greens for the bachelor
i love earthy salads, but don’t have the patience to buy a bunch of produce, wash it, mix it, and watch it spoil because it’s such a pain in the ass to prepare. pre-made bagged salads are nice, but they’re usually too expensive and, from the brands i’ve tried, spoil quickly.
lately i’ve been digging on the one-pound spring mix box (“mélange de printemps” — ooooh!) from earthbound farm, also known as “mixed baby greens” under the same UPC (no idea why). it’s prewashed, and usually very dry, to delay that ratty spoil deal. you just open up, pull out a few handfuls, add toppings, and jam. stays good for at least a few days, and often a week or so.
was first introduced to baby field greens (or whatever) years ago at a froo-froo restaurant in middleburg, VA. been my preferred salad since. BTW, this restaurant doesn’t fuck around. took some guests there on a slow night years ago, and the service was surprisingly poor (as is common at lesser restaurants when it’s slow, since the waiters tend to hang out taking it easy, rather than being in the groove). wrote a letter describing the experience, and they promptly replied with a personal note and a $100 gift certificate. all’s forgiven, far as i’m concerned. that’s management that obviously has confidence such a situation was a fluke (which it appeared to be, from my previous and later visits). i definitely don’t mention the gift certificate as encouragement to complain to them.
until my first visit there, i’d only heard about arugula and radicchio on some TV commercial making fun of trendy restaurants and snooty waiters. well, they’re really good! love the bitter crunch. here’s a cool greens identification chart from earthbound farm.
kickass recipe: grill/fry a burger with your fave seasonings, then pop on top of a large bed of spring mix, with dressing, cole slaw, whatever. yum. for the burger, i’ve been jamming on a mix of olive oil, tabasco, paprika, pinch of turmeric, fresh ground black pepper, pinch of salt (have a rare sea salt grinder around from some recent baking; normally i don’t add salt), and italian seasoning. when the meat’s almost cooked, i drain the grease/oil, throw in red onion slices, then sprinkle more tabasco and fresh ground pepper as they’re sautéing. nothing clears up the nose like tabasco steam.