This lightly pickled salad was left over from yesterday’s lunch. It was delicately sweet and slightly bitter the first day, and even more intense on the second.  Pressing the vegetables makes them more digestible and the nutrients more accessible.

serves 4

INgredients

4-5 Napa cabbage leaves

6-8 dandelion leaves

3-4 pink radishes

1 scant teaspoon pinch sea salt

1 mandarin orange

Process   Wash the Napa cabbage, dandelion and radishes separately and carefully.  Lay the cabbage leaves on a wooden cutting board; slice each one into thin horizontal strips, about 1/8 inch wide. Set aside. Cut the dandelion leaves into similarly sized strips. Slice the radishes into paper-thin rounds; halve each round.  Place all three vegetables into a large glass or ceramic bowl.  Disperse the sea salt in the salad. Use your fingers to gently mix all three vegetables together and massage the salt into them. This should take a good 3-5 minutes.  Pull together the greens and form them into a mound. Cover them with a glass or ceramic plate. Place a weight on top of the plate.  I use a gallon jug filled with water. Leave the salad with the weight on top for 2 hours. Remove the weight and use the plate to drain the water out of the salad. Place the salad into a clean bowl.  Use your fingers to mix it well.Squeeze the mandarin orange and pour the juice on top of the salad. Serve.

©Nancy Wolfson-Moche 2014