14 - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2002
Mediterranean salads tasty, easy to toss up
EAT THIS
Christina DiGiacomo
edgiacomo@kansan.com
Between managing classes, the heat, and browsing the beautiful people on campus, you may find it difficult to cool off. Chill out and make yourself one of these three easy Mediterranean salads, with just one salad dressing. Try Paul Newman's Caesar dressing or another oilbased Caesar dressing. (All profits from purchases of Paul Newman's dressings go to charity.)
Escape to the flavors of Italy and Greece for your next meal.
Each of the following makes 1-2 servings.
Graciously Greek Salad
4-5 leaves, washed and patted dry. Place leaves on top one another & cut across lengthwise.
10 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup red onion peeled and sliced into thin strips
10 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
2 Tablespoons of Feta cheese
8 slices of cucumber stacked on top of one another and cut into cubes
2 Tablespoons of Caesar dressing
Add all ingredients into a serving bowl, toss and enjoy!
Caesar Salad 101
4-5 Romaine leaves washed and patted dry. Place leaves on top one another and cut across lengthwise.
1/2 of a lemon,cut
2 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
9 croutons
2 Tablespoons of Caesar dressing Pepper
FOOD CONCERNS?
Place leaves, parmesan, and croutons in a serving bowl. Squeeze lemon through your fingers over the salad (so you can catch the seeds). Add dressing and a couple of shakes of pepper, toss and enjoy!
Christina's Caprese
1 Tomato, sliced into 8 thick slices
1/2 of a mozzarella ball, cut into 4 slices, then cut those slices in half
4 slices of French bread cut thin,then cut those slices in half
For information about nutrition, healthy habits, eating disorders and more, go to www.ku.edu/~shs for help from Ann Chapman, a registered dietician at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
4 Basil leaves, stacked on top of one another, roll like a cigarette, and then cut thin strips lengthwise.
Salt
2 Tablespoons of Caesar dressing
Pepper
Layer bread, tomato, then mozzarella onto a side-dish plate. Repeat layering in a circular motion. Sprinkle salad with salt and pepper, than drizzle dressing over the tomato mixture. Lastly, shower the basil over the salad. This is my favorite!
If you want, add chicken or cooked shrimp to make these salads even more gratifying. And remember: if you don't like an ingredient in a recipe — especially in salads — you can always omit that ingredient. I promise it will still taste great!
What about the leftovers?
Christina's fix for leftover salad ingredients:
Add basil, sauteed onions,the mozzarella or feta cheese to cooked pasta with pre-made spaghetti sauce. Use the leftover French bread for garlic bread or bread crumbs,or after four days freeze it for a later date. It will keep for months,and defrosts easily.
Check out www.foodtv.com or eat.epicurious.com and type in one of your ingredients and check out all the recipes!
Chef and owner Subarna Bhattachan seasons food for customers at Zen Zero, 811 Massachusetts St., Wednesday evening. The new restaurant offers Nepalese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.
John Nowak/Kansan
New dining options here
By Mandalee Meisner
Jayplay writer
It's hard to find an original niche in Lawrence's diverse restaurant scene. But two new establishments, Odessa's Cafe, 12th and Connecticut, and Zen Zero, 811 Massachusetts Street, attempt to fill voids in the culinary cornucopia.
At Odessa's Cafe, the decorations are simple and neat: a few plates arranged on a wall, portraits of Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, and a few framed family photos.
Odessa Shorter, owner, cook, and sometime-cashier at Odessa's Cafe, wants everyone to know that the food is undoubtedly the most important aspect of her restaurant.
Shorter hopes the informal atmosphere makes the customers feel at home.Her specialty is "comfort" or soul food. Fried chicken, meatloaf, catfish and ribs line the menu.It's "nothing fancy, just regular food," she said.
She said the East-Lawrence community had already given her cafe a resounding welcome.
A few repeat customers have even brought in pictures of themselves to add to her family portrait collection.
“It’s a very family feel, even back in the kitchen,” Julie DePauw, a server at Odessa's and KU grad student, said. "There's always laughter there."
Odessa's is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. On Saturday, breakfast is served from 8 to 11 a.m. On Sunday, dinner is served all day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Zen Zero,811 Massachusetts St., offers what owner Subarna Bhattachan called "street food"from Nepal,Tibet,Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.
Bhattachan said after Thai restaurant Lulu's closed, Lawrence needed vegetarian-friendly Thai cuisine — one that the native-Nepalese was more than happy to fill.
"Whenever I go home, I have to go through Thailand to visit Nepal. I'd take cooking classes out there, and go eat at various restaurants in Bangkok," Bhattachan said.
The Zen Zero menu includes satays, Thai soups, curries and desserts like cashew-, banana- and chocolate-stuffed spring rolls.
The restaurant's name is the Italian word for ginger, zenzero.
"It's a play on words," Bhattachan said, referring to the Tibetan Buddhist theory of "zen."One warning—some items featured on the menu aren't currently available.
Bubble Tea, an iced tea that comes in several flavors, with tapioca on top that you suck from a straw, will take a few more weeks to debut.
"Momos"—an appetizer of Himilayan dumplings served with tomato and sesame chutnies — are a menu standout. They're Bhattachan's favorite item, as they remind him of home.
Zen Zero keeps irregular hours now, but will soon remain open Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.