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Salads and pasta dishes used to be typecast as “first
course” entrées, never the main course.
Not anymore! Salads and/or pastas can make the meal, and
when taken together, it’s even better.
A salad and a pasta dish are perfect partners!
A FEW
days ago, in the heat of summer, we left Manila and set
off to Tagaytay for a change of scenery. A cool place
welcomed us with pleasing digestives that suited both
our two vegetarian friends (Judy and David Lao) and us
carnivores: my husband and me, along with the Ferrer
family. The Laos brought us to The Greenhouse Bistro in
Tagaytay Highlands, which is a “fresh” spot for a
wholesome lunch of soup, salad and pasta. You leave the
place full but not heavy and guilty.
The
ordering scheme at Greenhouse, operated by Jerry Tiu, is
simple enough. There’s a weekender buffet, which starts
with a fresh dalandan juice dressed with fresh mint
leaves and a light vegetable soup, followed by the salad
and pasta spread—a full-blown array of salad ingredients
and, on the other side, pasta sauce and topping
possibilities.
It’s a
multitude of choices and you’re free to have a bit of
everything as you please. Compose your salad from the
freshest lettuces, pickles, chopped eggs, salad
tomatoes, cut fruits like mango, watermelon, honeydew
melon, pineapple and, at the time, juliennes of ripe
langka, even pomelo flakes and wingbeans for the crunch,
cherry tomatoes, capsicums, carrots—the whole spectrum
of healthy fresh produce for the picking. Two thick and
creamy dressings are placed on each table: a hearty,
tangy balsamic and a luscious honey mustard. Service
Parmesan cheese and pepper mill add to the dining
comfort of the guests.
On the
pasta side, you can plate in as many ingredients as you
please that would go with your choice of pasta (penne,
fettuccine, spaghetti, etc.) and pasta sauce (“Will that
be tomato sauce base or white cream base, ma’am?”). For
the smart alecks like me: go for both—one side in white
sauce and the other side in tomato sauce. They’ll allow
that!
The
pasta throw-ins include tomatoes, capsicum, sun-dried
tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peas, sausage, squid rings,
boiled shrimp, fresh salmon, scallops, ham, smoked ham,
bacon, capers, black and green olives, anchovies and
many more. One tends to overdo the portion, which I did,
so I had to share my plate with bigger appetites. But
the pasta dishes come to you looking pretty and
appetizing with a “ribbon” of fresh basil on the side.
Cap the
meal with fresh tarragon tea that smells sweet of anise
and flowers. The tea itself has relaxing properties.
One’s meal becomes not just a tasty feast and table eye
candy but also aromatherapy all rolled into one divine
experience. This, perhaps, is what I mean by “The
“Greenhouse Effect”—you leave feeling light and healthy
and ready to breathe in more of Tagaytay’s fresh air.
It’s the break you deserve!
Nancy’s Notes
IN
choosing salad ingredients, remember the No 5. Our
bodies need five kinds of vegetables a day for the
needed nutrients and fiber. The more colorful your
choices, the healthier. God created vegetation to be
attractive for us to eat these. Red, dark green, yellow,
pink, orange are fantastic colors that spell
antioxidants! |
