After a morning at the market I found myself loaded up with the most beautifully coloured veggies all in a range of pinks, purples whites and light green.  Being a designer I couldn’t help but want to use this colour theme for a salad and of course use some of the fun props for a pretty in pink shoot!  Looks fun to eat don’t you think?  I enjoyed creating the salad and playing with the flavour combinations. When I was putting this whole thing together my neighbour at our lake house came by with this gorgeous passion flower!  I hadn’t seen one before and she explained that they are an edible flower and have biblical references that are quite fascinating.  They are a one day flower and close up at night and don’t seem to open again.  Cool garnish, isn’t it?  Her timing couldn’t have been better.

Because these veggies are soooo crunchie I recommend chopping them nice and fine.  You could even shred or grate them if you wish.  I also find that if this salad is too cold, like many dishes, it is difficult to taste the true flavours of the ingredients.  If you can prepare it with room temperature veggies straight from the market, this is optimal!  If you have left overs and chill them let them come to temp on the counter for a bit before digging in.  Planning to save some for lunch the next day? Don’t dress the veggies or they won’t stay as crisp, unless you want them to be a bit softer.

And if this is all too much crunching for you then pile a few scoops on a bed of nice greens and drizzle with the yummy thyme dressing.  I just couldn’t resist the composition of colour for this salad with out the greens.  Do you put your meals together based on colour sometimes?

Crunchy Salad of Pink and Purple Veggies Dressed with Thyme- beets, radish, cabbage & beans

Yield: Serves 4
6 purple stripe beans chopped fine
1 cup red cabbage chopped fine
1 candy cane beet diced fine
5 radishes chopped fine
1 lemon cucumber diced
1/2 cup jicama diced fine
2 apples peeled and diced
For the Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 drops stevia
1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped fine
1 tbsp fresh stevia leaf chopped fine – optional
pinch of celtic sea salt
Method
Place all veggies & apple in a large bowl.  Toss to combine. Admire the colours!  In a glass measuring cup combine all dressing ingredients and wisk well.  Pour over veggie mixture, toss and serve.  Garnish with a thinly sliced candy cane beet and a passion flower if you can get your hands on one!

Once a designer always a designer!  I can’t help but colour scheme even my salads.  I dream of colour combinations and ways to display things, it’s ingrained.  For the past 19 years I have spent my days merchandising, buying, marketing, managing and fussing over my retail home accessories store in Sidney B.C called The House Dressing Company Inc.  I don’t think I’ve shared much about it here since I have such a passion for writing about health and sharing recipes.  The store has been like my 4th child and I have sooooo enjoyed it but….. I am finally ready to say goodbye to it all…. with grace.

Tomorrow marks the first day of the liquidation sale that will run for 11 weeks or until nothing is left.  I thought listing it for sale earlier this year would bring the perfect buyer and the perfect tenant into my world, I even used the law of attraction and it didn’t deliver because there was a better plan for me.  This closing out process couldn’t feel any more right.  This is the journey I was meant to be on.  Close the store on my terms, seek the perfect tenant who may already be at arms length, and then dig in deep with my blog and my plans to develop the upper stories of the retail building that housed my store!  I get to be a designer/developer and a health food blogger and I get to let go of the huge responsibility of a retail store that is open, it seems 24/7, since I am always thinking of it!  Phew!  Just writing it all down makes is seem a little more real, but right now it kinda still feels like a dream.  This feeling reminds me of the night before my scheduled labour induction with my first child.  I knew there was a baby in my belly but the reality of it actually coming out seemed impossible, like I was in a dream.  Have you ever felt like this?

So…..if you don’t hear from me for a bit you will know what’s up!  I hope to be here weekly but I have absolutely no idea what to expect nor how tired I’ll be at the end of each day especially during the first week.  We’ve pretty much marketed the close out sale to the world!- I just hope they all don’t show up together tomorrow at the same time!  If you care to stay updated on my close out sale I will be posting weekly on my other blog right here www.thehousedressing.com.

I hope you have a great week, October is moving in and the fall colours are looking more and more vivid!  Enjoy the seasonal change and I’ll meet you back here as often as I can, hopefully weekly, since I love doing this blog to inspire you to eat and stay healthy and vibrant!  I just need to do the same so I’ll be working hard to maintain a healthy diet even in this crazy busy time.  Thank goodness for Jessie’s Juice (@jessiesjuice on twitter) almost next door!  She’ll keep me going with her tasty veggie concoctions that I have her free style for me!   Wish me luck!

pssst.  If you live anywhere near Sidney BC, I would like to invite you to join us tomorrow for our VIP and friends & family first day of close out shopping from 10-6.  The general public doesn’t join in until Thursday!