"Hang on to spring" salad

Another post that will hopefully bring spring at your table. Year after year I sit and watch as spring is getting shorter and shorter here and that’s something that doesn’t make me a happy girl. I even expect not to have any spring at all soon and just pop into summer without this wonderful "introductory" season. It’s like I can feel these spring days getting fewer and fewer. I for one have always preferred the shy warmth of spring over the melting heat of summer but the weather doesn’t care about my preferences so I’m determined to enjoy spring until its last shy sunshine. And I’m starting with the "hang on to spring" salad.

Today’s post is my second contribution to the Nutriferia Roundup: Springtime salads. Don’t forget to participate until the 17^th.


Ingredients (serves 4)

• 5 spring onions (or scallions)
• 1 English cucumber
• 2 green garlics (immature garlics – leaves and stems)
• 1 Tbsp fresh dill – chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes
• Crumbled Feta (to taste) + 2 ½ Tbsp for the dressing
• Red cabbage – shredded (3x both hands hollow)
• 2 handfuls of thinly sliced fennel bulb
• 4 tsp grape seed oil
• 4 tsp dry white wine
• 4 olives – thinly sliced
• The juice of half a lime
• The juice of one Nova mandarin

Directions

Wash the vegetables and then make the dressing so that all those flavours will have enough time to combine. In a small glass bowl mix well wine, juices, oil, olives and crumbled Feta then put aside.

Finely slice cucumber and fennel, thickly slice green garlics and spring onions and mix well with the shredded red cabbage and dill. Add the dressing and give it another good mix. Cut tomatoes into quarters and then halve the quarters and place over the salad. Sprinkle with crumbled Feta and serve immediately. It’s always good to make this salad just before you serve it so that taste and texture are at their best.

You might have noticed that I didn’t add any salt or sugar. That’s because I was simply trying to add these two via the dressing ingredients. I used olives and Feta for the salt and the mandarin juice for its citrus sweetness and it worked pretty well for me. Still if you feel like adding salt or sugar please do so when making the dressing.

Hope I didn’t bore you all with just another salad post.

Bon appétit :)!