WATERCRESS WITH FETA CHEESE SALAD

As we head into the fall months in warmer climes such as Maui where I'm currently blogging, cool foods are in pretty much year round unless we do have a cold front that travels through our state in the middle of the Pac Ocean. Cold front? Yes, it can stretch over 3,000 miles from Kauai to northern Cal. So on the tops of our volcanoes, Haleakala on Maui over 10,000 ft. and the two on Hawaii Island, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are both in the 13,000 ft. range, well over a mile high, we can see blizzards up there if the winds crank up in the middle of winter with the cold fronts.

Enough of the weather, let's talk about healthy foods. Feta ( fetuh) is a cheese that is crumbly in persona, tangy in flavor, made from sheep or goat's milk. It is healthy unless... you can't eat this, then a vegan cheese would be better, but all in all in moderation, this cheese should be good and healthy for the average person.

WATERCRESS WITH FETA CHEESE SALAD

This serves one person.

2 cups of watercress tops with 4 inches of stems, rinsed in ice cold water

1/2 cup feta cheese

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp. ume vinegar

1 garlic clove minced

1 small basil leaf sliced thin

1 tsp. honey

pinch of sea salt

pinch of white pepper

Mix dressing ingredients well in a small bowl, add in the watercress and toss well, and place on salad plate or a bowl, spread feta over it.

Watercress tops with stems, make sure when you buy this, you rinse it well, and look for crispness, if it is soggy it's not going to be good for a salad, though will be alright for soups.

Feta cheese, made from goat or sheep's milk, very crumbling type of personality and a tang to the bite. Purchase from supermarkets that sell these in nice tight wrappings. 

Ume Plumb Vinegar from Eden Selected, made from plums it is salty and tart to be exact, with the acidity of a vinegar, this makes a good addition to sauces, or in this case salad dressings, or on top of grilled beef steaks, if you like tart salty with acidity, ume vinegar is for you. Some people pronounce this oo may, or ooom.