Culinary Smackdown – May 2012 – It’s a Toss-Up

Please note, if you’re looking for the Haiku Monday instructions and place to leave your haiku and comments, please check the post just below this one.  Thanks so much!  🙂

*********

Good morning and happy Saturday to those who have the day off.  I do not, and have been pounding away down here in the basement since 4 a.m.  I’m about to go up and make breakfast for two hungry boys but first need to get you all set off on the next path to online culinary greatness. 

Let’s just say first of all that I am completely humbled at being chosen for as the winner for Battle Literary Food.  And thank you, Katie, for being such a gracious hostess.

It’s spring!  And in some places (like here) it’s really almost summer.  It’s the first week of May and we already have blossoms on our tomato plants!  Seriously, folks, that’s early.  I’m not complaining though.  I am loving our yard this year more than I ever have.   We have beautiful lettuce, spinach, baby greens and tiny, succulent flowers for nibbling.  Everything is just greening up and burgeoning like I’ve never seen.  This has inspired my choice for the May Smackdown.  Are you ready?  I know you are.  The challenge for May, therefore, is….

Battle Salad! 

I chose this theme with spring in mind.  After a long, cold winter and heavy food, it’s time to lighten up.  I don’t know about you, but I have been craving those sweet new greens, delicate shoots and fresh new fruit (our strawberries are flowering, too!).   And salads are so versatile.  Don’t limit yourself.  Veggies, fruit, meats, pasta, rice, grains, or a combination of all of them.  Get creative and join the fun!

The veterans know the rules but for any new folks who are thinking of playing, here’s how it works:

1. Prepare a salad using any combination of ingredients that strike your fancy.  What’s a salad?  You define it.  This is your playground.  If you’re inspired to make more than three dishes, please self-select which you wish to enter.

2. Post at least one photo and as much description as care to on your blog, then come back and leave a comment here letting everyone know you’re “up.” If you don’t have a blog, email me, and I’ll do my best to include you.  Email is mrfsealah AT hotmail DOT com.

3. Recipes are helpful but not required. If you base your dish on a recipe you found elsewhere, please do the right thing and credit/link to the source. If you wing it (as I did for parts of my tofu pizza) that’s fine too. But it would be swell if you gave us a clue as to your ingredients/methods even without measurements.

4. Deadline is May 31, 2012, so there’s plenty of time to get into your salad days and come up with something wonderful.  

5. I will make my own dish but it will not be a contender.  I will have the final say as to the winner to whom the Culinary Smackdown torch will be passed, and I will post the results as soon as I can.

We’ve got a great group of creative cooks around the blogosphere, so put out the word and toss (ha ha) your hats in the ring!   I can’t wait to see what your culinary imaginations come up with.  Good luck to all!