Leek & Dried Tomato Salad

Mr Ferdzy and my mother and I, and his two brothers and their partners, all headed off to St. Lucia for a week in December. We were celebrating 60th, 55th, and 50th birthdays, and a 30 year and a 20 year anniversary, all of which fell sometime in 2018. We had a lovely time hanging about on the beach and eating like racehorses. The food was excellent, but very little of it would translate to here as what was especially good was the fruit. St Lucia was beautiful and once I got over it not being Cuba, I liked it very much and would love to go back. The climate was much more moderate than I expected but I found I got sun-burnt very easily.

We were served a simple little salad of cold cooked leeks and dried tomatoes, which I thought was very nice. I've added a touch of sweetness with the apple butter but otherwise this is as basic a salad as you can find. Both main ingredients have an intensity that makes this almost relish-like, so expect people to eat fairly small portions.

4 to 6 servings
20 minutes prep time plus some cooling time

Cook the Vegetables
2 medium-large leeks
1/3 cup dried tomatoes

Put a pot of water on to boil, sufficient to hold the vegetables.

Trim, slice, and wash the leeks. Cut the dried tomatoes into pieces if they are large.

When the water boils, drop both of them in and boil for 6 to 8 minutes until the leeks are just tender. Drain well, and allow them to cool. 

Make the Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon apple butter
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
1/8 teaspoon hot red chile flakes
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil

In a small bowl or jam jar, mix the mustard and apple butter. Grind the fennel seeds and add them, along with the chile flakes. Mix in the vinegar and oil.

Toss the leeks and tomatoes in the dressing. Serve at room temperature. The salad may be dressed a bit in advance.




Last year at this time I made Carrot, Apple, & Belgian Endive Salad. 

Posted in: Ontario Food