exclusively Skirt in the Kitchen
This is something I would like to have made with my mother or with my son, Caleb– It’s their style of cooking, this kind of arrangement, what they particularly enjoy eating together when it comes to vegetables. All of us cook like my father; after all, he did teach us; he set in his way of doing things with food and techniques that he handed down… I thought of them today, a lot, when I put this together. I guess this is really Dad’s dish. Everything with food, for me, began with him.
A glass of wine would be good with this.
In this order and done quickly, layer the salad as you cook:
First, cook the sweet potato.
-With very little olive oil, lightly cook torn romaine lettuce, then lay it on a serving plate.
-Add a little more olive oil to the skillet and sauté sliced mushrooms; topple over romaine.
-Fry the (fresh) green beans, snapped, adding a small amount of oil if need be. Place over the mushrooms when browned.
-Cook cut or sliced jalapenos in the same way, then layer over previous addition.
-With hardly any oil left in the skillet, keeping it mostly dry so the kale will be crunchy when cooked, not soggy, make this your last addition for the salad. The crunchiness of the kale with the lightly softened romaine gives it a nice balance, the mix of textures. (I prefer kale crunchy, don’t you?)
Pour in 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté roughly chopped pickled peppers which will help flavor and season the warm salad oil. Stir in 1 tablespoon hot oriental mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, and red wine vinegar. Taste it to see if you need more honey for your liking. Have this for the dressing over the salad or for dipping lettuce leaves.
“Why cook it?”– It gives it a completely different flavor overall, the salad having a transition, making it excitable when you don’t want the same way of eating a salad in its raw form every time. It’s the pleasure of eating, dining and finding new ways to enjoy foods interchangeably.
— Susan Nuyt, Skirt in the Kitchen
(Don’t forget to butter, salt and pepper the mashed sweet potato!)
crunch of heart
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