Cherry Limeade Shishito Salad
Cherry Limeade Shishito Salad
This summer salad echoes a classic fizzy drink
I was standing in the depressing produce aisle at Trader Joe’s, where everything is either wastefully shrink-wrapped and I can’t feel if things are ripe under the thick cellophane, or bagged in a way where I can’t see through the oppressive green mesh when I texted Javier:
Cherry and Shishito Salad.
Javier’s response was brief: !!!
Cherry-lime is my go-to flavor combo for fizzy water, and when the day comes and I venture out to Sonic’s, I’ll for sure get their Cherry Limeade Slush because it sounds like the bevy of my dreams. I love the way faux flavors are intensified and I wanted to capture that intensity in the most unassuming of dishes: the side salad.
The best side salad is the kind that plays a supporting role to grilled shrimp, or the kind that gets draped with slices of prosciutto, or on its own as a side for carne asada.
The appeal of a savory cherry application at the peak of summer is hard to resist. In this recipe, the cherries are lightly macerated with lime juice and lime zest to intensify the flavors of all parties involved. The contrast against the blistered shishito peppers is balanced by a dressing made with the macerating juices whisked in with creamy coarse ground mustard. It can be easily swapped for whatever kind of Dijon mustard you have in your condiment door or skipped altogether if you sub it with a glug of fish sauce. Perhaps you’re like Javier who fantasizes about this salad being dotted with burrata. But if you’re anything like me, it is everything you need for peak summer as is.
This week’s mixtape is for John and Kim, who filled so many of my summer days with Stevie Wonder when I first moved to the U.S. Also, lots of Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, and other legends I love.
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