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.
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
I don't think I can do the olives-I'm sorry-no way. But this looks delicious even without them!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the olives. Blech.
ReplyDeleteAlso: beets. They will always taste like dirt to me. Sweet potatoes are a close second to the gross factor of olives.
Great blog, and fun to see a guest author! This particular recipe comes at a great time, with nearly all of the ingredients plentiful locally (and many of them plentiful in home gardens, too!) While I own the cookbook, I wouldn't have remembered this recipe. I'll now be making it this week! So, thanks to both of you.
ReplyDeleteDave, I have to tell you that Bill went through the same exact "learning curve" with olives. He hated them growing up, but really wanted to like them as an adult. He set out to appreciate them before we took a trip to the South of France- as he knew from past travels that Nicoise olives would be everywhere. He managed to develop an appreciation for them and most dark olives, but he's still working on tolerating green olives! I'm happy, as now I can finally add olives into the entire dish, and not just my own plate.
I love olives....love tomatoes...I need to make this! Sounds so simple, and so delicious. Neat idea on the guest post Dave. I've really enjoyed your blog since stumbling upon it a month or so ago.
ReplyDeleteMy birthday was last week. I wanted one thing -- "Live to Cook.' My beautiful and wonderful wife came through. And as a bonus, we had dinner for the first time at Lola. I'm nearly finished with the book -- it's a great read. Very cool to learn somethings about the chef, in addition to getting those amazing recipes. I'm already starting to make my list of things to make from it.
Keep up the good work!