Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [25]
Top each serving with a still-warm, freshly poached egg.
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greek salad with oregano-laced vinaigrette
Makes 2 to 3 large dinner-sized salads, or 4 to 6 smaller side salads
The quintessential Greek salad: fresh greens tossed with Greek olives, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese, in a delicious vinaigrette. The salad greens can be a packaged salad mix or your favorite lettuces—on their own or combined with baby spinach leaves and some arugula. Spinach fans, try this with all baby spinach leaves. The dressing keeps for weeks in a tightly lidded jar in the refrigerator and is wonderful on any kind of cooked vegetables, especially broccoli and green beans.
oregano-laced vinaigrette
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon minced garlic (about half a small clove)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Heaping 1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
salad
1 pound salad greens, washed and thoroughly dried (or use three 5-ounce packages)
About 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 medium bell pepper (any color), diced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
About 12 Kalamata olives
Freshly ground black pepper
1. To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, garlic, mustard, oregano, and salt in a smallish bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then continue whisking as you drizzle in the olive oil. When all the olive oil is incorporated, set the dressing aside. (Or you can put all the ingredients in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid and just shake it emphatically.)
2. Combine the salad greens, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and ½ cup of the feta in a large bowl, and toss to mix well.
3. Just before serving, whisk the dressing—or shake it, if it’s in a jar—to recombine, and add about half of it to the salad. Toss to coat, and give it a taste. You might want to add the rest of the dressing right now, or bring it to the table (along with the pepper mill) for people to add more to their own portions. Top with the remaining ½ cup feta, the olives, and a few grinds of black pepper, and serve immediately.
GET CREATIVE
Use high-quality olive oil in the dressing.
Make the dressing with a fancier variety of wine vinegar (such as sherry vinegar or Spanish Moscatel vinegar).
Toss in a few tablespoons of chopped mint leaves.
Use a “designer” flavored mustard in the dressing.
Serve with toasted pita wedges.
Drape a few whole anchovies over the top of the assembled salad.
Top the assembled salad with some flaked canned tuna (especially good with tuna packed in olive oil).
Toss in a handful or two of canned black beans, white beans, or chickpeas (rinsed and drained).
Top with a scattering of chopped lightly toasted walnuts.
Make this vegan by omitting the feta cheese.
best pasta salad
Makes 4 servings (possibly more, if you add a lot from the get creative list)
Pasta salad is perfect party or picnic food, and it packs well for bag lunches, too. While the pasta cooks, put the other ingredients together, so they’re ready to dress the pasta as soon as it’s cooked and drained. The heat from the pasta will slightly cook the garlic and onion, and will partially melt the cheese, causing it to stick to the pasta (which adds a layer of texture beyond what you’d get if you just sprinkled cold cheese onto cold pasta). After the dressed pasta has cooled down, you add an assortment of diced vegetables, and possible other goodies, and then either serve it at room temperature or chill it (in a tightly covered container for up to 3 days) and serve it cold. So factor in cooling and possible chilling time when you make this dish.
Salt for the pasta water
¾ pound fusilli (corkscrew), small penne, or orecchiette (“little ears”) pasta
5 tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 medium clove)
¾ cup very finely minced red onion
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons red