It's just because I'm--

Hello again!

Salad. Yeuch. Right?

I used to think so too!! Well, I've become a convert, a veritable templefoodie (thanks Nigella!) and I have to confess to being just a little bit of a health freak. I love my running, exercise - in fact, a dear friend of mine recently told me that he doubts I ever rest, and that even standing still I vibrate at a high frequency and should be insulated in a lead box on aircrafts. Anyway, restlessness aside, salad is often regrettably reduced to a lot of soupy-looking leaf, wet tomato and insipid cucumber gasping limply on the side of a plate in an effort to be valiant with one's vitamins. I am not the only one championing the rethinking of salads as delicious, rainbow concoctions both divine to look at and heavenly to eat. There will be a few "salads" popping up over the next few days, chargrilled vegetables, thai themed glories and asian inspired salad boosters. This evening we're having my father's homemade shredded chicken and gorgonzola pizzas, and I was delegated salad duty! The salad base was relatively generic - baby spinach, grated carrot and coriander, but I made a separate asian themed concoction of beanshoots, spring onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, soy sauce and nam pla. If I had a lime to hand, that would have gone in too.


You need: 


two handfuls of beanshoots
3 spring onions sliced into pennies
teaspoon dried chilli or 1 red chilli finely chopped and deseeded
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Sprinkling of soy sauce, and of nam pla (thai fish sauce)


In a wok, or frying pan, heat a little oil and fry your spring onions, garlic and beanshoots until they all become slightly soft to the touch, then add your chilli and ginger - cook for another 1-2 minutes until mingled and then sprinkle in your soy sauce and nam pla - sometimes a half teaspoon of sugar is quite nice here, adding depth to the sauce. The soy sauce and nam pla should just coat the onions and beanshoots, not drown them. Turn the salad marinate/dressing/sauce/concotion (I still haven't found a name for it!!) into a bowl and serve either warm or chilled with your salad!!

Anyway, dinnertime for me. (yum!)
Have great evenings!
Love,
Eloise xxx