I was trying to find a translation for this salad and couldn’t come up with one that conveyed the meaning of assiète de crudités. A plate of raw vegetables sounds somehow boring and uneventful while the French equivalent is a standard in French restaurants, showcasing the freshness of local produce for customers wanting a light dish with lots of flavor and nutrition.
Vegetables abound in our garden this time of the year. It is an explosion of life force, colors, textures and scents (and also weeds!) What a blessings to take a trip in our backyard and bring back a mountain of fresh greens, tomatoes and wild herbs.
One of our favorite dish for a quick but satisfying lunch or dinner is to do a nice spread of fresh vegetables served with some warm bread and some form of protein.
There are so many advantages to growing your food, one of them is that you don’t have to worry about pesticides, herbicides and others nasty chemicals they are tipically dowsed with. A simple rinse and quick check for slugs is all that is required. They do love to nest in small folds, so you have to inspect the merchandise closely. Some of the other pluses is that you get to take a walk, commune with the elements, thank Mother nature for the abundance she has blessed us with, take deep breaths, listen to the sounds, marvel at newly found treasures burried under deep foliage (a yound egplant, clumps of cherry tomatoes, a baby zucchini or a flower…) look up and watch the birds in the trees. Life is sweet when we take the time to count our blessings.
- Best Vegan Mozarella cheese
Teese and Miyoko’s mozarella are some of my favorite vegan cheese on the market today. The flavor and textures are spot on and both make nice slices.
One little package of Teese makes plenty of slices, depending on how thick you cut them, you can easily make 10 to 15. The price is even comparable to the dairy version, without the calories, the hormones, the fat and more importantly, the abject cruelty dairy cows are subjected to their whole lives. What’s not to like, really!
Bon appétit
- Tomatoes (roma, cherry, red, orange etc.)
- Cucumbers
- Lettuce Kale (curley, Russian etc.)
- Teese cheese*
- Fresh chives, basil leaves, Mint leaves
- Dash of salt,
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- French bread or herb crackers
- Any other vegetable you have on hand.
- The arrangement is really up to you.
- I usually place a few slices of lettuce, kale and any other wild greens I happen to find on the bottom of the plate.
- Make thin slices of tomatoes, spreading them on the plate. Sprinkle with a dash of find sea salt. Then sprinkle some balsamic vinegar over it, then a little extra virgin olive oil.
- Slice some of the Teese mozarella vegan cheese. Place a slice over each tomato slice.
- Chop a few basil leaves and garnish over the slices. That was the hardest part of this salad.
- Toast slices of French bread or just serve with crackers. I love Wasa crackers, rosemary crackers… they have less calories and are packed with flavor.
