By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
This week’s intuitive culinary creation was inspired by the fresh, vibrant Winter Greens & Citrus from The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), grown passionately by urban farmer, Billy Anthony.
So often we sauté greens with a little olive oil, garlic, and sea salt for a nice side dish. Since The Soil & Seed Garden greens were so fresh and vibrant I decided to experiment with eating several different greens in a simple raw salad. And, I’m so glad I did. This salad is one of my very favorites. The textures and combination of citrus and mint are outstanding. Hope you try it.
The salad features Shungiku, Minutina, and Mizuna greens, Arizona navel orange, ruby grapefruit, and an Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, imported to Arizona by Chef Chris Bianco.
The Three Winter Greens
- Shungiku, often known as edible chrysanthemum, is one of my favorite flavorful greens. These greens, popular in Japan, are aromatic and floral tasting. Shungiku are generally eaten raw or gently cooked to enjoy their crunchy texture and flavor.
- Mizuna, another Japanese green is a member of the mustard family, a little peppery, yet milder than arugula. These are growing in the Learning Garden at The Farm.
- Minutina are long, slender, spiked leaves with forking antler-like horns. When harvested young, the crunchy leaves of minutina taste a little like a mix of parsley and spinach.
The Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
In addition to the greens, I’ve been experimenting with an organic extra virgin cold pressed olive oil that local Phoenix Chef Chris Bianco has recently imported from Italy. The oil, from the Pugila region, is a single variety pressed from Peranzana olives. Chef Bianco has mentioned that some of the olive trees are 400 years or more years old.
Arizona Winter Greens & Citrus Salad
This salad is perfect for the fresh Soil & Seed Garden vibrant mild tasting greens and citrus.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 large handful shungiku (chrysanthemum)
- 1 large handful minutina
- 1 large handful mizuna
- 1 navel orange, sliced, juiced, and zested
- 1 ruby grapefruit, sliced, juiced and zested
- 1/4 cup snap peas, sliced on diagonal
- 3-4 sprigs fresh mint
- 2 tbsp kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1/4 cup pecans
- ¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
SIMPLE STEPS
SALAD DRESSING
- Squeeze ½ of juiced orange and ½ of juiced grapefruit into mason jar. Approximately ¼ cup juice total.
- Pour in twice as much organic extra virgin olive oil as juice.
- Shake the jar.
- Notice if the dressing needs more acid (grapefruit / orange) or fat (olive oil) to suit your taste.
- Add pinch of sea salt.
- Add few mint leaves.
- Shake jar.
PLATE THE SALAD
- Place greens, snap peas, olives, capers, pecans, and mint leaves in a large bowl.
- Gently pour the dressing onto the greens.
- Hand toss to coat the greens with the dressing.
- Plate the salad with slices of orange and grapefruit.
Let’s take a look at the final salad..
Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”
COOKING CLASSES AT THE FARM AT SOUTH MOUNTAIN IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA
Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Chocolate Pie on the cover and Plant-Based Dessert recipes in the January 2019 issue.
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