You will love this spinach salad. It’s one of those twists on a classic that is easy to make, but, in my opinion, full of much more flavor.
I stumbled on it by accident one day when I was needing to a quick lunch and there was prosciutto leftover from another recipe that needed to be used up. We tend to buy the mega-bags or boxes of spinach from Costco so there is always spinach in the house. Always.
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You know how they tell you when you buy a fruit tree that it will take two years or so before it bears good fruit?
How about six? Yep, that’s how long it took our Kadota fig tree.
I’m happy to say that Fake Food Free has transitioned to the Substack Newsletter called Every Corner of the World.
I hope to see you there.
I bought it at Oakland Old Town farmers market. (Man, I miss that market.) Back at our rental house, it stayed in a pot. It went from leaves to no leaves to thinking it was dead to growing new leaves again over three years.
Then we bought our current house in the Central Valley and we finally got it into the ground. It took off. Branches, leaves, the whole bit.
But no fruit. Nothing. For three more years!
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I cook with broccoli a lot. But I can’t say it’s because I particularly like it. It’s more of my it’s-good-for-you sense prevailing. I don’t exactly dislike it. It’s not bottom of the barrel in terms of vegetables I can’t stand. No, broccoli just falls somewhere in the middle.
Unless we’re talking about broccoli salad. Then, oddly enough, things change.
I have no idea why. Maybe it’s akin to drowning raw vegetables in ranch dressing, but I’d like to think this has a few more nutrients than that combination.
When I make broccoli salad. I could eat the whole bowl. I love the classic, but over the years, I’ve come up with my own version. For example, crunchy bacon pieces are great in it, but I rarely feel like cooking bacon when I can throw together the salad in minutes otherwise.
So I’ve improvised to create a similar flavor without the work.
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I’ll start out by saying that this salad is loaded with Parmigiano Reggiano. You don’t have to use that Parmesan cheese to make it. But if you can get your hands on some I’d highly recommend it.
We had the grand opportunity to visit Parma when we were in Italy in early April and were treated to a tour. It ended with a generous gift of two boxes of the cheese which we made sure to get back to the US, even if it meant it traveled to Lisbon and London before it got there.
The tour was outstanding. Unfortunately, I have yet to explore my photos from the trip. Soon…
Until then, we’ve been eating it and I’ve been cooking with it a bit here and there. Including this salad.
Late summer.
I love those words.
They mean there is light at the end of a tunnel of hot, long days. You see flashes of orange pumpkins and cream colored butternut squash, but you still hold bright, ripe tomatoes in your hand along with crunchy cucumbers and possibly still some sweet corn.
Most people might consider the holidays the season of hope. But this. This is my season of hope. I’m hopeful that I just might make it through another hot summer in California’s Central Valley.
Truth be told, though, my coping mechanism is really to stay on the road a lot. That mission has been successful lately which has meant few blog posts and a need for lighter, wholesome foods upon my return.
It’s making our epic tomato season come in handy. I kept things simple this year and only planted cherry tomatoes and Early Girl plants, fearing they would all die like previous years.
Now that they are doing so well, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t plant some rarer heirloom varieties.
But then something magical happened.
So I’m happy to say that Fake Food Free has transitioned to the Substack Newsletter called Every Corner of the World.
I hope to see you there.
Every now and then in my monthly newsletter, I have a section called Not Really a Recipe. It’s where I share some of the ordinary foods that I eat for meals that are simply a combination of ingredients without much measurement.
This shrimp cobb salad falls into that category.
This spring pea salad uses farm fresh peas and combines them with green onions and crunchy walnuts. It’s dressed in a yogurt-based sauce that is seasoned with za’atar, a Middle Eastern herb and spice blend.
Pea salad. We’ve had a love-hate relationship for as long as I can remember.
It has a bit to do with the pea salad I grew up with – canned or frozen peas and a mayo-based dressing. My family loved the stuff at get-togethers, but I always skipped over it in favor of macaroni or potato salad.
But spring pea salad? This I can get behind. It sounds the same, but there is a key difference.
Fresh peas.
Lately, I find myself being associated more with beer, given my new book. But truth be told, I love cider, too!
I’ve done a bit of cider writing this year and I’m intrigued not only by the varieties cider but by the varieties of cider apples. There are so many types I’m just beginning to learn about them along with the type of flavors they bring to the finished product.
So I drink cider, but I have yet to attempt making cider on my own.
When that time comes, though, good news. I have the perfect resource.
I love Brussels sprouts. LOVE them.
Maybe you can tell since this is my second recipe in just a couple weeks. But sometimes there is a problem.
I love them so much that I forget that other people don’t. I have some news if you fall into that category.
You may actually like this salad.
Why do I think that?
One of the best things about always being surrounded by food people is that I’m often reminded of things I haven’t made in the longest time.
It keeps things interesting in the kitchen. I’m constantly encouraged to go back and make this or that again.
Take pomegranate molasses, for example.
