Back on the Road

After a plunge into finals, I have resurfaced with a 3.99 GPA for my first semester of college, and an eager desire to take up the Tassajara project again. Now that I'm back in Costa Rica staying at my boyfriend's house, I have access to a real (big!) kitchen to cook in to my heart's content. So, as my first adventure back into the world of Tassajara, we made ourselves an Arugula Salad with Radishes, Oranges, Feta, and Mint.

The pros and cons of cooking in Costa Rica: You don't have to worry quite as much as you do in the US about the organic quality of the food. We don't use half the pesticides and other chemicals that are used in US agriculture, so our food seems generally healthier. We also get a lot of really great, fresh produce. The downside is that since we're a small third world country, we don't get all the variety the U.S. has in its super markets. Blood oranges, for example. I've never tried them, so I really wanted to for this recipe. But alas, none could be found. We used navel oranges instead, which the recipe calls for if the blood oranges went awol.

Let me tell you: Toasting pistachios makes them fantabulous! Even more so than they are naturally. I thought that the 12 minutes the recipe tells you to toast them for sounded like too much, but I'm happy I believed in its wisdom. I thought they were perfect. My boyfriend thought they tasted too strong- to each their own, I guess. I gave Eduardo the meticulous task of taking the pith off the oranges and slicing them. The recipe says you need a serrated knife, but really, a normal knife was enough to slice through them like paper. I was apprehensive about the radishes. They never were my favourite vegetable. I was expecting to write this blog and say "I now remember why I hated radishes so much." But not at all! I was actually quite impressed at their subtleness. The feta cheese and the mint were perfect compliments. The sharp taste of the mint with the tanginess of the orange was contrasted beautifully with the creamy feta cheese and the smoky flavour of the pistachios.

We also made North African Vinaigrette as dressing for the salad. I have to say, I hate grinding out zest of any kind. If anyone has tips on how not to want to shoot yourself while doing this, it would be most appreciated. Invest in a good grater that won't make your orange zest get stuck. At first, the Vinaigrette felt way too oily, so I added some more orange juice. There was a lot of dressing left over after the salad was gobbled by the family (total success!!), so we put the rest in a jar for later use. Why waste perfectly good vinaigrette?

Tomorrow I'm headed over to my cousin Giannina's house, and we decided to make pizza. I will report then.