The tomatoes are here! Tonight’s CSA share included basil, cucumbers, scallions and some truly glorious tomatoes. I had a wedge of red cabbage left over from the five-spice kale and cabbage slaw I made for a Fourth of July Party. And I has some feta–yet another great emergency protein source.
Mid-July CSA Salad
- Finely slice a quarter of a head of red cabbage and toss with a teaspoon of salt in a wooden bowl. The salt will start to break down the cabbage, allowing it to wilt and more fully merge with the rest of your salad. (Fun fact: sauerkraut is just cabbage, salt and, possibly, seasonings that have been left to ferment.)
- Peel a few cucumbers, slice them up in half and scrape out the guts, which will make your salad too watery. Then dice them and add them to the bow.
- Add a couple of diced tomatoes. Some folks would have you de-seed these as well, but there was no way I was wasting any of that glorious tomato goodness.
- Add a few thinly sliced scallions and some basil chiffonade. Chiffonade is fancy chef speak for thinly sliced. I find the best technique is to stack the leaves (about 10 in this case), roll them into a spiral and then slice the whole stack.
- Crumble two or three ounces of feta and toss that in too.
- Drizzle with a tablespoon of good quality olive oil, a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar and some fresh-ground black pepper and toss it all together.
You could toss some toasted whole wheat pita bits or some quinoa in if you’re looking for something a little more filling. If you are a patient person, you could let it sit for a bit so that the flavors meld. Alternately, you just could pour a glass of Vinho Verde and get to work.