This week I wanted to explore foods for St. Patrick’s Day but then my husband reminded me that it is kind of a Christian day of celebration and there is even a theory that the “snakes” that were banished were actually pagans/Druids, since snakes have not been in Ireland since the ice age. He also reminded me that St. Patrick’s Day is a way to subvert the pagan holiday Ostara, the celebration of spring.
Well, being a proud pagan with distant Irish roots and pointy ears (I think I come from fairy folk) I will focus on celebrating the coming spring instead! I begin with Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa’s Bibb Salad with Basil Green Goddess Dressing. Calling on the Green Goddess herself!
I only made half the recipe and it still made a ton of salad dressing! In a blender you put mayo, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and pepper. Anchovy paste is very salty so I omitted the salt at this point and seasoned at the end.
Blend, blend, blend and then add sour cream. I used low fat sour cream and mayonnaise for this recipe, I really do not taste a difference so I do not need the extra calories and fat here.
According to The Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients basil is all about sensual pleasures and this salad was luscious! For the first time I bought Boston lettuce which was lovely and they even had some very beautiful tomatoes at the store for my salad. It was a stunning salad, the scent of basil was lovely and the dressing tasted even better the next day as the flavours developed.
The second time I had this salad I also added cucumbers with the tomatoes and sprinkled them with a little salt and pepper before adding the dressing which just boosts the flavour all the more. Green Goddess indeed! This salad tasted like an early spring.
It is -1C as I type this but the sun is shining and there are rumours that warmer weather is on the way. This is the first March since I have moved here that I am not blanketed under snow for the coming of spring.
I am in the mood to celebrate, bring on the colour green.
Blessings of the Green Goddess to you! And to your husband, who has picked up all that pagan lore by being married to you!
this looks wonderful š
i too have Irish blood and so am always so torn with the approach of ‘paddys’ day š
I have pointy ears too…one of my closest friends calls me a relative of the keebler elves because of my love for baking chocolate chip cookies.
This comment has been removed by the author.
mmm – I can almost smell the basil!! Looks lovely!
I’m playing harp over at a French Restaurant for St Pat’s – I’m always torn, too!! (see my ladyharp blog for the scoop š
I’ve been reading the ‘Sister Fidelma’ mysteries – she’s a wonderful, strong Irish mystic (happens to be Catholic, but in a day that Irish catholics were QUITE different than the Romans) & about the time of Patrick – 650 AD – this was a time, according to the historian author Peter Tremayne, that Irish Gael women enjoyed freedoms & rights unrivaled by any in Europe then – or since! http://www.sisterfidelma.com/
I tend to wear DARK green (almost black) for this gig š
Be well & ‘my seven blessings on you!’
Mo sheacht mbeannacht ort!
this looks really good….so nice and green….LOL!!!