Tag: Vinaigrette

avocado toasts with balsamic vinaigrette and pickled red onions

avocado vinaigrette pickles toast toppings red onions

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This was the recipe I included in my very first Rise & Shine Bakery Bulletin, in October 2007. This recipe was the obvious choice, since it might just be my favorite food. It’s a great appetizer for a fancy meal, a sandwich for lunch, or part of a regular dinner served with a soup or salad. I can think of at least six reasons to make this recipe.

1. It tastes really good. Imagine creamy, rich avocado with the tangy bite and crunchy texture of the pickled onions, on a crunchy whole wheat sourdough toast.
2. It looks lovely. Beautiful light green avocado on toast, topped with a pile of bright pink pickled red onions, and then sprinkled with a dusting of freshly ground black pepper—this is ART.
3. So much for seasonal food—this toast is great whenever you can find good avocados, and that’s all year ‘round, at Costco. Here’s how to ripen and store the avocados from Costco. Buy a bag of them when they are rock-hard, and set them on your counter. Every day (you must be vigilant), squeeze them very gently to see how soft they are getting. When they have just begun to get soft (don’t wait until they are squishy), put them in the refrigerator RIGHT AWAY—this will more or less arrest their further ripening, and you will have a treasure trove of perfectly ripe avocados for a week.
4. You can make a big batch of all the components ahead of time, and have them in the refrigerator, just waiting for hunger to strike, or guests to arrive. Then you can whip this up in the time it takes to toast your sourdough bread (chopping the pickled red onions and peeling the avocado), and sit and relax with a glass of wine with your guests instead of dashing around in the kitchen trying to throw something together.
5. If you’re cooking for people who don’t eat meat or dairy, you can make this for them and you will be their hero forever, because it’s so yummy and wonderful.
6. If people eat enough avocado toasts, they won’t really care what else is for dinner.

avocado toasts
This recipe is based on one I found in Deborah Madison’s Savory Way.

1 large, ripe avocado (see #3 above)
balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows)
pickled red onions, chopped coarsely (recipe follows)
4 slices whole wheat sourdough bread
freshly ground black pepper

1. At least an hour before you want to make this, or preferably the day before, prepare the pickled red onions. They will keep for a couple of weeks in your ‘fridge.
2. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients. This will keep in your ‘fridge for a couple of weeks, too.
3. Halve the avocado and peel it. Cut the flesh into slices about ¼” thick.
4. Toast the bread.
5. Spoon some of the vinaigrette over the toast, then cover the toast with slices of avocado. Sprinkle the pickled onions over the top of the avocado (or put a mound of them on top—whatever you prefer) and finish with plenty of pepper.
 
balsamic vinaigrette

¼ cup very finely minced yellow onion or shallot
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together everything but the oil. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking. Season to taste with salt.

pickled red onions

1 pound red onions
1 quart boiling water, more or less
1-2 cups white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 pinches dried thyme
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Halve the onions, peel them, and slice them into half-moons about ¼” thick. Separate the half-ring slices from each other and pile them in a bowl.
2. Bring a kettle of water to a boil, and pour the boiling water over the onions. Stir the onions around in the hot water for 30 seconds, just to soften them, then drain them in a colander (you don’t want to let them sit in the boiling water too long or they’ll lose their crunch.)
3. Put the sugar, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a large jar, and add about a ¼ cup of hot or warm water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.
4. Jam the onions into the jar. Pour in white wine vinegar to cover the onions. If you don’t have enough vinegar to cover, you can add some water. I don’t usually do this, though, because I reuse the vinegar once or twice, so I like the brine solution quite strong. Put the lid on the jar, shake to combine, and keep it refrigerated. The pink color will begin to infuse in about an hour. Taste them after they’ve pickled for a day, and add more salt and sugar to taste, if they don’t have enough zip for you.
5. These onions are great with so many things—as a garnish on salads and vegetables, with refried beans, on top of a toast spread with hummus, and nice as just a little snack as part of an appetizer spread.
6. When you run out of onions, just strain the vinegar (it’ll be bright pink) into a clean jar, and boil up some water to wilt some more onions. Use this same vinegar to pack the new onions in after you wilt them. Add more herbs, and then taste after the onions have pickled for a day or so and make sure there’s enough salt and sugar. Some of the liquid from the previous onions will have diluted the pickling solution, so you might want to add more salt and sugar. This batch of onions will be even pinker than the last ones!


chopped greek salad with garlicky croutons

tomatoes olives salads bread lemon croutons arugula vinaigrette cucumbers salad greens

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This recipe reminds me of a salade nicoise (the recipe for my salade nicoise is in the farmers market cookbook, and on the web), but it’s inspired by Greek flavors, and it’s a lot easier to do, since you don’t have to cook the green beans and roast the potatoes. It’s inspired by a recent recipe in Fine Cooking.

It goes without saying that I like to make my croutons out of Rise & Shine Bakery whole-grain sourdough bread! They make such flavorful little morsels—crunchy and delicious. You can leave the anchovies and/or feta cheese out for a vegetarian or dairy-free meal!

garlicky whole-grain croutons

5 slices hearty whole-grain bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed.
2. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.

dressing

¼ cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or white wine vinegar
½ tin of oil packed anchovies, chopped and mashed (about 4 fillets)—optional
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6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a bowl, whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients except the oil. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the oil.
2. Correct seasoning to taste—if it’s too sharp and lemony, add a bit more salt and/or oil.

salad

6-8 cups of young arugula, washed and dried (or substitute any salad greens)
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced into ½-inch pieces
1 English cucumber, seeded and diced into ½-inch pieces
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
½ cup feta cheese, diced into ½-inch pieces—optional

1. Compose this salad on a large serving platter. Toss the arugula or salad greens with a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing, and make a bed of lettuce on the platter. Then toss the cucumber with a little more of the dressing. Attractively group each component on top of the greens. Drizzle a little more vinaigrette over all the vegetables, if you like. Sprinkle cracked pepper over the top, and enjoy!!
2. When you’re ready to sit down and eat, drizzle some of the dressing over the leaves and toss, adding more dressing as needed until all the leaves are lightly coated. Sprinkle with the optional Parmesan cheese, toss again to mix, and then toss in the croutons. Sprinkle with pepper and serve right away, before the lettuce wilts.