summer som tam (thai salad)

Som Tam with Cashew Dressing

This is a recipe I learned in Bangkok when I did a Vegetarian Cooking Course with May Kaidee and we experimented with Raw Thai Cuisine; it can be made in any country!

Grate carrot in long noodles,

Do the same with beets

Chop up zucchini or make noodles

Slice a Red onion

Add coconut and grated Ginger

for the dressing:
Soak Cashews and crush them, add in nama shoyu (tamari or soy sauce), lime juice, sweetener like agave nectar, chopped hot pepper, water or oil and blend together to make a creamy sauce.

Garnish with mint and/or cilantro

You can serve this as a salad or put this combination in a nori or lettuce and make a roll.

Marinated Pear and Garden Spinach Salad with Crushed Walnuts

with fresh spinach harvested from Axladitsa’s organic garden

preparation and presentation

slice pears lengthwise

place them in a marinade of  
olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and a tiny bit of soy sauce for as little as 15 minutes or up to 3 hours.

the pears with soak up the flavour and become sweet.
you can also add sliced red onions or shallots to the marinade for some colour and zest!

wash the spinach and place in salad bowl

right before serving, pour the pears and the marinade over the spinach;
the marinade becomes the dressing

crush walnuts and sprinkle on top

sliced fresh or dried figs also made a beautiful topping and add some sweet to the salad