Ingredients:
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 small dried red chilies
1 bay leaf
1½ cups carrots, sliced into coins
¾ cups white wine vinegar
4 cups cauliflower florets
¾ cups celery, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons capers, well drained
1 cup assorted olives
1 cup olive oil
Directions:
1. Place garlic, chilies, and bay leaf in a large bowl.
2. Bring about 3 quarts of salted water to a boil in a pot. Drop in carrot coins and cook until crisp-tender. Lift carrots from water with a slotted spoon, drain briefly then drop into the bowl with the garlic mixture. Pour the vinegar over the hot carrots and stir.
3. Return the water to a boil and repeat the blanching method with the cauliflower and then the celery, stirring each vegetable into the vinegar, garlic, and herb mixture while hot.
4. Add the capers, olives and olive oil, and let cool to room temperature before covering. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
4. Before serving as part of an antipasto, let the salad come to room temperature and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serves 6-10
Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
12 leeks
3 ripe tomatoes, cut into eighths
½ cup Nicoise olives
2 teaspoons dried basil or 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Leave the roots on the leeks for now, but trim away 2-3 inches of the toughest tips of the greens. Split the leeks down, but not completely through the root end. Separate the layers and wash the leeks carefully under running water.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the leeks. Cook just until the white part is tender. Drain the leeks and reserve.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook on low for 3 minutes. Pat the leeks dry on towels, trim off the roots, and add the leeks to the skillet. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, olives, basil, parsley, and black pepper to taste and heat, covered, for 3-5 minutes.
5. Transfer the leeks to a serving platter, pour the contents of the skillet over them, and cool to room temperature before serving.
Serves 6