This not the refrigerator of someone about to leave the country for two weeks.
I am weak in the face of the season’s bounty. Having already overbought at last Saturday’s greenmarket, Tuesday found me dashing home to Brooklyn after work to collect my first CSA share of the season before hopping a train back into the city for four hours (seriously) of Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson at Radio City Music Hall. I’ve done my best to eat my way through all of these vegetables, but that’s a tall order when you’re pulling a 60-hour week.
Late Wednesday I made myself a salad of red leaf lettuce, radishes, strawberries, scallions and fresh herbs. This was damn pretty, but didn’t quite come together flavor-wise. Had I to do it over again, I’d eliminate the radishes and let some of the strawberries macerate in the dressing for a bit before assembling the salad.
Thursday night found me at yet another work event. I wrapped my week and celebrated the beginning of a much-needed two-week vacation with swanky hotel bar cocktails and some down and dirty Indian food.
I awoke this morning determined to get through my stockpile of vegetables in the 32 hours before my departure for the airport. Noting that I still had almost a full pint of luscious (and decidedly not cheap) goat milk yogurt, I started the day with this Greek-inspired kale salad. A latte and a hard-boiled egg left over from last weekend’s potato salad extravaganza made it breakfast.
Greek-Style Kale Salad
- 1/4 cup good quality plain yogurt
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic scape, sliced into thin disks (or a little minced garlic)
- 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (half as much fresh would be great if you have it)
- 1 bunch lacinato kale, cut into 1/2″ shreds
- 1/2 cup cherry or grape seed tomatoes, halved
- 4 scallions, white and light green portions thinly sliced
- 10-15 kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon of the good olive oil
Combine the first seven ingredient in a small jar, shake vigorously and let sit while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Add the olive oil and give it another good shake. Add everything to a bowl, toss to combine and let sit for 15 minutes or so until kale begins to wilt and take on a glossy color.
Those ill-fated radishes would have been great here, as would a little sliced cucumber. But it was still a damn tasty breakfast.
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