A Facebook Frenzy Recipe: Donna McKenzie's Weekend Salad

Here's what can happen on Facebook:
You buy a hodgepodge of vegetables from the nice lady who gave you credit that time when you had no cash.

one huge, ripe Central Texas tomato
some large turnips sans the greens
a gorgeous local red onion
two hefty, dark green poblano peppers from down the road
a couple of big fat orange carrots
about half a pound of Kimble County okra

You take a picture of your colorful bounty, toss it up online, and ask for recommendations on what to do with it all.

A couple of folks suggested soup. One specifically said "gumbo" -- which is what I automatically think of when I see okra. The Editor Too rendered "a salad" but didn't get more specific than that. Lo and behold, Donna McKenzie turned in a winning little recipe that excited me.

Here's what Donna said:

"tomato salad with shaved carrots.
marinated sliced poblano (for a minute in lime with scant sugar) and red onion
fresh okra is heaven, sliced
but if ya no like,
flash fry them as croutons
(and throw some capers in the pan)
... and this will be so rightly brilliant! lovely pic..."

Now, I thought for a minute that she was trying to bypass the poor turnips by politely failing to mention them. Then came this:

"wawawait a TURNIP!  you are now my hero"

Well.
What the heck else can I do but be a hero?
So in my version of Donna's recipe, here's just what I did to those rightly brilliant veggies:

Slice about a quarter of one poblano in thin, two-inch slices (about 1/2 cup full). Don't use the seeds and inner white stuff. [You might wanna save the seeds and plant ‘em. ~Editor Too]

Slice up about a quarter of one large turnip wafer thin, like potato chips, and be sure they're bite-sized -- cut ‘em in half.

Combine pepper and turnip slices with juice of one whole small lime (I just happened to have one left from the August adventure at The Editor's mom's place down south -- even though its rind was hard as a rock and tough to slice, the inside was still juicy) with about an 1/8 tsp white sugar and 1/4 tsp Kosher salt.
Set that aside in a bowl in the fridge and go walk the dog (so about half an hour...)

Cube the whole tomato and put it all -- meat, seeds, and juice -- in the bowl with the peppers & turnips. Slice 1/4 of the onion into very thin half-moons and add to the bowl. You know, I love thinly sliced red onion in salads but hate when they're in rings, because then you wind up with your fork in the middle of the rings, and you have to figure out how to eat these dangling hula hoops.

Shave half a huge carrot all over the mix. Mix everything in the bowl by hand. That's right -- not with a utensil, but with your hands. I love the feel of cool, fresh vegetables blending together, and there's a myth in my head that utensils would be too hard on these sliced and cubed gems.

Now for the fun part.

Slice up about 10 small (or 6 large) okra, cross-wise, into crouton-size pieces. In a skillet, heat up a tablespoon of sesame oil and a dash of vegetable oil over medium-low heat.

When it's hot, toss in your okra chunks and stir quickly. After about a minute... since there were no capers in the trailer... add one tablespoon of dill pickle relish (the kind you have on hand for hotdogs.)

Stir fry over medium-high heat just until the okra have softened and brightened in color. Pour all of this -- okra, relish, and oil -- over the salad. Scrape the pan. This, plus the marinade you used earlier for the peppers and turnips, is your salad dressing.

Now, you can use big salad spoons to blend the ingredients (carefully, since the oil will be hot still...) 

I let the salad sit for about 15 minutes in the fridge while I made the rest of my meal -- whole Italian sausage sauteed with turnip and poblano slices.

I love to hear from people with suggestions, especially when it's to use foods in ways new to my limited experience. I'll try nearly anything at least once. This time, venturing out of my comfort zone worked well enough to give me another tote-able dish to share with neighbors.

Thanks, Donna!

Comments

[Jerrie]

That looks amazing! I am going to do it next week for a lunch on the boat I am working on! Healthy vegetarians (that like meat..just not red) I have chicken sausages! LOL I love finding new ways to make okra besides my personal favorite...cornmeal battered and fried crispy.
Thanks!

[TPK Bodhisattva, of course]

I wanna hear how that goes, Jerrie, on the boat. It was a really new take for me, too!