Not all salads need to be complicated, and this Cilantro Salad proves just that. It’s a quick and easy dish with fresh ingredients, topped with a zesty vinaigrette. If you’re a fan of cilantro (or looking to give it another try), this salad is a perfect way to let its bold flavor shine.

Also known as Chinese Parsley, cilantro is the leafy green of the coriander plant. Its unique flavor can be polarizing—some love its freshness, while others describe it as soapy. But give it a chance, and you might find yourself craving its herbaceous zing.

I came home one day after work last week to a parcel from Oliviers & Co. filled with a bottle of Basil Olive Oil, Ketchup, Balsamic vinegar and bubble wrap. The first thing we did was put the bubble wrap on the floor and stomp. There's something so joyful about jumping and so pleasurable about popping bubbles all at the same time. We do this at New Year's every year, but it was fun to do at the end of summer break.

That same night, we found the Cat's Cradle string and taught each other how to pull the x's to make new and magical shapes with a simple line of string.

bubbles pop
hop and giggle
stomp
i'm alive
i feel
i laugh
i'm airborne
flying
soaring
living
jumping


Making your own vinaigrette is quick and easy, and it’s the perfect way to add fresh, personalized flavor to any salad. Homemade vinaigrette can be tailored to your taste preferences, and with the right oil and vinegar, it can elevate a simple salad to something extraordinary. The basic ratio is 2-3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and you can customize it with various flavorings.

As the story goes, Caprèse Salad was first created in the 1950s in Italy.

So I imagine myself sitting in a little restaurant in Italy, in the region of Campania, perhaps, and before my meal, I order a Caprèse Salad. I know that to prepare this dish, the Chef will pick a top-quality tomato in its prime—ripened on the vine. He will then lift some Mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) out of the liquid in the special place he stores it. The buffalo mozzarella will be fresh and springy—even a little juicy and creamy and definitely delicious.

To this, the Chef will add the other simple ingredients, always ensuring that the quality of each individual item is top-notch. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or Balsamic vinegar).The fresh basil from the Chef’s own herb garden. Using dried basil from a spice jar would be irreverent. Even the salt the Chef sprinkles on the salad as a final touch is special sea salt.

And so the simple, yet exquisite ingredients come together to create a salad delicious, yet deceiving in its simplicity. The same salad made with lesser ingredients would be ordinary, even mundane. But something magical happens in the fusion of these fine flavours and textures and the salad becomes a dish fit for royalty.

Paired with a medium bodied white wine, somewhat aromatic and fruity, Caprèse Salad is perfection on a summer plate.

I finish my Caprèse Salad, take a sip of wine, and order dinner.

Actually, that's not far from what I experienced in June -- only the location was Paris, not Italy.

I enjoyed a Caprèse Salad on the patio of a quaint café called Camille in Le Marais, Paris. While people-watching and sipping wine, I marveled at the melding of these three perfect elements on my plate. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy this salad when you can get two of the key ingredients from your own garden or the local farmer's market.

Buffalo mozzarella is a type of mozzarella cheese that's made from water buffalo's milk, not from cow's milk. In Ottawa, you can get this cheese at La Bottega Nicastro Fine Food Shop or House of Cheese in the Byward Market.
When I returned home from Paris, a friend made this simple salad at his cottage using a drizzle of some fine Balsamic vinegar to dress it.


This salad pairs well with a fruity, light sipping wine such as Inniskillin's Winemaker's Series 2008 Pinot Gris (LCBO/Vintages #177766 $19.95) that's barrel aged. With its slightly crisp, tropical tones, it's a perfect afternoon-on-the-patio sipping wine.



Recipe: Caprèse Salad

Serves: 1

A simple salad appetizer topped with slippery liver that's been sautéed lightly and finished with a little shallot-wine sauce thickened with crème fraîche. Nothing too tricky and everything is delicious…except the liver.

If I had used foie gras, the perfect substitute, I could tell you all about how foie gras is made and possibly get into trouble from activists about how geese are force fed for the last few weeks of their lives. Do the geese mind the funnel-feeding? Does the liver of ethically-raised geese who naturally gorge themselves taste better than geese that have been force fed? Unfortunately, I didn't have time to run out to buy this delicacy as I had intended to. But I do have a bit of time to think, read and ponder foie gras. Before I knew much about it, I had tasted it and found it smooth, custardy, salty, rich and good. Pan fried lightly in a touch of butter, ending with a bit of a crust and a smooth, velvety center, it was memorable. It was served as part of the main dish at a restaurant that was paying tribute to Julia Child shortly after she died. I ordered Tournedos Rossini (Filet Steaks with Foie gras, Truffles, and Madeira Sauce) found on page 299 in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I: 40th Anniversary Edition (affiliate link) But the fois gras is what stood tall in my memory banks. And how different is fois gras (besides cost!) from chicken liver? I wish I'd had the time to source some fois gras this week just to compare the two offals. Working through this curriculum, I've made several dishes that I wouldn't normally come home from work and choose to make. Frog legs, chicken liver, caul fat encased sausage and soon rabbit are examples. Why does the vision of Hannibal Lecter whispering in my ear linger each time I'm about to sample something unfamiliar, causing me to take a deep breath before taking a taste? Why don't I feel guilt or discomfort when I put a piece of beef tenderloin in my mouth? Is it any different? No, it's just more familiar.

Recipe: Salade de Foies de Volailles Tiedes (Salad of Warm Sautéed Chicken Livers)

Serves: 6 (I halved the recipe.)

Ingredients:

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Just make this salad, which is a potluck favorite. You don't want to know why it's so delicious. In fact, you may not want to make it after finding out. But if you survived your college days with ramen (pronounced "rah-men") instant noodle soup, having raw vegetables with it will be a big improvement.

I brought this salad to a friend's house last week for dinner, and everyone had seconds and asked for the recipe, which is exactly what I did the first time I had this salad at a potluck.

We ate ramen instant noodle soup many times while growing up. After a busy work day, mom or dad would boil some water, throw in the noodles, and three minutes later supper was ready, sometimes with a poached egg or peanut butter toast to round out the meal.

This salad is a show stopper because it's sweet, salty, sour, bitter and even has umami from the instant ramen noodles and texture from the nuts, seeds and raw vegetables. Just don't remind people that instant noodle soup's first three ingredients are salt, MSG and sugar. Potlucks are meant to be fun and salads are supposed to be healthy.

Recipe: Ramen Ichiban Cabbage Salad

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Serves 2-3

Potatoes:
1 pound baby potatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt

Mussels:
2 pounds mussels

Truffles:
2 truffles
1 cup Champagne

Vinaigrette:
¼ teaspoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
½ tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

You can find a recipe at Food & Wine.

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John Parkinson, the 17th century grandaddy of all garden writers, recommended lettuces for "Monkes, Nunnes and the like of people... to keep them chaste." Poor Nunnes. Lettuce on its own is not much of a diet.

Chicken:
1¼ pound chicken
½ medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 medium leek, coarsely chopped
½ stalk celery, coarsely chopped
½ large onion, studded with a whole clove
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt
½ tablespoon peppercorns, crushed


Rice:
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped
1 cup long-grain rice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 Bouquet Garni


Vegetables:
2-3 heads Belgian endive
½ tablespoons strained lemon juice
6 ounces celery hearts

Garnish:
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 black truffle, sliced
Micro mesclun


Mayonnaise:
1 egg yolk
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup vegetable oil
Juice of ¼ lemon, strained

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes:
One truffle for this recipe cost more than the chicken itself! But, it was a tasty meal. The rice, the chicken, the slightly bitter Belgian endive, combined with the mayonnaise and the earthy yet crispy truffle made for a delightful salad.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $281.42 + $26.86 = $308.28

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 21 tablespoons

Tasting Notes
This is a simple, but satisfying salad. It’s a fun salad to play around with, but since the ingredients are all so beautiful, it’s hard to go wrong.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $261.55 + $19.87 = $281.42 (That tuna was expensive, but it was worth it!)

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 19.5 tablespoons