When Salad Makes A Statement

 Rarely does a food writer  change the world. Yet one  did just that with her newsletter  as she tweets against ageism. Emily Nunn's newsletter shed light on this while giving readers and fans some great salad recipes.

Regular contributor,Kim Severson, wrote about Ms. Nunn in today's New York Times Food section.Ms. NUnn already had an illustrious career as a food writer. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker  and she created their famed column 'Tables For Two" along with reporting for The Chicago Tribune, creating a blog , contributing to the website Food 52  and publishing a book The Comfort Food Diaries in 2017. She started her Department Of Salad newsletter due in part because she couldn't find a writing gig. A fellow food writer suggested on Twitter that she start a newsletter.It was her own tweets, sometimes cranky ,always funny and political kept her in the public eye. They focused on ageism, something she still experiences at the age of sixty-one. She was also good at creating salads, thanks to her living in North Carolina. Southern summers are lush and hot, perfect for yielding tomatoes and cucumber. The actor J.Smith-Cameron of the HBO hit "Succession"  tweeted that she would read a newsletter that featured Ms Nunn's sharpness and culinary creativity. By October 2020 she had created one.It does come with a price of $50 a year or $5.50 a month. Soledad O'Brian is already a fan as is British food writer Diana Henry.

Her salads are interesting and she also collects interesting recipes from other writers and chefs. Her newsletters are a cornucopia of advice, recipes and an interview with someone with a point of view about salads. Ms. Severson includes two of Ms. Nunn's recipes. One is an herby rice salad with peas and prosciutto. This can be a side or a main meal with more meat added. It's combining cooked long grained white rice with peas, a sliced onion and slices of prosciutto. Lemon and a host of herbs such as chives, basil, mint and parsley flavor it while red pepper flakes give it zing. You could also add a dollop of ricotta to it too.The second salad recipe is a nod to the past with a combo of oranges and radishes. This is taking a mix of Cara Cara and navel oranges that have been peeled , de-pithed and cut into rounds. They also have to be deseeded and chilled too. The radishes also have to be chilled after they've been cut into thin matchstick pieces. The dressing is simply lemon juice, sugar and salt, shaken in a jar until the salt and sugar dissolve (although I would add a scant amount of olive oil) and then chilled. The orange slices are arranged first and then the matchsticks are scattered on top followed by the dressing and orange zest.

Emily Nunn is changing the world with her wit, candidness and salads. All are needed today, especially the salads. It can definitely brighten a meal and a day.