Caesar Salad
adapted from The Joy of Cooking
A bottle of Caesar dressing and store-bought croutons would certainly make a quick and delicious salad, but here’s the real deal:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat butter, olive oil, garlic cloves (halved lengthwise), and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Discard garlic. Toss 3 cups ½-inch cubes of good bread with butter mixture. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350°, shaking the pan once or twice, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, mash together to form a paste: 4 cloves peeled garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Whisk in: 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste, 2 to 4 anchovy fillets (rinsed, patted dry, and mashed to a paste). Add ½ cup olive oil, slowly, whisking constantly.
In a salad bowl, toss the croutons and dressing with 2 large eggs (boiled firstly for 2 minutes) and romaine lettuce hearts, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Our friend Lucy lent us a great cookbook this week: Vegetarian and Vegetable Cooking: The definitive encyclopedia of healthy vegetarian food (by Christine Ingram). The compact book is jammed packed with great info and tasty veggie-rich recipes. Even better, every single recipe is accompanied by beautiful photos. I’m hooked. Here are two recipes adapted from the book:
Crunchy cabbage salad with pesto mayonnaise
If time is short, you can use ready-made mayo and pesto for this dish — but I’ve included here directions on making both from scratch for the adventurous cooks in the crowd.
1 cabbage
3-4 carrots, grated
4 green onions or one sweet onion, diced
handful pine nuts, if on hand
1 tablespoon chopped basil
Pesto dressing ingredients:
1 egg yolk
about 2 teaspoons lemon juice
7/8 cup sunflower/canola oil
2 teaspoons pesto
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
salt & pepper
To make the mayo, place egg yolk in blender or food processor and process with lemon juice. With machine running, very slowly add oil, pouring it more quickly as the mayo emulsifies. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a little more lemon juice if necessary.
Spoon 5 tablespoons of mayo into a bowl and stir in the pesto and yogurt, beating well to make a fairly thin dressing. (The remaining mayo will keep for about 3 – 4 weeks in a jar in the fridge.)
Thinly slice cabbage and place in a large salad bowl. Add the carrots and onions, together with basil and pine nuts, mixing thoroughly with your hands. Coat with pesto dressing and serve.
Italian-style Zucchini / Squash
Heat olive and/or sunflower oil in a large frying pan and fry one or two chopped sweet onions over moderate heat for 5 – 6 minutes — until the onions have softened and are beginning to brown.
Add several medium sized zucchini or summer squash, cut into ½-inch slices. Fry for about 4 minutes until the zucchini/squash just begin to be flecked with brown. Stir frequently.
Stir in 2/3 cup (or so) chicken or veg stock and chopped fresh basil and simmer gently for 8 – 10 minutes, until the liquid has almost evaporated. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the zucchini/squash into a serving dish, sprinkle with chopped basil and serve.
