Thursday, January 29, 2009

some more simplicity…

Life has been busy lately and we've been keeping our meals simple. Busy or not, it's been a satisfying way to eat. Superb ingredients shine with minimal preparation.

Baby Arugula Salad

Mince 2 cloves of garlic, sprinkle with salt, and use the edge of a knife to smash into a rough paste. Place the paste in the bottom of a large wood salad bowl. Finely chop two anchovy fillets (packaged in olive oil) and add to the bowl. Drizzle some olive oil (I am currently using Stonehouse Estate Blend) into the bottom of the bowl...don’t be shy...indulge a little. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the bowl. Add a large amount (as much as you can fit and still have room to toss the greens) of crisp clean arugula into the bowl. Toss to coat with contents in bottom of the bowl. Add salt and course ground pepper to taste, and toss again. Top with shavings of Pecorino Romano cheese and homemade croutons (I cheated and used Mollie Stone's).

Inspired by a perfectly balanced arugula salad made by my Mother-in-law during her visit to Point Reyes Station.

2 comments:

  1. this sounds delicious! I am all about simple cooking these days (especially for dinner -- it's the German way!) We typically have bread, salami, cheese, and a vegetable dish for dinner. Right now we're limited to cold-weather vegetables, but come spring and summer I look forward to some delicious salads... on a different note, what's in your garden now? I so miss mine from CA....

    -Jen, Modern Beet

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jen,
    We had to leave our garden in Point Reyes behind. We are now in a little apartment in SF full-time. Before we left (end of Jan), the bok choy, radicchio, radishes, arugula, and carrots (i tried all sorts! favorites were 'new kuroda' and 'scarlet nantes') were looking good. my new veggie fix is being fulfilled with the wonderful mariquita farm mystery box http://www.mariquita.com/Farmers%20Market/ThursdayNight.html
    and the SF ferry plaza farmers market. enjoy your winter veggies. everything is better when paired w/ salami, cheese, and bread!

    ReplyDelete