A New Toy

J's mother gave us a mandoline! This largesse has coincided perfectly with the publishing of Mark Bittman's instantly classic 101 Salads. At an outing to FCI recently (and, I believe, my first ever luncheon), Sarah asked me if I would ever go to culinary school. The answer is no, but if I did it would probably be just so that I could take less than 45 minutes to chop an onion. I do not relish knifework.


First up was this yummy salad from Kitchn. Mine seems to fall into a totally different color scheme, but we used a tomato and a pepper from the garden! I prepped the onion and cukes (which -- J's idea -- we always score with a zester before slicing; it cuts down on toughness and looks really pretty!) in seconds and assembled the rest while the fish cooked on the grill. Lemon squeezey.

Then last night, I was a little pleased to end up with the night to myself because Emily's take on Bittman Salad #2 is a perfect lunch or dinner for one, but not really take-to-work-for-lunch material.


Next time I might make this on a hot day and pair it with a version of the cold avocado-melon soup we had once as a special at the Main Street Bistro in New Paltz. Light and fresh but still rather decadent, no?

The verdict: mandolines are wonderful, even if the only thing you ever use it for is onions. I don't care for big chunks of red onion in things, and I care still less for cutting them the old-fashioned way. But I will now put thin, lovely onion slivers in every salad I ever make. One thing though: use the finger guard.