8/14   #607                HOMMAGE TO ALICE WATERS:  SALADS

             Walking through the produce section of our favorite grocery store last week, we were struck once again by the sheer abundance of fruits and vegetables available to us.  And knowing a little bit about the recent history of American cooking, we couldn’t help wonder if all this abundance, much of it locally grown, isn’t the result of one woman’s work.  That would be Alice Waters, the famous owner of Chez Panisse, epicenter of America’s Food Revolution.

            Waters became an advocate of locally grown produce very early in her career.  She built long term relationships with dozens of local growers who were only too happy to send her fresh, carefully tended ingredients that ranged from the commonplace to the exotic.  She also developed the art of foraging for wild things, especially mushrooms and herbs that grew in the cool forests of northern California.

            If you had to pick a signature dish for Alice Waters, it almost certainly would be a salad.  Although she certainly adores a good tossed salad, her carefully arranged composed salads may represent her artistry at its highest.  We have been perusing the local produce and has come up with an homage to Ms. Waters that should be as much a joy to prepare as to eat.

                                                3 x 5 Mid-Summer Dinner Salad

                                                A Radio Kitchen Original Recipe

Tomatoes, one dozen each:  yellow, red and orange cherry tomatoes

            After washing, cut half of them in half

Peppers, 2 of each:

            Yellow banana peppers, cut into long lengthwise strips and seeded

            Red Italian peppers, cut into lengthwise halves, seeded and grilled

            Green Jalapeno peppers, cross-sliced in very thin disks, minus seeds

Onions:

            8 chives, trimmed, and cut lengthwise, green and white parts intact

1 medium yellow onion, skinned, cut into ¼ inch slices, and grilled

½ medium red onion, finely diced

Fruit, two of each:

            ripe red peach, skinned and cut into ½” cubes

            ripe basque pear, stemmed and cored, cut into long slices

            ripe yellow delicious apple, stemmed and cored, cut into ½”cross-wise disks, grilled

greens:

            ½ pound fresh spinach, washed and barely wilted in a skillet

½ pound fresh Arugula, washed and torn apart with your fingers

½ head of Boston lettuce, washed with individual leaves torn in half

dressing:  ½ cup lemon flavored olive oil, ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar,

1 tbs finely minced cilantro

1.  Assemble the ingredients.  Coat the red peppers, yellow onion and yellow apple in olive oil and grill together.  The apple will take less time than the peppers and onion, so remove it first.

2.  Lay down a bed of Boston lettuce leaves, and sprinkle a bit of the wilted spinach on them.

3.  On one side of the plate arrange the yellow pepper strips.  On the opposite side, lay the pear slices down.  Place some of the grilled red pepper against the yellow, and some of the grilled apple against the pears. 

4.  In the center arrange the grilled onion, peaches, and tomatoes then lay the chives on top, and sprinkle the green pepper disks and the diced red onion around the plate.  Finish with a garnish of the torn Arugula.

5.  Mix the dressing ingredients well, and sprinkle over the salad.

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