May 2009

Snap Pea Salad
from the May 2, 2009 Fork You Live

Salad
2 pounds of snap peas, cleaned and cut in half on the diagonal
1 large yellow pepper, cut into thin strips that are similar lengths to the snap peas
1 bunch of radishes (I used the long, french radishes), thinly sliced

Dressing
1 small shallot, minced
1 inch of ginger, grated
1/3 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup olive oil

Heap the veggies in the bowl you plan on using for serving. Set aside.

Put the shallots, ginger and rice wine vingar in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Top with toasted sesame oil. Whisk in the olive oil a little at a time, until it’s all incorporated. Pour over vegges, toss and let sit for at least 15 minutes prior to serving, so that the flavors have time to mingle.

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Pesto Potato Salad
from the May 2, 2009 Fork You Live

Pesto
2 cups of lightly packed basil leaves
4 green garlic shoots (can substitute 6 good sized garlic cloves if no green garlic is available)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 olive oil
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt (depending on how salty your cheese is)
5-6 grinds of black peppers

Salad
2 pounds small potatoes (yukon golds or red bliss work best), halved or quartered (make sure they’re chopped into fairly uniform sizes)
4 ribs of celery, split up the middle and chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped into thin rounds

red wine vinegar
olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, puree the basil, green garlic, pine nuts and parmesan cheese, while streaming in the olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper. Blend until it has a smooth consistency. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook potatoes until the are fork tender. Before draining, reserve two cups of the cooking liquid, in case the sauce needs to be thinned.

Once the potatoes are drained, return them to the cooking pot and place back on the burner. Switch the cooking temperature to low heat. The goal here is to dry the potatoes out a bit prior to dressing them, so that the flavor adheres. Once the potatoes have steamed for a couple of minutes, drizzle a bit of red wine vinegar over them (think of this process as flavor layering). Let the vinegar steam up into the potatoes for a moment and then drizzle a bit of olive oil on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and turn out into the serving bowl.

Add the chopped celery, green onions and pesto dressing. Gently turn the potatoes, so that the pesto begins to coat and the veggies get integrated. If the pesto seems thick, add a bit of the potato cooking water to thin things out.

You can serve this salad warm or at room temperature. It’s not quite as good straight out of the fridge, because the pesto flavors do best when they aren’t super cold.

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