PRESSED SALAD

Pressed salad is a light, crisp, refreshing salad made by slicing vegetables thinly and then pressing them in a bowl with a weighted plate.  Pressing improves the digestibility of the vegetables.

Ingredients

Choose a shreddable vegetable like cabbage, Napa cabbage or bok choy to use as a base for the salad.  You may slice this thinly or if you are pressed for time (no pun intended) shred in a food processer.  You may choose a variety of additional vegetables to complete the salad.  I like red radishes or carrots for color, cucumber for moisture, celery, fennel or onion for taste and occasionally an herb like parsley or cilantro for color and taste.   Try different combinations of 4 or 5 vegetables for each salad.  For example, use

                 green cabbage

         sliced cucumber

                 sliced red radishes

                 sliced celery

                 sliced leek

                 chopped parsley

Preparation

Slice all vegetables as thinly as possible.  Place in a bowl and add sea salt (1/2 tsp per 4 cups of salad).  Gently massage the sea salt into the vegetables until they release liquid.  Place a plate on top of the vegetables to cover them completely.  (You may have to experiment with bowls and plates to find a match).  Place a weight such as a mason jar full of beans or pitcher of water on top of the plate.  Allow the salad to sit under pressure for 1½ hours to 3 hours.

Drain off the pressing liquid before serving.  You may also rinse off the vegetables if you want them to taste less salty.  I prefer to leave the vegetables unrinsed.  You may also add a simple dressing before serving.  Some suggestions are brown rice vinegar or grated apple or fresh squeezed orange juice or tangerine juice.