Sunday, March 04, 2007

When One Chip Is Too Many...

Salad

I hate farewells. A close friend of mine is leaving the country in less than a couple of weeks, pretty much for good. So I have been trying to spend all my spare time with her, thus I haven’t been baking or blogging. I refuse to count down the days left before she leaves, but as that date gets closer and her departure inevitable, it seems that the only sure thing to do is spend whatever precious moments we have left together.

So what we have been doing is gratuitously spending up all over Sydney, exposing her to everything the city has to offer before she leaves our fair shores. With full time work and tyring to fit in shopping sprees, outings and eating lots of foods it's a lot of hard work. It’s quite exhausting in fact, and not to mention the cost. But who can put a price on friendship?

Well to offset this current lifestyle of constant shopping and feasting- it sounds glamorous but really isn’t- especially when your wallet cannot support your habit, I needed to fill my diet with something other than coffee, gelato, chocolate and donuts, and Nutella donuts at that. Aside from eating food that I would consider “shopping fuel”, the worst kind, I haven’t really had the chance to eat something good, not just something delicious, but actually nutritious.

It’s not too long until my friend E leaves and I won't always have this constant excuse to live it up, but meanwhile I needed a healthy respite from my overindulgence. You don’t even want to know how many bowls chips (that's fries for the Americans) I have consumed this past week, and let’s not talk about the pastries we've gobbled up! I just know that the next Nutella donut I am eating will be going straight to my thighs.

Salad

So here is a fresh salad that I made as an equaliser for my nutrient deprived body. I am dubbing it the Farewell salad as it represents a few different farewells going on right now. First, it’s a farewell to summer. Officially summer has gone, but it still feels like she is lurking around the place as the heat and humidity haven’t really left us. And secondly, the salad is an early farewell, to all this eating out and bingeing, I really need to rein this in before I become Shamu.

When I get into this grind of eating badly, I start to hate healthy food. So I have to retrain my body to want to crave good foods. So here is a salad I made of roasted vegies. I couldn’t go without some sort of fat on the vegies, as you know, a junkaholic like me has to ease my way back into this healthy thing, so I opted for roasted vegies.

The salad is a combination of asparagus (blanched), roasted yellow squash, beetroot, cherry tomatoes and baby carrots, with a sprinkling of lightly toasted hazelnuts and a splash of homemade Hazelnut dressing. You can use the dressing for pretty much any combination of vegetables, so here is the recipe.

Salad

Hazelnut Vinaigrette

1 clove garlic, crushed
a pinch of salt
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp hazelnut oil
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until emulsified. Pour generously over salad.

23 comments:

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Ah, yes we all need those equaliser meals.
This is really lovely looking. Now I must try the hazelnut oil!

Anonymous said...

Oh I know how it feels to have to retrain your body to want good things! I had a raw salad tonight as part of the process...but I think I might go with your idea of roast veggies with a nice dressing for tomorrow :)

Anonymous said...

I love the colors of your salad. The aspargus seem so crunchy, I would like to bite one. I am addicted to hazelnut oil so I might be an hazelnut-vinaigrette-olic as well!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Well it does sound like a fresh cleansing salad after all the fries.

Sorry to hear about your friend's departure; glad to hear though that you spent such wonderful time with her.

Anonymous said...

You're so lucky to have more than 6 months of summer. I think we only get a maximum of 3 months if that. Spring is coming up and then, asparagus will soon be in season. I love their nutty taste and to pair them with roasted tomatoes, is simply sublime! I love roasted cherry tomatoes still on the vine...

I feel healthy just by looking at the photo. I am guilty of indulging in take out food lately... enough said. :)

Mae

Anonymous said...

yep, I understand the feeling of falling off the wagon food-wise haha but you have a good excuse so you should just enjoy it for the time being and worry about it later.
The salad looks delicious.

Peabody said...

I'm just fixated at the idea of a Nutella Donut.

Cheryl said...

Your vegetables are so bright. I love that. Have to try that oil.

Anonymous said...

The veggies & dressing sound fantastic! And a super great blog, too!

Deborah Dowd said...

I want to know where in America we can get a Nutella doughnut!! Your veggies look great!

wheresmymind said...

I hate it when friends leave...so sad

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Hazelnut vinaigrette. Wow, I'd never considered it but now I must rush out and buy some hazelnut oil. It sounds fabulous.

And if you have a recipe for Nutella doughnuts, please share!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jen - I guess what they say is true, parting is such sweet sorrow... but it sounds like you've been filling the days with excitement, memories and fun. Beautiful salad - I'm intrigued by hazelnut vinaigrette, it sounds absolutely fantastic!

Linda said...

yes the Nutella doughnut also has caught my attn though i am more distracted by your photos. your micro-photographic skill &/or lense are phenomenal!

Jen said...

Due to popular demand I will be posting a little something something on the Nuttella donut sometime int he near future.

I actuslly buy them from a cafe in Balmain, although I am pretty sure you can make it at home with the right ingredients/equipment.

Anonymous said...

Your photos are gorgeous, as always! I hate goodbye's too...

Anonymous said...

love the look of the salad jen...I like a recipe with a story to the name

Anonymous said...

The salad looks really refreshing. Thanks for the recipe, I would need to try it one day as I am trying to eat more veg and less sugar stuff...

christine said...

What a great idea to use hazelnut oil, it sounds delicious. Making that healthy salad just a tad decadent yet still healthy. :) I know it sucks to say goodbye to friends, I hate farewells too. But at least today, technology makes it that much easier. :)

Anonymous said...

oh.my.god. a nutella DONUT!?!? you mean the donut tastes like nutella or it has nutella icing... OR BOTH! mmm

Rasa Malaysia said...

Beautiful salad, so colorful and green.

By the way, you have probably answered my question in an email, but I can't seem to recall the camera you use. I am shopping for one for food and travel photography...any recommendations?

Anonymous said...

I recently bought hazelnut oil just because I love anything hazelnut and have never really seen it used. This looks great and am excited to try it! Thank you

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog.. the food looks delicious. As an Aussie living in Canada your pictures and stories make me homesick for Sydney :-)