The nice thing about spring is all the abundance of fruits that are coming to market. I know — you can get fruits year round, but I hate buying fruits in winter because they're usually pretty tasteless. You also find a lot of good bargains in spring, like the plums I found — a package of six for about $2.00. The plums were the really sweet kind, with almost no acidity. Problem with packages, though, is there are always two or three that are too ripe and mealy. Most people would just pitch them, but I can't stand waste. So I decided to make salad dressing with the mealy ones — the flavor was still fantastic, and the mealiness actually is better for a salad because the plums will disintegrate nicer into the liquids.
Since the plums were so sweet, I decided to go a little Japanese with the flavors. Unfortunately, when I make dressing, I never measure, so the following are estimates and suggestions.
1 mealy plum, peeled and chopped
1/8 cup of light soy sauce
1/4 cup of rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Japanese mustard (the kind in the tube)
1 tablespoon of honey
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
1 tiny chunk of ginger, peeled
1/4 cup of light vegetable oil (I used peanut)
If you have a small food processor, throw everything in and whiz. It's by far the easiest way. Of course, adjust for seasonings.
