Vegetable Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget
Michelin star chef Eric Ripert writes in his introduction to Vegetable Simple that vegetables have become more important to him for three main reasons:
-he eats more vegetables as he has aged
-he serves vegetable buffet dinners to his friends for entertaining on weekends
-he opened a wine bar with a vegetable-centered menu next to his Michelin stareed (3) restaurant
All of these reasons prompted me to carefully read the easy if you have great vegetables recipes to put together a French buffet dinner:
Most of the following dishes can be made ahead of time and served cold or room temperature with the exception of the baked mushrooms, which can be placed in the oven as guests arrive:
-sweet pea soup – made with frozen peas that are boiled in water and blended till smooth with crème fraîche and mint added just before serving. Ripert serves this soup hot, but in the summer I would chill it in the blender and pour it in champagne flutes to set the tone for the vegetable lunch.
-endive blue cheese salad – the leaves of bitter endive are set out spoke fashion for this dish with a blue cheese-cream dressing place in the center of the leaves in the middle of the spoke
-grated carrot salad – so simple, so good for your eyes with the Vitamin A in the carrots. So easy to dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.
-cold basil past salad – a “sauce” of grated fresh basil, garlic, grated Parmesan, olive oil, and pepper fragrantly coat linguine pasta that is preferably made from semolina flour from durum wheat for its protein content
-baked cremini mushrooms made with the butter used for snails – butter, parsley, and garlic
-tomato “croquet sel” – fresh tomato halves sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil
-melon balls “au porto” – If you do not have a melon baller, cut cantaloupe into fourths and scoop out the seeds. Place about 2 tablespoons of Portuguese porto in the cavity of the melon. Eat with a spoon to scoop up all the porto.
This French vegetable buffet is very doable at home with a little planning and well-suited for American potluck lunches where everyone brings a dish to share.
I like these recipes, because I live in an agricultural community that grows all organic produce (Salinas, California and its surrounding region of Monterey County).
I also love Vegetable Simple by Eric Ripert for its recipes from many cultures that young people might enjoy making on their days off for international flair on a budget.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
