Sunflower Sprout Salad with Preserved Lemons and Jujubes

Sunflower Sprout Salad with Preserved Lemons and Jujubes

Exotic, beautiful, healthy and delicious - this Sunflower Sprout Salad is all that and then some. A trip to the Irvine Center Farmer's Market in Irvine, California inspired this amazing salad.

I had stopped at a Chinese farm stand - Yao Cheng Farm - where they sold jujubes and a whole host of other Asian fruits and vegetables. A jujube is a small fruit that looks like a miniature apple but is a little firmer. They're mild, delicately sweet and the inside looks a little like a pear.

Yao Cheng Farm - a Chinese organic farm

These are the jujubes I bought from Yao Cheng Farm

another stand where they sold jujubes

Then I saw this fresh sprouts stand - Bolanos Family Sprouts - and I couldn't resist a wheat grass shot and picking up some fresh sprouts. I settled on the sunflower sprouts and saw a nice lady picking out the same.

Bolanos Family Sprouts offered an amazing selection

With advertising like that, how could I resist a shot?

So, I see that we're both buying the sunflower sprouts and I decide to ask her how she prefers hers. She says she likes them with a little lemon juice, fresh pear, and sunflower seeds. Upon further discussion (although we had a severe language barrier), I learned that she, too, has a food blog. I think this is it - All Home Cooking Recipe (the language barrier made it hard for us to understand each other). If you're interested, please check it out.

Lastly, I remembered I have these preserved lemons sitting in my fridge that I made several months ago and I guess I'd kind of forgotten about them. Turns out they were a great addition to this salad.

It's funny how things come together when you least expect it.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sunflower sprouts

2 jujubes, thinly sliced (or 1 wedge of pear or apple)

1 wedge preserved lemon, rind only, minced (see Cook's note)

2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds

juice of 1 wedge of fresh lemon

Wash sprouts, then arrange on plate, add jujubes (or pear or apple), preserved lemon, and sunflower seeds. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over salad and enjoy.

Cook's note: When using preserved lemons be sure to rinse before using as they are preserved in an enormous amount of salt. The rind is quite soft, salty, and delicious. Preserved lemons are often used in Mediterranean cooking.