Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Domestic Diva's Late Summer Composed Salad


Oh, Divas, what a crazy world! Los Angeles is on the cusp of burning to the ground, I just pray the Monster survives. My thoughts and prayers go out to the firemen bravely battling the blaze. Today begins my trip up the coast from San Francisco to Portland, a three day odyssey, that may or may not bring me Internet access. So please bear with me, and in the meantime, here's a great recipe to celebrate the end of summer. It's inspired in part by Alice Waters, in whose restaurant I had the pleasure of dining last night - what a spectacular meal!

Ever go to the farmers market and just get absolutely overwhelmed by the bounty late summer offers? Huge, bulging, succulent heirloom tomatoes the size of a child's skull, crisp, tangy lemon cucumbers, bright red bell peppers, butter lettuces! I could go on and on, but here's a great way to make use of these ingredients. Make them into a composed salad! For protein, I added some quail eggs from the market, but regular eggs would work, too! I also threw in some high quality yellowtail tuna packed in olive oil. This salad is hearty enough to be dinner all by itself!


Domestic Diva's Late Summer Composed Salad

1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into pieces (any other lettuce will work)
1 large heirloom tomato, chopped
2 lemon cucumbers, peeled and chopped (can sub regular)
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
6 small yukon gold potatoes, blanched and halved
1/4 cup basil, chopped
6 quail eggs
1 can high quality oil-packed tuna
1/4 cup black olives, pits removed

vinaigrette:

1 egg yolk
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 tsp mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & pepper

Directions:

To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the egg yolk, vinegar and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Finally, whisk in the garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the composed salad, first cook the quail eggs by placing them in boiling water for about 2 minutes and then into cold water. Allow to cool, and then peel shells (their shells are much thinner then normal eggs). Once cool, cut in half. The whites should be cooked and the yolks soft.

Next, place the lettuce in the bottom of a large serving bowl. Arrange each of the ingredients grouped together around the bowl. Place the quail eggs in the middle. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

organic butter lettuce, organic lemon cucumbers, organic heirloom tomatoes, organic basil, organic bell pepper, quail eggs from Hollywood Farmers Market

organic yukon gold potatoes & yellowtail tuna packed in oil from Whole Foods

Music on Tap:

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Air - 10,000 Mgz Legend
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Mojave 3 - Out of Time

The road trip begins today, so these are just a few of the albums I intend to play!

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