Chinese Sausage and Vietnamese Salad

After a week of pasta and relative inactivity, it was time to get back on the healthy track. I had the day off work today, so I had plenty of time to run, lift, swim, and prepare today's installment of "How Pei Used Up Stuff in Her Fridge:"

Inspired by Hung Ky, I made a cold mixed salad with nuoc cham. In my fridge I found iceberg lettuce, red onions, carrots, and cilantro. Everything got thinly sliced and placed on a plate, and was topped with a handful of crushed peanuts. I made a slightly unorthodox nuoc cham with fish sauce, sugar, and the zest and juice of a meyer lemon. I didn't have chili peppers or garlic, but the fish sauce Jo's mom got me is so good I almost don't need them.

The Chinese sausage complemented the nuoc cham flavor very well; I think Chinese Sausage is a great quick substitute for marinated grilled Vietnamese pork becaue it's also sweet and garlicky. I just defrosted a pack of them and grilled them on a cast iron skillet. I'll eat the rest over the course of the week, so stay tuned for "How to Eat Sausage Five Days in a Row."

I also made my first cup of salted lemon soda! I was at a market today and noticed a jar of Vietnamese pickled lemon on the shelf. For $1, I thought "Why not?" The clerk who rang me up was nice enough to tell me that the drink is just one lemon, a little of the pickling juice (1/8 cup), some honey (a little more than a tablespoon), and soda (fill to top of glass). Fizzy, slightly salty, not very sweet, and very refreshing!