The sunshine we had hoped for. Roasted Beet and Blistered Tomato Panzanella
ALSO! A FUNDRAISER AT THE END.
Hi, hello, good afternoon. I didn’t mean to be away for so long. I honestly didn’t know how to write a chatty, cheerful newsletter these last three months, in light of the continued state of the pandemic, the specific crisis in India, everything in Ethiopia, Palestine, and elsewhere, and the horrific, and not unexpected, discoveries at Residential Schools here at home.
I still possibly don’t know how to write a newsletter. I do know how to have a conversation and it’s that that I have missed since we were here passing notes about Calico Cream Cakes.
Thus, back with that. It’s a start. It’s what I’m good at.
I don’t know what you were up to a week ago Friday, but I was talking about picnics on national television, live, outside, under a storm watch. It was a five minute segment. The weather app on my phone promised grey skies, yes, but the rain holding off until exactly 10 minutes after I was to finish.
It started, a gentle mist of a rain, a grey, gossamer veil on the tress, 15 minutes before. Luckily, I was under a canopy. Unluckily, there was a moment where the wind picked up, and my hair blew back like a Pantene ad and the camera shook. I kept on making my salad*.
In the end, all was well. We made it through. For breakfast we ate panzanella with beets and skilled-popped tomatoes, both which tasted like the sunshine we were had hoped for. There was halloumi for bounce and substance, and crackling, papery croutons lolling in the salty oomph of a green slurry of a dressing. After that, a spoonful of strawberry icebox cake laced with elderflower liqueur, and a sip of a blackberry shrub fizz, made icy with technicolor sherbet in My Little Pony shades, and bubbly with Prosecco to toast the efforts.
Cheers to you.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE THIS
*For this salad—a.k.a, what you want to be eating right now, when it’s hotter than it has any right to be—I’m sorry about turning the oven on, but do that step the night before when things are cool and quiet.
ROASTED BEET AND BLISTERED TOMATO PANZANELLA WITH HALLOUMI (Serves 2 to 4, or your present self and then yourself later on in the day.)
FOR THE DRESSING
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Half a lemon
1/2 cup lightly-packed mixed herbs, basil, parsley and dill
A small bunch of chives
1 garlic clove
2 anchovy filets, optional
1 shallot, minced
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper as needed
FOR THE SALAD
3 to 4 beets of any colour, depending on size, scrubbed well
Olive oil, as needed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Half of a crusty boule, torn into large chunks
8 ounces halloumi, sliced into 6
3 cups mixed cherry tomatoes
2 heirloom tomatoes, cored and cut into irregular wedges
1 cup microgreens or baby lettuces
Extra herbs, for garnish
Begin with the dressing. In the carafe of an upright blender pour in the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Zest the lemon, then squeeze in the juice (catching any seeds). Drop in the herbs, chives, garlic clove, and anchovy, if using. Affix the lid and blend dressing until smooth and emulsified. Lift off lid, tip in the shallots. Season well, then check on how you did, and adjust as needed. The dressing should be punchy and bright. Set aside.
Preheat an oven to 400°F. Tuck the beets into a large square of tin foil. Coat lightly in olive oil and season. Crumple foil around beets, then wrap in a second layer of foil. Roast in the hot oven until tender, about 1 hour. Unwrap, mindful of the steam, and leave to come to room temperature.
While the beets are roasting, toss the bread chunks with a drizzle of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread across a baking sheet and toast in the hot oven until golden brown and rustling, 15 minutes or so, tossing occasionally. Let croutons cool on the tray.
Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the halloumi until leopard-spotted tan and golden, about 1 minute each side. (If the pan is seasoned or nonstick, you should not need oil to stop the halloumi from sticking; if there is any doubt, use a bit of oil). Remove to a mixing bowl. In the same pan, pour in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then tumble in the tomatoes. Cook, shaking the pan constantly, until blistered in spots and the first few burst, 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately remove from heat.
To assemble, tear the halloumi into chunks. Peel, and cut the beets into sixths or eights and add to the bowl with the cheese, along with the blistered and fresh tomatoes. Season lightly. Toss with the croutons and most of the dressing. Let stand 5 minutes.
Fold the remaining croutons into the salad along with the microgreens, then top with extra herbs and the remaining dressing and enjoy.
THINGS I WOULD TEXT IF I HAD YOUR NUMBER
A list of charities supporting First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities.
Some specific suggestions if you’re looking to donate:
Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society
Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction
Niagara Regional Native Centre
The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund
ALSO! If you choose to give, from today until midnight EDT July 1, 2021, email me at tara@taraobrady.com with your receipt. For every $5 donated, you will be entered to win a box of my Basic, Great, Chocolate Chip Cookies from me. For gifts over $50, you will be entered to win a cake we’ll decide upon together. (Three boxes of cookies up for grabs, one cake.) I will deliver to agreed-upon pickup spots along the Gardiner/QEW from Toronto to Fort Erie, Ontario depending on where you are. If you are outside of this area and wish to participate, a mail-friendly option will be arranged.