My Israeli Salad

If you ask D about my eating habits, she'll not hesitate a moment before telling you that they're strange. Among what she deems my more odd tendencies is my affinity for salad in the morning. She - and most everyone else - like starting the day with oatmeal, yogurt, pancakes. (I do, too. Not sure how else to explain this, this, this, and, you know, this whole category.) But I'm also quite content to make breakfast from chopped vegetables, some avocado, a squeeze of lemon, and a hunk of feta cheese.

That's what I did while living in Israel. If I wasn't running out the door with a bottle of drinkable goat's milk yogurt in hand, I was frequently making this salad in the mornings. Frankly, I was making a version of this salad nearly three times a day.

Classic Israeli salad doesn't have feta or avocado. It's just tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, lemon, and salt. That's good, too - but this is better. It's more luxurious, and more filling. Serve it with pita and some hummus or labneh, and you've got a complete meal. For years, this has been my Israeli salad. I'll happily stuff it into a falafel sandwich, just like real Israeli salad, but I'll also pile it on wheat toast, taking things in a slightly different (but still delicious) direction.

israeli salad 1

When my mom and I are eating together, we often make something like this. The feta she buys is softer than mine, and it has this way of melting into the salad that I really like. If you think you'll enjoy that, buy a soft feta. Sheep's milk feta is especially nice, and the one I get at my local Whole Foods is pretty soft. Otherwise, buy a hard feta and cube it for the salad.

I hope you get a chance to make this while tomatoes are still plentiful and cucumbers are nice and crunchy. Before you know it, we'll be talking about apple pie. Here.Comes.Fall.

My Israeli SaladServes 2 as a side salad

2 cups cherry tomatoes (I like to use more than one color) 1 avocado, halved, pitted, and cut into chunks 3 Persian or other small cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and cut into chunks 5 oz. feta cheese, cubed or crumbled juice and zest 1 lemon 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt freshly cracked pepper

In a medium bowl, combine vegetables and toss to combine. Add cheese, and give the mixture a few turns, avoiding breaking up the cubed feta too much. (This is less of an issue if you're using crumbled feta.)

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Pour over salad, toss gently, and taste. Add more salt, pepper, or lemon as needed. Serve.

Kohlrabi, Fennel, and Blueberry Salad

I'm at the point with my summer bounty where peaches go in my salads about as often as tomatoes do. Peaches have a different kind of lusciousness than tomatoes, the juice dribbling out of every bite rather than bursting out all at once as soon as you bite in. I like how the slices of ripe peach coat my lettuces, taking some of the burden off vinaigrette. Truth be told, I don't use much dressing in the summer.

As much as I'm a sucker for juicy bowls of salad, I swooned when I saw this unconventional, more subdued number in last month's Food and Wine. It's from Stephanie Izard, of Top Chef fame, who's got what I hear is a top-notch restaurant in Chicago called Girl and the Goat. I've been jonesing to eat there on my last few trips, but haven't yet had the chance. For now, there's this salad to tide me over.

Like I said, it's subdued. This isn't one of those big, juicy salads where everything's bursting in your mouth. That said, it's easy to make, and those of you with CSAs will surely appreciate another way to use up all that kohlrabi.

If you aren't facing the fortunate predicament of a kohlrabi abundance, fear not: you can still make this salad. I used 1 kohlrabi, but also added a few handfuls of asian salad greens, which lightened up the plate a bit. (Too much kohlrabi and fennel, and it starts to feel like winter.) I've listed my proportions below, but feel free to stray from them as much or as little as you like.

kohlrabi fennel blueberry salad 2

What makes this salad special, though, is the goat cheese. Izard has you use a semifirm goat cheese - the kind you can slice, if it's well-chilled - and the cheese's smooth, grassy flavors play against the blueberries really nicely. If you don't have or feel like buying a fancy goat cheese, you can use regular goat cheese (fresh chevre) instead. Just drop little mounds over the finished salad.

Dare I say it, I actually think this salad might benefit from a few slices of warm, juicy peach. But for now, I'm leaving it as is, saving the peaches for my tomato salads.

Kohlrabi, Fennel, and Blueberry SaladAdapted from Stephanie Izard and Food and Wine

My biggest adaptation here was - surprise! - omitting the mayonnaise. If you like that sort of thing, feel free to add 1 tablespoon to the dressing when you add everything except the oil.

1/2 cup sliced almonds 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (regular balsamic also works here) 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup 1/4 cup grapeseed oil Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 medium-to-large kohlrabi, peeled and very thinly sliced on a mandoline 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced on a mandoline 3 oz. mixed salad greens (I used Asian greens and some arugula) 2 ounces semifirm goat cheese, such as Evalon, Garrotxa or Manchester, shaved (1/2 cup) 1 cup blueberries or pitted, halved sweet cherries 2 tablespoons torn mint leaves

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds on a pie plate and toast for about 7 minutes, until golden. Let cool.

In a mini food processor or blender, combine the ginger, shallot, vinegar, mustard, soy sauce and maple syrup. Puree until smooth. With the blender on, add the grapeseed oil in a thin stream and blend until creamy. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. (Alternatively, simply whisk dressing by hand.)

In a large bowl, toss the kohlrabi with the fennel, cheese, toasted almonds and dressing. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add the blueberries and mint and toss gently. Serve right away.

Peach Tomato Salad

I get as excited as the next girl about making zucchini gratin, corn soup, peach cobbler, etc. Never was there a better time for produce than smack in the middle of summer. The downside, of course, is that some days, I'm too pooped to patchke. I'd rather just stand over the sink, peach in hand, and let the juice dribble down my chin as I indulge in an effortless, delicious, afternoon snack.

This salad is for those days. It's for the other days, too; but when the heat has gotten the best of you, you'll be thankful for something this good, this seasonal, that requires so little actual movement on your part (the better to sit near the fan and let the sweat evaporate. You know what I'm talking about.)

When the peaches and tomatoes are as good as they are right now (this very moment! Get thee to the market, pronto!), they need nothing. They do benefit, however, from a drizzle of fine olive oil, a sprinkling of sea salt, and a couple drops of reduced balsamic vinegar or saba (my favorite ingredient ever: reduced grape must. You can get it at Italian grocery stores and on Amazon). That's all, folks.

cherry tomatoes

Peach Tomato Saladserves 2

2 juicy peaches, peeled (probably need to use a paring knife if they're as juicy as they should be) 1 pint good cherry or grape tomatoes a few tiny basil or mint leaves 3 tablespoons fine olive oil, preferably a fruity one flaky sea salt 2 teaspoons reduced balsamic vinegar or saba; pomegranate syrup would also be good

Peel peaches and slice each peach into 6 wedges. Halve tomatoes. Arrange on platter, and top with mint or basil leaves.

Drizzle oil over salad, and sprinkle lightly with flaky salt. Drizzle the vinegar or saba with a very light hand.

Either serve immediately (fine), or allow salad to sit for 10 minutes. Tomatoes and peaches will exude their liquid and seem, impossibly, juicier. Eat up.

Bulgur with Asparagus and Preserved Lemon Dressing

This is the latest my Weekday Lunch series, where I share recipes suited to home or office.

[Sheepishly:] Remember me?

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted something fresh. I've been too busy at work to cook, and unless y'all wanted to read about the take-out pad thai I ate for dinner all of last week, I didn't have much to share.

But now work has calmed down, and my new-found freedom coincides nicely with some of the most awesomely beautiful days DC's had in a while. Sun-plus-breeze is something DC gets only about 4 days a year, and I'm determined to be outside for all of them.

Last Sunday got me to my first farmers' market in a long while. I picked up some beautiful asparagus - bunches and bunches; people, I can't control myself - as well as some ramps, green garlic, and heavy cream, which my favorite dairy stand just started carrying. It'd be a great food week even if you didn't compare to the last couple, but in light of those dim days full of takeout, I'm high on fresh produce.

My love of asparagus being no secret, I'm sharing yet another recipe for those beautiful 'gus. The ones we're getting right now aren't the least bit woody - in fact, they're nice and slender. If yours feel too rough, simply peel the bottoms of the bigger ones; their interiors should be plenty soft.

The recipe I'm sharing today is a slight riff on one from Amanda Hesser's New York Times Essential Cookbook which, to my delight, just won a James Beard award. Three cheers for Amanda! This recipe, like so many others in that book, is just beautiful. For those of you with ambivalent feelings about bulgur, this will change your mind. Also, as Amanda points out, it'll make you wish you had preserved lemons in your fridge at all times. I do, and I've never been happier at being able to just grab one from the jar and whiz it into this bright, tangy, complex dressing.

Friends, it's nice to be back in this space. I'm looking forward to trying and sharing many more Spring recipes with all of you.

Bulgur with Asparagus and Preserved Lemon Dressingadapted from The New York Times Essential Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser

I changed a few things about this recipe to make it a convenient workday lunch. First, it originally was a prepared salad, but I just chopped up the asparagus and folded them into the bulgur. Second, I subbed out pine nuts (mine had spoiled) for toasted walnuts, and I liked the combination of the somewhat bitter nuts with the bright asparagus and the saltiness of the dressing. Third, I like my bulgur a bit wet, so I used some extra water in cooking it to give a more porridge-y texture. Since no one else seems to like it this way, I included her original instructions here.

For the dressing: 1 preserved lemon 7 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (freshly ground if possible) 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

For the asparagus and bulgur: 1 pound asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 red onion, chopped 1 cup bulgur 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts (I toasted mine for 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven, but listen to your nose; when they smell fragrant, they're done)

To make the dressing, cut the preserved lemon in half. Chop one half and place all of it in a blender. Use a spoon to remove the pulp from the remaining half and add only the pulp to the blender. Save the rind for another use. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the blender and process until smooth. Set aside.

To make the asparagus and bulgur, bring a large pot 2/3 full of salted water to a boil and add the asparagus. Cook just until tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge the asparagus into cold water. If not shocking asparagus, cook just 3 minutes, since they will continue to cook off the heat. Cool, drain, and set aside.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the bulgur and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and the salt and bring to a boil. Cover the skillet, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the water has evaporated and the bulgur is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and bring to room temperature.

Place the cooled bulgur in a large serving bowl. Toss with asparagus and walnuts, and drizzle dressing overtop. Fold to coat salad with dressing. Serve at room temperature.

Salad will keep in the refrigerator for several days.