COOK THIS BOOK
Delicious watermelon-feta salad helps to beat the summer heat,
My first thought upon spotting the title of Michelle McKenzie’s new cookbook, Dandelion & Quince: Exploring the Wide World of Unusual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs, was: “What on earth is quince?”
As I soon learned, it’s a bright yellow fruit, similar to a pear, native to Southwest Asia, Turkey and Iran — and an ingredient in one of the book’s more than 150 recipes featuring all sorts of lesser-known produce.
McKenzie, a San Francisco-based food writer and cooking teacher, presents a delightful array of concoctions featuring 35 different plant profiles, from summer salads to fried fritters.
The book: The more than 300 pages of Dandelion & Quince: Exploring the Wide World of Unusual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs, $47, are crammed full of flavour, with recipes separated by their key ingredient.
Huckleberries, kumquats, rose petals, cardoons, fava leaves — and more delightful foods to gush about at a dinner party — all make an appearance.
McKenzie also includes a brief section on how to balance a dish, coupled with a list of complementary elements of flavour and texture, so readers can gauge whether a bit more sweetness or umami is needed, or something chewy alongside something crisp.
The quote: “Every food has many energetic properties, and each of us — with our particular constitutions — has unique vulnerabilities and concerns. Garnering a glimpse of this understanding will greatly enhance your well-being.”
The tester: An untrained cook with an eye for flavour pairings and presentation. I might not know how to chop properly, but things always taste good in the end. Recipes I’m dying to make: A chopped summer salad with sprouts, fresh chilies and salumi was my runner-up for this story, and I’ll get to it eventually. Also, chicken thighs braised with fig leaves, white bean and yogurt puree — my mouth is watering already!
Watermelon salad
Star Tested This salad is quick, easy, flavourful and balanced — and looks absolutely lovely on a plate, thanks to chunks of bright pink watermelon, green cucumber and white feta.
I can picture myself eating this outdoors on a stifling summer day, the combination of sumac and salt offering depth alongside the thirstquenching crunch of the melon and cucumber.
A word of caution: Sourcing some of the ingredients in the original recipe proved tricky.
Where McKenzie calls for buckwheat or arugula sprouts, I subbed in baby arugula found at any downtown Loblaws, and swapped her sugges- tion of Persian or Armenian cucumber with the easy-to-find English variety.
Was anything lost from the flavour? I highly doubt it.
6 shallots 3/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 watermelon 1 English cucumber 1/2 block of feta cheese 2 cups baby arugula 2 cups of herbs (parsley, mint, cilantro) 1/4 tsp sumac Sea salt
The recipe calls for quick pickled shallots and shallot vinegar, which can easily be made ahead of time ( just budget an extra hour for this).
Cut the shallots crosswise into thin slices, toss them with a bit of sea salt and pack them loosely into a jar with a tight-fitting lid — I used little Mason jars — then cover the shallots with red wine vinegar.
Let set for at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
I let them set for roughly an hour and they turned out nicely.
Once the pickled shallots are ready, whisk together the shallots, shallot vinegar (from your pickled shallots mixture), a pinch of sea salt and the olive oil to make vinaigrette. Set aside.
Slice the watermelon, cucumber, and feta into thin slices.
Arrange the watermelon and cucumber on your plate in a haphazard fashion, then spoon the vinaigrette on top.
Scatter a handful of baby arugula and herbs on top, followed by the feta slices. Sprinkle a pinch of sumac and sea salt on top.
Repeat with another layer of ingredients.
Serve immediately — the herbs and arugula may wilt otherwise.
Makes 4 servings. lpelley@thestar.ca