Winter greens

Granted, the winter is fleeing the country at full speed today, but we still haven't seen many spring vegetables yet. So what do we eat right now ? I recently bought a salad sprouter, and we've been eating tons of winter salads with sprouted seeds. Mustard seeds are my current favorite, I love the bite they add to my salads.

I'm sorry I don’t have any pictures today, I didn't have time to photograph it before it was eaten up. I hope this won't happen too often around here, but well... sometimes it does.

Winter salad (with some not so winter-y imported stuff, yeah, I know, I know...)

1 apple

1 handful corn salad

1 handful baby lettuce

1 red bell pepper

1/2 Belgian endive

1/2 handful sprouted mustard seeds

1 handful gizzards (you can substitute some bacon strips)

Wash and cut the salad leaves in small pieces, put them in a large salad bowl. Wash and cut the pepper and endive into small bits, add them to the salad. Do the same with the sprouted seeds.

Dice the gizzards (or bacon, or any small salty meat bits you fancy), grill them in a pan with a dash of oil until they turn lightly golden. Let them cool and add them to the salad.

Serve with salad dressing (don't add the dressing directly to the salad bowl, it "cooks" the salad leaves and any leftovers you would have would look pretty terrible on the next day).

WhileI'm at it, I can add a simple basic...

Salad dressing (a list of possible ingredients)

Strong mustard

Red wine vinegar / Tamari / Honey

Olive oil

Sunflower oil

Salt

Pepper

My recipe tends to change every time I make it, but the theory mostly stays the same. Take a small bowl. Start by thoroughly mixing 1 tablespoon mustard with vinegar. You can also add tamari or honey. Then, very slowly, add the various oils, stirring all along - you can do this with a simple fork. The dressing will get thicker and opaque as you add the oil. Add salt et pepper to taste, other spices if you want.

Sometimes, the dressing just doesn't ant to build a real emulsion, and the ingredients don't blend well together, or the oil separates form the rest after a while. Just mix again right before using the dressing, and don't worry, the taste will be the same. :)