Ploughman’s Platter

Day 108

This time of the year, we really enjoy cold meals. On a hot day, there is definitely something more refreshing about food straight from the garden and farm, with minimal cooking involved. Tonight, we opted for a modified ploughman’s platter. Usually, these platters are served for lunch, and they consist of smoked meats, cheeses, vegetables, and fruits. Instead, we

Photos by Taylor Fowler

enjoyed ours for dinner, and we included old-fashioned egg salad, roasted broccoli, mozzarella with basil, and deconstructed tomato bruschetta. Every ingredient was fresh, either grown by us or by sustainable, local sellers.

Since this platter included no new recipes (the mozzarella and broccoli certainly can’t count), you can find the egg salad on Day 48 of this blog (http://yearofinspirations.blogspot.com/search?q=egg+salad). I left out the bacon this time.  The marinated tomato recipe for the bruschetta can be found on Day 6 http://yearofinspirations.blogspot.com/search?q=bruschetta. For this, I baked whole baguettes and each person sliced the bread for himself.

After slicing the mozzarella and gathering fresh basil from my deck herb garden, I drizzled it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. The same went for the roasted broccoli, which I drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roasted at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. I sprinkled lemon juice over the broccoli to finish.

Because this blog entry includes nothing particularly new, I want to give a shout out to really good, high quality olive oil. It’s important. Sure, you should buy the first cold press extra virgin variety, but you also need to be careful which brand you buy. Choose one that has a good reputation for being traceable from the tree to your table. After some research

and reading, I chose to order Olea brand olive oil for the first time this week. I ordered a bottle of their Olea Gold, and it is sublime. It is perfect for dipping and drizzling, and its rich flavor and mildly biting finish are impressive. Check it out at this link, http://www.oleaestates.com/ or find another brand you trust and enjoy. Good olive oil makes more of a difference than you might think.

Happy summer!