UNEXPECTED TWISTS IN LIFE
***
Six years ago on a mid-September night, I was getting off the plane from Singapore to hot and humid Chennai, when I saw a familiar face in the sea of unknown strangers.
It turned out that Jeanie, a former university classmate, had also been on the same flight Iβd taken to India for a three-week work-related program, but she was returning to Chennai, where she was based, after a short holiday back in Singapore. We later met up for dinner once during my trip, but after that, we sort of drifted off each otherβs radar, living completely different lives, she as a consultant in South India, and I relocated in Argentina.
Itβs funny how life throws unexpected turns at you. Fast forward to the present, six years later by some purely random coincidence, Jeanieβs taking a break from work and has moved to Buenos Aires, for the next few months at least.
We met the day after she arrived, about a week before Spring arrived, right in the middle of six continuous days of rain. It was freezing cold, but over warm milanesas (breaded beef cutlets) and fresh salads, we chatted and caught up with the past 6 yearsβ of each otherβs lives.
How crazy is it that it takes being at the other end of the world for us to reconnect after so long?
Lifeβs irresistibly surprising, and Iβm definitely all for it.
***
ALAS, ITβS SPRINGTIME!
***
Spring has arrived! Can you hear the heavens singing? The angels playing their harps in joy?
There is sunshine everywhere in this turn of the seasons; there is a lightness in the air; there is happiness; and most of all, there is color once again.
No more drab grey winter skies; only a brilliant bright blue and white clouds dotting the view above.
As the cold, chiller evenings make way for warmer, toastier afternoons and longer days, together with later dusks and earlier dawns, heavier foods are also replaced by lighter, healthier salads.
There was a time when I never could comprehend eating salads as a meal; but now, as brighter, sunnier days make me reach for icy cold drinks and refreshing juices, I look away from thick stews and heavy-carbohydrate dishes to easy, quick-to-assemble salads β the kind whose ingredients are both happy and bright and full of the taste of citrus and vegetables.
Salads which incorporate seafood like tasty sautΓ©ed shrimp; fresh, cool cucumber in tones of dark and pastel green; juicy, blushing red tomatoes which burst in your mouth; and just enough red and white onion bits to add some kick and body to the meal.
You know what makes it even better?
Freshly-squeezed lemon juice from ripe, rich lemons the color of golden sunshine, mixed with good olive oil, drizzled generously over the salad. Oh, and of course, garnished with fresh chopped parsley, this salad gets taken up a few more notches.
Thereβs a feeling of pure joy as you smell the intertwined aromas of citrus lemon, fresh parsley and olive oil; and as you tuck into the salad, crunchy, cool cucumbers, tangy red and white onions and juicy tomatoes combine with the cooked shrimp in one of the most beautiful ways.
Itβs the feeling of spring.
P.S. To welcome this beautiful, dearly-missed season, Dish by Dish also has a new look, and a new home! This little blog is now on wordpress.org, hosted by Bluehost, and most of all, has been designed by Sara from Moonsteam Design.Β
SHRIMP & VEGETABLE SALAD WITH LEMON VINAIGRETTE
(Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a light meal)
Linked up to The Untamed Cook
Ingredients:
1) 250g of peeled shrimp
2) 2 tomatoes, diced
3) 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
4) 1 red onion, diced
5) 1 white onion, diced
6) Β½ cup of chopped parsley
7) Β½Β large lemon (or 1 small lemon), juiced
8) 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
9) Salt & pepper to taste
Steps:
1) Blanch peeled shrimp in hot water for a few minutes. Later sautΓ© blanched shrimp in saucepan with little oil over medium heat until they turn bright orange
2) Seed and dice the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and white onion
3) Squeeze the juice from the lemon, and add in the olive oil to get the lemon vinaigrette
4) Arrange cooked shrimp, diced tomatoes, cucumber and onions in a bowl or plate, sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper to taste, drizzle over the lemon vinaigrette, mix well, and serve, garnished with chopped parsley
Your site looks gorgeous Felicia! I love your new banner as well! π And I love this salad! Shrimp and me are bffs for sure, and I could always use more greenery in my life heehee. <3
Jess!! How have u been? Hope your week’s coming along…! Haha, I’m still trying to get a hang of the whole self-hosting thing! It’s not easy having to manage certain aspects that wp.com used to take care of for me (without my even knowing), and suddenly i have to scale down my pictures on my own, have a lot more spam than before etc etc… but I’m pretty glad I made the move!! Perhaps u might make the move one day too π If you ever need a designer, Sara was a great help (and not very ex too!). xoxo
oh how true….life is so full of pleasant surprises…this salad with that refreshing vinaigrette rocks π
Hi dear! Yes, life is so full of interesting & crazy surprises! Thanks for stopping by! π If you like shrimp I seriously urge you to try this salad!
You redid your blog! It looks fabulous! π
Hah, Thanks so much!! And, yes I did!! Been waiting to change the look for quite a while and also move to self-hosting so at last I’ve done it!! π Thanks so much!!
I love the new design – so cool! π Keep writing – I will definitely come back for more π
Mummy!! The new look is pretty cool right? Hah, hope I won’t get bored of it anytime soon!!! Took so long for me and Sara (my designer) to finally decide on it!!
Yay! I love the new look, Felicia! So excited for you ;). And how awesome is it that you reconnected with Jeanie after all these years! And to think I have friends in the states I haven’t seen for over 5 years. Shame on me. This salad looks like a perfect springtime meal. And you know how happy it makes me to hear that you gladly choose salads over stews and pasta now ;). Hope you have a wonderful week!
Min!! thank u!! it’s pretty cool playing around with the theme, I’m still making some adjustments with Sara’s wonderful help & patience but at least we’ve migrated over to wordpress.org alr so the tough part is done! we’ll prob need a couple more days to iron out some issues but other than that this is pretty much it!! <3 thanks so much for ur encouragement in gg self-hosted!
You have a lovely site!! I love the new design! π
~Sandi~
Hi Sandi!! Thanks so much for dropping by and for your feedback! π I’m still new with all this self-hosting stuff but thankfully my designer’s been amazingly helpful! take care! xoxo, felicia