Good Morning TBSH Friends! It’s a Sunday morning and here in Houston, the sun is out and I have already seen two cyclists merrily stroll their way thru the neighborhood with smiles on their faces – AWESOME! There is something so contagious about the presence of happiness 🙂
And why stop that feeing so I let my mind wonder quickly to a happy moment of my own: a trip to Maui a few years ago and a salad I became so addicted to at a local joint that I went there at least four (4) times during my vacation. We stayed in Paia, Hawaii for three weeks and on this particular trip we decided to plan nothing – I mean absolutely no agenda and no calendar … in fact, no watches! What seemed to naturally form was a lifestyle of everyone waking up at their own time (luckily we all seemed to wake up by 9 in the morning), eat some natural produce like fruit hanging from the trees, and just grab a few surfboards – put them on the jeep – and just go. By eleven (11) every morning we would find ourselves paddle surfing on the beach. A few hours later we’d end up this small, quaint cafe across the street from the beach named Leoda’s Kitchen & Pie Shop. Although the menu is in plenty with sandwiches, burgers, and pop pies … the lure into the place for most was due to their delicious, single-serving pies.
Anyone who knows me well enough knows I absolutely ordered a pie, every single time, I ordered at Leoda’s Kitchen … but, their Out of the Garden salad, with the add-on of tuna, was a hidden diamond in the rough on their menu. The plate is quite large in portion but the lettuce literally looked like it was so light it could float off the plate. And, the vegetables were so bright that I know it was at the peak of freshness and ripeness. I never have had brussel sprouts on a salad, but the way they prepared them here … the slight crunchiness from the saute preparation, was so delectable! Adding the tuna was a last-moment idea on my part as I scurried thru the line to order (It was so packed every day at lunch that the thought of standing at the register to order and pontificating on what fancies your tastebuds is almost an unspoken No-No). The tuna was almost too beautiful to dive into; it clearly was caught that morning and the saute was at perfection, with light browning on the outsides and a beautiful pink inside.
My mouth is watering now even typing about this salad. Perhaps I sound a bit obsessive, I know … but, it is by far one of the best good wholesome salads that doesn’t take much to prepare and hopefully will let you escape to the calmness of Maui beaches at each bite, like it does me!
Begin preparing your salad by chopping up your vegetables into bite-size pieces and placing them into your large salad bowl.
To ensure ease of eating the brussel sprouts with the salad, begin by cutting them all in half.
With olive oil in the skillet, saute the brussel sprouts on medium high for about 10 minutes.
With this salad, it tastes best when you saute the brussel sprouts to where they are brown along the top layer and edges; this offers a great crunch without compromising the taste of the vegetable.
The tuna filet(s) are meant to be eaten with a slight saute on the outside while maintaining the fresh pink from the inside.
Once your tuna fliet(s) is cooked, you’ll want to slice them into thin slices.
With all vegetables mixed in the salad bowl, place your salad in your serving bowl and lay your tuna slices along the top. Drizzle a vinaigrette of choice along the top and you have yourself a trip to Maui in your mouth!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:5]
Looks delish! Will try!
LikeLike