Seasonal Ontario Food

This is a pretty universal salad, eaten everywhere in the Middle East on into Iran, from whence comes the name Shirazi and the pull towards extra sourness from sumac and lemon juice. At its most basic, it consists of onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes, with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing. We saw it a lot in Turkey, where it is called Chopped Salad. In Israel it gets called Israeli salad, which is a bit of chutpah, given how everyone else in the region was already making it for yonks.

At this time of year I used green onions and threw in radishes, because they are around. I also still have some nice herbs. You don't have to use all of them; whatever you can get will be fine. You don't have to put in any of them really; the dried mint will be enough. You might want to apply it with a slightly heavier hand if you can't get any fresh herbs.

Lettuce does not officially go in this salad, but if there is one the garden is churning out right now, it's lettuce, so when this hit our plates it went onto a bed of chopped lettuce. Otherwise, I suspect this is too much dressing for the amount of salad and you may want to save some for another day.

4 to 6 servings
45 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
1/4 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons sumac
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
the juice of 1/2 large lemon

Grind the cumin and coriander well, and mix it with all the other spices. Mix in the oil. Add the lemon juice. Set aside to rest while the salad is made.

Make the Salad:
3 green onions OR 1 red onion
3 small greenhouse cucumbers OR 1 long cucumber
salt
8 to 12 radishes AND/OR 2 or 3 tomatoes
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
lettuce, optional 

Peel and finely chop the onions. Trim the ends from the cucumbers, and chop them in pieces just a bit bigger than the onion. Sprinkle them with about half a teaspoon of salt and leave them in strainer to drain for 20 to 30 minutes.

Wash, trim and slice the radishes. Core and chop the tomatoes. Wash, dry, and mince the herbs. Mix the radishes, tomatoes, and herbs in the salad bowl.

Rinse and drain the onions and cucumbers well, and add them to the tomatoes, etc. Toss with the salad dressing. Serve as-is or on a bed of lettuce.





Last year at this time I made Haskap-Raisin Pie.

Really, this is more than vaguely Thai - it's Laab (or Larb) Gai, only I've removed the traditional roasted and ground Thai sticky rice - which I didn't have - and replaced it with bulgur, which I did have. I'm sure it changes both the flavour and the texture, but that's just how it goes sometimes, especially when you live in the boonies and are avoiding rice. I'd also say that made it faster and easier to make, and I never complain about that. If you are even more driven to avoid carbs than I am, you could replace even the bulgur with some very finely chopped/ground nuts or seeds.

Not sure this is traditionally served in lettuce cups as a Thai dish either, but it seems to have become a popular way to present it in North America, and since I didn't want to eat it with rice, it's a very convenient way to have it. I thought it needed a touch of colour so I wedged up a tomato which did the job and added a nice element to it. 

Served by itself, the two of us ate all of this and still wanted some dessert, but as ever with different eaters and more dishes served with it, it would go further.

2 to 4 servings
1 hour - 30 minutes prep time


1/4 cup bulgur
450 grams (1 pound) ground chicken OR skinless boneless chicken thighs
the juice of 1 large lime
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 or 2 fresh OR 6 dry makrut lime leaves
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1 small greenhouse cucumber
OR 3 or 4 red radishes
12 or 16 large, slightly cupped lettuce leaves

Boil some water to cover and soak the bulgur. Meanwhile, chop the chicken very finely, or if it is already ground, jut put it in a mixing bowl. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, and makrut lime leaves - whole if they are dry, very finely shredded if they are fresh. Mix well and set aside to marinate as you proceed.

Peel and mince the garlic and shallots, and set them aside with the chile flakes.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the chicken, with the marinade. Drain the bulgur well and it as as well. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the marinade has evaporated and the chicken is sizzling, lightly browned, and cooked through. Add the garlic, shallots, and chile flakes and mix in well; cook for another minute or so longer. Remove the mixture from the pan to cool, if you think it is hot enough that it will keep it cooking for too long; but the main point is that it should be cooled to room temperature or near it. Remove and discard the dry makrut lime leaves, if used.

Wash, trim, and mince the herbs and green onions. Trim and chop the cucumber or radishes finely. Wash the lettuce leaves and drain and dry them well. They should be as even in size as you can manage, which means it's best to have 2 heads of lettuce at hand and put the remains away for a more conventional chopped salad.

Mix the herbs, onions, and cucumber or radishes into the chicken once it is cool. Divide it evenly in little mounds amongst the prepared lettuce leaves, and pick 'em up and eat them like little tacos, which is to say that it's a good idea to have plenty of serviettes on hand. 




Last year at this time I made Rhubarb Ile Flottante. 

Horseradish with beets is classic, and also with cucumbers which also go really well with beets. As does caraway. How have I not put them all together before? Anyway, here they are with some lettuce which fits in with the crowd very well.

Winter salads! They can be done. And for once, I managed something decorative that was not a big nuisance to eat. I'm slow but I get there.

4 to 6 servings
about 1 hour to cook the beets
20 minutes prep time for the salad


Cook the Beets:
250 grams (1/2 pound; 3 medium) beets
1 tablespoon sunflower OR olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Wash and wrap the beets in foil, and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until just tender, or wash the beets and put them in a pot with plenty of water to cover them, and boil them for 45 minutes to an hour, until just tender.

Let them cool enough to handle, then peel them and grate them. Toss them with the oil and vinegar, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover and keep refrigerated until you make the salad, up to 24 hours later.

Make the Dressing:
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed, crushed
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is fine)
2 tablespoons sour cream OR yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Crush the caraway seed and mix it in a small bowl or container with the remaining ingredients; best to do this a bit in advance of assembling the salad to allow the flavours to blend. Horseradish is very much at your discretion, depending on how much you like it and how strong yours is.

Finish the Salad:
1 small onion, red or pink for preference
1/2 bunch greenhouse lettuce
3 or 4 greenhouse mini cucumbers

Peel and slice the onion thinly. Put it in a strainer and sprinkle it with salt. Let it drain while you assemble the rest of the salad. 

Wash and dry the lettuce. For best presentation, cut off the tips of the leaves and arrange them around the outside of a shallow serving bowl. Chop the remaining lettuce. Wash, trim and slice the cucumbers.

Rinse the onions and drain them very well. Mix them with the lettuce and spread them in the middle of the salad bowl. Arrange the beets and sliced cucumbers over them. Drizzle with the salad dressing; you may opt not to put it all on, but to pass some of it for people who like extra dressing.





Last year at this time I made Polish Dill Pickle Soup.

Well, it's a salad. Made with stuff that was around. Because, you know, it's in season. I can't say I have very much to say about it, beyond the usual cries of "Tasty!" I like cheese and fruit in salads; it is known. 

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
2 teaspoons honey
the juice of 1/2 medium lime
1 tablespoon sunflower or nut oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mix the honey and lime juice in a small serving bowl. It may be helpful to warm the honey first; the microwave is the easiest way, for just a few seconds until liquid. Mix in the oil, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Make the Salad:
1 medium cucumber
1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons small mint leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
90 to 125 grams ( 3 to 4 ounces) feta cheese

Wash, trim, and peel - if you like - the cucumber, and cut it into bite-sized chunks.  Add it to the bowl with the blueberries, washed and drained well. Wash, dry and finely mince the herbs, and add them. Cube or crumble the feta cheese and add, then toss the salad and serve.




Last year at this time I made Zucchini, Beans & Onion Japanese Style.

Isn't it pretty!? It looks so like spring. Unlike the great outdoors. If we were a little further along in the season, the onion could be replaced with some finely chopped chives, which would be even prettier, although just as tasty either way I would think.

Other than the need to cook the beets in advance, this is as simple a little salad as they come. The proportions given will serve one person, maybe 2 if you have light eaters. It is fairly substantial in comparison to its apparent volume. Scale it up according to how many people you are serving.This can be made a little in advance and leftovers, if well covered and refrigerated, will be not quite as good the next day, but respectable, which is more than you can say for most salads.

per 1 or 2 servings
15 minutes prep time


1 small cooked beet
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 small greenhouse cucumber
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 teaspoons dill pickle brine OR 1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash however many beets you like and put them in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil for 40 minutes, until tender. Check the water and add more from a boiling kettle if it gets too low. Let them cool; this can be done a day in advance.

Chop the onion finely and put it in a sieve with a sprinkle of salt. Let it drain until you are ready for it.

Peel the beets and chop them. Wash, trim, and chop the cucumber. Rinse and drain the onion well. Mix the vegetables in a small bowl.

Add the sour cream, brine or lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Mix gently but well and serve.





Last year at this time I made Oatmeal Farls (Soda Bread).

We've been settling very nicely into sturdy winter comfort foods, but now it's time for something completely different. Fresh Ontario strawberries! Yes they are from a greenhouse and no they are not quite as good as field-grown berries in June, but they are really not bad and better than imported ones. What an amazing salad to have in the middle of winter!

Honey and lime juice add a touch of sweet and sour to complement the sweet-tart berries, soft smooth lettuce, and slightly bitter endive. So good! You could add a little apple or cucumber if you had some, to make it even fruity-er or even salady-er, whichever you prefer.

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing
the juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, ground
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, ground
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Squeeze the lime juice and mix it with the honey in a small bowl or jam jar. Grind the fennel and coriander seeds, and add them along with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Make the Salad:
1 head greenhouse Boston lettuce
1 head Belgian endive
1 small greenhouse cucumber, optional
1 medium apple, cored and chopped, optional
225 grams (1/2 pound) greenhouse strawberries

Wash, tear up, and dry the lettuce and arrange it in a salad bowl. Wash, trim, and chop the endive and sprinkle it over the lettuce. Wash and chop the cucumber or apple (core it) if using. Wash, trim, and slice the strawberries. Arrange everything over the salad, and drizzle with the dressing.




Last year at this time I made Sweet Potato, Lentil & Feta Salad.

Yes, I said soup. With milk in it, even. I admit to having a prejudice against milk with pickles - I even know from whence it came; see L. M. Montgomery's The Story Girl - but in fact they work very well together, at least in this soup. These are, do I have to say, Dill Pickles by the Jar, but good purchased non-pasteurized (refrigerated) dill pickles will do in a pinch.

If you don't have any parsnips and don't want to buy a bag just to get one little one, you can lean more heavily on the carrot instead. (But go for it - then you'll have parsnips and parsnips are great.)

If you add the pickles and brine sooner, the soup will be more mellow. If you add them right towards the end, it will be much pickle-ier. It's your choice. You could also be indecisive and add some earlier and some later to steer a very pleasant middle course.

4 servings
30 minutes prep time


3 cups (500 grams; 1 pound) diced potatoes
1 medium carrot
1 small parsnip
3 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup finely diced dill pickles
1/3 cup dill pickle brine
1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
2/3 cup milk or sour cream
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash, trim, and dice the potatoes. Peel and grate or finely dice the carrot and parsnip. Put them in a heavy-bottomed soup pot with the stock and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes until the potatoes are very tender.

Meanwhile, peel and mince the garlic. Melt the butter in your smallest pan and cook the garlic gently in it until just showing signs of turning colour. Transfer butter and garlic to the soup pot at once.

When the potatoes are tender (or sooner; see the note above) add the dill pickles to the soup. Measure the brine and mix in the starch. Mix well into the soup.

Just before serving, stir in the milk or sour cream (I used a mixture of both and recommend it) and season generously with coarsely ground black pepper. The soup should be served steaming hot but do not let it simmer (or boil) or it will curdle. 





Last year at this time I made Chicken in Goat Cheese, Mushroom, & Dried Tomato Sauce.

One of my earliest recipes on this blog was for a salad with strawberries and cucumbers. This take is a little lighter and simpler; a side salad rather than a meal in itself. Still, although I have omitted a great deal of cheese and replaced it with a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds, I was surprised to take a look back and see how similar my thought about strawberry-cucumber salad are still, eleven years later. Some things are classics for a reason, I guess.

We are picking massive quantities of strawberries at the moment, as well as haskaps. We came home from 2 days away to discover that we got 7 millimetres of rain while we were gone, and it went a long way towards reviving the garden and gave the fruit a final push into ripeness. I expect to be very busy over the weekend dealing with it all. 

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
the juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoon olive or sunflower oil

Whisk or mix the above ingredients in a small bowl or jam jar.

Make the Salad:
3 to 4 small greenhouse cucumbers
6 medium-large leaves of lettuce
1 cup sliced strawberries
2 to 4 tablespoons toasted and salted pumpkin seeds

Wash the cucumbers and cut them into very thin slices; I used a vegetable peeler and was happy with how that turned out. Salt them and put them in a strainer. Let them drain as you prepare the other ingredients.

Wash and dry the lettuce, and arrange it in a salad bowl. I cut off the top thirds and arranged them around the edge of the bowl, then chopped the remainder into bite-sized pieces and spread them over the bottom of the bowl. It did make the salad a little easier to eat.

Wash and drain the strawberries. Hull them and slice them.

Rinse the cucumbers and pat them dry with a towel. Strew them in layers over the lettuce with the strawberries and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with the dressing. 





Last year at this time it was Blogaversary week. Guess that means the blog is now eleven years old!

Oh, here's a difficult recipe. Actually, given that you probably have to grow chervil yourself in order to have it, it's more difficult than it looks at first glance. But if you can get that part down, the rest of it is a doddle.

Cucumbers and chervil go together most amazingly well. This is an extremely refreshing little spring salad - it's worth growing chervil just for this (although there are lots of other things to do with it too!)

And hurray - I think this is the first really spring-like dish of the year. The cucumbers will come out of a greenhouse, but the chervil is from the garden.

4 servings
10 minutes prep time


2 cups sliced small cucumbers (4 to 8)
1/4 cup finely minced fresh chervil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

The little middle-eastern greenhouse cucumbers are ideal for this. Wash and slice them thinly - you could peel them, but they're such delicate little things it hardly seems necessary - and put them in a bowl. Wash, dry, and chop the chervil and add it.

Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the cucumbers and chervil. Drizzle over the vinegar, and mix gently.




Last year at this time I made Spinach with Chervil.

Cucumber boats filled with red cabbage slaw make a simple but very visually striking salad and they combine very nicely in the mouth too.

It's a bit hard to say how many cucumbers this amount of slaw will fill; it will depend on the size you get and to some degree you will have to eyeball it. I only had enough to fill 3 cucumbers (6 halves) but mine were unusually large for greenhouse cucumbers. This made them easier to stuff probably, but also meant they made rather large servings. That's okay if they are your salad at a meal, but if you want them as an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre, it would be better to get smaller ones.

makes 6 to 12 servings (boats)
1 hour - 30 minutes prep time


2 cups finely chopped red cabbage
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 6 small greenhouse cucumbers
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped pea shoots or parsley
the juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil

Wash, trim, and finely shred the cabbage. Massage it with the salt until it feels quite wet, then place it in a strainer and drain for about 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile, slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise. Use a grapefruit spoon or other thin-edged spoon to scoop out the cucumbers; all of the seedy area should bring you to within a quarter inch of the sides, which is good. Chop the scooped-out flesh and mix it in with the draining cabbage.

Salt the insides of the cucumbers, and set them aside. 

Wash, trim, and chop the pea shoots or parsley, and mix them in with the cabbage.

After half an hour, rinse and drain the red cabbage, etc., well. Rinse and drain the cucumbers well. Toss the cole slaw with the lemon juice and olive oil, and use it to stuff the half cucumbers.





Last year at this time I made Duck Terrine Roasted in the Duck Skin.

It seems I've gotten a bit out of the habit of making salads, so I am trying to do more of them this winter, which is never the easiest time for salads but it can be done. It helps that I've been really quite impressed with the greenhouse lettuce I've been getting this winter. There is a lot more variety of types than there used to be, and the quality seems better too - more substantial. The price is still higher than imported lettuce, but given how the droughts down south have been driving up prices, the differential is better there too than it used to be.

At any rate, this salad has been a regular this winter. All the flavours of a Vietnamese fresh spring roll in a salad, with a little grilled chicken to make it a meal. You could replace the chicken with beef, pork, or tofu for a change if you liked.  

1 hour prep time
4 servings


Make the Dressing: 
1 clove of garlic
the finely grated zest of 1/2 lime
the juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chile-garlic sauce

Peel and mince the garlic and put it in a small bowl or jam jar. Wash the lime, and grate the zest into the container with the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Make the Salad:
2 bundles cellophane noodles
2 cups bean sprouts
1 medium carrot
2 mini greenhouse cucumbers
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
500 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon bacon fat or mild vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts (optional)

Prepare the cellophane noodles according to instructions, or soak them in boiling water for about 10 minutes, until there are no white bits left and they are completely translucent. Drain well, and cut them with scissors into manageable pieces. Put them in your salad bowl.

Wash and drain the bean sprouts very well.

Peel and grate the carrot. Trim and grate the cucumbers. Trim the cabbage and shred it finely. Rinse and drain it well.

Wash, dry, and chop the mint and cilantro.

All these vegetables go into the salad bowl, being sure to leave the sprouts and cabbage until well drained. Toss well and divide amongst individual plates.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized strips. Heat the fat or oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook, stirring regularly, until done; about 5 to 7 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes before arranging them over the salads. Drizzle over the dressing, sprinkle with chopped peanuts if desired, and serve.

This looks a lot like the Fattoush I made a while back, and why not? It's another Mediterranean salad based on the magical interaction between ripe tomatoes and stale bread. The Italian version is more basic, maybe even a little austere. Still, the Italians can get into fights over whether you use a bread made with salt or not, even while declaring that this is a versatile salad designed to use up whatever is around.  You are not so likely to have the luxury to choose the exact iteration of Italian style bread so I say use whatever you can get.

You can certainly use cherry tomatoes instead of the beefsteaks if you prefer or that's what you have. This salad doesn't always even have the cucumber in it, so you could omit it and add a bit more tomato to compensate. Personally I think the basil is pretty indispensable but you could replace it with fresh oregano or parsley.

4 servings
30 minutes prep time


1/2 large sweet Spanish OR red onion
4 to 6 slices stale Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
1 English (long) cucumber
1 large or 2 medium beefsteak tomatoes

1/4 cup finely torn or shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

I do the onion first because I like to salt it to make it milder. Peel it and cut it in half from top to bottom, then cut into thin slices the other way. Put them in a strainer and sprinkle them with salt, then set them aside to drain for about 10 minutes or so. Rinse and drain well before adding them to the salad.

Your bread should be good and stale. Brush it with the olive oil on both sides, arrange it on a baking tray, and toast in the oven at 425°F until crisp but not more than lightly browned around the edges. Crumble it up and put it in your salad bowl.

Peel (if you like) the cucumber, and cut it into dice. Peel (if you like, by blanching for 1 minute in boiling water then dropping it into cold water) the tomato, and cut it into slightly larger dice. Mix them in your salad bowl with the bread.  Add the onion at this point. If you don't care to salt and drain it, wait until now to prepare it. Wash, dry, and tear up or shred the basil and add it.

Sprinkle the balsamic vinegar over the salad. If perchance you didn't use the full 1/4 cup of olive oil to brush the bread, sprinkle any remaining over the salad now. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Let the salad sit for 10 or 15 minutes to soften before serving.




Last year at this time I made Versatile Chocolate Cake Dressed as an Owl, Because Why Not? which also made  use of Vanilla Pudding Frosting. And the chocolate version too, for that matter.

This is a variation on a salad I made in first few months of this blog, only with apricots instead of melon. It is interesting (to me) to note that while I have never thought of myself as a reckless user of sweeteners, I called for a lot more honey then than I would think appropriate now. In fact, I think you could use less, or even none, although it does help play up the sweet-sour-salty flavour triangle here.

I had intended to put some mint into this but some annoying little critter had beaten me to it, leaving nothing but bare stems and a few very tattered, wilting leaves. Bah humbug. 

4 servings
15 minutes prep time


1 cup peeled, diced cucumber
1 cup peeled, diced watermelon, muskmelon, or cantaloupe
1/2 cup drained, diced feta cheese
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint or basil, optional
the juice of 1/2 large lime
1 tablespoon honey
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash, peel (if you like) the cucumber, and cut it in dice; put it in your salad bowl. Wash, peel (I do recommend) your melon, and cut in similar dice and likewise put it in. Drain and dice the feta cheese; add it to the bowl. Wash, dry, and mince the mint or basil if you would like to add some and have not been visited by egregious pests.

Squeeze the lime juice, and mix it with the honey - I find it helpful to heat them together in the microwave for just a few seconds - then toss this dressing into the salad. Finish with a good, rather coarse, grind of black pepper.

... Aaaaand serve.




Last year at this time I made a Pasta Salade Niçoise.

What could be more summery than a Greek salad? Maybe one made with the liveliest, snappiest, fresh green beans. Otherwise, this is a pretty classic salad.

I didn't put in any green (or other colour) pepper because they have been very dilatory about producing this year, but if you had some and wanted some, about 1/4 of a typical pepper would be about right. I think a bit of yellow or orange pepper would add a touch of lovely colour. It was perfectly delicious without any though.

4 to 6 servings
45 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
OR 1 teaspoon rubbed dry oregano
a little finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil

Peel and mince the garlic. Wash the oregano and strip the leaves from the stems; mince the leaves finely to measure 1 tablespoon. Put the garlic and oregano into a small bowl or a jam jar and add the rest of the ingredients. You just want a few passes on the grater for the lemon zest, before you juice it and add the juice. Stir or shake and set aside until needed. 

Make the Salad:
250 grams (1/2 pound) green beans
1 medium sweet white or red onion
2 small middle eastern type cucumbers
1 medium to large beefsteak tomato
a good handful of parsley
100 grams (4 ounces) feta cheese
green or black olives to taste

Put a small pot of water on to boil for the beans. Wash and trim the green beans, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Cook them in the boiling water for 4 to 6 minutes, according to your taste. They should be bright green and still quite crisp. Drain them, rinse them in cold water until cool, then drain again very well. Put them in a salad bowl.

Meanwhile, peel the onion. Cut it in half from pole to pole,then cut each half into half-moon slivers. Put them in a strainer, salt generously, and set aside to drain for about 10 minutes.

Wash, trim, and peel the cucumbers, to the extent that you would like them peeled. Cut them in halves or quarters lengthwise, then into slices. Add to the beans.

Wash the tomato. Blanch and peel it if you like, then chop it into bite sized pieces. Add to the salad.

Wash and dry the parsley, and chop it. Basically, use however much you like. I think a good half cup chopped is not too much, but I like parsley quite a lot. Add it to the salad.

Dice or crumble the feta cheese and add it to the salad.

Rinse and drain the onion well, and add it to the salad.

Toss the salad with the dressing, and garnish it with whatever quantity of olives you deem appropriate.




Last year at this time I made a Savoury Zucchini Roll.