Brasil Hangover Salad

Lovely lovely warm music-in-the-streets life-loving Rio. Very unlovely hangover. I won't claim this salad cured my hangover, but it did enable me to make it the few blocks to the beach and a fresh coconut full of life sustaining head clearing electrolyte-filled water. The salad took a whopping hour to make, but only on account of massive hangover slow motion.

The Baghdad version would have dried figs and dried coconut carted in from Jordan and no cilantro, unless we brought it in fresh from Amman and then got a hangover within three days before it went off and was forgotten in the depths of the fridge. If I really were hungover in Baghdad, by the way, I'd try to con Sara into going to the cafeteria for the spinach, since that's a long walk in the scorching sun with no coconuts or spontaneous bossa nova along the way. If she wouldn't, I'd probably eat the ingredients sans spinach in bed while watching reruns of Dead Like Me and whining.

Brasil Hangover Salad
2 cups spinach
1 large handful cilantro, de-stemmed
1/4 cup shredded coconut, fresh (2 T if dried)
1 mango, cubes
2 figs, sliced
2 T almonds
1 T pumpkin seeds
1 T sunflower seeds
1 t balsamic vinegar
1 t olive oil
1 t lavender pepper

Toss in a big bowl, and mind the knife in your hungover state...

P.S. Have you had this new-fangled lavender pepper? It's black pepper mixed with dried lavender buds and a touch of sea salt. It adds an incredible little note to salads and veggies. (You can make your own by adding dried lavender to your pepper grinder and giving it a shake). Be careful about getting carried away with this new taste sensation and over-peppering, as you don't want to choke on a particularly peppery mouthful. Just sayin'.

Fat and Sassy

I hail from a small town in the Midwest, nestled in rolling hills and steeped in a strong German(...ish) culture. Specifics aren't important, but what is important is a lovely little cafe in a lovely nearby town that has lovely salads. The cafe is called "Fat and Sassy" (don't you love it?) and their signature salad is, of course, the "Fat and Sassy" salad. Chicken breasts are the crowning ingredient and it awkwardly involves a bit of brown sugar (sort of thing that could happen to any salad), but its core ingredients are a delicious combination. Here is the rawsome(!) version of the "Fat and Sassy" salad.

Fat and Sassy Salad
2 cups romaine lettuce
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1/2 green apple, sliced
1/2 cup grapes
2 ounces raw nut cheese, crumbled (you can buy it from Dr. Cow or make your own)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries (be sure to check the label to make sure there isn't anything added to them, like sugar)
2 tablespoons candied walnuts (to make raw candied walnuts, toss raw nuts with agave maple syrup to taste, and dehydrate for 6-8 hours)

Toss. Drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette (1 T olive, macadamia nut or avocado seed oil whisked with 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, a squirt of lime, a dash of agave raw honey and a sprinkle of sea salt) or enjoy plain with a few twists of black pepper. Serves one.

Honey Badger Don't Care Raspberry Pea Shoot Salad

Ever find yourself sitting around fretting about what to do with all those pea shoots? ME TOO. Somewhere between the U.S. and Canada I found myself loaded down with a slightly embarrassing number of pea shoots (don't ask). Running out the door to the airport, I hastily threw together what turned out to be a simple and delicious way to eat your way free from pea shoot bondage. The tart sweetness of the berries combined with the creaminess of the avocado and clean crunchiness of the sprouts makes dressing unnecessary, but if dressing is a must, I'd go with a simple lime vinaigrette and a sprinkle of sea salt and call it a day.

I recommend you chop up the pea shoots before assembling the salad, unless you want an unsightly mess of unwieldy shoots sticking out your mouth as you chew... Which may or may not be what happened to me while at LGA waiting for Air Canada flight 591 to Ottawa. Sorry to all in the departures area for my honey badger don't care pea shoots attitude, and the mess that ensued, but I was really hungry.

Pea Shoots Salad
1 cup pea shoots, chopped into bits that will fit in your hungry mouth
1/2 cup raspberries (if in Baghdad, substitute sliced peaches or pears - though the pop of color won't be quite as nice so you'll have to squint your eyes and imagine raspberries as you eat)
1/2 cup avocado, diced into small pieces
1 cucumber, split lengthwise and sliced
Sprinkle of black pepper

Toss. Add a lime vinaigrette (1 tsp olive, avocado or macadamia nut oil whisked with a half teaspoon vinegar, squirt of lime, dash of agave and sprinkle of sea salt) if desired. Serves one.

Pomegranates Are for Lovers

Confession time. Neither Sara nor I are in Baghdad; we're both on vacation. More on my raw vacation wanderings soon. While I was in Canada, a friend of a friend lent me a book called "Rawsome!" by Brigitte Mars. All obvious (and not so obvious, but so very delicious when you discover them) jokes aside, it's a damn good read. Mars laboriously details the positive points of an exhaustive number of common foods, as well as lists essential nutrients and where to find them. I would recommend it heartily, if for nothing else than its inspirational title (I will never again be raw; I will only be Rawsome) and upbeat narrative.

My favorite bit so far is on pomegranates: "Best of all is to eat a pomegranate with your lover." I do hope one day I'll indulge my evenings in pomegranates with a lover, rather than eating them alone in bed whilst reading "Diana: A Strange Autobiography" until falling asleep with the book on my face and pomegranate juice trickling down my chin onto my hair and the sheets.

Until then, in the spirit of pomegranate excitement, here's a recipe for a pomegranate cocktail originating with Jamie Oliver and updated by Served Raw. It has a lot of possibility, the basis being muddled pom seeds and mint leaves. For the alcohol, you might use a delicious organic vodka or raw sake, or a combination of more sturdy liquors as suggested below. For a minty pom twist on a classic g+t, substitute gin for the liquor and add a squirt of lime. If this is too tart for you, add a dash of agave and don't tell anyone. For a non-alcoholic version, use fizzy soda water instead of booze.

Pomegranates Are for Lovers Cocktail
1/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
4 fresh mint leaves
Your choice of booze (suggested: tequilla, rum and rye)
Crushed ice

Muddle 1 T pomegranate seeds with three mint leaves and add 1/2 - 3/4 ounce liquor. Strain into a freezable container and freeze for one hour. Pour into a glass. Garnish half-way up with additional pomegranate seeds and one mint leaf. Top with crushed ice; serve.