Late Summer Salad

I may have been 20 when I finally decided vegetables were at least worth another try.  Growing up I had been forced by my parents to choke down a teaspoon of vegetables  at mealtime whether I liked it or not.  I made sure my  dislike of vegetables was loudly broadcast at each meal.  I tried to find clever ways to make them disappear from my plate by any route other than chewing and swallowing.  Potato skins and chicken bones were good hiding places but only if they happened to be available.  That good fortune wasn’t always the case.  Every so often our dog would be allowed in at dinnertime and he was only too eager to save the day from his convenient spot under the table!!!

Hiding the loathsome veggies in my cheeks and donating them to the trash can after dinner was good too, but only if I didn’t get caught.  I’ve seen my granddaughter Bridget (my mini me) doing the same thing and of course I let her get away with it!  That’s part of my Mimi prerogative.

Of course, in all fairness to me, you couldn’t pay me to eat mushy vegetables today, never mind when I was a kid.  My mother cooked to please my fathers taste and he LOVED mushy vegetables.  The epitome of gross in my opinion.    I get why my mother did it…but honestly…gross.

Now, in my own kitchen I get to cook them any way I please.  Fortunately my husband and I like vegetables as close to their natural state as possible.  Cooked al dente and recognizable.  My mother likes them this way also and I recently asked her why… in all the years of my childhood,  she cooked everything, especially vegetables, to death?  (This IS one of my childhood recollections that I’m sure left scars I will never recover from!!!  We have a family joke about pork “chips”…but I digress…)   She replied…”that’s how your father liked everything”.  Yes indeed.  That is so.

My father loved to read and collect recipes.  If he saw one he liked he would cut it out and save it.  He cut and saved hundreds…and I mean hundreds… over the years of his life.  I am certain he hoped my mother or I, or one of my sisters would make them all and he would have been the taste tester.  I wish he was here now to try some of the ones I’ve been creating.  This al dente late summer salad is one I am sure he would like.  I would make him try only a teaspoon !!!  I know he would go back for more…

Here’s to you Papa.  oxoxo

LATE SUMMER SALAD

Basically this recipe is put together with the few remaining pole or bush beans still clinging to the vines , green, purple, yellow.  The more color the merrier.  A few cherry tomato’s, an over large cucumber (seeds removed) or a couple of small ones.  Some basil that hasn’t been blackened by cool nights and the parsley that takes off in this cooler weather.  If there is any dill left add some of that too.  Chives are a must and they, as well as parsley will continue to produce until hard frost.

There are no exact measures here…I literally toss the vegetables and herbs together and add fig infused white balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse all of your vegetables and herbs well.  Snap the stem ends from your beans and steam them until al dente.  When they are steamed to your liking, rinse them under cold water.  Slice them into roughly 2″ lengths.  Place them in a bowl and add your peeled, sliced or diced cucumber.  If you have an extra large cucumber, seed it.

Next add quartered cherry tomato’s.  If you are using bigger tomato’s, dice them into any size chunks you like.  There is no right or wrong here.

I have at times added diced carrots, beets, baby zucchini, anything goes.  Let your imagination create a salad to your liking.

Now, toss the veggies together a bit.  Add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the veggie mixture and do the same with the fig infused white balsamic vinegar (I use Alessi which can be found in most markets in the oil and vinegar aisle).  If you don’t have or can’t find the fig infused then use regular white balsamic vinegar.

Now rough chop your herbs.  Fresh basil, parsley, dill and chives.  No precision needed…a rough chop is fine.  After mixing them into the vegetables in the bowl add crumbled feta cheese.  Or, I’ve added diced fresh mozzarella or sharp cheddar at times and it is just as delicious.  Even grated Parmesan works well.  Do what will please your palate…

Let this splendid mixture of vegetables, herbs, oil and vinegar sit on the counter for an hour or two before serving.  Give it all an extra toss just before serving.  I promise you…if all you have is a handful of beans and a cucumber left in your garden…this will give them center stage on your table one more time when everything else in your garden has gone by.  Summer is fading…but it isn’t gone YET.

Many Blessings…