Nature's Viagra (no, really)

Once upon a time, D and M were traveling through Turkey (the country, not a particularly large fowl) and they ran across a fruit stand in the middle of nowhere. The side of the stand had a banner the size of a bus, saying "Nature's Viagra." D and M, being the curious folks that they are, set out to investigate. "Nature's Viagra" turned out to be Turkish Figs...large, luscious, and almost too sweet for word, figs. They bought a bunch, ate them all, and.....(I don't know what happened from here. I refused to listen to the story any further.)

Anyway, they were inspired to tell me this story after I made the salad described below. And, after smelling the sweet aroma of the ripe figs, breaking open their delicate flesh, and sinking my teeth into a their intoxicating flavor, I must agree. Figs are sexy. Dead sexy.

Make this salad for someone you love. Or someone you want to love you. Or just for yourself, to feel special. This salad would tempt a monk...

Fig Salad, with Walnut Oil and Aged Balsamic

Ingredients:

--1 to 2 figs per person

--2 cups salad greens per person (I used a mix of baby arugula and spring greens)

--1 tablespoon marcona almonds per person

--walnut oil (hazelnut oil would also be nice)

--pomegranate vinegar

--balsamic vinegar (the most expensive bottle you can afford. The tiny bottle I used was worth $150, and worth every penny. Aged balsamic tastes like normal balsamic multiplied by a million. sweet, complex, and wonderful.)

--salt and pepper

Directions:

1) quarter the figs

2) pile the salad greens onto a plate, place figs slices in a circle on the greens

3) sprinkle with marcona almonds

4) drizzle pomegranate vinegar and walnut oil over the plate

5) place one drop of balsamic on each fig slice

6) grind salt and pepper over entire plate and serve

Note:

This salad is a wonderful example of the the benefit of using high quality ingredients. Though the preparation is simple and there aren't many ingredients, this salad will seriously rock your world if you have perfectly ripe figs, fresh greens, a tasty nut oil, and some sweet fruity vinegars. And, like I said before, a very high quality balsamic will change your life (and palate) forever.

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Three more pictures of the fig salad...

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The rest of the meal, that night -- broccoli, roasted potatoes, shallots, and garlic, grilled pork chops. Delish!