fruity salad

Hola!
I made another thingy from the magazine yesterday.  See p. 67 or here: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/avocado-mango-pineapple-salad-pistachios-pickled-shallots.aspx 


I didn't have a lot of the things in the ingredient list so here are the changes I made:


- Instead of avocado, I used a tomato.
- Instead of Champagne or rice vinegar, I used more red wine vinegar.
- Instead of baby arugula or watercress, I just used an organic spring salad mix, which had some arugula in it.
- I didn't have mint.  Though, it probably would've tasted pretty damn good with mint.


Let us note that this was the 2nd time in my life that I've cooked with shallot.  Boom.  And my mommy helped me cut up the fruit, cuz she's good at that, and cuz she's the bomb.  Thanks mom! :)

Here's the chopped up basil, mashed up pistachios (which I hand de-shelled... that's a word, right?) and pickled shallots (soak 'em in vinegar or Champagne for 10 minutes).  Then I put them in a bowl.

The dressing was basically 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons olive oil, and some salt and pepper.  (The original recipe uses the 2 tablespoons of Champagne or rice vinegar that you use to pickle the shallots, plus one tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and olive oil.)  I also put the dressing in a bowl.  Don't want that stuff laying out on a plate, y'know?  It'd be harder to mix.

Here's some green stuff that I washed and spun dry.  I salted and peppered it.  Then I put it in a bowl.

Here's some fruits and vegetables.  I cut the tomatoes and kiwis.  My mom handled the mango and pineapple - like a boss.  

Then I put 'em in a bowl.

Here's the salad all in the same bowl.  I had never been so excited to toss a salad in my life.  My friends in the T-dot know that I like to jump the gun and do things way in advance, which I did with this salad. So I had to wait a long time before dinner to dress and toss the salad.  I tried to wait until the last minute to dress and toss the salad so the leaves don't get all soggy.  Then I put the salad into smaller bowls.  Then we ate it.