After a weekend of super-delicious food that was not super-big on fresh fruits or vegetables, I decided tonight called for a dinner centered around salad.
Salad:
Red leaf lettuce
1/4 Honeycrisp apple, cored and thinly sliced
Several shavings from a small bulb of fennel
Several very thin slices of white onion
1/4 avocado, sliced
Handful raw pecans, coarsely chopped
Dressing:
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2-3 Tbsp. canola oil
1-2 Tbsp. agave nectar, to taste
1/2 tsp. finely ground golden flax seed (optional; you can also use some flax or nut oil with the canola)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground fennel seed
1/8 tsp. powdered ginger (or use fresh if you have it)
1/8 tsp. white pepper, ground
pinch salt
Whiz the dressing ingredients together in a mini blender/food processor until homogenized, and taste to adjust for sweetness and spices.
Obviously, salads are the ultimate improv food, so change this up any way you like. Try adding or substituting raw or cooked beets, different nuts, pears or dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds or orange segments, different greens for the lettuce, etc. A little lemon juice or zest in the dressing would be great.
