Blitz's Salad

[Blitz]

I've promised this for a long time...finally here it is - Blitz's Salad.

Around our household this salad that I made up is simply referred to as “Kim’s Salad” but I’ve renamed it here with the more aptly title “Blitz’s Salad”. The word Blitz means “lightning” – and this is a very quick salad to prepare. Serendipitously, it is also my user name on this Forum.
This healthy dish has been a hit with my family and friends. There are a lot of subtle tastes and textures in this salad. Some of them are complimentary whilst others are deliberately contrasting.
Please try it...it will look messy and strange but it does taste very nice indeed.

Ingredients:
Celery
Carrots
Rocket
Edam Cheese
Mushrooms
1xRed Apple
1xBanana
1xAvocado
Sultanas
Natural Almonds

Preparation:
Have a large salad bowl at the ready and set up a chopping board with a good sharp knife.

Finely dice the celery making sure that it is roughly equal the size of your apple (err on the side of less if in doubt). Place in salad bowl. The idea behind this salad is that you can eat it with a fork so it is important that the celery pieces are not too chunky. I usually play a game with my guests called “what the heck is in this salad?”...if the pieces are too big you will make it too easy for them to win.

Next - finely dice carrots to the same size and portion as celery. I’m after the colour of the carrot but don’t want people to be chewing on carrot like they were rabbits so make real sure they are very finely diced. Place in salad bowl.

A major supermarket sells rocket in a 2 serve packet. I use just a little under one serve. Finely dice rocket and add it to the bowl. This is one of the ingredients that I want people to have trouble figuring what it is. Let them think it is parsley. The peppery taste of the rocket will support the cheese and mushroom.

I buy a small piece of Edam cheese and use about three finger widths of it in this salad. Be sparing with the cheese as it can pack too many calories. I slice it into small thin slithers so that it can hide amongst the mushroom pieces and banana. Add to bowl.

You can buy a punnet of sliced mushroom pieces relatively cheaply. Again, portion size is about the same as with celery and carrots. I slice them finer than the shop supplies them but nowhere near as fine as the other ingredients. Add to bowl.

Cut red apple up into pieces of about the size of dice. I remove the core and seeds but leave the red skin...I want the red colour in my salad to stand out. This is one of the ingredients that can be readily identifiable. Place in bowl.

Peel the banana and dice it to the same size as the apple (maybe even a little bigger) and add it to the salad bowl.

Halve the avocado and remove the seed. Score each half in a chequerboard pattern and invert each half and scrape pieces into bowl. The pieces should again be about the size of your banana pieces.

I buy my sultanas in supermarket home band kilo bags. I grab a generous handful of them and add them to the salad bowl. If you buy the small packets of sultanas – two of those should do the job.

Grab a small handful of natural almonds (make sure they are NOT roasted almonds). About 20 or so should be about right. Very finely dice them (watch your fingers!). This is one of these ingredients that shouldn’t be readily identified. If they do spot it, it should be hard for them to tell you what sort of nut it is (most guess walnut). Please make quiet enquires beforehand about nut allergies or you may suddenly be playing the “will the ambulance arrive before my guest carks it?” game.

And now the messy bit. Put your hand into the salad bowl and mix all the ingredients together. When you have thoroughly mixed it – place in fridge ready to serve. This whole salad takes about 5 to 10 minutes to prepare and I usually make it just before the guests arrive.

Kim

[DD Diva]

Ingredients:
Celery
Carrots
Rocket
Edam Cheese (yum!! I'd have trouble keeping this to a minimum!!! I'd probably use Feta which not only tastes great but helps coat the salad like a dressing)
Mushrooms
1xRed Apple
1xBanana
1xAvocado
Sultanas
Natural Almonds

Thank you for sharing this Kim, I'll definitely give it a go!!! Sounds "different" yet very nice with the complimenting and conflicting textures/tastes.

Do you use a dressing of any sort, or just let the ingredients shine on their own???

[Blitz]

I use Edam cheese because it is a mild cheese and use it sparingly just as an undertone to the mushroom pieces and the avocado.
The avocado, sultanas, apple and banana with bind the salad together.

This salad uses no dressing other than it's own ingredients...
often it is the added salad dressing that leads to the calorie blown out.
My salad avoids this trap.
This salad is designed to fill you up yet allow you to be able to lose weight if you exercise.

I noticed today that the other major supermarket sell a similar size packet of rocket as the other one's two serve packet but call it a single serve.
The serve of rocket I use in my salad is basically just a generous handful (as is most of the salad's ingredients).

Kim

[DD Diva]

Yeah I don't use "dressings" either, most (even the low fat/calorie type are either full of sugar and aren't good for you anyway.
I tend to let the ingredients shine on their own, but things like a nice smooth feta (used sparingly, as with your Edam) acts as a dressing (even though I never intended it to) and just finishes it off beautifully!!!
I love a great salad, and will often have that without anything else. That is, it becomes my meal rather than an accompaniment to my meal.

[Blitz]

I usually have a chicken leg with this salad.
I like this salad...but I'm basically a carnivore at heart!

Kim

[Tams]

Really interesting salad! Never seen banana in a salad before. I'd give it a go, but I can't eat about a third of the ingredients, but I'll vote from reading it that it tastes great!!

[Blitz]

Really interesting salad! Never seen banana in a salad before. I'd give it a go, but I can't eat about a third of the ingredients, but I'll vote from reading it that it tastes great!!

It does taste great!

Maybe you can create your own salad with stuff in it that you can eat.
Just approach it like you would making a piece of art work...
create contrasting and harmonious textures, colours and tastes in a pleasing balance.

Kim

[DD Diva]

That's right Kim, and as with the salad, "mixing" things up like our food and exercise choices for variety, flavour and (above all) to avoid the risk of boredom setting in which as we all know can lead us to potentially straying from the healthier path!!!