20-40-60-Minute Dinners by Kate Otterstrom

Author:Kate Otterstrom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: 2023-03-31T22:01:27+00:00

Classic Salad Bar with Chickpea Socca

I remember going to a local Italian American restaurant with Mom and Dad, a classic restaurant of the 1960s and ’70s with a whiff of stale cigarette smoke and garlic in the air. This restaurant fascinated me because its salad bar spanned an entire wall. I loved getting a little plate for the salad bar, which always seemed too small! There was iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots and red cabbage and rows of plastic canisters set in ice, full of mushrooms, peppers, various cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pickled beets, olives, croutons, sunflower seeds, fruit gelatin, and about eight different dressings. It was so fun to build my little salad. I tried things there I might not have been as excited about trying anywhere else.

Now that I’m grown and cooking for myself, I enjoy having a salad bar dinner on occasion. It’s a fun way to introduce my children to new foods and encourage them to eat their vegetables. They like having a choice about which vegetables they’re eating, and they tend to try new things when everything looks appealing. While this salad bar is not going to take up an entire wall, there are options for everyone. The accompanying flatbread, socca, is a griddle cake from the Provençal region of France. It’s really yummy when fresh and warm, so don’t be put off by the beany smell of the batter—this cooks away.

Prep Time: 90 minutes • Cook Time: 30 minutes • Servings: 6–8

Socca

2 cups/240 grams chickpea flour

1¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups warm water

⅓ cup olive oil

Whisk together the flour and salt. Pour in the water and olive oil and whisk everything together until it is very smooth. The batter will be runny. Cover and set it aside for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour or two.

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