Green green green , green baby Green

So this was one of the few gastronomical challenges that I have taken up. You see a very sweet virtual friend shared how she was on an extreme diet which only allowed green vegetables. Now, I have the greatest sympathy and support for people who try to go healthy no matter how crazy it seems as long as they do not skip meals. You see most people are mean. I have had first hand experience with the whole weight gain saga. While when you are actually slim trim no one really notices, put on a few kilos and the number of people who are concerned will amaze you. Given that many among them will be your true well wishers and being an adult you would very likely know who they are but the other percentage of sympathizers are just like crabs trying to pull each other down. Now I do love salads but colourful ones, going green all the way was quite challenging

So there I was trying to figure out about going green all the way. I mean sure there is the usual broccoli, cabbage , leafy vegetables but I wanted something different and eureka, I was suddenly hit with an idea for all green salad. Now I am personally not on such a strict diet and did use a little bit of Cheddar cheese (the fresh ones from Kalimpong are delicious) but that can be left out.

What you need

2 to 3 cucumbers
One big bunch of spinach leaves
2 tablespoonful of chives
1 whole jalapeno pepper
A few peppercorns
1 tablespoonful of celery
4 to 5  fat garlic cloves
Salt as per taste
2 tsp olive oil.
Cheddar cheese
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Juice from half a lemon

Start by slicing the cucumbers diagonally to form large thin slices. taste one and if you find it bitter take some salt and mix it well with the cucumbers and leave aside. After 20 minutes wash them thoroughly and use it. The salt draws out all bitterness and leaves the cucumbers with a little bit of salt. Wash your spinach well. The easiest way to do so is by immersing them in a pot full of water and then washing them thoroughly under running water. Keep a bowl of ice water ready. Blanch your spinach by bringing a pot of water to boil and immersing the spinach for only 1 minute. Immediately immerse the leaves in ice water to stop extra cookign so that the leaves retain that superb green colour.

Since I was using the salad for 1 person's consumption I used half of the blanched spinach leaves, in case you use the entire lot feel free to increase the amount of peppercorn, chives , garlic etc as per taste. Now put everything except the cucumbers in a blender sand blend away.

Arrange the cucumbers in a neat row . Put a thin slice of cheddar on top and scoop a little bit of the spinach on top and there you have the healthiest possible salad ever. I would not recommend leaving out the cheddar. You might also use the blend spinach a a dip.