MEN WHO LIKE TO COOK: Farmers' Market Fast Food
We have a Sunday routine. Our friends Annette and Ron come over. We watch 60 Minutes ,
catch up, and have dinner. Last Sunday I didn't think they could make
it because they'd been in Japan all that week. I assumed that if they
were back in town they were probably jet lagged and wouldn't want to
leave the house. But I didn't want to break the weekly tradition, so I
emailed them anyway that if they were up for it, Sunday dinner was
still happening. Then I went about my business and forgot completely
about the invitation.
30 minutes before they would normally come over, Ron called to say that they would be arriving
as usual. Knowing that they're usually a half hour late, I had an hour to make dinner.
That's
where the farmers' market comes into play. For my mother's generation
quickly pulling together a meal meant using prepared foods, canned or
frozen. Because we shop at our local farmers' market, we always have a
good selection of fresh vegetables and fruit in the refrigerator.
That
morning I had picked up flowers for the dining room table and
beautifully fresh corn on the cob, carrots, lettuce, avocados,
scallions, cantaloupe, and 
romaine lettuce.
From what I had bought at the farmers' market, I made a salad, corn on the cob, and cut up a cantaloupe. I added a feta cheese-tapenade appetizer plate with olives and a fresh bread from Bay Cities in Santa Monica. To fill out the meal, I grilled a rib-eye steak and a
half dozen lamb chops, and added a banana chocolate cake I'd made a few
days ago.
The heart and soul of the meal was the farmers' market produce. And making the whole meal only took 45 minutes.
Romaine Lettuce with Julienned Salami, Cheese, & Carrots
Yield 4 servings
Time 10 minutes
The felino salami and comte cheese came from Bay Cities. I recommend both.
Ingredients
2 hearts of romaine (washed, dried, cut into bite sized pieces)
2 tablespoons felino salami (julienned)
2 tablespoons comte cheese (julienned) cheddar or swiss would be good as well
2 tablespoons croutons (homemade preferred)
2 tablespoons carrot (washed, julienned)
1 scallion (washed, thin sliced, green and white parts)
1/2 small avocado (peeled, roughly chopped)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over a low flame until reduced to 1 tablespoon. Let cool.
Put
the ingredients in a salad bowl, dress with the olive oil and reduced
balsamic vinegar, and season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
Comments (1)
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The best thing in the world is when I go to the fridge (this happened 3 days ago) and my wife has cut up a whole cantaloupe from the farmer’s market and put it in some Tupperware. My mom used to do that. The first few bites are too cold and I cringe, but keep eating, the fruit is so amazing!