Classic Greek Salad

I use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes to make a vinaigrette. The acidity from the tomatoes, the pungent heat from the onion, and the saltiness from the cheese and olives supply the other flavours to make up the vinaigrette. Simple and quick and refreshing and, most importantly, delicious.

3 cucumbers
1½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
3 cups diced roma tomatoes
⅓ cup diced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbsps. oil from sun-dried tomatoes (or to taste)
½ red onion, sliced

1. In a large bowl toss together all the ingredients and toss well so that the oil covers the ingredients evenly.
2. Chill until serving.

Fixing the Fancy - Red Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

I often notice that there are some recipes where the ingredients sound fancy but the end product is bland. This often happens with Epicurious recipes, such as the Radicchio, Red Cabbage and Tomatoes with Orange Vinaigrette recipe. I made it because I like radicchio and thought, correctly, that the red salad would be visually appealing, but it was just bitter to taste. Ben played around with it and, in my opinion, fixed it.

NOTE: the cherry tomatoes sliced in half are very important - the acidity and flavour from the escaping juices help balance the bitterness of the radicchio.

1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 small head red cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsps. finely grated fresh orange zest

4 1/2 Tbsps. fresh orange juice

Juice from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp. sugar, or to taste

1 tsp. salt (add more to taste)

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

2 heads radicchio (3/4 pound total), cored and coarsely chopped

2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Chop onion and soak in cold water, to cover, for 15 minutes.
2. Shred cabbage, salt thoroughly and set in colander to sweat excess water. Leave for 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly with running water and quickly dry on paper towel.
3. While onion soaks and cabbage sweats, whisk together mustard, zest, juices, and salt and pepper to taste with sugar. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.
4. Drain onion well and toss together with radicchio, cabbage, tomatoes, and enough dressing to coat. Toss salad and adjust seasoning using sugar, salt and pepper.

Roasted Tomato Soup

This is a really good soup at ambient temperature, making it great for picnics. I tested it at a dinner party, indoors and at room temperature, and the reaction after the first spoonful was very positive, so it goes on the picnic list! It's from England's Channel 4 Web site so I had to change the measurements from metric to Imperial. Imagine! Oh, and I chopped everything by hand instead of a blender and it turned out great!

Makes 4 bowls of soup.

2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, quartered (I mixed in cherry tomatoes - more intense flavour)

1/2 lb. red onion, cut into thick wedges

4 garlic cloves

3 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 red peppers, quartered and deseeded

4 Tbsps. olive oil

1 cup chicken stock (veg for vegetarian)

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 dashes of Tabasco

4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

A few sprigs of fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Put the tomatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary and peppers into a large roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes or until tender and beginning to char.
2. Let the roasted vegetables cool enough to handle comfortably and chop super fine.
3. Tip into a large pan, then add the stock, wine vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Stir and heat gently, or skip this step and serve at ambient temperature. Divide among 4 bowls and finish with some freshly ground black pepper and a few parsley sprigs.