A Little Bit of Beauty

Over the coming weekend, I hope you will find a little bit of beauty in the world. Something that brings a smile, that softens the harder edges, that slows your footsteps or turns your head, that gladdens your heart.

A little bit of beauty blooms in my garden.

Have a lovely weekend.

Meg

A Short Walk around our Streets

Each and every day, Sir Steve dog and I set off for a short walk around our streets.  Sir Steve is an elderly statesman now, a rescued Labrador about 9years old (that's 63 in dog years) who is happy trundling along, slower than many of the young "pups" we meet along the way but content all the same to amble along at his own pace. While we walk, he stops to sniffle and snuffle at anything and everything he finds of interest along the way. I don't hurry him and he, in turn, is very patient with me if I stop to take photos. Unless he spots a brush turkey that is ... then he forget his years and attempts to give chase! Here's what we found on one of our walks recently:

Trundling along a local path.

Lots of ducks in the park.

Bright red bottlebrush in bloom. 

Clusters of pretty pink flowers. 

 Tiny and delicate purple flowers.

Silvery grey foliage on dark grey concrete. 

Spiky leaves of hardy roadside plantings.

 Possum scratches on local trees.

 A white picket fence.

Citrus blossoms on an old lemon tree.

New red-tipped growth on shrubs. 

Back home again!

As we walk through the familiar gates of home,  Sir Steve gets a bit of an extra spring in his step. He trots into the back yard, does a few four-legged pirouettes then flops promptly down on the grass ... exhausted! He really is a most endearing fellow and the best walking companion there is!

What would you find if you went for a short walk around your streets?

Meg

Wonderful Wombok Salad

A fresh Chinese cabbage, crunchy ingredients and a peanut-y dressing make a wonderful, fresh and light salad. Perfect for warm Spring days!

Fresh ingredients for a delicious, crunchy salad.

Wombok forms the leafy basis of this delicious salad. It is an oval-shaped Chinese cabbage with distinctive lighter-green, crinkly leaves. Finely shredded and then tossed with other fresh, raw veggies like capsicum, spring onion, carrot and celery, sprinkled with toasty slivered almonds and sesame seeds and finished off with a generous drizzle of a tangy, peanut butter dressing. So good...  and so good for you!  (Please note that it's not suitable for those with nut allergies.)

As soon as I spotted the wombok, grown just to the North of our city on the Sunshine Coast, and available in our little local organic market shop, I knew I could put it together with the  crunchy celery from my garden to make this salad.  Here's how it came together in my kitchen:

Wash, dry and finely shred leaves of the wombok. 

Chop spring onion, celery, capsicum and grate carrot. 

Toss prepared salad vegetables together in a bowl.

Sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds & sesame seeds.

(Toss again to incorporate throughout the salad.)

This is a very versatile salad. I don't work off exact quantities for the salad because you can add as much as you like of the extra veggies to the shredded wombok. It really doesn't matter if you use one carrot or two, half a capsicum or a whole one.  You could add some chunks of de-seeded cucumber, some fresh bean sprouts or some fried Chinese noodles for extra crunch.  Shredded chicken is nice if you want to add a meat to the salad.

There are many different kinds of dressings that you could use with this salad. I chose to make this peanut-buttery dressing that I found over at the Laughing Spatula website.  I whisked up the dressing separately and then drizzled it over the top of each serve rather than adding it to the salad bowl. Leftovers of both went separately into the fridge ready for lunch the next day. (No soggy salad that way!)

This is a really lovely salad. It's fresh, it's crunchy and it's totally delicious. Enjoy!

Meg