There are very few foods I don't enjoy but olives are one of them. I keep trying them because I really want to like them but no matter where I've had them, including some of my favorite restaurants in Cleveland like Lolita, Bar Cento, and The Greenhouse Tavern, I've never enjoyed any of the kinds I've tried. There is just something about the briny, bitter taste that turns me off. So when Alicia, from the blog Poise in Parma, contacted me to see if she could do a guest post with one of the recipes from Michael Symon's Live to Cook, I happily obliged when she told me she wanted to make Michael Symon’s Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Dill, and Feta (p. 77). So I hope you enjoy Alicia's write up and be sure to head over to her blog Poise in Parma to follow her writing about dining out, working out, and her amazing weight loss (over 120 pounds!) Thanks again for checking this one off the list for me Alicia!
Greetings from Parma! I’m Alicia – the blogger over at
Poise in Parma. While Dave is away, I offered to take good care of his blog – at least for one post! (
editors note: this was supposed to be posted while I was on vacation last week but I decided to have an internet free week and am posting it a week late.)
If you are a frequent reader of
Poise in Parma, you know that I consume a ridiculous amount of vegetables. It was no surprise when my uncle’s girlfriend asked me to bring a veggie tray to their recent summer cookout. In addition to your standard fare, I wanted to make a splash with a really fun summer salad. I knew exactly what I wanted to bring: Michael Symon’s Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Dill, and Feta (p. 77).
As the event planner for one of my previous employers, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Symon at a very unique, private home fundraiser. At the end of the evening, I enjoyed the spread of marvelous dishes he and his staff prepared. Yes, the infamous
Mac and Cheese with Goat Cheese and Rosemary was there. Sure, he was serving directly from a full roasted pig laid out on the kitchen island in the kitchen. There was an entire kitchen table full of desserts made by Cory Barrett for my taking. But what did I want more of? That tomato salad. I was giddy to see it included in the cookbook. So let’s get crackin’.
Ingredients sans EVOO, salt and pepper
I had some issues finding some heirloom tomatoes, so I did with what I could find at Heinen’s. I started by slicing the red onion to “paper thin” thickness on a mandolin. I then soaked them in an ice water bath for a bit longer than the recommended 10 minutes (i.e. how ever long I took to shower that day).
I started by making the salad’s dressing by combining the garlic, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and EVOO in a large mixing bowl. (Yes, I’m going to call it “EVOO”. My apologies to you who hate acronyms, because I’m personally a fan of both them and Rachael Ray. Moving on…)
After draining and drying the red onion, I added them, the bell pepper, cucumbers and olives to the mix. Since I had the mandolin out and managed not to harm myself, I decided to use it to cut the pepper and cucumbers. I rough chopped the olives.
Chef Symon suggests letting that mix marinate before adding the rest of the ingredients. I, however, went ahead and added the dill, mint, tomatoes and feta right away. (I’m impatient, was running late and still had to get ready!) As a note: while I love tomatoes, I HATE all the extra juice, so I also gave my tomatoes a good drying out before adding them to the mix.
Again, Chef Symon recommends serving this immediately, but mine had the chance to relax on a 40 minute drive to the far East side of greater Cleveland. Personally, I think the extra wait time gave all the ingredients the chance to marry together nicely. The veggies keep it light while the olives and feta give it the heartiness it needs to fill your belly. I even managed to snag the leftovers (the recipe made a decent amount) and added them to some egg noodles and chicken for a great pasta toss the next day.
This was quite the big hit at the cookout and was a great alternative to your typical fare. As the peak of tomato season is upon us, I recommend you taking advantage of the abundance of the fruit for this tasty seasonal salad.
Cost
Dave provides the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.
It cost approximately $16.74 to make Iron Chef Michael Symon's Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Dill, and Feta (p. 77). (
I had plenty of leftover herbs after making this and admit to “sampling” a few of the olives before making the salad.) I purchased all ingredients for this recipe at the stores as indicated after their cost.
- Garlic: $.10 from Heinen’s
- Red onion: approximately $ .50 from Marc’s
- Red bell pepper: $ .75 at Heinen’s
- Cucumber: free from Grandma’s garden
- Pitted whole kalamata olives: $2.97 for about 1/3 pound from olive bar at Heinen’s
- Dill: full package cost $2.79 at Giant Eagle
- Mint: full package cost $2.39 at Heinen’s
- Tomatoes: spent approximately $4.25 at Heinen’s
- Crumbled feta: $2.99 from Trader Joe’s
- Pantry Staples (salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil): on the house
A big thanks to Dave for letting me stop by and share this experience with his readers! I hope you all will stop by
Poise in Parma to continue to keep up with the Cleveland cooking love!
