Gleaned panzanella

M and D pick berries

Last weekend I went foraging around the city with a few friends. It's amazing how much food is hanging around if you look for it. We gathered acorns, apples and blackberries growing wild at the beach and the last of the raspberries and tomatoes from a friend's garden. Everywhere we went there was that perfect, dappled, fall sort of light that is so pretty you can't quite believe it's real.

S with blackberries

I got a lot of tomatoes from my friend's garden-big chunky, variegated, red-brown and rust coloured-and quite a lot of tiny, pea sized cherry tomatoes from my best tomato plant from the summer. I wanted to make them the center of a salad. 

Everything else in the recipe is just a suggestion. Panzanella is one of the many brilliant Italian ways of making frugal home economics delicious. They do brillant things with stale bread and you should never throw out bread just because it has gone stale. Panzanella is an improvisation, a showcase of leftovers, of whatever vegetables are around and bits of cheese and maybe a crumble of pancetta or nuts. 

Panzanella

1 stale baguette or crusty loaf
as many good tomatoes as you can get your hands on
1 cup shelled edamame or peas, boiled in salted water until tender
2 cups arugula
1/2 english cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup crumbed feta
1 large bunch parsley
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
lemon juice
red wine vinegar


Roughly tear bread and toss with tomatoes, cucumber, edamame, arugula and feta. Drizzle oil and lemon and vinegar over to coat. Finely chop parsley and garlic into a paste and toss that into everything. The bread should be soft and slightly mush into everything and soak up the salad dressing. If the bread is still  a bit hard, add a little more dressing let it sit for a minute to soak it all up. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce

It has been really hot for a few days and I have been eating salad rolls a lot. I have had them for lunch and dinner for maybe three days in a row. I love that they are cold and they are full of vegetables and they are waiting for me in the fridge.

I like to put a lot of garlic and chile flakes in the peanut sauce.You don't need to make your sauce so spicy if you don't want to, but I like the spice in contrast with the cold, mild vegetables.

 

Salad Rolls:

Large rice paper wrappers

Cabbage

Carrots

Cucumbers 

Sprouts

Avocado

Shrimp/Prawns if you like

Finely chop or shred the vegetables and toss together in a bowl. Add shrimp if using and mix everything up.

Fill a large bowl with hot water. Place a rice paper wrapper completely underwater until it is soft and flexible. Take it out, letting excess water drip over the bowl. Spread out the wrapper over a cutting board and put a big spoonful of the vegetable filling in the middle of the wrapper. Fold the sides over the filling, and then roll the top and then the bottom over the center. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. 

Peanut Sauce: 

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tbs soy sauce

5-6 cloves garlic 

large pinch chile flakes

2 tbs lemon juice

black pepper

vegetable or chicken broth (or 1/2 bouillon cube and water)

Blend all ingredients in the food processor. Adjust the liquid until the texture is dippable but not runny. Or until it is however you like it. 

Dip a salad roll into peanut sauce and eat. And again and again and again until it isn't too hot to actually cook anymore.