Maggie's Christmas salad

Different food cultures favour different taste sensations - think of those hyper-sweet Indian desserts or those ultra-sour Chinese pickles. We learn to enjoy the flavours from our own cuisine by tasting them from birth. But this doesn't mean we can't learn to enjoy other sensations by re-educating our palate. In New Zealand we tend to ignore bitter salad leaves. I predict that this will change as we start to grow more specialty leaves in our gardens and become interested in using greens that are not mass produced for the supermarket.

Ingredients

2 handfuls	Rocket (Main)
3	Witloof
30	Mint leaves, shredded
1	Avocado
2	Mangoes
¼	Pawpaw
1 to serve	Vinaigrette

Directions

1. Take a couple of handfuls of rocket. Separate the leaves from 3 witlof bulbs and arrange on a platter. Shred 30 mint leaves and sprinkle across.
2. Slice an avocado into thin slices.
3. Peel two mangoes and a quarter of a paw paw. Slice these into strips.
4. Place these across the plate of leaves and dress with a vinaigrette of olive oil, fresh lime juice and salt and pepper. Looks and tastes like summer.