Olive Honeydew Winter Summer Salad

This Olive Honeydew Winter Summer Salad is one of those amazing recipes that is fitting in both of the odd extremes of winter and summer. While a summer melon makes it burst with the gorgeous flavor only possible in summer fruit, the fennel, olives, and orange which are all readily available winter ingredients make this a salad I still think to prepare deep in the Winter. And as it finally warms up around here enough to make me more than dream of crisp mineral-y white wine and balmy summer night air heavy with the smell of barbeque and citronella (doesn’t that sounds wonderful as you sweep off your patios and plant your annuals?) I find myself making this salad early this year. After all, it truly was a long winter and I’m ready even if the weather isn’t quite. So, I will have to eat it inside with a glass of pinot instead… what a tragedy. The salt and sweet and bitter flavors are so perfectly balanced in the way of many Mediterranean dishes. Prosciutto Melone comes to mind. And even the Caprese. There’s something about simple but complex salads that Mediterraneans just “get” better than anyone else and this … Continue reading

Dryuary Salad with Chickpeas and Feta

Last year, I didn’t eat meat or drink alcohol (unless I was at Blue Hill in New York since I made the reservation in November) for the month of January. This wasn’t a resolution so much as a staving off death measure. For whatever reason, December 2011 was so wet it required a Dryuary. Fortunately, December 2012 wasn’t quite so crazy and a full on Dryuary wasn’t required. But here’s a salad I’ve come to think of as the salad I eat with Rebekah. We made it together on a girl’s night recently and lately it’s worked its way into the assemblage/weeknight/healthy eating lineup. There’s lots of flavor and plenty of protein. 4 cups of greens (I like arugula, butter lettuce and romaine, probably because that was what was on hand) 2 ounces of feta; crumbled 4 ounces chickpeas 4 ounces olives 2 whole oranges; segmented 4 carrots rough chopped and steamed dressing 2 tablespoons olive oil salt (to taste- for me, around ¼ teaspoon) pepper (to taste- for me, around ¼ teaspoon) 1 tablespoon honey orange juice from the waste from segmenting the oranges 4 ounces fresh herbs (mint, thyme, parsley or some combination thereof are great) Steam the … Continue reading