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A salad of romaine lettuce with diced ham and a medley of southwestern corn, black beans and red bell pepper with a dressing of Skywalker Ranch EVOO*, garlic and balsamic vinegar; served with toasted sourdough and tri-color tomato bruschetta. I added a little onion and cilantro to the bruschetta to give it a little pop.
We enjoyed this meal with a bottle of Castello Verrazzano Chianti Classico from Italy which we discovered during a trip to Tuscany in 2007.
I took this photo of a magnum size bottle during our visit to San Gimignano -- a beautiful little Tuscan hillside town.
*The Skywalker Ranch extra virgin olive oil was a gift from our friend Mary Lou Dudas who works at LucasFilm in San Francisco. It was a delicious bottle of olive oil -- great for making salad dressings.
Eric, that bruschetta looks wonderful! What other kinds of things would you recommend for people who don't necessarily like the taste of raw tomatoes, but have a huge crop coming in from the home gardens that they don't want to waste? I can only eat but so much salad! Also, is that olive oil available to the public?
ReplyDeleteHi, Lydia -- thanks for the questions. If you like pico de gallo and the flavors of onion, garlic and cilantro -- that's what I sometimes substitute for classic bruschetta made with tomatoes and basil. And sometimes I combine the two.
ReplyDeleteI also recommend a sliced tomato salad with fresh buffalo mazzarella. Drizzle a nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. I like the white balsamic from Trader Joe's which adds a little sweetness to offset the acid from the tomatoes.
Of course, you could always preserve or freeze large batches of cooked tomatoes for using in speghetti sauce or other dishes that call for tomatoes.
As for the Skywalker Ranch EVOO -- I don't believe it is available to the public. I tried finding it online. It might be available in the gift shop at LucasFilm, but it's not available in stores. There are lots of great olive oils out there. Keep your eyes peeled at wineries and specialty food shops that feature breads and cheeses -- they have olive oil tastings from time to time. I was recently at Sur Le Table, the cookware store, and they were offering an olive oil tasting.