Satisfying bread salad is practically a meal
There’s something devilishly satisfying about bread salads, especially this one from the outstanding seasonal cookbook, Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables (Artisan/Thomas Allen, $50). The salad is almost a meal in itself, with its bounty of colourful peppers and accents provided by garlic, mozzarella cheese and optional chopped salami.
U.S. chef Joshua McFadden has divided the vegetable year into six seasons by declaring summer has three (early, middle and late). He would like us to learn to eat seasonally by visiting farmers’ markets and produce-conscious stores and trying what’s new and what’s in season.
Also, try eating vegetables raw to better taste their fine points, says the chef at Ava Gene’s in Portland, Ore.
This is a handsome and informative book packed with tips as simple as how to toast garlic in olive oil or salt eggplant, up to how to make what he claims is “the kale salad that started it all.”
That kale salad came about when, as chef at a Brooklyn restaurant, he was depressed one winter by mesclun greens and turned to kale for his salad.
Toss salads with clean hands, McFadden recommends. julianarmstrong1@gmail.com
ROASTED PEPPER PANZANELLA
Serves: 4
4 large red or orange bell peppers (about 2 lbs/1 kg) 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp (30 mL) red wine vinegar 1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried chili flakes Kosher or coarse salt Freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh, chopped oregano
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh, chopped savory
1/4 cup (60 mL) fresh mint leaves
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 oz (60 g) thinly sliced spicy salami, roughly chopped Large, fresh croutons (about 4 cups/1 L) (See note)
4 oz (120 g) mozzarella cheese, buffalo preferred, in pieces
1. Heat broiler. Spread whole peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning occasionally, until skins are blackened and blistered, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with a towel and let stand 15 minutes to steam, then peel off blackened skins and cut in inch-wide strips.
3. In a large bowl, toss peppers with onion, garlic, vinegar, chili flakes, 1 tsp (5 mL) salt, some pepper, the oregano, savory and half the mint. Add 1/4 cup
(60 mL) oil, toss and let stand.
4. Add salami (optional) and croutons, tossing to mix. Let salad rest for at least 15 minutes, and up to 30 minutes, so juices from peppers soak into the bread.
5. Arrange salad on a platter and place mozzarella cheese on top. Top with remaining mint. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Note: To make croutons, chop four thick slices of country bread, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 F (200 C) just until slightly crisp, 10 to 20 minutes.