Welcome

As one of the least technologically-inclined people in America, I thought I should be the one to welcome you. I'm fairly confident that only family and friends we already know will be checking out our little blog.

Pretentious Salad is a name we devised for really cool, out of the ordinary salads. We often get them at restaurants and adapt them for ourselves at home. It is basically a formula of salad greens tossed with a 1) a Fruit, 2) a Nut, and 3) a Cheese. You will amaze your friends with any combination of these elements. Some work better with others, like strawberries, walnuts and goat cheese, or pears, pecans and parmiggano, but still a winning combination anyway you twist it. We use the same salad dressing just about everytime, and whipped up fresh for each salad: 1/2 t. dijon, 1/2 lemon (juiced), and olive oil. Add only as much oil as you need to toss with the greens, usually about 1/2-1 T. Mix all this in the bowl you are mixing the salad and you save on dishes, too.

I'm also delegating all things wine to Sean, my partner in crime, my fresh-squeeezed lime, my very last dime, my Bustarime, my right-on-time, my deafening mime. Sean loves wine; Sean loves reading about wine; Sean loves buying wine; but mostly, Sean loves drinking wine responsibly. Most of our wine dinners are for the two of us (since we have few friends and are currently Baptist) while we are at home (since we enjoy our food creations just as much as a restaurant and we can wear pajamas). If we're going to throw back a bottle of wine, it better be over a 3-4 hour period and some fantastic food better be involved. We like wine for the taste, not the effect, and if it makes food even tastier, well, then, that's a great meal.

So, as soon as I can figure out how to incorporate an extra column, we'll start with the wine.

However, some of our best dishes have so few ingredients. One of our regulars is Insalata Caprese. I'm sure Capri is worth the trouble just for this salad.



Insalata Caprese
(don't even think about making this salad unless you have excellent tomatoes)

One tomato per person, sliced and salted lightly
One slice of fresh mozzarella per tomato slice
One fresh basil leaf per mozzarella slice
Good olive oil

Arrange the tomato slices on a plate in your favorite design. Top with a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf (the order doesn't matter, stick the basil in the middle if you're feeling wild). Drizzle oil on top.

We like American Sauvignon Blanc with Caprese.