Perfect early summer farm to table salads

It's time to start weaning ourselves from all the lettuce that got us through the cooler months and move on to crisp, colorful summer vegetable salads like the superb panzanella when tomatoes and basil finally arrive and Middle Eastern fattoush, best described perhaps as a cross between Greek salad and Italian panzanella, or perhaps just described as absolutely delicious due to the delight of its different tastes (think mint against onion and salty olives against tomato). I think of it as a farewell to lettuce because there's still plenty in my American version recipe below.

My American Fattoush
Serves 4

2 sm pita breads, split, with each piece cut into 6 triangles

 1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and shredded

1 handful fresh arugula, washed and stemmed

1 bunch cilantro, leaves only chopped

4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only minced

6 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves only coarsely chopped

8-10 cherry tomatoes, washed and thinly sliced

6 pitted Kalamata or similar olives, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, peeled and cut into thin rings, then cut rings in half to make strings

3-4 oz fresh Feta, crumbled or cut into small pieces

2-3 Persian cucumbers or 1 sm English cucumber, peeled, seeded, quartered and chopped

Salt to taste (remember olives and feta can be salty)

Put pita on a baking sheet and bake at 350º until crisp and dry. Cool and break into smaller pieces.

 (BTW: You can totally leave out the bread and nobody will notice anything wrong.)

Toss all ingredients together in a large salad bowl.

Dressing:

1 clove garlic mashed

¼ tsp ground cumin

juice of ½ lg lemon

½ cup olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Last Friday night, as "guest chef" for a fundraising farm to table dinner that required using only what came from a local farm, I created this spring into summer farm salad with local buttermilk in the dressing. It's got crunch, color and crisp tastes. Folks asked for seconds so I think it's a keeper.

Spring into Summer Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

for 4-6

1 handful arugula

2-3 handfuls crisp mesclun greens

4 lg red radishes, cleaned and very thinly sliced

4 salad/Tokyo/Hakurei (they have all those names) turnips, stems off, washed, halved and thinly sliced into half moon pieces

1 med salad cucumber, quartered and sliced

1 med carrot, cleaned and grated

Freshly ground pepper to your taste

Sea salt to your taste 

Combine all the above in a serving bowl and make the dressing. (extra stores in the fridge up to a week)

Buttermilk Dressing

for 6 probably

1½ tsp dry mustard or 1/2 tsp wet

3 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar

6 tbsp good quality olive oil

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk

1 tbsp finely chopped shallot or 1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all the above and shake to blend.

Use lightly on the salad: it goes a long way.

P.S. Now that we are approaching panzanella season, it's time to start processing our day old baguettes and rolls into those fabulous garlicky croutons it calls for. Properly baked through, they'll store in a tightly closed tin or in the fridge for a month.