The Path Less Traveled

After attending 95 classes at Olivelle, I have changed my original course in this journey!  The student has now become the teacher.  My daughter, daughter-in-law and I were asked to do a series of Slow-Cooker classes for Olivelle.  As a result, I have put my class "attending" on hold for a while and my profile statement, "I must let you know, that I am in no way affiliated with Olivelle, just a loyal customer of the store.", is no longer completely true.  I am still a "loyal customer of the store", but I do, in a sense, work for the store.  My desire to share recipes and tips remain the same and I will still highlight the wonderful, quality products that are available from the store.  So... in an effort to be "fair" to all chefs who teach the amazing Olivelle classes, today I am sharing a recipe from one of the newest chefs!

This is just a nice twist on two classic salads.  I love coming up with creative salads, so this was a very fun and successful experiment!

Note:  As always, Green text are Olivelle recipes that I will share. Green text within a recipe are ingredients that can be purchased from Olivelle locally or on the website http://www.olivelle.com/

Caprese Panzanella Salad
(Chef Cheryl)

1/2 Loaf Sun Dried Tomato Crockpot Bread* ~ Cubed

2 Cups Grape Tomatoes ~ Sliced in Half Lengthwise

1 Pint Mozzarella Pearls

1 Bunch (about 12) Basil Leaves ~ Chiffenade

1 Cup Basil Genovese EVOO

2 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar

Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt ~ to taste 

1. Whisk together the Basil Genovese EVOO; White Balsamic Vinegar; and Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt.  

2. Toss all ingredients together.

3.  Serve with Mussini Balsamic Glaze to drizzle over salad.

Enjoy!

* Stay tuned for the recipe for "Sun-dried Tomato Crockpot Bread" to be posted later this week!  If you just CAN'T wait that long to make the salad... you could use a favorite rustic herbed bread.

To "Chiffenade" the basil leaves:

1. Carefully pull leaves from the main stem.
2. Stack them with larger leaves on the bottom.
3. Tightly roll them up lengthwise into a "tube"
4. Slice the "tube" in about 1/8" lengths.  (Be sure to use a SHARP knife to prevent bruising.)
5. Lightly toss the strips to separate all the pieces, then toss in with salad.

One of my hopes with this blog is that you will get creative in YOUR cooking!  Don't keep going down the same path... Take the road LESS traveled!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 

~ Robert Frost (1874-1963)