There was a photo in one of the last issues of Gourmet that haunts me to this day. In a good way. (What is the word for haunting in a good way? Word peopleโฆhelp, please.) You know how much I love the concept of Deconstructed Dinner? The idea of leveraging the โno-touching!โ decree regularly issued by toddlers into a beautiful salad where everything is separated into individually delicious elements? Well the Gourmet photo showed a rustic platter holding about eight or nine different โstripesโ of food โ grilled chicken, grilled mushrooms, chick peas, radishes, greens. In other words, the most glorious Deconstructed Dinner ever constructed. I lost the issue and have had no luck finding the recipe on epicurious, but finally, a year later, Andy and I replicated the platter in our kitchen. Thatโs it up there. A veritable celebration of farmerโs market fabulousness. Shredded romaine, โcampfire potatoesโ, fresh garden peas, tiny spring onions, asparagus, chicken, and some homemade pesto drizzled on top. (Storebought will do, too.)
The only โstripeโ on the platter that wasnโt prepared on the grill was the one made of orange-thyme roasted carrots โ which is a big fave with the girls. I think this is probably because the recipe only really works with the small, tender, sweet carrots from the farmerโs market that resemble the kind Bugs Bunny walks around with. (Try saying โWhatโs up Doc?โ while holding a nubby little baby carrot. Soย incredibly depressing.) To make: Chop off most of the carrot stems, rinse slightly (no need to peel if you rinse well), and slice them horizontally as shown. Toss with olive oil and some fresh thyme leaves and roast in a baking dish in a 425ยฐF oven for about 15-20 minutes until tender. Halve an orange and roast alongside the carrots. (This concentrates its juices.) When the carrots are finished, squeeze about a tablespoon of orange juice all over them.
This was my plate. (Thatโs a lemon, grilled for about 5 minutes and squeezed over entire dinner.) I wish I thought to take a picture of the girlsโ plates, each of which looked different but delicious. Except for maybe that big dollop of ketchup on Abbyโs plate. What can you do?
PS: This would be a nice choice for a Fourth of July BBQ.
I woke up today wondering what the hell I was going to take to the Canada Day potluck I have on the agenda. This is it! Thanks! Great post.
โstirโ? for haunt in a good way? (bonus: fits into DALSโs theme!)
This looks so good, I canโt wait to try it! Happy 4th and I love DALS.
Really looks wonderful. We do this with salads in order to get my boys to eat them. Strips of lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot, chopped egg, red pepper, tomato, cheese and croutons fill a platter. They can pick what they like from the platter to assemble their own salad as there is no way I could make one salad that would please everyone. Dressing is on the side and optional as one child feels itโs not a required item.
I accidentally left this as a comment on todayโs post but thought Iโd post it here as wellโฆthe link to the โhauntingโ salad recipeโฆ
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Chicken-Summer-Salad-354215
Itโs delicious!
I think โhauntsโ is a perfectly good positive word! What youโre looking for is something like โevocativeโ only a verb, and โevokeโ doesnโt work because you need it to evoke โsomethingโ! Anyway, I adore this post, and I love dinners like this. My latest was โeverything on a lettuce leaf,โ which involved a platter of roasted chicken strips, red pepper, chives, cucumber, cilantro, a dish of pine nuts and lots of sauces: as your child says, optional because my daughter will not eat sauces!
Build your own, what a good philosophy. Thanks for a lovely blog!
Haunt in a good way: โbewitchโ
Looks yummy! Grill + veggies = success. PS: I read your newsletter, do I win the wine?
I have been wanting to make something like this, I am definitely trying this weekend, looks delicious! Ps, I read your newsletter, do I win the wine?