Daily Blague

Two months, ago, perhaps, I took an avocado that had just reached the peak of ripeness and built a salad for it. I made up the recipe and I didn't take notes. I've improvised a few sequels, and last night's version was so good that I think it's time to write things down. The menu was simple: a broiled sirloin steak that had been powdered with Agata & Valentina's Italian Rub and steeped in the refrigerator for a few days, and the salad. I was sure that I had made far too much salad for four people, but there really wasn't much left.

Yorkville Salad

Prepare a green-onion vinaigrette by combining 2/3 cup of oil, 6 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper with the white parts of a bunch of green onions in a small food processor. Emulsify the ingredients. Spoon a tablespoon or so of the dressing into a large salad bowl. Decant the rest a small bottle and set it aside. 

Sauté the kernels of one or two ears of corn in a combined tablespoon of butter and oil for a few minutes. Scrape the corn into a large salad - tossing - bowl. Peel a seedless (hydroponically-grown) cucumber, chop off the tips, and, using a mandoline set for thin slicing, slice it into the bowl. Quarter one or two dozen cherry tomatoes, depending on their size, and add them to the salad bowl. Toss the salad gently with sprinkles of crumbled feta cheese as you add a handful or two of sliced red onion rings and a cubed red or yellow Bell pepper. Add more dressing as desired. At the last minute, peel and chop to ripe avocadoes and toss them in the salad bowl, and transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Top with more feta and serve.

Kathleen believes that the addition of a boiled egg or two would make this a complete meal. Mushrooms are a possible addition, but as the combination of avocados and mushrooms is always intensely earthy, they may not be suitable for every menu. I'm thinking about cubed roast beets and, possibly, cubed ham. 

Please let me know if you've been making a better version of this for years and can barely restrain from giggling at the fatuity of my naming this impromptu concoction after my own neighborhood.