Eva's Kitchen - Eva Longoria Parker [16]
butterhead lettuce salad with strawberries
Usually when I make a salad, I start with a base of greens—most often tender butterhead lettuce, my favorite—dress it with a flavorful vinaigrette, and then top it with whatever I have on hand. The combination in this recipe was one I tried once and loved so much that it’s become a staple at my house.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 small head butterhead lettuce, washed and dried
2 tablespoons lemon-flavored olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ small green apple, cored and very thinly sliced
1 pint strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
1. Tear the lettuce leaves into pieces slightly larger than bite size. Place them in a large salad bowl. Pour over the oil and vinegar and toss gently until well coated.
2. Arrange the apples, strawberries, and walnuts on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese on top and serve.
mexican caprese
My version of the classic Insalata Caprese—an Italian salad of mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil—uses green avocados in place of the basil for a Mexican twist. I like to say that the red, white, and green represent the Mexican flag! I arrange this on a big serving platter and place it right in the middle of the dinner table or a buffet—it’s visually arresting and really makes the table pop beautifully.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
2 red tomatoes, flavorful heirlooms if possible, cored and sliced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
3 avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
Good-quality balsamic vinegar to taste
1. On a large serving platter, arrange the tomatoes, mozzarella, and avocados in an overlapping and repeating pattern.
2. Drizzle with vinegar and serve.
CHOOSING AND PREPARING AVOCADOS Use properly ripe avocados, which should be firm but give a bit when pressed gently. If they don’t give at all, they’re underripe. To ripen avocados at home, place them in a brown paper bag and store them at room temperature. They’ll usually ripen in a couple of days, but some can take up to five days. I always buy local, organic avocados in Texas and California, and I recommend that you do the same when possible.
A ripe avocado can be tricky to slice or dice neatly. By the time you’ve scooped it out of the shell, bits of the soft inside are often left behind and the avocado can look manhandled. Instead, remove the pit and use a small, thin-bladed knife to slice or dice one half at a time right in the shell. Use a spoon to gently scoop out the sliced or diced avocado.
corn and zucchini salad
I love learning new things every time I eat a dish or step into a kitchen or take a cooking class. I was thrilled to discover Maite Gomez-Rejón’s program in Los Angeles called ArtBites, which combines art history and the culinary arts in classes that begin with viewing a collection at a local museum and end in the kitchen. I took a class called “Dining in the Aztec Empire,” in which Maite taught us modern ways to use ingredients that would have been used in what is now central Mexico during the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. I learned this recipe, which uses the ancient ingredients corn and squash, in that wonderful class.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
5 ears of corn, shucked
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups ¼-inch diced zucchini
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or basil
1. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the corn to the boiling water, cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and immerse the corn in the ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob. Place the kernels in a large bowl.