Saturday, September 8, 2007

Summer Salad

Alright, then. Let's get this thing underway. Tonight, I was craving something fresh and wholesome. A quick flip through my Bon Appetit magazines (thanks again, Anicka) unearthed this delightful salad: baby potatoes, green beans, goat cheese rounds, and many other delicious things.

I'm sure you could throw just about anything in there, but here, for the record, is what went into the one I made tonight:

Goat Cheese Rounds
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2.5 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  • ground pepper
  • kosher sald
  • goat cheese rounds
Mix the coating ingredients together in a bowl and then chuck your rounds in there. Pretty simple.

(Cristina taught me to slice goat cheese with dental floss. It's a truly awesome technique. Try it.)

Vinaigrette
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • kosher salt
Whisk the first four ingredients, then drizzle in the olive oil. Whisking all the while. It should thicken. I think.

Rest of the Salad

The rest is pretty straightforward. I steamed the potatoes for 15 minutes, the beans for 5. The greens are tossed with a bit of dressing, then you pile on the goodies: potatoes, beans, cherry tomatoes, olives, and basil leaves. Pour on a bit more dressing, add the goat cheese rounds, and season with salt and pepper.

Voila! Post numero uno complete.

1 comment:

Meg Whetung said...

Dental floss! Genius. Alisha makes a great salad like this and we were just discussing techniques for cutting the goat cheese this past weekend. I'll have to make sure I never run out of dental floss now that it's a kitchen tool...