Vegan pear, bell pepper, cherry tomato & sugar snap pea salad

[Guest guest]

I made this salad for a Christmas Eve dinner last night

for a group of Iranian, Japanese, French, German, Canadian

& Californians most of whom are rabid carnivores.

 

They all took second helpings, and many actually took

thirds. I was astounded! Amazing for a vegan recipe!

 

Total shopping time: 15 minutes

Total prep time: 45 minutes

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 Bosc pears

1 Asian pear

 

1 package sugar snap peas

 

1 container multi-colored cherry tomatoes [yellow, red & orange]

 

1 each -- whole red, yellow and orange bell pepper

 

1 package Enoki mushrooms

 

12 French black olives [unpitted Provencal if you can get them --

but any black olives will do]

 

1/2 cup thin sliced, blanched almonds

 

1 package Readypac Italian mixed salad greens [radicchio, arugula, & Romaine

lettuce]

 

1 package Readypac " Portofino " salad greens [baby arugula, baby spinach, baby

lettuces [lolla rossa, frisee, red leaf, green romaine, red oak] & baby greens

[tat-soi, mizuna]

 

toasted sesame seed oil

 

extra virgin olive oil

 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

 

salt

 

fresh ground pepper

 

[if you can't find the Readypac salad mixes, use what's available, but mix up

colors and

textures of green lettuce/red lettuce, soft/crunchy for best effect]

 

For dressing:

 

Raspberry vinaigrette [storebought]

Creamy kalamata olive [storebought -- **** not vegan!!!!]

Yellow currents [4-8 ounces]

 

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TO PREPARE:

 

1) Chill lettuces thoroughly. [i actually put mine in a freezer for about half

hour to get

the greens extremely cold, but not frozen.]

 

While the lettuces are chilling:

 

1) Slice the pears paper thin. In a large frying pan, saute in olive oil on

very low flame until translucent. Stir occasionally. Add a pat of butter and

lightly stir into pears in the last 60 seconds of cooking. Salt lightly, then

remove from pan and drain on layers of cloth or paper towels to absorb oil and

cool the fruit. [Cooking time: approximately 6-10 minutes]

 

2) Prepare a bowl of water with ice cubes. Steam sugar snap peas in a

vegetable steamer for 1 minute or less. Quicky remove from steamer basket and

toss into bowl of ice water to blanch and stop cooking. Pat the peas dry with

towels, then place in a bowl. Toss with a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, and

lightly salt. Set aside to cool. [Cooking and prep time: approximately 2

minutes]

 

3) Saute Enoki mushrooms in 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil at low/medium heat

for 1 minute or less. Set aside to cool. [Cooking time: 1 minute]

 

4) Toast almonds in a small pan [no oil!] at low heat. Stir constantly. Watch

carefully to keep from burning. When toasty brown in color, set aside in a small

plate to cool.

[Cooking time: approximately 3-4 minutes].

 

5] Saute 4 ounces of yellow currents in toasted sesame oil for 1 minute. Do

not saute the remaining 4 ounces, but leave them as is. Set the cooked currents

aside to cool. [Prep time: 1 minute]

 

6) Toss cherry tomatoes in a bowl with 1/2 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil,

salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper [Prep time: 1 minute]

 

6) Remove stems and seeds from bell peppers. Slice bell peppers lengthwise

into the thinnest strips you can manage. Aim for approximately 1/8 " in width,

but try to keep the strips the full length of the pepper. [Prep time: 2 minutes]

 

7) Slices the olives into paper thin slices. Do not dice or mince. [Prep time:

1 minute]

 

When all the above are room temperature, grab a large kitchen bowl. Place all

of the above

items in the bowl [except the currents] and mix them together with your bare

hands. Gently!

 

Remove lettuces from freezer.

 

In a large wooden salad bowl, place half bags of chilled Italian and Portofino

greens in bottom of bowl.

 

Add the prepared vegetables from kitchen bowl [except the currents which will

be used in the dressing!]

 

Add the rest of the greens to salad bowl, and, again, mix together with your

hands...gently!

 

Voila! That's it!

 

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For dressing I used 3 things:

 

Storebought [from healthfood store] raspberry vinaigrette

Storebought [from healthfood store] creamy kalamata olive dressing [not

vegan!]

8 ounces yellow currents [half as is, and half sauteed in toasted sesame oil]

 

The guests then chose which, if any, to use to dress the salad.

Some ate the salad as served, some tried all the options of dressings.

 

Happy Christmas!