Brunch-Inspired Salad Plate

Here's a wonderful, simple brunch plate for sharing.

1-2 sliced tomatoes
2 sliced hard boiled eggs
3-4 boiled new potatoes
grilled tofu or Italian sausage (I used vegetarian soy sausage)
vinaigrette salad dressing
fresh chopped oregano and lemon balm (whatever you have on hand will do)

Place your ingredients  on a plate and lightly dress with vinaigrette.  Sprinkle herbs over the top to taste.  I prefer serving this salad at room temperature.

Fresh Basil Vinaigrette

This dressing is inspired by Cleveland's Souper Market -- a terrific soup kitchen that makes soups and salad  dressings from scratch.  It's very simple and great served with greens, tomatoes olives and shaved cheese.  It's also terrific with a summer tomato-mozzeralla salad. This dressing can also be used on pasta with steamed vegetables, a topping for scallops or any white fish, or dolloped as a pungent topping for white bean soup.

You'll need to pull out your blender for this one.

INGREDIENTS
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 c fresh basil and 1/2 c fresh parsely, firmly packed
~1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 c sherry or cider vinegar
1T dijon mustard
pinch of fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

RECIPE
Add garlic, basil, and vinegar and mustard to blender.  Pulse until well chopped.  Add a small pinch of salt and black pepper.  Turn blender on and slowly stream olive oil into mixture until desired thickness.  Start with about 1/2 cup and taste.  Balance the oily/tart taste by adding more oil or vinegar sparingly.  Remember, it's a dressing and should have nice strong flavor and be used sparingly!

VARIATIONS
Of course, a great addition is lemon zest and fresh lemon juice replacing some of the vinegar (you knew it wouldn't be my recipe without some citrus sneaking in somewhere).  You can make this dressing with mint or flat leaf parsley.  I would suggest mixing a bit of sage in with the mint to mellow it.  The parsley should definitely include lemon zest and perhaps a bit of green or kalamata olive blended in to the mixture.

Another great addition is to throw 2-3 medium tomatillos (paper removed and quartered) into the blender with the basil.  Adds a great tartness to the dressing.

Corn and Edamame Salsa

This salsa is great with any Mexican style food (I make it in the winter when fresh corn on the cob isn't available).  Leftovers are terrific mixed into scrambled eggs the next day.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 cup frozen edamame beans
1/4 cup onion, diced to 1/8 inch pieces
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced to 1/8 pieces
1/4 cup cabbage, diced to 1/8 pieces
1 jalepeno pepper, finely minced
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder (NOT garlic salt; and not fresh garlic either if you are going to cook it by the method below)
1/2 t dried thyme
zest from 1 lemon
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extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
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juice from 1/2 lemon

RECIPE
Put the frozen veggies in a bowl.  Add the remaining vegetables and lemon zest.  Mix thoroughly.  Coat lightly with olive oil and mix.  Add the spices crunching the time into the veggies, freshly ground pepper and a tiny pinch of salt if you like.  Mix thoroughly, set aside until all of the beans and corn is thawed, allowing the flavors to meld together. A half hour should do.  Longer, even overnight, will not hurt the dish.

Bring a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil to temperature over medium-high heat.  Add the salsa and cook, stirring nearly constantly until the edges of the vegetables begin to brown.  Deglaze with freshly squeezed lemon juice.   Remove from pan as soon as the lemon juice is reduced to avoid burning.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  It's great along side fish tacos, as a filling for quesadillas, or even chilled as a dip with chips.

White Bean, Escarole and Roasted Garlic Soup

Start with about a couple of quarts of a great vegetable broth.  For this I used a bag of scraps from onion, broccoli stalks, mushrooms and parsley (along with misc other stuff).  I created a broth by covering the veggies with water by about 3" and boiling for about 40 minutes.  I added a small pinch of salt and a spoonful of miso.  Here are instructions for creating your own broth.

INGREDIENTS
4-6 cups vegetable broth
2 heads of garlic, roasted
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 carrot, peeled finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
zest from 1 lemon
2 T sherry or rice wine vinegar
2 cans white beans, well-rinsed (cannoli, northern, etc)
3 cups escarole (kale works well here, too) sliced in 1/2 inch strips (if the leaves are 3-4" across, halve them first)
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t oregano
2 bay leaves
salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

RECIPE
Allow roasted garlic to cool (cut top off bulb to barely expose garlic, sprinkle with olive oil; cook in a 450 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, until skin browned and garlic is soft).

In a stock pot, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, carrot and celery and a small pinch of salt.  When vegetables begin to soften, add tumeric.  Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes until vegetables are slightly browned.  Add bay leaf, oregano. lemon zest, vinegar, and a ladle of broth.

Bring to a simmer.  Grind in black pepper to taste.  Add beans and about about 8 cups of broth  Once boiling, add garlic cloves removed from their paper.  Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.  While at a nice simmer, add your chopped greens. Turn the heat off and let sit for 2-3 minutes before serving.  If you use kale, you can allow the soup to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

This soup is terrific with a salad of butter lettuce with grated carrot and beet, topped with a nice vinaigrette and a bit of avocado.  It is terrific the next day, too.

Vegetable Broth From Scratch

An onion halved; a carrot in pieces; a couple of stalks of celery...throw it in a stock pot with a pinch of salt and a bay leaf.  Cover with water by about 3 inches and boil for 45 minutes.  This is how you make a very simple broth that can be used as a base for soups and stews.

Want to add a bit of color?  Save the scraps of veggies, shelled shrimp, shucked oysters...put them in a 16-0z soup container or a gallon freezer bag and add the goodness of all the food you prepare to your soups.  Be sure to have the basics (onion, carrot and celery or mirepoix) and add your bag.  Be sure your liquid is about 3" above the top of the veggies and boil away, straining with a cheese cloth, tea towel, or even colander when it's cooled.

Some of my favorite to freeze: fennel, parsley stalks, cabbage leaves not pretty enough for salad...any tired vegetable that's a little too far to eat if you leave it until tomorrow.  Old apples and pears; ginger, garlic peel...you name it!