French Salads

Two amazing salads typical of the south of France in summer.  Come another
season and the vegetables will be a little different.  Tay turned 21 on this day.

Lucky me and son #3 were invited to travel with my sister's family last month and in (mostly) France.  My sister's family is awesome and they like to capture every place they can in a short amount of time.  We were always offered the opportunity to join them visiting all the relevant sites wherever we went.  They are energizer bunnies when they are on the move!

Tay and I are a little different.  We like to kick back, meet the locals, sample the food, and use all of our senses when visiting a new place.  Two different styles of travel but we made it work in a way that, in hindsight, gets better each time we revisit our travels with people who ask about us.

One main  item that always brought us together though - dining.

The French have a way with food.  But it isn't just that.  They walk everywhere and eat what is local and in season.  In a larger city, there are produce stands on every other block.  You will find a charcuterie on every fourth block.  And always a boulangerie or patisserie.  The breads and pastries.  Oh, and the cheeses and wines, they are in all the markets.  Of course, too, the bistros.

The smaller towns have one baker, one produce stand (or families swap what they grow amongst each other) and maybe a meat market every other town or so.  Most often, chickens and their eggs, and meat, are grown locally so meat counters are not needed.   But the fact that everything is close by, no one hops in a car to make the trip to the grocer.  And they shop daily.  This is a lifestyle. 

To be fair, gasoline is extremely costly and finding a place to park is nearly impossible.  Trams, the metro, a bus, are vital to getting around if you need to venture farther than a few kilometers.  Otherwise, everyone walks.  Tay and I marveled at the energy people we encountered put into their daily lives - joie de vivre!

I was last in France eight months ago, in late October.  I had looked forward to the same salads, and, they weren't offered.  Oh wait.  Didn't I just say above that seasonality changes the offerings?  I may have missed certain dishes I had last October but had no reservations about eating locally and fresh in July.

Tay's salad was the Italian version of Nicoise.  It featured lots of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and the Dijon vinaigrette which is always so lovely.  The twist on this salad was adding a few thin slices of prosciutto, crumbled gorgonzola, and baked crispy croutons.  He added Cidre, a low alcohol apple cider inspired by the Calvados region.

My salad featured lots of fresh lettuces, tomatoes, mushrooms, a hard-boiled egg, and diced (1/4 inch cubes) of emmenthaler cheese and boiled ham.  I was so full after eating this! 

These meals hit all of the punch points for luncheon dining - protein from the ham/cheese/egg, or tofu even, vegetables from the lettuces/mushrooms/tomatoes/herbs, starch (bread and croutons), and fiber from the veggies.  If this were to be a main meal, I would add a generous dose of lentil salad or white beans to round out the roughage.

Note to self and to our followers; do we really need off-season produce to make our lives better?  And if we do, how can we get them without importing from around the planet outside of our local environs?  Clue...check following blogs to see what we do.

- Kim Fielding