There was plenty to chat about with one of the owners, Michél, our conversation surrounding the theme of food and gardening, mostly herbs and vegetables.
On my end, being a little more than enthused to share having just planted the edible containers on my deck, from lettuces, hot peppers, strawberries, all sorts of herb varieties and this year to also include a new patio grape plant, Pixie.
Also too, I shared my excitement in planting the vegetable garden just beneath the deck in the next couple of weeks.
Being an individual who has long worked in a higher level of beauty and fashion for much of his career, Michél then shared with me a rather tender note about his mother in French speaking Canada so loved gardening that she was willing to make life sacrifices in order to maintain her own small plot of earth it provided her so much life giving pleasure. Today, at 85 years of age, the garden still continues though reduced in size.
As it was time to begin my salon appointment, Michél then concluded with me something more profound on gardening. As a touching inspiration in loving understanding about his mother and her true pleasure in gardening but also the richness to her in the bounty grown from the activity of planting and tending a bit of earth. She valued knowing where ones food comes from and on a much deeper level how the gardening experience expands one in a heightened level of sensitivity and a fuller awareness in beauty of the world all around us.
And so upon my return home, eager to snip off and taste the new fresh flavors of the herbs creating today’s Spring Salad, Mustard Vinaigrette, I reflected on that which Michél had earlier shared, appreciation at a heightened level, bright colors, dense flavors, aromatic scents, abound on one simple plate along with a deepened sense and appreciation of the world for all of its beauty.
Spring Salad, Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- For the Salad:
- 4 handfuls frisee broken into small pieces
- 12 small cherry tomatoes, mixed red, yellow, and orange colored, halved
- 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 1-2 small Persian Cucumbers very thinly sliced
- 12 little white potatoes, cooked until tender, boiled or roasted, halved or quartered
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 8-10 small leaves, lemon verbena
- 8-10 fresh purple basil leaves, thin sliced, plus one tiny leaf per salad for topping
- 4 fresh mint leaves, approximately, for topping salad
- For the Vinaigrette:
- pinch of sugar
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 12 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- good pinch or two coarse kosher salt
- good pinch or two cracked black pepper
Instructions
- For the Salad: Decoratively arrange each salad plate with even amounts of vegetables, sprinkle all around with fresh chopped parsley and thin purple basil strips, top the center of salad with the mint, lemon verbena and the small whole purple basil leaves. Drizzle Mustard Vinaigrette onto each salad
- For the Mustard Vinaigrette: In a small mixing bowl whisk together the sugar and vinegar to dissolve, whisk in the Dijon mustard. Drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil while whisking rigorously to emulsify, sprinkle with salt and pepper
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