Ali Baba Salad (for Gretchen)
This improvised salad happened by chance last week. I tossed together the ingredients on hand, whizzed up a dressing by Thermomix and the result was divine in flavor and texture. I wasn’t going to write about it, but Gretchen spotted it on the Bimby Kitchen Diary page and, being the curious Aussie that she is, asked about it. So one week later, and here we are.
Why call it Ali Baba Salad? Even though Jicama is originally from Mexico, it combines well with the other ingredients for a resulting ‘fusion’ salad. My teen-aged son said.. “I think this tastes like… Persia!” So I jumped on Google to learn more about the origins of pomegranates, and the origins of the Ali Baba story, and bingo (!) we had a Middle Eastern match - and a name for our salad of the day!
Ali Baba Salad
solids:
Jicama (however much you want to use… I cut some in chunks and grated some, for more moisture and texture)
Apple (I used a Jonagold apple… juicy with great slightly tart flavour)
onion (I used a good-quality sweet onion) Use a small onion or part of a big one or more… depending on how much you enjoy onion, but reserve a thum-sized piece for the dressing.
red cabbage (a small chunk, lightly shredded by hand, just for a touch of purple color and the nice crunchy texture)
dried cranberries (small handful for added color)
fresh pomegranate seeds (as few or as many as you’d like!)
for the dressing:
a little juice… (I had about 100ml of fresh-squeezed apple juice in the fridge that day, but you could add orange juice, or any fruit juice you have on hand)
about 1 tsp. orange flax oil (This is optional: if you don’t have this on hand, just omit or add some orange pieces, as few or as many as you like)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
30g flax oil enough to moisten and carry flavors ( I always have organic cold-pressed flax oil on hand, but feel free to use whatever ‘light’ oil you have on hand. If you have no such oil, regular mayonnaise would work as a substitute)
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
some onion (thumb-sized piece that was reserved from preparation of ’solids’ above)
a few chili flakes
Note: I didn’t do this, but in hindsight why not make the most of your Thermomix’s power and add a few pomegranate seeds to the dressing. Rendering the seeds into juice will kick this salad up a notch but will make things more pink overall. (Try it, and let me know!) Or, try adding a few orange sections to the dressing for extra zing.
Method:
Assemble solid ingredients: I cut Jicama into irregular chunks and grated some by Microplane to vary the texture. The apple was mostly grated, but a few chunks too. (Variety is the spice of life is it not?) The onions was minced, the red cabbage was loosely shredded. Remaining solids were simply tossed in.
Add dressing ingredients to the stainless steel Thermomix bowl and whiz for 6 seconds at speed 4 (or just use your best judgement because honestly, I don’t remember how many seconds I blended this.)
Pour dressing over solids, toss, and serve.
Or, toss, and don’t serve. Tastes even better the next day. Just ask my teenager!
Tip: Break up you pomegranate in a bowl of water to avoid mess. All the squirts stay under water! Easy.
