A Delicious Tropical Fusion Salad

Most meals are never complete without a salad, like this tropical fusion salad.   I could never eat pelau without a salad (and even a coleslaw); a macaroni pie must be accompanied with a load of salad at the side… and… I can go on.  However, salads can be a main dish especially when I want a light but nutritious meal.     This salad, I call it my tropical fusion salad, was meant to complement my latest steamed fish recipe and a side of baked potato.  It was a simple, but remarkably filling meal – mostly because I had a lot of chewing to do because of the vegetables.

An Easy to Digest Salad

Needless to say, chewing is important when it comes to digesting raw vegetables.  I heard that one needs to chew vegetables at least 20 times per bite to ensure the vegetables  (in its raw form) is properly digested.  Imagine that.  Well, I can't say if I chewed each bite 20 times or less, but I can say that this salad was surprisingly delicious.  And I felt great after eating the meal. This salad also include vegetables that are easy to digest.  It includes celery and carrots.  Such a combination of ingredients helps create a healthy, balanced  and delicious meal.

A Salad with a Trini Style Dressing

Maybe it was the fish steamed in chadon beni butter, or the chadon beni dressing for the salad.  Or it was both, but the chadon beni dressing helped bring out the tropical flavours in this salad.  The  recipe for the dressing is included in the recipe, if you like adding a bit of dressing to your salads.  This salad is for everyone, with a little bit of the tropics and a little bit of Italy in it from the parmesan cheese and black olives used.  The ingredients for the salad are available where ever you live.  So here is my tropical fusion recipe with a chadon beni dressing.  Enjoy!

 Tropical Fusion Salad Recipe

 

Salad:

1/2 cup orange, tangerine or mandarin segments
1 celery stalk, chopped
3/4 to 1 cup crushed or chopped pineapple
1 cup baby carrots, chopped
1 medium green or red onion, thinly sliced
4 black olives, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or diced
2 cups torn romaine or iceberg lettuce

Chadon Beni Dressing:

1 tsp. mustard
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 tbsp. chopped fresh Chadon Beni
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

In a deep bowl add the lettuce and the orange/mandarin/tangerine segments.

 Then the cheese, pineapple , carrots, onion, celery, and olives.

Lightly toss the ingredients together.  Chill until ready to serve with dressing.

 Now for the chadon beni dressing.

Here are some of the ingredients you will need.

In a  separate bowl add the mustard, fresh lime juice, finely chopped chadon beni, minced garlic, salt and black pepper.

Slowly whisk in the oil.

Here is the prepared Chadon beni dressing.

Drizzle the chadon beni dressing on the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. Yield 2-3 servings.

So that is it. How do you like my tropical fusion salad recipe?

Ah gone 🙂