Maine Lobster and Cabbage Salad (serves 2-3)

When I visited my parents this weekend, my father gave me a huge bag of assorted fresh herbs he had picked from the garden, and my mother gave me some fresh from the dock lobster meat.  I had some left over cabbage in my kitchen that I needed to use up so I decided to make this dish and invited our neighbor, Inge (who is a flight attendant) over for a small lunch.  She came over with some Lebanese pastries that she brought home from her recent trip.  What a treat!  Thank you, Inge and my parents!!

Ingredients:

1 lb cabbage, cored and finely shredded
2 C cooked Maine lobster meat, cut in bite size
1 bunch of mint leaves and purple shiso leaves, chiffonade
Fresh Roasted Peanuts, roughly chopped or crushed (optional)
Vietnamese Dipping Sauce to taste

Method:

1) Arrange the cabbage, lobster meat, mint, shiso and roasted peanuts in a large plate or platter.
2) When ready to eat scoop out a portion onto an individual plate and drizzle with the dipping sauce to taste.
3) Mix the salad well before eating.

mix the salad and eat!

shiso I

shiso II

*If you have someone in your party with a peanut allergy you can omit it or put some on the side for those who can eat it.  Also use as much or as little herbs as you prefer.  I love to eat fresh herbs and I tend to overdose on them!  
*The shiso herbs come in purple and green.  They are very easy to grow.  The Japanese restaurants often use the green shiso leaves for garnish.