Farm-to-Table Recipe: Warm and Cold Salad

Farm-to-Table restaurants have become big. Cooking in-season is a great way to utilize healthy and fresh produce from local suppliers.

I grew up eating food with ingredients from our own backyard. My dad was a great gardener. I believe that he got it from my grandmother who could grow anything. I remember spending my vacations at my Lola Adelina’s home in Negros Occidental where my cousins and I would help in harvesting corn, sugar cane and all kinds of vegetables. My grandparents would feed us food with whatever ingredients they found in their garden.

Did you know the US organic labeling is big deal? There are three categories: 100% Organic, Organic, and Made with Organic Ingredients. The organic seal cannot be compromised.

This is not the U.S. and I don’t know the standard of organic commodities here but I never turn my nose up on local markets. Every time I have the opportunity to buy local organically grown vegetables, I take advantage.

Not a popularity contest. The organic trend is not a passing fancy but a reality. I can imagine Alice Waters with her Chez Panisse and how in an era of growth hormones broke out of the mold and has been serving organic and local harvest to their five-star tables. Of course, I drool and think of ratatouille and the reminiscing brings me back to the present and Breakfast at Antonio’s!

A little bit of history: What started as a farming hobby of Tonyboy and Agnes Escalante’s in 1997 became the home of esteemed restaurant, Antonio’s, Breakfast at Antonio’s and The Grill as well as four estates that provide the best produce to Manila’s A-list restaurants.

Another reason to drive all the way to Tagaytay is their shop filled with artisanal breads, homemade gourmet pasalubongs and organically grown veggies! Of course, I dream up dishes when I lay my eyes on the fresh, multi-colored hues that can give a pop of color to any dish like red, orange, green and yellow and sweet smelling produce! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Tom and I also dream of growing our own crops and herbs and maybe selling them too. Tom has a green thumb just like his grandparents. Like me, he also spent a lot of his Summers at his grandparents’ farm picking apples from the tree, harvesting corn, and eating grapes straight from the vine, para lang sa pelikula.

The down side about living in a condo is that we don’t have a yard to grow anything. Our patio has a few pots of herbs growing but not enough. Tom and I dream of more space for our family. Someday. Let’s cross our legs, shall we?

Spotted: itlog

Very Barefoot Contessa lang ang peg ko dito. I really want Ina Gartner’s life! I mean, the woman lives and works in the Hamptons with the view of the beach, an organic garden to boot, and she has gay BFF neighbors to hang out with!

My loot!

Farm-to-Table Recipe: Warm and Cold Salad

My creative juices started flowing upon seeing these beautiful veggies! I asked myself why not whip up a contrast of flavors and senses with an organic warm and cold salad?

From Farm:

Ingredients:

Easy peasy:

Step 1: Chop the curly endives to bite sizes. Rinse well.

Step 2: Dry the curly endives

Step 3: Preheat grill pan or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the bell peppers and cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the curly endives. Stir till the greens are slightly wilted.

Add ribbons of fresh basil

Step 4: For the cold part of the salad, rinse the arugula well and dry.

Set aside the cooked veggies.

Plating:

Make a bed of arugula and top it with the warm vegetables. Garnish with slices of cold grapes, radish and some light cheese.

Drizzle your favorite dressing. I used a roasted sesame dressing for the salad.

You can also add tuyo to this salad. Tom doesn’t eat it and since gutom na kaming lahat habang ginagawa ko ‘to, hindi na pwedeng ma-contaminate ang salad-ey baka away lang. Masama pa naman awayin ang gutom. Haha!

To table:

Et viola!

Something refreshing using the garden-fresh, crisp greens, radish, grapes and cheese. Something soothing using the warmth of slightly cooked endives, bell peppers and tomatoes. Bam!

This time, my family was blown away by the complement of tastes! Well, aside from the fact that this is quite the organic salad, a delicious organic salad from market to table.