Another Not-Boring Salad

Kumquats are one of those items that I would see in the produce section, but never buy because I didn't know what to do with them. My grandmother had 2 big kumquat trees in her dining room and I always thought that they were really cool - like citrus fruit sized for your stuffed animals. I never ate them, though. Well, that's a lie, I probably snuck one or two. Anyway, this salad is an easy way to use this cute fruit.

I wanted a healthy but filling, and of course non-boring, salad for lunch today, as well as something to bring on the field trip tomorrow. This recipe fit the bill nicely. I added diced, cooked chicken for extra protein. I skipped a few labor-intensive instructions and it turned out fine.


From "Super Natural Cooking" by Heidi Swanson (with a little interpretation from me).

Clemenquat Salad

• 6 or 7 clementines (my note: I used Satsumas)
• 7 stalks celery, stripped of strings (my note: I left in the strings. Who has time to strip celery strings?)
• 10 kumquats
• 3 big handfuls walnut halves, toasted & cooled
  
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt & pepper
• block of Parmesan cheese (my note: I used leftover aged Provelone)

- Peel clementines and separate segments. (my note: you can peel the individual segments, but I don't mind the membrane). Place in a large bowl.
- Slice the celery 1/8 in thin on a slight diagonal. Add to the bowl.
- Using a serrated knife, slice the kumquats into 1/8 in. rounds. Remove seeds with the tip of your knife. Add to the bowl.
- Add the walnuts to the bowl.
- In a small bowl, whick together the lemon juice, olive oil, a few pinches of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss with clean hands. (I added the diced chicken, wrapped Saran Wrap over the bowl and gave it a good shake).
- Make Parmesan curls by running a vegetable peeler along the long side of the block of cheese and top each serving with a few curls.


One last note from me and then I'll shut up: the dressing for this salad is very light both in amount and flavor. It was fine for me, but if you want a more heavily-dressed salad, increase the measurements for the dressing by 1/2.