I’ve written swooningly about fleur de sel before, but the truth is that I adore nearly all types of natural salt, not just the premium-quality French “flowers”. Yes, I said “natural” salt- not regular table salt, which is prepared thusly:
mined, heat blasted, chemically treated, and then anti-caking agents and iodine added to it (source)
Seriously, who needs all that? Natural sea salt is readily available almost everywhere now, in nearly all colors of the rainbow, from grey to pink to sparkling white…
Which brings me to the point of today’s post. It’s the height of summer where I live right now, and in this heat my strongest food cravings are for fresh, local ingredients: bright green lettuce, crunchy carrots, crispy jicama. Served raw… with nothing more than a sprinkling of good salt.
Our dinner last night, for example, was this: four large, juicy organic tomatoes. I washed them, sliced them thick, drizzled on some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with Japanese sea salt, and served with a hunk of toasted sourdough bread. Perfect with a chilled bottle of Pinot Noir. It was one of the best meals we’d had in a long time.
What are your favorite simple meals?