Meatless Thursday Salads, and a hat that says "Meow"

Today was lovely and fascinating and involved lots of time with friends new and old. A few snowflakes fell, a gorgeous neighborhood cat with no collar ended up purring in my kitchen for twenty glorious minutes, my new hat for the Women's March arrived, and Tom indulged me by not complaining about the dinner I served him: two beautiful salads with nary a bit of meat in sight. 

Meow! #dontgrab #resist #pussyhat

Remind me to tell you about the new internist he recently visited who suggested my carnivore husband go vegan. Hilarious!

Anyway, these salads resulted from A) a desire to use what was in the fridge, B) my having just made the kids dinner and not wanting to commit to much more time in the kitchen, C) my mad love of veggies, and D) a realization that it's been an awfully long time since I contemplated and crafted a proper composed salad.

Result 1:

A wintry mix of celery, cucumber, blood orange, pomegranate, candied kumquats, shaved Pecorino, parsley, blackberry Balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Result 2:

A hearty "don't let the rest of that baguette go to waste" salad of roasted golden beets, raw shallots (shaved), goat cheese, parsley, the baguette cubed and lightly fried, pimentón, and a very generous drizzle of olive oil.

Neither was difficult, both used a variety of aging ingredients and also pantry staples, and never can you underestimate the beneficence of a beautiful meal.