Maybe it's because Cat is French with a sylph-like demeanor, always clad in black with an olive-skinned face framed by a muscular, swath of jet black hair, that makes me pay extra attention to the things she eats.
Maybe it's the pre-cooking fun we always have at the grocery store, holding hands like ten-year-old girls, dancing through the aisles, disturbing the refrigerated produce displays, tripping on kiwis and juggling red peppers that makes her salads taste so damn good. Anything made with passion and fun is sure to be infused with the personality of its creator.
Or maybe it's the fact that twice in this lifetime, the first was two years ago, she's managed to create a salad that sent me reeling and made me declare it was the best one I had ever tasted yet!
Recently, she topped it off again, and this one I have no doubt, should be called Salade Orgasme. A table full of moist, roasted chicken and pomegranate-blood orange martinis went largely untouched as three dinner guests and myself ate three servings a piece of this delectable, sinful, taste-bud tweaking, extraordinary bowl of goodness.
"The secret lies in the mix of odd ingredients that you wouldn't normally think go well together," explains Cat, our salad sylph.
And I wholeheartedly agree, including the odd little Filberts that were new to me-tiny hazelnut tasting round nuts that provide a tantalizing crunch!
My adaptation goes like this.
Toss a big box of dark green artisanal lettuce, one half cup of filberts, one diced yellow bell pepper, one diced red bell pepper, one sliced avocado, a bunch of whole cilantro (stalk and all), a half cup of feta cheese, a half cup of plump blueberries together and top with your favorite balsamic vinegar infusion!
