Quinoa and Sourdough Salad

This salad isn’t much short of a full meal served with the most loved items in my pantry: quinoa and sourdough bread. These are your everyday food — simple, wholesome and nourishing. They are not only good for the body, but the soul. Making sourdough breads, a tradition so ancient and universal, is what I firmly embrace as the essence and ritual in my kitchen.

This is the Memorial Day weekend, marking the arrival of easy summer living and with it, the glorious array of heirloom tomatoes, fresh fruits and vegetables. When tomatoes are sweet and delicious, not much is needed to dress them up for a salad dish like this. Ottolenghi put together this dish with a deft and restrained hand only he can muster.

There are a variety of fantastic sourdough recipes posted on this blog: overnight country blonde, Vermont sourdough and Tartine basic country loaf published by acclaimed master bakers around the country, Ken Forkish, Jeffery Hamelman and Chad Robertson, respectively. They are levain breads with very similar characteristics baked with 65-78% hydration dough and about 10% whole-wheat flour. I’ll be happy to serve up one of these artisanal breads to top off the salad bowl on any given day.