Once a week I take an early morning walk with a friend up the back mountain roads of Captain Cook. The air is cool but the walk is steep and strenuous. I am always relieved when we reach the summit at our friend’s coffee farm. There we can cut across the fields and follow the bamboo lined road back downhill.
In addition to coffee, our friend’s farm has some magnificent fruit trees such as several varieties of avocado, sapote, and numerous kinds of citrus. Recently, the Variegated Pink lemon was abundant with its lovely fruit. I was offered a bagful of lemons and avocados to take home. Lucky me!
The Variegated pink lemon’s immature fruit is very chic with green and white stripes. When it ripens, the rind turns yellow and the flesh turns a pretty pale pink.
I was inspired to make a lemon honey salad dressing that is my go-to simple recipe for daily use. I bring salads to the apiary most days and this mason Jar salad is a fun and easy way to transport it. Instead of a mason jar, I recycle an empty jar of 47oz Big Island Bee’s honey that I have on hand.
Honey and Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon organic Wilelaiki honey
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
- Whisk everything together in a small bowl and season to taste. I sometimes add fresh herbs for flavor or a pinch of cumin.
Salad in a Jar
Directions:
- Put the dressing (about 3-4 tablespoons) in the bottom of the large jar. You must put the dressing in first or the salad will get soggy!
- Add the heavier and hardier chopped vegetables. I used fennel, radishes and tomatoes. Cucumber, peppers and cauliflower would be great as well. These crisp vegetables protect the upper layers from drowning in the dressing.
- Add chopped avocadoes sprinkled with a little extra lemon juice to keep them from browning. I also add into this layer toasted pumpkin seeds and cooked garbanzo beans.
- Now you may add meats, cheeses and egg if you choose.
- The top layer is for the soft greens such as lettuce, spinach, arugula and herbs.
The salad can be made with whatever vegetables you have on hand. The trick is to make the salad in layers in the jar. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. As you can tell, there is no limit to the diverse and delightful layered salads you can make. The lemon honey dressing enhances without overwhelming therefore it is the perfect accompaniment to almost any salad.
