Selfish Vegan

“The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion

of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.

I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me and I to them.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

It seems that I do in fact, like salads.  I really thought I didn’t, or I wouldn’t have mislead you.  But geez you guys, I guess I didn’t know what a salad was.  Let’s pretend for a moment that I am the Maid of Honor at this Selfish + Vegan (4EVER!) blog.  This is the part where I would inevitably stand up in front of you and stammer out the dictionary definition of love… I mean salad.  Salad is: “any mixture or assortment.”  See now that right there is part of the problem.  I thought a salad was lettuce, usually iceberg (or if you’re really lucky romaine), plus tomato wedges and some curious “house” dressing.  Even giant chain restaurant salads are primarily lettuce-based under all of the cheese and tortilla strips.  I did discover a watercress side salad recently that I still think is The Business, but I really thought it was an isolated incident.

Husband has given me many things: not least of all knowledge of The Big Salad.  After a long day of driving he went out to forage for dinner.  When he told me we were having salads for dinner I was ungrateful, and a bit petulant if I’m to be honest.  A salad isn’t dinner.  But Husband surprised me.  This Big Salad is something that Elaine Benes would gladly accept.  There isn’t even any actual lettuce.  Just everything else.  He combined small bits of spinach and field greens with every raw, or lightly steamed, vegetable available.  There is squash and zucchini, peas and corn, carrots and mushrooms.  A few onions and clumps of broccoli, some black beans and chickpeas and the pièce de résistance:  a dollop of fresh hummus.  No dressing.  Just hummus.  Croutons are also absent.  I don’t actually think I’ve ever had croutons that didn’t suck, but without them I miss the crisp-ity crunch.  Husband solved that dilemma with corn nuts and sesame sticks.  That man is a genius, I swear.

This is the kind of meal that allows you to satisfy your urge to overeat.  How can gluttony be bad if we’re talking about The Big Salad?  You don’t even have to pretend to feel guilty about it afterwards.  Just recognize the love.  Because it’s there now.  I didn’t understand it before, but it’s there now.  Salads and I are 2GETHER4EVER and I might even ask my best friend to write a speech about it.

Big Salad, I salute you.  And the vegetables?  ”They nod to me and I to them.”

PhotoGrazing

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