Believe me, I really did know that the assignment for this month's IMBB was not about the use of oranges. The fruit, that is. I understood from the very beginning that it was all based on color. Our wonderful hosts, LadyGoat and FoodGoat, made that quite clear. As soon as I head about the color-rich theme, I had fantasies of making a lovely orange-colored Double Gloucester Welsh Rarebit or a sunset-hued Apricot Tart -- or both. Despite my brief rumination on the possibility of an all-orange dinner, a simple orange dish was what was in the cards here, in terms of both the fruit AND the color.
Of late, things have been a bit hectic foodwise -- one of those periods when you're doing so much cooking that you don't actually have time to blog about it, despite all the bloggable moments it provides. This weekend I had two Passover meals to make/contribute to, in addition to SHF and IMBB. We're also getting ready for our sojourn north to the wilds of Vermont, a state that makes any foodlover's heart beat faster.
At the party we attended on Saturday night, my hostess asked if I would make and bring a few dishes. I was going to bring roasted asparagus as one of my contributions, but then it struck me that I might put that asparagus into a springtime salad platter. So above, you see my concotion -- a bed of baby romaine leaves and fresh leafy watercress, spokes of roasted asparagus interspersed with mellow avocado, juicy navel orange slices, and purple onion. The color orange had a lot of colorful friends to play with on this platter! All was dressed with a piquant vinagrette which made use of the last of the season's Meyer Lemons as well as the lovely blood orange vinegar from Cuisine Perel. As the only light, fresh, salad-y dish on a rather rich, heavy menu, this was a huge hit at the party.
Many thanks to Ladygoat and Foodgoat for hosting such a fun and unusual IMBB. They've posted a round-up so quickly that I'm already enjoying the other entries!
Very nice! It almost looks to good to eat! But where's the fun inthat? Super choice! I will duplicate!
Posted by: chronicler | April 25, 2005 at 12:11 PM
It looks like Spring on a platter. What could be better than that?
Posted by: Joe Bellacero | April 28, 2005 at 07:56 AM
"one of those periods when you're doing so much cooking that you don't actually have time to blog about it"....
Ha! You too eh? I swear, some days I just wish I never even started this whole FOOD blog business thing because besides having to type up the recipe and making sure you got the instructions right, you have to take the photo, crop, resize, enhance, and load it in all it's mouthwatering splendor.
Hmmm.... sounds like an average morning of primping before the mirror before walking out the door. Uhm, yeah...ok. ;-)
Julie, on the bright side, atleast YOU made an effort to participate in IMBB and SHF this time 'round. Me, I'm just diggin' the photos!
Posted by: rowena | April 29, 2005 at 10:36 AM