chefs, like the ones on the saturday afternoon cooking shows on the various pbs networks and of course on the neverending stream of consciousness that is the food network, all seem to agree on one thing: we eat with our eyes, first. i have found, in my many years of playing with food and bringing textures and flavors together, that i tend to cook with my eyes, too. that is to say, with my eyes first. i literally open my fridge/cabinets to see what’s there, to work with what i have instead of craving what’s still on the store shelves (this usually happens to me with watermelon and chocolate chip cookies), and sometimes sheer placement on a shelf can catalyze a notion to become a full-fledged idea. this is what happened on wednesday when i was looking for something cooling, refreshing, and my eyes landed on the 2/3 of an english cucumber and a crisp green apple. inkling. the almost-whole, plastic-wrapped red onion was just the push i needed to bring these three things together once on wednesday and then again tonight. chopped finely, under 1/4″ in size, tied together with a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar, herbes de provence, a few turns of the lemon pepper mill, dash of salt, and a tiny drizzle of agave. divine.
while the inspiration for this salad came from my fridge, the push to coax my dslr out of its cozy case and use it (rather than my blackberry or ipad) to photograph the results of my kitchen adventures comes from little brooklyn kitchen, a team of culinary enthusiasts who like to spin a fancy yarn while giving you pretty things to look at while you listen.
in the interest of full disclosure, i should note that i am completely biased and know the bakers and chefs behind this blog. but that doesn’t make their creations any less tasty looking or salivation-inducing. but dont take my word for it — check them out!
the sabbatical blog 