On Wednesdays We Eat Pink
Today I'm cooking a girlie dinner.
On Monday after I sliced strawberries for what turned out to be an extremely wonderful galette, I threw the tops (leaves and all, a trick I learned from @itsholly) into a pot with sugar, water and a splash of lime juice. I only strained out about 1/4 cup neon red, tangy syrup, but that’s more than enough for two fun drinks. I’m gonna mix it with plain fizzy water over ice, which is a very fancy, old fashioned mocktail called a soda ;)
Just to be dramatic, I’m gonna make the rest of our dinner equally vibrant. Plus, why wouldn’t I when our bel fiore raddichio is ready to pick? In Winter its inner leaves turn soft, ballet pink. Now, under stress from heat, the leaves are lime green dappled with deep magenta, their taste extra bitter. I’ll toss the raddichio with buttercrunch lettuce, then add quartered red beets I steamed on Sunday and whole wheat sourdough croutons.
The dressing is a 1:2:2 ratio of maple syrup:ACV:olive oil whisked with a touch of dijon mustard, salt and pepper, waiting patiently in an old maple syrup jar to drench the croutons and coat the vegetables. When everything is glossy and tangy and stained pink from the beets, I’ll finish the salad with dill, mint and crispy vegan chicken nuggets.