Okay, so… I know the summer peaches are almost gone, and that’s really a bummer (I love peaches). But just in case you still have one or two lying around without a purpose I wanted to share this with you. This salad was inspired by one I had at the Taste of the Nation in Napa last month. It was one of the simplest dishes being served but it had the greatest impact on me. The dressing was light, and the peach delectable… plump and ripe, the juices ran down my chin and fingers. Excuse me, I’m having a moment.
Suffice it to say, it was one of the best bites I had that day. And before I had finished eating it, I knew I had to try making it at home. [Continue reading...]
Tagged as: arugula, peaches, salad, vinaigrette
My stomach finally reached its capacity for cake consumption last night (it also helped that I ran out of birthday cake). And so, in an effort to bring some balance back to my diet, I decided to eat a little lighter today.
D. and I had intended on trying to recreate the warm garlic and pancetta dressing we had the other day on Valentine’s Day but in the end had a quiet no-cooking V-day instead. So I had some pancetta and spinach in need of use in my fridge. Yay, bacon!
That was my dinner tonight. Baby spinach with a warm vinagrette with pancetta and garlic, tomato slices and an egg just for a little protein. I wasn’t completely sure about making the vinagrette since I’ve only made my own salad dressings from scratch a couple of times. But I have watched Barefoot Contessa and Alton Brown and numerous other TV chefs make vinagrettes many many times so I figured I didn’t need a recipe. I was pleasantly surprised that my brazen experiment turned out pretty well. It was not completely the same as what we had at the restaurant, but it was close enough that I think I can figure it out in another try or 2. And even if I don’t, this was good enough as is.
Warm pancetta and garlic dressing
1/8 lb. pancetta, diced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
about 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
about 1/4 cup (maybe less) of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1. In a small pan, cook pancetta until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes, just to cook the garlic but don’t brown it.
2. In a bowl, whisk mustard and vinegar together. Slowly add olive oil, but don’t stop whisking! We’re creating an emulsion (I have Alton Brown‘s voice in my head as I say that).
3. Combine the pancetta-garlic with the vinagrette in the bowl.
4. Toss you spinach in the vinagrette or drizzle over the top (like I did), whichever you prefer. Serve with sliced tomato.
This makes enough dressing for 2 medium-sized salads. (It was only me for dinner tonight, so after I finished my salad, I picked the rest of the pancetta out of the leftover dressing… I mean, I just stood there in the kitchen eating the vinagrette-drenched bacony morsels. Is that bad?)
Tagged as: balsamic, pancetta, salad, vinaigrette
