{ raw vegan, gluten-free, serves a nice lunch for 1 }
Now this is what it’s all about.
Yesterday my husband surprised me with finds from a local produce market – incredible cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes from Waterkist Farms in Winter Park, FL, and big red onions from South Florida (just a hop, skip, and a jump away).
Bring me flowers? Nah. Chocolates? Please…(well, maybe). Surprise me with a big sack of off-the-vine fresh, I mean, really fresh produce? He’s getting lucky tonight.
These were the perfect items to feed my obsession of adding paper-thin slices of lemon and red onion to pretty much everything. Going through lemons like mad are a good thing, because the raccoons don’t bother with the ones that drop from our tree. Someone’s gotta eat them!
The lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil is actually from Positano, Italy, but I brought that back myself. What is it about lemons that are just sheer magic to whatever they touch?
The tomatoes are so sweet and juicy that their delicate acids mixed with the lemon oil is amazing. After I sprinkled on salt and pepper, I could have very well stopped at that. But why?
There were some soaked almonds sitting in the fridge that needed attention. So I blended them up and made a very light sort of cream that turned out much like yogurt (adding a dash of lemon, of course). I seasoned it with just oregano, sea salt, pepper, and a tad of garlic paste, tossed in the cukes for a light dousing, then laced them with dill from my herb garden.
The fresh dressed cucumbers were scattered on top of the tomato slices and, finally, mandoline-sliced pieces of lemon and onion crescents.
Simplicity. This is the joy of fresh, local fruits and vegetables. They speak for themselves. They’re the stars of the show.
This salad really made my day. Could you tell?
<3, JMK
