Category Salad

Memories of Myanmar: Spicy Tomato Cabbage Salad

Okay, I admit it: I’ve never been to Myanmar and so…have no memories of it. Instead, I live vicariously through people like award-winning Canadian culinary travel writer Naomi Duguid and CNN’s Anthony Bourdain, who guide us through the doors of a country whose society is now opening up after 50 years of isolation, and introduce us to the seductive flavours of its exotic cuisine.

Anthony Bourdain’s engaging episode on Myanmar (formerly Burma), from his show Parts Unknown, awoke in me an appetite for Burmese cuisine – a distinctive and delicious melting pot of flavours influenced over time by Myanmar’s bordering countries of India, China, and Thailand. I love the concept of Burmese salads: condiments may be sprinkled on bite-by-bite to make each mouthful a different combination of textures and flavours suited to individual tastes. So I created a salad tailored to my taste, loosely inspired by what I saw on the show but simplified, using ingredients I could easily find here.

Since then, I happened upon Naomi Duguid’s gorgeous book Burma: Rivers of Flavor while browsing in Indigo recently. The photographs drew me in and the recipes won me over; I’ve been pouring over it ever since. Warming Beef Curry with Tomato is an easy, comforting recipe using commonly found ingredients. The Red Chile Powder recipe is a cinch to make and has a bright heat that creeps up on you, leaving you blanketed in warmth. Next I am going to make the Paneer in Tomato Sauce and the Tart-Sweet Chile-Garlic Sauce so my husband will stop using the grocery store brand that is full of preservatives (he uses it like ketchup). And doesn’t the Intensely Green Spinach & Tomato Salad with Peanuts sound delicious? If you would like to travel vicariously down the rivers of Burma – “the rivers of flavor” – and want to try your hand at authentic Burmese cooking, Ms. Duguid’s well-researched book is your passport. Thank you, Ms. Duguid, for bringing the flavors of Burma into our kitchens.

myanmar_salad

Memories of Myanmar: Olive’s Spicy Tomato Cabbage Salad

Serves 6-8

This is the kind of salad that you’ll want to make when you are not in a rush, perhaps on a lazy Saturday afternoon when you have a hankering for something spicy to liven up your Saturday night dinner. We think it’s refreshing and exotic, even if it’s not an authentic recipe.

Naomi Duguid’s book, Burma: Rivers of Flavor, includes an authentic recipe for Burmese Tea-Leaf Salad, the type of salad which inspired my recipe. Yes, the authentic recipe calls for fermented tea leaves (unlike my recipe). Ms. Duguid describes it as a dazzling salad and Burma’s national dish. She included it in her book as “an act of optimism, in the hope that fermented tea leaves will soon become more widely available”. I’m on the hunt! I’ve asked at T&T Supermarket and my little local Indian grocery store and so far, have come up empty-handed. I sent an e-mail to the Myanmar Cultural Association of Brampton, hoping that they can lead me in the right direction. If I find some, I am going to try Ms. Duguid’s recipe.

Salad Ingredients:

12 cups shredded Napa cabbage (1 medium cabbage)

1 bunch fresh coriander (large stems removed), finely chopped

15 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped in ¼ teaspoon coarse salt

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin

2 cups seeded, finely chopped or julienned fresh tomatoes

6 mini cucumbers, sliced

Crunchy Bits:

1 cup roasted and salted peanuts (I use Spicy Peanuts from the nut counter at Adonis Mississauga to add a little extra heat)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (olive the Suma brand that is already toasted – see photo below)

Dressing Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or homemade red chile powder to taste

2 teaspoon white sugar

½ teaspoon sodium-reduced soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoon peanut oil or olive oil

Optional Accompanying Condiments:

Moong Dal (fried salty split green mung bean snack – see photo below)

Extra ground cayenne or homemade red chile powder or your favourite Asian chili garlic sauce.

Extra minced fresh garlic

Directions:

  1. Place salad ingredients in an oversized salad bowl. If you don’t have one, divide salad ingredients evenly between two large bowls to give you enough room to toss on the dressing. Once dressed, the salad will fill just one large bowl.
  2. Place peanuts in the bowl of a small food processor; chop by pulsing briefly 3 or 4 times, until you have a mix of chopped nuts and ground nut powder; place in a separate serving bowl and set on table. Place the toasted sesame seeds in a separate serving bowl and set on table.
  3. Without washing out bowl, place first 7 dressing ingredients in the bowl of the same small food processor; process until garlic is finely minced. Add oil and blend thoroughly.
  4. Pour dressing on salad; toss thoroughly. Serve immediately, with bowls of the crunchy bits and optional condiments on the side for guests to add individually, to their own taste.

Suma Toasted Sesame Seeds

Sumo brand White & Black Toasted Sesame Seeds are widely available and are usually found at grocery store sushi counters.

Moong Dahl

Moong Dal (fried salty split green mung bean snack) is available at Indian grocery stores and Loblaw’s).

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Think Spring! Curried Spinach Salad

My life lessons have taught me to not fret over the weather and to appreciate every day, no matter how grey and how cold. I can’t say that I welcomed those big fat flakes of snow this morning but I did grab the bull by the horns (or rather, the dog by the collar). Like a true Canadian, I took Buddy for an invigorating walk in the frigid wind. I felt so good afterwards. Then I decided to post this lovely little recipe to help us THINK GREEN and THINK SPRING.

My friend contributed this delightful salad to our church potluck dinner. Olived it so much, I asked for the recipe. It’s as cheery as the first songbird of spring. Healthy baby spinach greens, crunchy apples and nuts, and chewy raisins are dressed in an interesting vinaigrette that has just a hint of warm, golden curry flavour.

I adjusted the ratio of vinegar to oil to suit our tastes (we prefer a 1 to 3 ratio). Feel free to adjust it to your own liking, as long as you end up with a total of 1 cup of oil and vinegar combined. The original recipe called for 2 lbs. of spinach but I found that one 454 g /16 oz. package of baby spinach was plenty. I made the full recipe and divided the vinaigrette and dressing in half to use another day. We are big on salad these days and are eating it for lunch and dinner…maybe even breakfast. That would make my trainer happy!

I use Sumo Roasted Black and White Sesame Seeds from Bento Nouveau (available at Longo’s) because they are already roasted. I keep them in my fridge and sprinkle them on asparagus, salad, avocado chunks, stir fries, etc. If you can’t find them, just toast raw sesame seeds for a few moments in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing them frequently in the pan, until golden.

Pura vida, Ev. Thanks for the recipe!

curry-spinach

THINK SPRING! CURRIED SPINACH SALAD

Serves 12 (may be reduced by half)

Salad Ingredients:

454 g / 16 oz package Longo’s Organic Baby Spinach, washed carefully and dried gently but thoroughly

1/3 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts

1/3 cup shelled, roasted pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons Sumo Roasted Black and White Sesame Seeds from Bento Nouveau

2 or 3 apples

Curried Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Major Grey Mango Chutney, finely chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry ground mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Few drops Tabasco sauce

3/4 cup salad oil

 

Dressing Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together white wine vinegar, chutney, curry powder, salt, dry mustard, honey, and hot sauce. Gradually add oil in a thin steady stream, beating with a wire whisk until blended. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, to allow the flavours to mellow together. Whisk again just before dressing salad.

Salad Directions:

Put raisins in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Steep for 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly. Combine spinach, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, green onions, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Just before serving, peel, core and dice the apples into bite-sized chunks. Add to the salad. Pour just enough dressing over the salad to coat leaves lightly, then toss gently but thoroughly. Serve immediately.

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Olive’s Salade Maison

I love winter. I love every inch of the snow from the storm that hit our region on February 8th. I love to watch my son play in the snow with our dog Buddy. Buddy happily romping through the snow, my son smiling and waving through the dance of the evanescent snowflakes.  I savor the moment and ingrain the memory in my heart.

It won’t be long before spring comes though and with that, the shedding of our winter clothes that never seems to coincide with the shedding of our winter fat. You know the fat I am talking about – all those Christmas cookies and holiday goodies, all that winter comfort food that I hide under my big warm comfy sweater.

Wake up! Spring will be here before we know it.

Egad! We will be in shorts!! Now is the time to lighten our palates and clean up our plates.When I vacationed in Provence, France I was inspired by the Provencal state of mind and their attitude toward food and eating. More on that later. Rather than frites or copious quantities of carbs, beautiful frilly leaf lettuce salads danced across half of each Provencal lunch plate that I ordered.

Here is my version of such a salad.

I gather frilly leaf lettuce, Italian flat-leaf parsley, purple cabbage, carrots (I cheat and buy them already shredded), ripe tomatoes, red onion, and crisp mini English cucumbers. In the summer, I may throw in fresh mint or dill.

I make a big batch at the beginning of every week, then take out enough for each serving and dress it just before eating.

Olive’s Salade Maison (enough to last all week)

Ingredients:

2 heads of frilly leaf lettuce

1 bunch of Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1/2 small head purple cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 purple onion (or more to taste), finely sliced

4-6 mini cucumbers, sliced

1 bag shredded carrots, rinsed, drained and dried well

6-8 Campari tomatoes, quartered

Method:

Slice the lettuce in very wide strips. Gently but carefully wash the leaf lettuce and dry it well. The leaves are delicate so be easy on it.  Add the remaining ingredients, which have also been washed and dried thoroughly and prepped as directed above. Store in the refrigerator, ideally in a lettuce crisper.
Take out only as much as you need daily. Dress simply with a tumble first in your best extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt then a drizzle of your favourite vinegar. Or treat yourself to Bobby’s Hideaway House Vinaigrette. If you like, toss in some pitted and sliced kalamata olives and crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese.

I am going to adorn half of every plate I eat with this lovely salad and tumble in its happy leaves, transport my soul to a Provencal state of mind, then kick up my heels to Milord by Edith Piaf….la, la, la, la, la, la… .

Milord

(refrain)
Allez, venez, Milord
Vous asseoir à ma table
Il fait si froid, dehors
Ici c’est confortable
Laissez-vous faire, Milord
Et prenez bien vos aises
Vos peines sur mon coeur
Et vos pieds sur une chaise
Je vous connais, Milord
Vous n’m’avez jamais vue
Je ne suis qu’une fille du port
Qu’une ombre de la rue…

(chorus)
Come along, Milord!
Sit at my table;
It is so cold, outside,
Here it’s comfortable.
Relax, Milord
And make yourself at ease,
Your troubles on my heart
And your feet on a chair
I know you, Milord,
You’ve never seen me,
I’m just a girl from the docks,
Just a shadow of the street.

Lyrics and translation courtesy of lyricstranslate.com

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Bobby’s Hideaway House Vinaigrette – out of this world!

While Chris Hadfield (Canadian astronaut now circling the earth on the International Space Station) was dining amongst the stars on a breakfast of orange juice, Cornflakes and coffee, my Dad and I were enjoying a yummy breakfast down here on planet Earth at Bobby’s Hideaway in Streetsville, Ontario.

If you know Streetsville, you probably already know that Bobby’s Hideaway is famous for breakfast. But what olive the most about Bobby’s is their delicious House Vinaigrette – a perfectly balanced, well-blended dressing with a taste that leaves you wanting more, more, more! I must have more! It is divine on their Analyse This Greek Salad (a pleasing twist on the traditional Greek salad consisting of the usual fixings along with shredded carrot on top of mixed baby greens). Olive it on their Bob Cobb Salad – a satisfying salad of flavorfully marinated char-grilled chicken breast, perfectly ripe avocado, egg, Blue cheese and crumbled bacon adorning fresh salad greens.

Olive it so much that I decided I would try to recreate the recipe at home. I googled recipe after recipe to see if I could get any hints. I even feigned food allergies to try to trick the waitresses at Bobby’s into giving up the secret recipe but their lips were sealed and alas, the recipe remains secret.

Thankfully, Bobby’s sells their delicious House Vinaigrette in take-home bottles at $5 per bottle. There aren’t any labels on the bottle, no ingredients lists either (to keep it secret) but you need to know that it must be refrigerated quickly, even before opening, so get it right home and into the fridge. Make up a batch of Olive’s Salade Maison, throw in some kalamata olives and crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese, dress it with Bobby’s House Vinaigrette and you will have my version of Bobby’s Analyse This Greek Salad on your own table.

All Bobby’s sauces are homemade and well-crafted. Bobby’s serves quality all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s home-style comfort food in a casual setting.

Bobby’s Hideaway
20 Queen Street. North (Britannia and Queen)
Streetsville Ontario
L5N 1A1
Tel: (905) 542-8863

Hours of Operation:
Mon: 7:00am – 9:00pm
Tue: 7:00am – 9:00pm
Wed: 7:00am – 9:00pm
Thu: 7:00am – 9:00pm
Fri: 7:00am – 10:00pm
Sat: 7:00am – 10:00pm
Sun: 7:00am – 9:00pm
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