Mediterranean Feast: Salads

Next up, Salads.

 In case you forgot or much prefer clicking a link to scrolling down,  here's the menu.

This pomegranate & herb salad was definitely my favorite part of the meal.

I wanted a tangy little salad to balance the richness of the chicken dish so this puppy was born.

You'll Need:

• 1 Large Pomegranate
• 1 Bunch of Radishes
• 1 Bunch of Mint, picked from the stem
• 4 scallions, sliced into thin circles
• 1 Bunch of Parsley, picked from the stem
• Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt

You pretty much just gotta throw all the ingredients together but here's a quick run through.

Start with this beauty, and cut it in half through the weird bobble end.

To get the gorgeous seeds out, flip it upside down and smack the outside of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon. Make sure to do this over a large bowl.

Also, make sure to understand that this is a messy process. I wore an apron that was splattered crimson by the end of the seed removal process.

(one more also, can we please appreciate how challenging it was to take the above picture?? okaaaay!)

Once all the seeds were out, I sliced the radishes on a mandolin, and kept them in cold water.

About an hour before I was ready to serve the meal, I combined the herbs, the radishes (minus the water) & the pomegranate seeds together and added a generous drizzle of good quality olive oil and kosher salt to taste.

Then just let it all hang out together. This salad changes a lot as it all sits and marinates, and just gets better and better!

Before our next salad, allow me to direct your attention to these lovely crispy chickpeas, you can find recipes all over the place but all I did was lightly coat them with olive oil, sprinkle on some s&p and made sure they were evenly spread out on the tray. Then they went in to a 415 degree oven until they were crispy and done. In that time I made sure to flip 'em around a bit every 5-10 minutes. 

When they come out of the oven you can season them really any which way you choose. 

The next salad up to bat is the Israeli Salad with Feta.

Simple, fresh, easy ingredients and you my friend are about to make it (or at least you ought to)

You'll Need:

• 2 cans of Garbanzo Beans
• 2 Large Tomatoes
• 1 English Cucumber
• 1/4 small red onion
• 1 block of Feta (I just got the standard stuff at the grocery)
• Olive Oil
• Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Lemon, cut in half

1. Rise the beans off well and crumble 2/3 of the feta into much smaller pieces
2. Chop the cucumber and tomatoes into small pieces and thinly slice the onions
3. Combine all the vegetables with the beans and half of the feta
4. Drizzle with red wine vinegar and olive oil, and add a squeeze of lemon, then mix it up. 
5. Add more of what is needed and season with s&p to taste. 

Voila! Salads.
Vegetables, and all the other healthy shtuff you need in your life. Perhaps you might live forever now?