Salad days

It’s a strange thing. Now the Fox is all but well – he still seems to have lost some strength of muscle in arms & legs – his taste seems to have changed. He’s suddenly wanting salads all the time despite the fact it hasn’t on the whole been warm or sunny. For many years he wouldn’t eat a salad. Since the 1990s & travelling more abroad, he’s been prepared to have the odd salad provided it was hot summer day & preferably not including lettuce. Since we moved here, nearly 20 years ago now, he’s been happier about salads, even ones with lettuce, especially if we’ve been able to sit outside in the garden to dine. Now, suddenly, he’s almost pleading with me for a salad.

So yesterday was salad day. We had this one with smoked ham. A salad certainly makes a quick & easy meal to prepare on food shop day, when we’re often both tired & drained from the shop. We also bought some smoked mackerel as the basis of another salad later in the week.

Today, however, the Fox is baking some plaice in a cider & cream sauce. It should be good. It’s from a French cookbook I’ve had a while. So far the flavours have had a definitely French taste. We can imagine ourselves in that much loved country.

Personally I think the real secret of a good salad is a good dressing. It needs a bit of punch. I particularly like to make a vinaigrette using balsamic vinegar. Different dressings, though, bring out different flavours in the most mundane leaves.