Nearly Summer Salad

Have two salad bowls ready. You will also need a flat baking tray large enough to hold croutons. Later you’ll use the same tray to roast halved cherry tomatoes. Placing a sheet of tinfoil on the tray saves cleanup.

Lay mozzarella cheese between layers of clean dishtowel or paper towels to drain.

To make croutons, slice the crust from day-old best white or country bread or rolls. I used about 6 ounces/125 grams of a roll, slicing it thinly.

Set the bread on foil-covered oven tray and dribble olive oil over it. Shift oven shelf from uppermost slot down one. If possible, turn broiler to low setting. If your oven has only one broiler setting, use it and remove croutons when they’ve browned to your liking. Place tray on cooling rack. Or be lazy, as I was, and leave tray atop stove.

Still wearing oven mitts, move oven shelf down to middle of oven.

If you’re making cherry tomatoes, turn oven to 350F/180C.

While oven preheats, grill red pepper and slice tomatoes.

To grill the red pepper, wash if necessary, then place the pepper either over a gas burner or below your oven’s broiler element. I use my gas stove’s smallest burner to broil peppers. Please take the utmost care if you do this, rolling up long sleeves and removing any dangling bracelet charms. Open a window and turn on the oven exhaust fan. Shoo off any interested kitties or inquisitive small people. Turn the pepper with tongs or a long fork.

The pepper should be blackened and burnt on all its faces. This takes ten minutes or so. Once the pepper is fully burnt, remove it to a plate or bowl to cool. Handle carefully, as it may collapse, and the juices it leaks are delicious.

Divide the croutons between the salad bowls. Hang on to the foil-covered baking tray: you’re going to use it for the tomatoes.

Rinse tomatoes, pat dry. Halve them and place on baking tray. Salt very lightly. Scatter with olive oil, again, lightly. Place tray in oven. Bake tomatoes for about 20 minutes; set timer if necessary.

While the tomatoes bake, prepare the fava beans. First, pod them. Once they are podded, place a small pot of water on the stove. A 2 quart/liter pot, about half full is fine. Bring to low boil, then drop the favas in. Cooking time depends on their size; start tasting after two minutes. Do this by fishing one or two beans out with a slotted spoon, cooling under water, peeling (if they peel easily, it’s means they’re cooked) and tasting.

Once the beans are soft, you can either drain or save the fava water. I allow the beans to cool naturally. If you prefer, put them in a colander, run them under cool water, and strain them.

Check tomatoes. You want them just softened, barely touched with brown. Remove tomatoes from oven and allow to cool.

Returning to beans: once the beans are cool enough to handle, peel and divide them between salad bowls.

The red pepper will be cool enough to handle now, too. Peel the blackened skin off and deseed it. I do this over a bowl to try and catch the juices. As my husband isn’t fond of red pepper, I slice enough once salad and store the rest in a sealed container. Cut up pepper in whatever amounts desired and divide between salad plates. I tip the juices into my salad dish, but you can store them with leftover pepper if you wish.

Tomatoes should be cool enough now to divide between salad dishes.

The cheese should be dry now. Divide between salad plates.Tear balls in half if you like.

If using capers, rinse, pat dry, chop lightly, and divide between plates.

Slice cucumber and divide between plates.

Wash herbs and salad greens between plates. Mix ingredients lightly with two forks, salad tongs, or your clean hands.

I tend to mix dressing by eye, using a scant teaspoon vinegar to about two tablespoons olive oil in a small bow. Taste for salt and pepper, remembering salad contains salty ingredients.

Serve. Any leftover salad will be okay the next day, but croutons will wilt.

Notes:

The croutons may be made from whatever bread you have available. You can substitute breadcrumbs or leave the ingredient out entirely.

Croutons may be prepared in a toaster, toaster oven, grill pan, salamander, or regular pan. Just pay close attention so the bread doesn’t burn.

Crusts sliced from bread may be saved for soup.

No capers? Use anchovies or olives.

Substitute green beans for favas

use Ricotta Salatta or feta cheese instead of ricotta.