Rainy Days. I clutch my baby to my chest as we stare out the open door, smelling the downpour, staring at the falling water, hearing the roaring thunder. We are both in awe, one moment he is crying, the next he is entranced. I am grateful for this water, the plants soak it up, the river flows more freely. But I wish to send some blessed rain to the people who need it most, to parched soils, and mouths, all over this crazy world. May rain come and bring you all sound sleeps and excuses to loll in a warm place, contemplate.
I roast some vegetables. What is that J asks, rabbit food? I’ve had enough rabbit food, all we eat is salad.
Rabbits don’t roast their vegetables, nor do they spread hemp seed garlic mustard dressing on them. So no, it’s not rabbit food.
I won’t photograph this Chantelle, the pan is dirty, it looks bad, don’t argue.
But. But I can just crop that bit out, and it’s not really dirty. I made crackers on it, which are part of the salad so it doesn’t really count. I guess your right though, it doesn’t look so good.
I’m trying to argue less, it’s true, I’m good at it, I have a rebuttal for almost everything. When I was a child my parents said I should be a lawyer. In my own defence, it’s not so much that I am trying to be argumentative, more so I just have a different perspective, which I like to share. It’s mighty fine if you don’t agree. I bare my dirty pan to you all, uncropped. This is after all a dialogue about real life, not some home maker fantasy.
Freshly roasted vegetables, still perfectly crisp, add a more warming approach to salad. We do eat a lot of salad. Right now there are 5 of these local red lettuces in my fridge. Variation comes in handy. I throw just about anything on a baking tray, cover it with some coconut or olive oil, salt and pepper, 12 minutes in the oven and it’s a salad. The trick is to make sure everything is going to take the same amount of time to perfection. In this case, I sliced my sweet potato real super thin since it takes the longest to cook out of all the veg. Making scratch dressings is as easy as throwing a vinegar, oil, and seasoning into a blender. It grants you a lot more control and diversity over what goes into your dressing. I threw some flax and onion crackers on top, which I will be posting the recipe for in days to come.
Ingredients
- 20 ish asparagus spears
- 1 daikon radish
- 6 cherry radish, cut in half
- 1/2 a sweet potato or yam, thinly sliced
- 1 bok choy leaves separated
- 3 garlic scapes chopped
- a handful of pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 of a red onion, chopped
- 1 tbs coconut or olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- 1 head of lettuce, ripped into bite size pieces
- 1/3 cup hemp seed or olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs dijon mustard
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbs tahini
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1 Tbs honey or coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Arrange lettuce on a plate or large bowl. Add to a roasting pan the asparagus,radishes,sweet potato,bok choy, garlic scapes, pumpkin seeds and red onion. Drizzle with oil, shake the pan around to coat and cover with sea salt and pepper.
- Roast for 12 minutes, give or take depending on your ovens strength.
- To assemble the dressing add garlic, oils,vinegar, mustard, tahini,salt and pepper and a bit of coconut sugar or honey (optional) to your blender and buzz until smooth.
