Cottage cheese, carrot, and fresh herb salad ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

03 May 2013

Cottage cheese, carrot, and fresh herb salad


This weekend we are in Michigan for a family wedding. That means, among other things, that yesterday morning John and I had some of the vilest airport coffee you can possibly imagine. OH MAN. It was actually so bad that I'd put it in the "unbelievable" category. Not the best breakfast on the planet.

You know what is one of the best breakfasts on the planet? Cottage cheese.

Obviously cottage cheese is one of those foods that you either love or hate. If you hate it, that's fine. I love it. It's instant delicious protein and hits your bloodstream almost immediately: perfect for mornings when you need food NOW or you will collapse in a large and awkward pile.

I also theorize that, as a northern European mutt, I'm genetically prone to be able to digest dairy well as an adult. Hey, cows were one of the most important animals in both early Irish and German culture, right? And the cows were generally too valuable to butcher with any sort of frequency, so people relied on milk and cheese (among other things) instead. It makes sense.

What I do not love is cottage cheese mixed with sweet things such as jam or fruit. Cottage cheese should remain its own savory self. That's why I eat it plain, I eat it in salatka with radishes and sour cream, and I eat it like this, with a mishmash of vegetables and herbs.

On this particular occasion, I had a couple carrots, a green onion, a bunch of cilantro, and some backyard parsley and oregano. Why not mix it all together, pepper it up, and call it breakfast?

The texture contrast between crunchy raw carrot and tender cheese is especially nice.

Cottage cheese, carrot, and fresh herb salad

cottage cheese
carrot
green onion
herbs of your choice
salt, pepper

Put as much cottage cheese as you want to eat in a bowl. If you like, you can thicken & tarten it up by adding plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, but it's also totally fine to just leave it.

Scrub and grate your carrot; chop your green onion and herbs. Add them to the cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix everything together and eat it. Hooray! Breakfast of dairy-digesting champions!

What oddities are you eating for breakfast lately?

4 comments:

Stacy G. said...

It's interesting you should say this because I actually can't digest cottage cheese, even though I enjoy the taste of it! Strange fact. Guess I'm too Southern European. :-(

Joanne said...

I'm a cottage cheese lover though I do go through phases where I alternatively crave it and then have no desire for it. This savory salad sounds so tasty!

And ugh to airport coffee. Just ugh.

Caz said...

I too love cottage cheese but don't seem to eat it very often. Thanks for reminding me of it's existence again! I love this simple salad. I would never have thought of having it for breakfast though. I could do with an instant protein hit in the morning. :)

Jes said...

I don't think I've eaten cottage cheese in...20 years maybe? I used to like it, now I'm curious to give it a try again!