So salad it is and I am left with the task of creating one that won't make them regret their enthusiasm or detract from an otherwise enjoyable evening. Out comes my big fat Italian Bible and I find some great looking recipes, such as fig, goats cheese and honey which I know and anyone can instinctively tell, is a great combination. The trouble is, none of the wonderful ingredients required for such salads are in season - what sane Italian eats salad in winter?! No, they wrap themselves up in cashmere and fur galore and leather boots and eat stews and soups and mountains of calorific Pici ( a Sienese variation of spaghetti, on steroids).
Regardlessly, I ended up with a good selection of different leaves, herbs, and fruity dressing-ingredients to liven things up a bit. Having distractedly torn up a bit of your bog standard salad, some red chicory, a touch of rocket and chopped up some plum tomatoes and feta cheese, I scattered it with jewel-like pomegranate seeds and ripped parsley. To top it off we drizzled it with a dressing of the oil that came with the olives we had for nibbles (no waste here!), some eucalyptus honey and freshly squeezed orange juice. I had also bought pinenuts to garnish it but I forgot to add them what with all excitement.
And voila! All in all, better than your average salad but a bit messy (pomegranate seeds are slippery customers) to make regularly if you're intending on eating nothing but the green stuff for the rest of January before giving up (too much floor cleaning anticipated).
Of course, we counterbalanced all this goodness with a good slug of red wine grazie a Vivien and a naughty dessert of biscuits endearingly named 'Abbracci' (hugs) and melted Nutella courtesy of Megan. This we ambitiously aim to ski off come February where of course we won't indulge in any sort of unhealthy après-ski cuisine...
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