This is, in my opinion, a lovely summer dinner salad. Served in the garden with a glass of chilled rosé and a slice (or two...) of crusty baguette -- what's not to like? L. was less enthused by salad for dinner as the teenage years (and I suppose the hormone known as testosterone) have turned my sweet vegetable aficionado into a dedicated protein with every meal kind of a guy. He had a huge hunk of wild Alaskan Halibut cooked in butter and white wine, and served with an extra dollop of tonnato sauce, to go with his salad.
The important thing about this salad is to cut each vegetable into a different size and shape from the others, in as much as that is possible, in order to create a whole mix of textures so that each mouthful is interesting. If you made a fall version of this then I would have fun with cooking methods of each vegetable as well -- poaching, roasting, steaming, etc. would all add to this salad's appeal.
I wanted a cooling, soothing pale green and white salad so I used chopped endive, steamed asparagus, marinated artichoke heart halves, cooked green beans, mandolined fennel, zucchini ribbons, boiled creamer potatoes, diced green onion, basil and tarragon. I meant to add mozzarella pearls but I forgot.
Once you have arranged all of this in a visually pleasing manner on your serving platter, all you need do is dollop tonnato sauce generously over the top and arrange jammy egg halves around the edge.
Comments