white heat

we thought this all white, no-cook, shaved veggie salad seemed the perfect way to keep cool on a record breaking hot temperature day in the city. we've been busy shooting fall root vegetables for FNM and got to come home with lots of goodies, but the last thing we wanted to do was turn on the oven to roast them. this post is adapted from an old bon appetit recipe inspired by a salad from al di la in brooklyn. we had never eaten many of these ingredients raw but think you'll love the crunchy texture & earthy flavor - a delicious and beautiful start or side to any meal!

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White Salad

serves 2

1 medium parsnip, peeled & julienned

2 small sunchokes, peeled & thinly sliced

1 small bulb fennel, trimmed & thinly sliced

1 head white Belgian endive, thinly sliced

1/2 small celery root, peeled & julienned

1/2 small head cauliflower, trimmed & thinly sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

salt & pepper

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

in a large bowl, combine parsnip, sunchoke, fennel, endive, celery root and cauliflower and toss lightly. drizzle with oil and vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper - toss to coat. divide between two shallow bowls and garnish with crumbled blue cheese. enjoy!

pickled

we've pickled stuff before here and have been working for months on our own classic dill pickle recipe to share but here are two new pickled things we recently came across. lately we can't get enough vinegar, lemon juice or anything acidic - don't know exactly what this means but the honeycrisp apple kimchi with jowl bacon at momofuku ssam bar we had at dinner a few nights ago was a great way to satisfy our craving! the recipe for spiced pickled beets is adapted from this book and reminds me so much of the pickled beets that found their way onto our dinner plate many nights growing up. the pickled fennel is adapted from an old Food & Wine magazine recipe and we're still trying to figure out how to work it into an ice cold martini recipe!

Spiced Pickled Beets

makes 1 pint

1 1/2 pounds raw beets, unpeeled

2 cups red wine vinegar

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

2 whole cloves

6 whole black peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

wash the beets and trim the tops, being careful not to cut into the beets. leave roots intact. add the remaining ingredients to a large heavy bottomed stainless steel pan and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer 1-2 hours or until beets are tender when pierced with a skewer. left the beets out of the liquid and cool. peel and slice into 1/4-inch slices. pack into a pint jar and top with strained cooking liquid. keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Pickled Fennel

makes 1 pint

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

pinch ground cloves

pinch ground cinnamon

1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored & cut into matchsticks

in a shallow dish, combine water, vinegar, salt, sugar, cloves and cinnamon and stir. fill a jar with fennel and cover with liquid. refrigerate overnight and serve lightly chilled.