Super Veggie Tossed Salad

Amma is in the late stage now. The visits are quieter — more presence than conversation, more touch than language. I bring food not to feed but to fill the room with the smell of her kitchen, the smell of home, the smell that reached her once and might reach her again. The family orbits the facility: Appa daily, me three times, Arvind on weekends. We take turns sitting, holding, being present. The vigil of a family watching someone leave slowly. I cook at home with the specific intention of someone cooking against loss. Every meal is a preservation. Every pot is a defense. The kitchen as fortress, still. I made Sambar — always sambar. Because the kitchen doesn't stop for ordinary weeks. The kitchen treats every week the same: with heat, with spice, with the generous pinch that is always enough.

The small Edison Indian-American community is the small social-network. The small Hindu temple in Bridgewater is the small Sunday-morning gathering. The small Diwali-Holi-Navaratri-Pongal calendar continues to mark the small year. The small extended-family-dinners with the small Krishnamurthy-cousins are the small monthly-rotation.

The small CVS-pharmacist-role at the small Edison location continues to be the small career-spine. The small forty-hour-week schedule with the small alternating-weekend rotation is the small income-and-rhythm-anchor. The small fifteen-years-of-pharmacist-experience are the small professional-credential the small career rests on.

Raj Patel (the small husband) works in the small IT-consulting field. The small Manhattan-commute on the small NJ Transit train is the small daily-Monday-through-Thursday routine. The small Friday-work-from-home arrangement is the small workweek-anchor. The small Raj-Priya partnership has been the small two-career-with-kids juggle for the small parenthood-years.

Anaya is eight, Rohan is five. The small Patel-Krishnamurthy-kids occupy the small Edison-suburb home with the small two-parent-Indian-American-family-stability. Anaya is at the small elementary-school in second grade. Rohan is at the small preschool. The small kid-rhythm is the small daily-organizing-principle.

The small Indian-American cooking-identity is the small kitchen-spine. The small Indian-classics (dal, sabzi, roti, biryani) are the small weekday-staples. The small American-fusion-experiments are the small Sunday-projects. The small grandmother-recipes from Hyderabad (Priya’s maternal-side) and from Chennai (Priya’s paternal-side) are the small heritage-touchstones.

The small Hyderabad-and-Chennai-grandparents continue to visit on the small annual-rotation. Naani (Priya’s maternal grandmother, age 84) flies in for the small October-through-December stretch. The small Christmas in Edison has the small grandparents-and-extended-family in residence for weeks. The small intergenerational-kitchen is the small November-December-rhythm.

The sambar was for Amma — for the smell, for the memory, for the reaching. But there were still two small people at home who needed dinner, and on the nights I came back from the facility with nothing left, I made this salad. It is not a grief meal. It is not a fortress. It is just color in a bowl, and vegetables that crunch, and the ordinary mercy of something ready in fifteen minutes when you are running on nothing but love and habit. Anaya calls it “the rainbow salad.” I call it enough.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 cups mixed greens (romaine, spinach, or spring mix)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red cabbage, thinly shredded
1/4 cup red onion, very thinly sliced
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey or agave
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small jar or bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, and garlic powder until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Prep the vegetables. Wash and dry the greens thoroughly. Halve the cherry tomatoes, slice the cucumber, shred the carrot, slice the bell pepper, shred the cabbage, and thinly slice the red onion.
Assemble the salad. Add the mixed greens to a large salad bowl. Layer the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, bell pepper, cabbage, and red onion over the greens. Add the drained chickpeas.
Add crunch. Scatter the sunflower or pumpkin seeds over the top of the salad.
Dress and toss. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently until everything is evenly coated. Taste and adjust salt or acidity as needed. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Super Veggie Tossed Salad — The Table Keeps Setting Itself