As the next few educational posts will focus on outfitting your kitchen and getting some good ingredients into the house, I figure I’ll give you something really simple to start with. Maybe that’ll get you going, and win me a little of your trust! For this one, all you need is half an onion, a tomato, some fresh basil, a lime, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. This stuff can be used as a bruschetta mix over grilled bread, a pasta salad dressing, or simply an elegant little side dish. It’s uncommonly yummy. The title of the dish, however, will not net me any awards.

Fresh Basil Salad with Lime

1. Cut a white onion in half on its vertical axis. Slice the top 1/2″ off of the stalk end of one of the halves. Peel the skin off in one piece (taking the first, thin layer of meat with it makes this easier). You’ll end up with a skinned half onion, still joined at the root. Cut 5-7 slices through the onion vertically, ending just before the root. The root will keep the onion together, making the next step easier. Dice the onion horizonally, stopping just before the root. Whee! You’ve diced an onion. Put the result into a bowl or lipped square dish.

2. Dice a tomato. Heck, you can even re-use the technique above if your knife’s sharp enough! Add to the bowl, and try your best to take most of the juice with it.

3. Choose 10-15 bright green leaves from your bunch of basil. Stack them vertically, roll them into a squat cylinder, and then make fine slices through the cylinder, creating pretty little shreds. (watch your fingers toward the end). Corral them into a little pile and beat on them a little bit with the handle of your knife (if it’s burly enough) or roll them with the side of a pint glass. Manhandling them a little bit will help to release their flavor. Add to the bowl.

4. Add a minor squirt of vinegar (I like rice vinegar for this task), the juice of one small lime or half a large one, a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a couple of grinds of black pepper (if you don’t have a pepper grinder at this point, I’ll forgive ya- but it’s something you’ve just gotta have for total flavor alignment, and mine cost $4 at Ikea). Stir. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.

You’re done. The process probably took you roughly 3 minutes of prep, cost 40 cents in veggies and condiments, and tastes pretty darn out of this world (especially when made with organic veggies). It can be massaged and morphed to fit your tastes. You can chop finer and have a savory, meditteranean salsa. You can add a little minced garlic, up the oil to a tablespoon, cook in a saucepan for 10 minutes, and have a decent red sauce. You can throw in some spinach (wash it!) and have a larger-scale salad. Just repeat after me: You are the kitchen king*, you can do anything.

Next up, get ready to blow a little money and suddenly have a set of cooking tools that will let you work with little hindrance.

Till next time,
-george C

* (or queen)

Filed under: Technique, Recipes

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