Where We've Been Eating: May/June 2023
Where we've been eating.
Rebecca Wood, aka the Studio Mama, cooks with the seasons, sourcing her ingredients from Nashville Grown and S.E. Daugherty & Sons Farm. Her food isn’t precious, canned and clichéd but relevant, fresh and good. She published a cookbook last year, The Studio Mama Cookbook: A Collection of Cherished Southern Recipes, Real-Life Stories and Star-Studded Menus From the Music City. It’s full of studio anecdotes and delicious, sometimes comical recipes, including this one for orange and mizuna salad with melon gazpacho dressing.
Ingredients
Orange and Mizuna Salad With Melon Gazpacho Dressing
Orange and Mizuna Salad
- 1 naval orange
- 4 cups mizuna or other peppery greens, like arugula
- 4 cups baby tatsoi or other “power greens,” like kale
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted root veggies
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 3 tablespoons pepitas, roasted and salted Melon Gazpacho, for Dressing in the book
Melon Gazpacho Dressing
- 3 cups Galia, cantaloupe or honeydew melon chunks
- 1 lime, zested and juiced (1⁄2 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice)
- 1 mandarin orange or clementine, zested and juiced (2 teaspoons zest and 4 tablespoons juice)
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (1 teaspoon zest and 3 tablespoons juice)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, with the mother
- 6–8 large basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- Kosher salt and pepper (black or red) to taste
Instructions
Orange and Mizuna Salad With Melon Gazpacho Dressing
1. Slice off the two ends of the orange and remove the peel and outside skin of the orange with a paring knife. Cut in between the membranes to remove the sections of fruit. Set aside.
2. Arrange the salad greens on a pretty platter. Scatter the oranges cut “sections” around the outside of the platter. Scatter the root vegetables on top of the power greens. Scatter the pomegranate seeds and pepitas over all.
3. Pour the melon gazpacho over the top or serve it to the side.
4. As a main dish, you can double the recipe and top with roasted chicken, shrimp cooked in butter and Tony’s seasoning, or tempeh browned in olive oil. Makes 4 Servings
Melon Gazpacho Dressing
1. Place the melon, citrus zest and juices, vinegar, basil, ginger, mint and cilantro to a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process in pulses until the desired consistency. I like it nearly smooth but with a little texture.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until time to serve.
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