Winter greens

Winter is one of my favourite seasons. I love winter clothes, sweaters, boots, cozy jackets and woollen scarfs. I am always happy to be mucking around in the snow with my snowshoes on or out on a ski hill. Of course with the cold weather and winter outings comes all the delicious comfort foods and toasty warm drinks. Mmm, so good.

As kids Ginger and I could often be found bundled up and packing down the snow on the driveway with our toboggans, this was a non-sanctioned idea and if we were caught by our parents we were kindly asked to move along. One of our other favourite activities was making snow horses. Unlike most kids who make snowmen, Ginger and I liked making more useful snow creatures, you can actually ride a snow horse, where as a snowman can only be looked at. Our snow horses probable looked a lot like a haphazard or fallen down snowman with two big snowballs making up its body and some strange configuration of other snowballs that never seemed to actually resemble a horses head. But we tried non the less and spent many an hour out in the yard tending to our horses.

This years winter has been a little more green than it has been white. No snow horses for me. To be honest, I would have been happy to have a little more of the white stuff, but what can you do. Instead we have had to trade our snowshoe clad wanders, for rainy treks through the forest and around our local lakes. It only seemed fitting to also trade in the stews and comfort foods for something that matched our surrounds a little more. Greens.

I stumbled upon this recipe on Food52 a few weeks ago and knew straight away that I had to make it. It kind of reminded me of larb and that is about all that mattered to me. The original recipe serves 6 – 8 people as a side, but I halved the recipe and the two of us polished off most of it as a main.

Luang Prabang Fusion Salad
Recipe adapted from Food52

For the salad
2 large or extra-large eggs
1 medium head of lettuce, washed and dried
2 scallions, trimmed, smashed flat with the side of a cleaver, cut lengthwise in half or into quarters, and then cut crosswise into 2-inch lengths
1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
1/2 cup celery, sliced on the diagonal
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For the lime juice dressing and the cooked dressing
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1 serrano chiles, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
1 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1/4 pound ground pork
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
1/4 cup rice or cider vinegar
2 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and let eggs cool.

Tear lettuce into large pieces. Place all the greens in a salad bowl and set aside.

Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut crosswise in half. Remove the yolks, place in a small bowl and mash; reserve for later. Cut the whites crosswise and set aside in a separate bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ginger, chiles, fish sauce, lime juice, and 1 clove of minced garlic; set aside.

Put the remaining dressing ingredients near your stove. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and heat for 20 seconds, then add the remaining cloves of garlic. Stir-fry until the garlic starts to change colour, about 20 seconds, then add the pork. Break the pork up into small pieces as you stir-fry. Once the pork has changed colour completely, about 1 to 2 minutes, add the salt and sugar, then add the hot water and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar, add the reserved mashed egg yolks, and stir to blend.

Pour the hot liquid and pork over the prepared greens and toss. Add the lime juice dressing and toss. Transfer the salad to individual plates and mound. Sprinkle on the chopped roasted peanuts, arrange slices of egg white on top, and serve immediately.