A Salad recipe from My Foodie Auntie

I have an aunt who is always bringing in new dishes, trying new recipes and finding exotic food in the supermarket (I think I got my "foodieness" from her). She's that person that is always giving away recipes after the meal is finished and asking everyone what they had in their dishes and what ingredients they used.

She's a math teacher and she has the most sincere, easy going , down to earth personality, and I've always enjoyed chatting with her. What I always admired about her is the fact that she is able to take criticism for her food even though she put her time and energy in it. She would just laugh about it, move on and try again.

When I got married at 16 and had to leave for the U.S with my husband she gave a CD gift full of recipes she had collected and that CD  became my holy reference for my first year of cooking.  She would also continue to email me recipes, gift me some food finds and cookbooks that she thinks are interesting and  write down cooking notes for me.

Her treasured recipe notebook

It's not that she invents those recipes but she knows what recipes to try and what combinations will work. And I think that what defends us as foodies. We're certainly not chefs, but we know good food and we recognize a winning recipe when we see one. And we can tailer the recipe to whatever we have in the fridge and what our kids and hubbies will or won't like . She rarely follows the recipe as it is and so do I. 

I really hope that you try this salad , it's soo good you don't want to miss out. I am actually eating it now as I am writing this post.






Sweet and Nutty Salad

2 cups chopped lettuce
1 cup shredded chicory
2 handfuls fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup halved baby tomatoes
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 cup roasted pine nuts
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbs ground flax seeds
1 tsp dried mint


dressing:

1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried mint
1 tsp pomegranate syrup
1 tsp white vinegar
1 Tbs yogurt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil