Is it chopped salad, or is it cole slaw?

As a rule, I never buy bagged salad kit things. Equally as a rule, when the price is right, I sometimes ignore certain rules. Usually to my disappointment. Enter Taylor Farm's Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit...

* i don't always keep bags of salad in the shower, but when I do I choose Taylor Farms...

It appears that Taylor Farms has taken it upon themselves to expand the "chopped salad" genre to now include vaguely cilantro'd up, DIY cole slaw with a hint of avocado flavoring.

Whether cole slaw fits in the chopped salad category is question for the ageless.

So, everything went down as the god's intended, and now have yet another review of a lackluster salad product. 

*The leftover lettuce did not get brown and weird 24 hours after opening, so have to give props on that.

the greenest leaf...

ok, even though i've been slightly sensitive and emotionally compromised lately, i swear this lady next to me in the produce section of the grocery scoffed at my selecting green leaf lettuce...she picked out something fancier i believe...frizzz-aye!

what's the word looking for to describe this...

"jazz panther tofu salad"

To celebrate the house un-arresting of Aung San Suu Kyi, and to celebrate the fact that i eat this all the time, i give you j. shelley harrison’s “Jazz Panther Tofu Salad”.

Back in the day, in the quiet, mid-western, liberal stronghold that is Bloomington, Indiana, the Jazz Panther, j. shelley harrison operated a Burmese restaurant called “Burmese Jim’s”. involves a long story, but the point is that she maintains all the recipes from the now defunct eatery in her warm, capable brain.

As a result of our terrifyingly powerful love for one another, which allows us to live in the same domicile, i get to enjoy these dishes all the time!

This salad is one that evolved from one the Burmese Jim’s originals, so it’s pretty fresh on the menu here at the studio. It seems to combine the Burmese Jim’s Tofu Salad with romaine lettuce in a type of Thai Larb variation.

The inclusion of tamarind really sets things off with that type of tangy-ness, and the cilantro garnish works through as one works through the dish.

Eating this feels both exciting and healthy. Good work Jazz Panther!

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

Bok Choy

Green Cabbage

Carrots

Sweet Bell Peppers

Fresh Garlic

Fried Tofu

Tamarind

Crushed Peanuts

Toi Phi (Fried Garlic)

Lime Juice

Lemon Juice

Sriracha Hot Sauce

Spanish Paprika

Cayenne Pepper

Salt

Sugar

Tomatoes (optional)

top/garnish with cilantro.

salad: chopped vs. the wedge...

i like staying abreast of all the latest salad trends. that's not to say that i like them all, or bend to these societal inclinations. just like everything, there are some good, some bad, and some _____. here is an example of two polar opposites concerning trend salads of recent years. 

chopped salad vs. the wedge salad

i absolutely hate wedge salad. a recent visit to "taix" (an echo park french restaurant/elderly magnet) reminded me of this. there i witnessed droves of seniors, entire 4 top tables, all ordering these blocks of iceburg bucketed in bleu cheese dressing. the wedges arrive at their tables, i turn away, and next thing i know they're gone....
i am a notoriously slow eater, but the wedge salad seems like a universally time consuming food item, which brings me to why i hate it...
it's just too fucking hard to eat. i mean, it's just a big block of iceburg salad. you have to approach this thing with knives and forks and other implements. cut and chop. and it kinda moves about and has too much potential for mess. 
on the opposite end of the spectrum, we find the chopped salad...a picture of ease and efficiency. this one nearly tops my list. neatly chopped lettuce(s), tomato, small bits of whatever vegetables, edamame, etc. together with creamy dressings and avocado makes for a forkable, easy to eat (practically anywhere) product. no knife required. blair's in silverlake makes one of the best i've ever tasted (though owner marshall blair can eat something besides salad...).

don't get me wrong, speed eating is not the focus here. actually, as many know, it is impossible for me to eat anything at even a normal pace...an average sandwich can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the situation. but why spend all that time hacking through layers of iceburg when one can gracefully fork up a bowl of chopped plant matter that tastes so much better?

chopped salad: 2
wedge salad: -2