The Perfect Pantry®

Recipe for two-tomato bread salad with roasted garlic dressing

To squeeze, or not to squeeze: that is the question. Panzanella, the famously frugal Tuscan bread salad, dates as far back as the 1500s, and I'd be surprised if any two Tuscans have made it exactly the same way since then. Everyone agrees on the basics: panzanella must contain bread, preferably slightly stale; and it must contain tomatoes, preferably perfectly ripe; and it must be bound together with some type of vinaigrette dressing. Beyond the basics, each salad maker creates at will, using other harvest ingredients (cucumber, onion, olives) and whatever else is at hand. Some cooks like to soak the bread briefly in water to rejuvenate it, and then squeeze the water out. I prefer to let the bread soak up the vinaigrette, and retain just a little bit of its crouton-like crunch. In this two-tomato bread salad, I combine ripe red tomatoes with my own slow-roasted tomatoes, which have been packed with their cooking olive oil, redolent with garlic and thyme. The oil and tomato juices, along with roasted garlic, add depth to the vinaigrette, which flavors the bread. Thank you, Tuscany.

Recipe for roasted garlic salad dressing

The other day as I wandered through the produce section of the grocery store in our village, I spied small jars of garlic paste, four ounces for $2.29. Garlic, salt, preservatives: No, thank you. Instead, I bought eight heads of garlic for $2.50, and in less than two hours -- mostly oven time -- made eight ounces of my own roasted garlic paste with salt and pepper, fresh thyme from the garden, and extra virgin olive oil. Half went into the freezer, some got slathered on bruschetta, and the rest morphed into a roasted garlic salad dressing, mellow and sweet, perfect for a tomato salad or pasta sauce. The method couldn't be easier, and if you're looking for a new favorite salad dressing, this just might be it.

Recipe for pear and brie salad with cashews and dried cranberries

If you want to make this pear and brie salad just the way I made it, be prepared for a lot of prep time. Twelve years of prep time. First, buy a house with a pair of untended pear trees. Spend a few seasons pruning them to a third of their original size (and don't worry about the fact that they tilt precipitously, like that tower in Pisa). Every other year or so, harvest the pears when they are rock hard, and set them on the window sill. Check them every day. They will ripen, all of a sudden, and that is the day to make this salad. Substitute freely for everything except the pears; arugula can swap in for lettuce, fontina for brie, pecans for cashews, dried cherries for cranberries. Pear season lasts into the colder weather, making this a great salad for Fall.

Five favorite quick-and-easy slaw recipes, for picnics, potlucks or barbecues

When it comes to slaw, are you cabbage, or are you broccoli? In the house where I grew up, slaw meant cole slaw, made with cabbage and a token shredded carrot, drowning in mayonnaise and served alongside potato salad (also drowning in mayonnaise). In my own kitchen, I prefer broccoli slaw: the slivered stems of broccoli, with carrots and a bit of purple cabbage or radicchio, and a tangy or spicy dressing. To me, picnics, potlucks or barbecues feel incomplete without some sort of slaw on the table. Here are five of my favorites.