Thursday 2 June 2016

A Fridge Clearing Salad


My fridge is looking positively less congested these days. I have been diligently clearing off ingredients (half consumed sauces, bits and pieces of vegetables) and making sure that I don't overbuy.

I do my stock checks once a week and make sure I don't buy what I already have and replenish what I am running out. That's when I found some kalamansi limes.


When did I buy these? Oh yes, I bought them for the sambal belacan I made when I cooked Sarawak Laksa. That was a while back wasn't it? 

I did not want to keep these limes any longer and I decided to use them to make a salad dressing. I squeezed the juice of all the limes including these that came from my garden.

My puny harvest.

Then I added some Thai chili sauce, honey, sliced shallots and a tablespoon of......budu! That bottle of budu has been sitting in the fridge and I wanted to use it as often as I could.


Quite honestly, I prefer lime juice (limau nipis) and not kalamansi lime juice for dressings. I could have made a kalamansi lime drink instead. But then I wanted to make a salad so that I could finish up some grilled pork loin. The pork loin were extras from my partner's dinner.

His dinner. I had to grill 3 pieces of pork loin because the meat was packed in threes.
When I went grocery shopping, I picked up a packet of ready washed baby salad leaves. I tried a different brand and was attracted to the leaves that had purplish red stems. They were so pretty.


But no, I did not like those salad leaves (Swiss Chard I think). They had a very earthy taste and smell. Ughs! I'll avoid it next time. Besides, they clashed with the lime dressing.


I'm afraid this salad didn't turn out well. Sometimes these leftovers don't complement each other and they don't taste good together. But I ate up anyway and felt good that I let nothing go to waste.

26 comments:

  1. Hahaha if it ends up in your tummy regardless, then all is well XD ..

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  2. You are creative, can dish up whatever you have from the fridge...

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  3. I didn't know that the calamansi limes can last so long....was it like a month? And yes, I agree, juice from limes tastes a whole lot better than kalamansi limes...they're much more fragrant...and that's why they're more expensive too. The taste is very apparent when squeezed over all sorts of laksas and mee goreng! ;)

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    1. Yes, they can keep quite well if you wrap them in newspaper to absorb moisture. But of course if left too long they will rot. I seldom buy kalamansi lime. They are nice with sour plum as a drink!

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  4. Hey, you are so smart and just shared an easy idea to mix all the stuffs with Thai Chilly Sauce to make your own sauce!! Thumbs Up!

    I agree that we cannot overbuy esp the greens that rot so fast! i like the small kucing style to grow many types in her garden to pluck anytime.

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    1. I like Thai chili sauce a lot hah..hah...they taste good with a squeeze of lime.

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  5. The lime in the fridge, till brown and rotting away. I always end up throwing...this...this...this...and the next minute, full again! Sighhhhh!!!!!

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    1. I used to be like that too but I am changing my bad habits hah..hah...

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  6. Hi Phong Hong, the dressing looks good with the salad. It is always good to keep so stock of leafy greens or salad leaves in the fridge. Mixed them up with a light vinaigrette and it goes well with any other carbo packed ingredients.

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    1. You are right, Kimmy. I always love salads as it is so refreshing.

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  7. Yeah, at least you ate them up without going to waste.. good to eat salad once awhile if not daily... hehe.. only during breakfast buffet, I will attack the salad but not at home.. no way... Prefer oats anytime..

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    1. I used to eat almost daily but along the way...hee..hee...

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  8. Hi Phong Hong,
    The salad looks tempting. I ever tried using some calamansi limes to make salad vinaigrette but still prefer lime or lemon. But I love to add calamansi lime juice to tomato sauce for cooking sweet sour pork or BBQ chicken wings.

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    1. I must try adding calamansi lime juice to my sweet and sour pork!

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  9. What is the difference netween the taste of lime juice (limau nipis) and kalamansi lime juice? Your salad looks very tasty because I like lean pork meat and the green taste of raw vegetables but I like to eat them without any dressing.

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    1. You have to taste it to find out :)

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    2. I have tasted both limau nipis and kalamansi lime before but did not find them to be very different.

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    3. Really?? It's distinctly different to me.

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  10. I've been looking at the odds and ends in my refrigerator, too, and finally tossed the arugula which looked very sad! So I may need to make a lettuce free salad. Sorry your mixture wasn't a hit!

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    1. Yeah, at least now I know how Swiss Chard tastes like hah..hah..

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  11. Good idea to do stock check every week. Nowadays I only buy one or two days' stock, not more because I usually end up throwing them away.

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    1. That's good practice, Nancy. Waste not!

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