Best Ever Summertime Salad

Whatever your doing right now, stop!

Wait a second, your reading my blog, never mind, continue reading.

Let me rephrase, whatever you have planned after you finish reading my blog, forget about it! What I want you to do instead, is to put on some comfortable shoes and take a stroll down to your local produce store. Once you are there I advise you to place in your basket a dribbling hunk of watermelon. It should be whole not diced, though you will not need an entire melon so a half will suffice. Next, I want you to head over to the tomatoes. If they have heirloom, don't be intimidated by their freakish looks, snatch them up I say. If no, that's alright, grab the ones that look the most colorful, ripe, and ready to be taken home, if you know what I mean, wink wink. Now that your two chief ingredients are secured, I invite you to finish things off with a bundle of fresh mint, a red onion, 1/4-1/2 lb. of feta cheese, and a lime.

Having completed my modest requests, and returned to your kitchen, you are now ready to make yourself the best - and I say this in all seriousness - ever summertime salad. Don't believe me? Then follow these instruction and see for yourself.

Best Ever Summertime Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes
3/4 pint of grape tomatoes (i used yellow)
2 medium sized heirloom tomatoes
4-5 quarter inch slices of water melon
1/4 lb of feta cheese
handful of mint, diced
red onion, pickled or raw
1/4 cup of good flavored olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
sea salt to taste

1.) Cut grape tomatoes in half, grape tomatoes into thirds, and rustically dice the heirlooms
2.)Combine tomatoes and lightly squeeze to release the juices
3.) Add the remaining ingredients, minus the melon, and toss lightly
4.) Using a circular cookie cutter, cut disks out of the melon flesh
5.) Place melon disks on salad plate, poke with a fork a few times (to soak up dressing) and cover with tomato salad.
6.) Drizzle with dressing, pomegranate molasses, if you have it, and fresh pepper




There are endless ways you could serve this versatile salad. Seared scallops, grilled shrimp skewers, or ceviche would make the perfect accompaniment. Or, serve it as an appetizer for heavier meals such a barbecue, or a refreshing counterpoint to rich Thai and Indian Curries. Then again, you could enjoy it all by its lonesome as I did after a long day out in the simmering sun of Brighten Beach.


*WARNING - Be advised, if consumed,this salad may cause an irrational and insatiable desire to eat nothing but watermelon, tomatoes and feta. All other foods may be rendered inedible, all other salads, unpalatable. The only way to cure this ravaging fever, is to eat tons and tons of The Best Ever Summertime Salad.

The Sacred Mango Message

Spring is here and I cannot escape the sacred message the earth is broadcasting all around town: Eat Florida Mangoes
Huh?
Everywhere I go there they are. Mangoes at the grocery store, mangoes piled high at the corner fruit stand, mangoes wildly strewn with over ripe bananas and a very sad looking apple in the subway magazine shop. Sure these are all normal places to run into a mango or twenty (minus the zine shop of course), but there is something about these mangoes that is not quit right. It is something heart-rending, agonizing, and almost tragic. I can feel them watching me anxiously while in the produce section and it’s beginning to freak me out! What do they want from me?

After fleeing the corner deli, they too had unhappy mangoes, I read an entry on Metrocurean entitled Seeking Indian Mangoes and it instantly made sense. Amanda reports that the first shipment of Indian Alphonso Mangoes to the US in twenty years has thrown foodies in a frenzied state. These mangoes are grown naturally on trees that are hundreds of years old, says Madhur Jaffrey author of the New York Times op-ed story on the subject. These treasures are famous for their creamy texture and powerful flavor. Jaffrey describes them as “Indian masterpieces that are burnished like jewels, oozing sweet, complex flavors acquired after two millenniums of painstaking grafting.” Well then, it’s no mystery why these Florida grown mangoes have fallen into a state of severe despondency.

If there is anyone who can understand serious feelings of inadequacy it is me, and so with a deep sense of agrarian duty, I walked out the door and headed straight for the grocery store. My mission: to cheer up the dejected Florida Mangoes by giving them back their pride and self-worth.

I stomped into the crowded store, “Do you have any FLORIDA grown mangoes?” I asked one of the employees. He pointed toward the back of the store, “ I’m not sure if they are from Florida,” he said with an awkward smile. “We’ll just have to see about that,” I said as I marched off. They were indeed Florida grown and so, after I examined them, I choose four and headed home.
The Internet provides endless instruction on how to delicately cut and cube a mango, but I have always preferred the messy and rustic way of devouring this tasty fruit. Starting off with a juicy mango is imperative. I like to approach mango selecting as I would choosing a partner; a complexion free of dark spots and blemishes is always a healthy sign, and a fresh and honey touched smell is clearly preferable to the rancidly over-ripe cologne of the more ‘mature’ contestants. In the end, it is the sense of touch that always helps me single out my main-squeeze. Skin as firm as a tightly stretched canvas yielding tenderly to the succulent flesh beneath, now that’s what seals the deal in my grocery cart.

Once I get the winner home and out of the bag, I remove the garments and it’s time to dig in.
Who needs utensils when you can hold the wet and slippery carcass with both hands and, like a polar bear with a fresh and wiggling catch, tear off chunks of sinewy pulp with your teeth and suck the juice from the flesh? Jaffrey, being slightly more refined than me, suggests tying a napkin around your neck before digging in, but not me. I prefer to go commando - without a napkin that is. It may sound crude and even crass, but I assure you it is quit sensual. If you don’t believe me that’s okay, eat your mango with a fork like a civilized adult if it makes you happy, only don’t forget to listen for the important message the earth might be trying to send you: eatfloridamangoeseatfloridamangoeseatfloridamangoes

For those of you who are a bit strange and don't like mangoes, yet still feel obliged to support these down-trodden Florida Mangoes, I have a solution. I have an ex-boyfriend who did not like mangoes - needless to say things did not work out between us - but despite this prevailing detail, he did always enjoy this recipe. Give it a try and tell me what you think.
Creamy Mango Dressing
1 - Florida Mango diced
The juice of 1 lime
Splash of heavy cream
Dash of Cayenne pepper
1.Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pure
until smooth
2. Chill for a least one hour before serving
3. Serve over watercress greens and sprinkle liberally with
strawberries and fresh mozzarella

That predictable am I?

I was a picky eater growing up but for my adult life I like to think of myself an adventurous eater. But lately I feel like all I do is eat the same thing day in and day out. Take for instance this salad that I am having today for lunch.
Its not all that different from this one I had the other day, is it?
or what about this one,
or this one,
or this one,or this one,
or this one,
Get the point already? All the elements are there: dark greens, some sort of fruit, nuts of some kind, cheese of some kind, and some other interchangeable element such as beets, fennel, chicken, or eggs. Have I fallen hopelessly into a culinary rut? Is my edible life comprised exclusively of yogurt, soup, salad, ice cream/ yogurt, salad, cup cake/yogurt, salad, salad, ice cream/ ice cream, salad, soup, yogurt, and the occasional turkey sandwich?

This is the part of my entry where I am supposed to make some kind of empty promise to change my ways, to introduce new and daring items into my daily grind. The question is, do I want to make this promise? Almost all of us eat the same foods day-to-day. We do it because its comforting, its easy, its cheap, and most of all because its predictable. Who wants to come home from a long day at work to attempt a new and venturesome dish in the kitchen, only to fail and go to bed hungry? I have my phases in the kitchen where i am on a desperate search for something new and exciting, and they are always fruitful, eventually. They are also nerve wrecking, chaotic, and unpredictable.
I guess i just don't want to be adventurous every day. I love trying new things, but I'm also not ashamed to say that I like to know what to expect. So bring on the yogurt, salad, soup, and lets not forget the ice cream shall we.

The Leftover Salad

The wonderful thing about parties is that there are almost always leftovers. One of my favorite things to do with them is to invent leftover salads made with whatever happens to been in the fridge. Sometimes this works out easily, for instance with my Thanksgiving leftover salad made up of spinach, roasted winter vegetables, and toasted pecans, all tossed in a cranberry sauce and balsamic dressing, and garnished with thick shards of Parmesan; other times the task turns out to be a bit more challenging. For example, one time I ended up with limp mesclun greens dressed in a tahini dressing accompanied by wasabi smeared with tuna. What can I say, these were the ingredients I had to work with. This party, having been a pairing party, was particularly fruitful in the leftover department - cheese, fruit, more cheese etc. - and so composing a delicious salad was not a challenge.

Arugula, Fennel, Haricots Verts, with Grapes, slivered Almonds, Lemon Zest, and Irish Cashel Blue Cheese, tossed in a Rose Water Dressing escorted by two rolls of Roast Beef smeared with Olive and sun dried TomatoTapenade. OHG!