Pastrami and Rye Panzanella

Panzanella is an Italian salad designed to use up stale bread by soaking it in tomato juices to soften it as part of the salad.  This particular recipe is a fun twist on a pastrami on rye sandwich using pastrami, Swiss cheese and rye bread in addition to traditional ingredients like Romaine, red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes.

The Lawyer was the inspiration for this salad when he recently made homemade turkey pastrami, if you can believe it.  It was a three day project starting with brining a turkey breast for a day, then smoking it on day 2, then curing it until the third day.  The results are excellent and I've been looking for a variety of ways to use the pastrami beyond the usual Reuben sandwich.  If you don't have your own pastrami-smoking Lawyer on hand, you can always buy a thick slice at the store.  It's faster but probably not quite as interesting.

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Pastrami and Rye Panzanella

Serves 4

Choose an airy light rye bread over the dark, dense sort; the latter is too chewy for this salad.

1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion

3 cups cubed light rye bread

1 garlic clove, grated

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine (or sherry) vinegar

1 pound tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (or cherry tomatoes)

1 medium English cucumber

2 Romaine hearts, chopped

3/4 cup basil leaves, large leaves torn

1/4 pound thick-sliced pastrami, coarsely chopped

¼ pound Swiss cheese, cubed

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Put the onion in a bowl and cover with ice water for ten minutes, then drain and pat dry. (Soaking raw onion in cold water mellows the harsh bite.)

Meanwhile, spread out the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are crispy and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Put the oil and vinegar into a bowl, add the grated garlic and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled bread, tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, gently pressing the tomatoes a bit to release some of the juices.

Chop the cucumber into bite-sized pieces. Add the onions, cucumber, Romaine, basil leaves, pastrami, Swiss cheese and parsley leaves to the salad. Whisk together the dressing, add it to the salad and gently toss to combine.

Island Pork Tenderloin Salad

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There's a lot going on in this salad, which makes it pretty and really interesting to eat - sweet heat on the roast pork, crunch from the wonton crisps and toasted coconut, a tart lemon vinaigrette, and creamy avocado not to mention the red bell pepper and orange.  There are quite a few steps but the good news is that you can make the pork, wonton crisps and vinaigrette in advance, which just leaves you with some chopping and assembly when you want to serve the salad.

The star of the salad is the pork: coated in a rub of salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon, then later glazed with brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco, it's a flavor explosion.

The wonton strips are dusted with the same spice combo that went on the pork, then baked until they're crisp and golden brown.  They were a revelation to me - incredibly easy to make, and very crisp and light.  The hardest part was finding the wonton wrappers in my grocery store.  I finally had to ask someone, who informed me they were in the dairy case near the vegetarian foods like tofu.  What?  I've seen them in the produce section in other stores which makes no sense either.  In any case, they're refrigerated so that gives you a place to start.

I love this kind of composed salad because it's healthy, pretty, and really interesting to eat.  I hope you like it too.

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Island Pork Tenderloin Salad

Serves 4-6

Note: the pork tenderloin may be roasted up to a day in advance and refrigerated, tightly wrapped.  The wonton crisps may be made a day or two in advance and stored in an airtight container.  The vinaigrette may be made a day or two in advance and stored refrigerated.

Spice Mix and Pork:

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pork tenderloin (1 – 1 ¼ pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Glaze:

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon minced or grated garlic

1 tablespoon Tabasco

Wonton Crisps:

8-10 wonton wrappers

1 tablespoon olive oil

Vinaigrette:

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

Salad:

8-10 cups baby lettuces

1 orange, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 small avocados, peeled and sliced

Preheat the oven to 350d.

Combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Reserve half the spice mix for the wonton strips, and use the remaining spice mix to coat all sides of the pork tenderloin.  Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, then brown pork on all sides, about 1 minute per side.  Leave pork in skillet.

For the glaze, stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco and spread on top of the pork tenderloin.  Roast in the middle of the oven until the pork reaches 140d, about 20 minutes.  Let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Turn the oven to 475d.

For the wonton crisps, stack the wonton wrappers together and cut into ¼” strips.  Place the strips in a bowl, peeling the individual strips apart, then drizzle in the 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add some of the remaining spice mix and carefully toss with your hand.  Taste one of the strips to decide if you want to add more spice mix.  Spread the wonton strips evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, stirring once, until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a small jar and shake vigorously (or whisk together in a small bowl).

To assemble the salad, toss the lettuces with some of the vinaigrette and arrange on plates.  Divide the orange slices, red bell pepper strips, coconut flakes, pineapple, avocado and wonton strips between the plates.  Thinly slice the pork and add to each plate.  Drizzle each plate with additional vinaigrette and serve.

French Bread with Roasted Tomatoes and Cheese

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I was thinking this week that breakfast doesn't have to be the same old boring thing.  In Europe, breakfast often involves bread and cheese similar to American breakfasts, but served in different ways.  I wanted to serve some French bread with cheese and roasted tomatoes, and I was inspired to use the idea as an excuse to try a new cheese.  I looked up a list of soft cheeses online and headed to my cheese shop, where I found a cow's milk cheese from southwest France called Chaumes.  The online list of cheeses said it was one of the most popular French cheeses so I decided to give it a try.  It's mild and buttery and tastes a lot like Brie.  As for the tomatoes, I found some nice dark ones at the store but decided to roast them anyway - unless you have perfect peak-of-summer tomatoes, roasting almost always helps intensify their flavor.

One of my friends recently told me she was looking for some 20 minute recipes.  If you count roasting the tomatoes this will take more like 30 minutes, but if you roast them in advance it's about 5 minutes to prep.  And it's so simple that it's basically a non-recipe:  roast some tomatoes and put them on a baguette with some nice soft cheese.  Add a little butter to the bread first if you want, and add some herbs to the tomatoes, and you have a really fast and simple breakfast, lunch or light dinner.  And a great excuse to try a new cheese.

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French Bread with Roasted Tomatoes and Cheese

Serves 2

4 small-ish tomatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

French or Italian dried herb blend (optional but very good)

1 baguette

Butter

Interesting soft cheese (Brie or similar, I used Chaumes)

Chopped parsley, for garnish

To roast the tomatoes:  Preheat the oven to 400d.  Cut each tomato crosswise into slices.  Place on a baking pan and brush with a little olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried herbs.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until softened but not collapsed.  Remove and cool.

Cut the baguette crosswise into two pieces, and then cut each piece lengthwise in half.  Spread with a little butter and microwave for a few seconds to warm the bread and melt the butter.  Distribute cheese and tomato slices among the bread pieces and warm for a few more seconds in the microwave if desired.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve.