The Big Luxurious Summer Salad

HCH 11 / July 2016

The Big Luxurious Summer Salad, by Eyal Streett

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Summer arrived. Big time! So I decided a salad might be in place. Yes, a salad. It’s quite a big one. A b-i-g salad for all of those Seinfeld lovers out there. What makes it nice and summery is the yogurt-pear dressing that goes on top. Real refreshing.

There are a number of techniques used here and the result is a whole meal and not just a side salad. You can, of course, decide to reduce the salad, use less ingredients and serve it on the side or as a first course.

Anyway, here we go… Let’s cook!

Ingredients

2 medium red peppers

1 onion

3 potatoes

1 big handful of mushrooms

2 garlic cloves

1 big carrot

1 cucumber

2 handfuls cherry tomatoes

1 handful alfalfa sprouts

1 small handful chives

1 avocado

some lettuce (your choice of greens!)

bonito / tuna (optional)

1 pear

1 yogurt (125 grams)

juice from 1/2 a juicy lemon

olive oil

sumac

dry sherry wine / white wine

Instructions

1. Turn on your oven and set it to high (at least 220º C). Now check you’ve got all of your ingredients handy. This is a simple recipe but there are many ingredients and sometimes you need to multi-task, so it’s easier to have everything at reach.

2. Wash your peppers, pinch them with a fork and wrap them with aluminium foil. Take an onion and wrap it in aluminium foil (don’t peel the onion).

3. Fill a small / medium pot with water for boiling the potatoes. Peel the potatoes and add them to the water. Boil them until they’re soft but not falling apart. Continue the recipe while the potatoes are cooking.

4. By now your oven is probably hot enough for the peppers and onion. Put them in the oven. Roast them for 20 minutes and then turn them around for another 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile take your mushrooms and peel them (or wash them, as you wish). Peel your garlic. Cut your mushrooms in thin slices.

6. Take a pear, peel it and take out the pits. In a food processor or a hand blender: blend the pear, yogurt, lemon juice, 1 nice tsp. of sumac and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Blend it well and keep the sauce in the fridge until serving.

7. Check your potatoes and see if they’re ready (if they are ready get them off the fire). Turn your peppers and onion around.

8. Peel and chop the carrot and cucumber and add them to your salad bowl.

9. By now your potatoes are probably ready. Check them and if they’re ready dump them into a strainer and let them cool off.

10. Take your cherry tomatoes; wash them cut them in half (or leave them whole) and add them to the salad bowl.

11. Take your lettuce / green leaves. Wash them, dry them and add them to your bowl. Do the same with the alfalfa. If you want to add tuna (or even better: bonito), add it in now.

12. In a pan: heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil on a medium-high fire. When the oil’s hot add the peeled garlic, cook it moving it around for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and move them around from time to time. You could add a tsp. of salt, if you’d like. When the mushrooms change to a darker color add a 1/3 of a glass of sherry / or white whine. Let it reduce for 2 minutes and turn off the fire.

13. While the sherry+mushrooms are reducing turn off the oven, take out the peppers and onion and let it all chill.

14. Turn off the mushrooms and leave them as they are. Take the potatoes and dice them. Add them to the salad bowl.

15. Peel and dice your avocado and add it to your bowl.

16. Take your peppers out of the foil, cut it open and get rid of the seeds. Slice the peppers and add them to the salad. If you have any burnt skins you can decide to either peel them off or leave them: up to you….

17. Take the onion, peel it carefully (don’t burn yourself) and slice it.

18. Add the peppers and onion to the salad bowl.

19. Add the mushrooms to the salad, together with the sherry sauce.

20. Mix the salad well. It’s big, and it’s really a complete meal.

21. Take your chives and chop them, sprinkle them on top.

That’s it! We’re ready to serve the salad. Serve it with the yogurt-pear sauce on the side, or on top whatever you prefer. Hope you enjoy it!