Purple Salad - a Touch of Color in a Winter White World

Our world is white.

Winter white. Clean and fresh and cold.

Christmas songs are ringing in my head and my internal seasonal excitement monitor has kicked up a notch.  Oh - it's coming. Fa-la-la-la-la  la-la-la-la.

On Saturday morning we woke up to that first thrilling snowfall of the year. Even before I got out of bed and looked out the window, I could feel that the light outside was different. The world was bathed in a soft, bright white blanket.

There is a stillness to that new snow that muffles all the little snippets of sound floating about. It is quieter than quiet. Soft and hushed.

For a few days the world was magical and everything looked so new and different.

Comical even.

We basked in the excitement of the new season. The dog frolicked in the fluffy white stuff. We inhaled the cold air.

Everything so pretty and clean.

But then it got serious. Freezing cold. -16 degrees Celsius.

And today it blizzarded all day. The roads are terrible, snow needs to be shoveled, vehicles are sluggish, and snowpants and boots need to be dug out in earnest.

It has arrived.

I tried to capture the blowing snow in the photo. It didn't show up so well, but believe me it was there, stinging and sharp and real.

And when everything is so wild and white outside, I crave to be inside, measuring and chopping and cooking. And I crave color.

Like the color in this purple salad. Bright red cabbage and orange carrots come together to create a vibrant jewel-toned slaw.

I make this often in the summer, and today I was trying to remember summer. It suddenly feels far away. (Was it really only a little over a week ago that my toes were digging in warm tropical sand?) This is really not so much a recipe, as a method - and a lazy one at that. It is my quick, last-minute salad.

Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. (I lie. You don't even have to squeeze a lemon for this one.)

My sister, Rosalinda, gave me the idea years ago. Four ingredients plus salt and pepper. Throw the veggies in a food processor, toss with dressing and salad's done. You can play with the amounts, throw in any ratio of carrot to cabbage. I just give measurements to start you off. I don't add any other ingredients, but you could add a bit of onion or apple or whatever. My family likes it with quite a tangy zing, so I use the three tablespoons of vinegar, but if you don't want it quite so cheek-puckery, start with two tablespoons and go from there.

 

Purple Salad

Serves 6

1/4 of a large head of red cabbage (about 1 lb. or 450 gms)

3 - 4 medium carrots (about 1/2 lb. or 225 gms)

2 - 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil

1/2 tsp (2.5ml) sea salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp (1.25-2.5ml) pepper

Cut the core from the cabbage wedge, then chop it into a few large chunks. Peel and trim the carrots, then chop them into several large pieces.

Put them into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until a chunky uniform texture is reached. Careful though, one pulse too many and you have mush. This is really the only tricky part of this recipe. If your processor is not really large, process the carrots and cabbage separately, then combine them in a bowl.  That way you will have more control. You don't want your food processor bowl more than 1/4 to 1/3 full, so you can control the texture. (If it's too full, you have mush at the bottom of the bowl and huge chunks at the top.) And if you don't have a food processor or mini chopper, shred the carrots on a grater and finely chop the cabbage.

Drizzle with the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well and serve.

A hot colored salad for a cold winter day.





Coconut and Curry Carrot Puree

Try saying that one fast, ten times in a row.

Maybe later.

To me there's something elegant about purees. They seem to go with posh meals in fancy restaurants. . . elevating common vegetables to the status of gourmet foods.

Or maybe it's just the thrill of being able to legitimately eat what smacks of baby food, tweaked a little and promoted to sophisticated adult status.

(Transporting us back to the comfort foods of childhood.)

These don't look like particularly elegant carrots. In fact the're downright homely-looking. But, boy are they sweet and delicious. I have three shopping bags of them in my downstairs refrigerator, gifted by my mother-in-law from her abundant garden. (My carrots this year were kind of skimpy.) They are sweet like sugar with an intense carrot flavour that belies their rough-looking exterior. If you can get your hands on carrots like these - grab them and hoard them.

And if you can't, even regular carrots will be transformed to something magical in this comforting autumn side dish. If you don't have the time or the inclination to make the garnish, the carrot puree is quite wonderful on its own, as a side dish with pork or chicken. It's a quick everyday way to serve carrots. The delicate coconut flavour shines through and spooning up the soft puree is addictive.

However, if you add the garnish, the whole dish pops. The added flavours and texture of the crisped onions and pumpkin seeds make the subtle coconut and carrots sing.

Definitely good enough for company.

Coconut Curry Carrot Puree with a Pumpkin Seed Garnish

2 lbs. (900 to 1000gms) peeled carrots (start with more, to account for the lost weight of the peels)
3/4 to 1 cup (180-240mls) canned coconut milk (stirred first)
1 tsp. (5ml) curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Optional Garnish

1 Tbsp. (15ml) coconut oil or butter
1 cup (240ml) chopped onion, (1 small onion)
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds,
1 tsp. nigella seeds, or black sesame seeds, or regular sesame seeds
1/2  tsp. (2.5ml) cumin
1/2 tsp. (2.5ml) curry powder
1/4 tsp. (1.25ml) salt
sprinkle of cayenne

*nigella seeds are available at East Indian grocery stores

Cut the peeled carrots into large chunks and put into a saucepan. Add about 1/2" (1cm) water to the bottom. (If your carrots aren't really sweet, you can cheat by adding 1 tsp (5ml) sugar to the water.) Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Drain the carrots (don't wash the pot yet) and put into a food processor with 3/4 cup (180mls) coconut milk, curry powder and salt. Puree til smooth. Depending on the moisture in your carrots, add the remaining 1/4 cup (40mls) coconut milk until the thickness of the puree is to your liking. Return the puree to the pot.

Alternately, you can add the coconut milk, curry powder and salt to the drained carrots in the pot, and use an immersion blender to puree the mixture - less dishes to wash.

Reheat the mixture gently over low heat and serve as is.

Or

(while the carrots are cooking) Make the Garnish:

In a small frying pan heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to turn a nice dark brown at the edges. Just watch that it doesn't burn. 

Add the pumpkin seeds and saute for another 5 minutes, until the onions start to get crispy and you hear the occasional pumpkin seed pop. You're aiming for flavourful, nicely browned and caramelized onions and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Stir in the nigella seeds, cumin, curry powder, salt and a sprinkle of cayenne. (You just want a mild nip here, so as not to overpower the delicate carrot flavour.)

Saute, stirring constantly, for another minute or two to bring out the flavour of the spices.

Sprinkle the garnish over the carrot puree or serve in a separate bowl and let your eaters add it at the table.

Serves 4 to 6.