Clementine Salad Bowl with Wild Crayfish Tails, Fresh Basil, Raisins & Walnuts
On campus, we have a limited choice of greasy, boring places to eat. I’m not really complaining since there’s a place we usually stop by on Mondays after our lecture for yummy jackpots, aka jacket potatoes or pots. Whatever weird combo you fancy (eg. tuna and cheese, sweet thai chicken and beetroot, etc.) they are more than willing to cater to your odds and ends for a jackpot topping. In terms of healthy eating, we’ve even got a little healthy snack bar under the University Centre that offers gluten free soup, salads, a range of vegan and organic sandwiches, drinks, fresh fruit and a range of rice & corn crisps and snacks. Thing is, to get your money’s worth, you’d order a Salad & Protein which offers you 5 salad choices and 1 protein from £2.45. Your choice of protein can be anything from feta cheese & sundried tomatoes to a chicken breast to shrimp to marinated chicken breast to poached salmon. If you’re the type who can’t go without a salad dressing, the lady behind the salad counter is more than happy to squirt a ridiculous amount of mayo, vinaigrette, soy sauce and other weird sorts of liquids on your salad. Fresh salad, tasty, generous portions, affordable.
Sounds good so far, don’t you think? The downside of this is the long queues, the slow service, the lack-lustre expressions of the salad people. You’d think healthy eating could be made more ‘healthy’ with healthy, chirpy people offering the food. No. You’ve got druggee-types, grumpy types, dazed types, clueless types. Honestly! Also, if you happen to go into the snack bar with a 10 pound note, about 90% of the time you’ll have the salad lady fretting about chatting with her mate about not having enough change, etc. etc. It can get très annoying if you’re a pretty impatient-from-hunger type of person.
It’s cold. I’m hungry. Don’t piss me off. Now, give me my food dammit.
So anyhow, ranting done. I have realized that the saying ‘If you wanna get it right, do it yourself’ rings true. Salads are dead easy. Salads are quick to make. Prepare a massive bowl in the morning and you’ve got a satisfying lunch to bring with you to work, to a picnic – it’s great! You can throw anything in it so use up that almost-rotting vegetable at the back of the fridge quick! This said, why am I getting frustrated in a healthy snack bar when I can whip up something even better for less, minus the frustration and the queueing?
Diva has been silly. From now on, I’ll be taking a packed lunch with me to university. Probably will start getting up early and bento it up as well. Oh, I’m getting little eager shivers just thinking about how the others will watch and envy my adorable little lunch sets. Haha!
Clementine Salad Bowl with Wild Crayfish Tails, Fresh Basil, Raisins & Walnuts
Ingredients
1 serving your favourite mix of salad leaves
1/3 cup wild crayfish tails, ready to eat
5 large fresh basil leaves, roughly shredded and broken up
2 tbs raisins
2 tbs walnuts
drizzle on your favourite vinaigrette, or some lemon/orange juice
Salads are easy. Put it all in a large bowl. Mix together. Drizzle on your dressing. You don’t need much dressing for this as sweet clementines make up for all the flavour! Now toss wildly. Serve.
I’ve served mine in a lousy glass casserole dish out in the cold on ice or melting snow…Eccentric huh?
February 12th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
That’s one great looking salad!
February 12th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Oh, this sounds amazing. Especially with a sweetish vinaigrette
In the second pic, for some reason I thought for a fleeting moment the crayfish tails were strawberries 
February 13th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Love your idea of carrying a ‘Diva bento’ to college…way to go! The picture of the salad is almost like a watercolour…looks ever so pretty against the snow. I remember the lunch queues, the plastic trays, & the respounding thud the lasagne used to make at the canteen in Lon when we used to go on training. Loved the spuds on the highstreet too…aaaaaah potato! That’s a beautiful salad…crisp & colourful! YUM!!
February 13th, 2009 at 6:07 am
love the assortment of flavours in this salad ^^
February 13th, 2009 at 9:14 am
This super salad looks so delicious & it is extremely healthy,MMMMmmmm….yum yum:)!!!
February 13th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Chocolate Shavings: Cheers! I like mixing colours in food.
Manggy: maybe you were craving strawberries cause I for one can’t see them as strawbs hahaha. Maybe that’s cause I am craving seafood. But you’re right, I didn’t choose a sweet vinaigrette for this and it was good.
deeba: Potatoes! SO good isn’t it..a love affair with potatoes that somehow doesn’t do any justice to our hips.
noobcook: thank you
it all worked very well together thankfully.
Sophie: it is healthy indeed!!!
xx
February 13th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I adore salads…I think sometimes we forget how damn good they really are – and how great you feel about the meal afterward, you know? No post-muffin guilt.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Ann: that’s very true. everytime someone brings up salad, i’m like ‘well…hmmm’ and then i have one and it’s actually so refreshing. definitely jumpstarts my system again!
xx
February 14th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Fruits and veggies, nuts in a salad is a great idea. I like the ingredients you used.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:28 am
farida: hi there
definitely nuts – good source of protein!
xx
February 14th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Okay.. you totally froze your bootie off to take that picture..didn’t you? How are you? Any big plans for V-day? The salad looks absolutely amazing!
February 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Girl Japan: pretty much but I wasn’t out for long,thankfully!! Not really…but anna & i are out tonight at the Custard Factory for a massive music festival! woop woop
xx
February 15th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
That salad looks good. I have not had crayfish and I am going to have to look for it now.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Kind of salad I like cos it is not boring at all!
February 18th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Kevin: have fun salad-ing it up~
tigerfish: definitely not boring. i like salads where there are lots of fruit in it cause the flavours always work.
xx
March 7th, 2009 at 11:54 am
It inspires me to add some crawfish and color to my potato salad recipes.