Low Bowl #30
Once again, I have veganized the beet greens and barley gratin recipe from the New York Times, and tomorrow I will give you the recipe. But for now, suffice it to say I had it with a salad and some Italian fusion tofu.
The salad is green and red leaf lettuce with cucumbers, non-dairy Parmesan, and an intriguing lemon thyme dressing inspired by this recipe from Midwest Living. I don't like a really oily dressing, so I left out the canola oil and didn't miss it. The dressing was so good with a simple, delicate green salad. Unfortunately, I'm not really great at tossing such delicate greens without bruising them, but I'll keep working on it.
The barley gratin is such a delightful way to use beet greens, plus I got to use some barley. Barley was on my pantry utilization quest, and I'm so glad it was. I'll be excited to give you the recipe tomorrow. See you then!
I don't think this is likely to be helpful, but I have heard (and experienced) that the key to tossing salad gently and get it covered but not damaged is to do it in a giant bowl. (you can literally toss it, like you're flipping a pancake using the skillet, adding dressing as you go, and that generally doesn't bruise even wimpy greens - or you can lift it and flip it with your hands) But then you end up with a giant bowl which is covered with dressing on the inside, which is large enough to make the salad look really small and therefore not the most useful for serving it for people who care about visual proportions, and that doesn't feel like a weeknight sort of thing, so... *shrug*?
ReplyDeleteNote: some super-ripe things - chunks of fully-ripe peach - are heavy enough to bruise with their own weight, and some things are heavy enough to bruise *other* things with their weight [I'm looking at you, large tomato chunks...], but barring that, in general: tossing like a pancake and then doing a bit of flipping with hands or tongs, then tossing again: works really well.
Ah, fascinating! I do toss my salads in a large bowl, but I'm not as gentle as I could be.
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