Salad Surprise! [VIDEO]
A friend has a plot in a local community garden. Tonight I was enjoying some of the lettuce she gave me. Before eating it I took it out of the fridge, where it's been for a day, washed it by hand, wiped off the dirt, put it in a salad spinner, shook it out. Then I added some carrots to it and a little oil and vinegar. Delicious, I thought.
Seems like someone else thought it was delicious, too. As Patrick (who was in the room via vid chat, along with Kazue, who said: the worm has been through a lot! A shower, a hurricane, and now sun!) pointed out later in our conversation, it's a good sign that there's a worm in my salad. A Twinkie will never have a worm in it. Twinkies never die because, like Cool Whip, even microbes are unwilling to munch on it.
What's funny about finding a worm in my dinner is it freaked me out! Patrick said, "you screamed like a girl!" It has been a long time since I saw something move in my salad. The more I reflect on it, the more I hope it happens again. I like that I'm eating food so fresh that worms are into it.
No, I take that back. I don't want to find things moving in my salad. I would prefer to put them in my garden before they make it onto my plate. But, you get my point.
So, here's the question. Would you have eaten the rest of the salad? And, another question, what percentage of the food you eat would be desirable to a plump, green inch worm?
(To any of you food folks out there wondering what the non-worm items are in this pic: broccoli rabe, zucchini, shichimi togarashi spice, boiled egg whites.)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Reader Comments (19)
ACK!!! no!! I totally get that it's "good" that the little worm was in there!! BUT for sure I couldn't eat it after! That always makes my tummy turn way WAY too much!!!
I would have been way too paranoid to keep eating! Even though the salad look delish... Everything in my mouth would suddenly feel like a worm! :)
Too funny. Poor thing probably couldn't see after being doused with oil and vinegar! Personally, I would have finished. No worse than eating an unwashed piece of fruit.
Iva I didn't eat the rest of the salad. I'm with you.
Karen My sentiments exactly!
Mike It's true. And I suppose there are some B12 vitamins in there...
I would have finished! The salad looks scrumptious and the little green inch worm makes for a kind of cute dinner companion--although other bugs could make me put my fork down.
Gwen In Wonderland And The Worm! Maybe it was the worm from Alice in wonderland ? :-) I Would have eaten rest of the salad after putting the worm out in the garden alive .
If it was THAT salad? Absolutely. It looks amazing. I would be willing to risk eating a second, hidden worm for that broccoli rabe. Because that's the fear, you know. That you might eat another worm without even knowing it. That you might swallow it whole, and never even know it. Ugggh. Some cultures do not have this fear of eating bugs. If there are ants in your baguette, say, they'll just hit the bread hard against their hand to shake off the ants. Good as new.
Sloan Come on over someday and let me make you a salad. I have this special dressing that really animates things!
Arttio Sweet image! Did you see Alice in Wonderland, the new version? What'd you think about it if so?
Kelly Hey! Good to see you (in my mind's eye). For sure during the time I lived in Morocco, I would have brushed it off and kept going. It's a good point. Weird how electricity, refrigeration and air conditioning make the bug in a salad all that more foreign-seeming.
AH! I just had to shake the feeling off. What if you would have ATE IT?! I'm weirded out just reading/watching it. I would definitely not be able to eat the rest of it!
He was a cute little worm though. Just not in what you eat!
Jamie I mean, juicy at the very least. He has a lot of vim + vigor! I'll go check on him and see how he's doing in the garden.
Ick, no way! I couldn't eat the rest. I'm too much of a wimp to do that. In fact, someone would probably have to pry me off the ceiling. The neighbors would've heard a shriek as well. It's a shame because that salad looks delectable.
Um, I love that you put the worm BACK in the salad! That's awesome. I guess he's got some kung fu survival skills. I probably would have eaten it anyway—at least I'd have known where the ingredients (worm included) came from.
I would probably eat it, but very, very carefully.
I don't know that I would have kept eating... the worst thing like that that happened to me not so long ago were some grain moth larvae that were in an unopened packet of crackers that I started dipping into a yogurt dip. I had to throw the whole lot out, yogurt and everything. Yours was a pretty big fat worm too. But cute, I'll agree with you there :)
Okay, this totally brought me back to a memory of last summer. A friend of ours brought over some lettuce from his garden and we had it in our fridge for a week or two. Our family was having tacos for dinner one night so I washed and chopped the lettuce. We sat down to eat, I took one bite, and while still holding my taco a little green worm crawled onto my hand! I freaked out, threw my taco down, and bolted from the table and ran outside, certain I was going to throw up. I was also thinking that going outside was a good idea because I didn't want to scare my three kids aged 2, 6, and 7. Like that whole table drama didn't freak them out. Needless to say, no one ate their tacos that night and I haven't eaten fresh lettuce since. I couldn't even watch your video because I'm already getting a little sick to my stomach.
P.S. Love the podcast!
I find a worm or caterpillar or such in my salad and it makes it all the more appetizing. It's a sign the produce is fresh, organic and delicious!
Oh. That is so funny. I had a similar experience but I was living in a monastic community in Switzerland and my "job" was kitchen help and I was in charge of the salad. We had salad every day before each afternoon and evening meal. All the lettuce was dumped in gigantic sink and salt was added... then I had to pick up the snails / slugs that climbed to the tips of the lettuce leaves ... trying to escape... it was my greatest fear that I would miss some...
I then spun all the lettuce and put in individual bowls for the table.
We were sitting and eating in silence and I looked down and there was a snail in my lettuce. All I could do was THANK GOD that the snail was in my bowl and not in the head nun's bowl.... I just picked him out and continued eating quietly... with the snail wrapped in my napkin in my lap... until lunch was over and I deposited to the great outdoors.
The funny thing was my own reaction. I was both horrified and thankful.
I love how a post about a worm can get 17 comments!! well, now 18.
btw he looks very cute.
I love Kazue's accent! Green worm is a cutie.