• Hi there, my name is Heidi Swanson. 101 Cookbooks is my recipe journal. It's where I write about the recipes that intersect my life, travels, and everyday interests. Often the recipes are from my cookbook collection, sometimes not - they might come from a friend, or I might write about a recipe I created myself.
  
  I focus primarily on natural, whole foods and ingredients - vegetarian recipes that are good for you and for the planet. Welcome!

Another near perfect salad from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. This one particularly suited for summer. They say this salad rivals their famous Zuni Caesar Salad for having the most passionate advocates.

I really didn't want to go to the store so I was looking for a recipe that I could try just using what I had on hand, bonus point for a salad recipe. Luckily, Planet Organic delivered a box of all sorts of goodies including: cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, garlic, bi-color corn, lettuce, broccoli, oranges, and a cucumber....I was pretty sure I had everything I needed for this Zuni salad, except radishes. The recipe called for radishes, but said you can swap in cherry tomatoes if you've got some good ones.

The salad sounds like a summertime Greek Arugula salad. It calls for mint, feta, tomatoes, black olives, and cracker bread to take the place of croutons. I had mint out on the patio, a handful of cherry tomatoes perfectly ripe and begging to be tried out on the patio--Bulgarian Sheep Feta in the fridge. I'm not sure if this means the milk for the cheese came from Bulgarian Sheep, or if the cheese came in from Bulgaria. I am assuming the former. Anyways, I somehow had everything I needed.

The dressing was delicious despite the fact that I can't seem to buy a decent red wine vinegar. I have identified a favorite sherry vinegar, and a favorite everyday balsamic (gold label from Trader Joes), but my red wine vinegar always seems dull to me. Help.

The dressing: chopped mint, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt. Thats it. I tossed the crackers with the dressing, and then added the rest of the ingredients in stages. I loved the cracker bread 'croutons.' They didn't cut the top of my mouth like some croutons (or cereals like Cap'n Crunch) do, and they absorbed the flavor of the dressing without getting soggy.

Go Zuni Cookbook! Another great recipe from a beautifully designed and well written cookbook. I still have another seven or eight recipes tagged to try from it, even though I've cooked through just about the entire Leafy Salad section (still a couple more).

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