Vegan

Aloo Bhona

Ingredients

Each summer, Johannes Sailer—chef at Les Abeilles in the Provencal village of Sablet—creates an all-tomato menu. One year he opened the meal with this stunning soup: all red, all fresh, all full of honest tomato flavor. This liquid blend of tomatoes, seasoning, top-quality olive oil, and vinegar makes you fee as though you are drinking your salad!

The simplicity of this Calabrian dish is stunning, and for that reason there is no point in even thinking about it until that time in late summer when utterly ripe, red, and flavorful garden tomatoes are in season—preferably from your own or a neighbor's garden. That's where the flavor lies—there and in the use of fine extra-virgin olive oil, good crunchy sea salt, a zesty dash of hot red chili, and, of course, the charcoal fire on which the tomatoes are set to roast. Toast the bread over the charcoal embers after you finish the tomatoes, so it will be crisp but not tough and hard.

In truth, I came upon this perennial favorite of the Soupies using my most trusted and successful research technique: theft from a grandmother. A good friend named Brigitte, of the Austinite sub-species Priori manhattanitus, sat me down to a bowl of this, her Algerian Jewish grandmother's recipe. At the time, I couldn't afford a commercial immersion blender, so I couldn't produce it in quantity until a year later.

Ingredients

Ingredients

The ultrafine cauliflower purée makes the soup seem as if it is cream based—it's that shockingly satiny. The initial taste of the cauliflower comes off as earthy, but within moments it is clear just how regal this vegetable truly is. Dehydrated red onion pieces and Bibb lettuce leaves provide sweet and sharp flavor notes and a textural counterpoint, while a whisper of balsamic vinegar pushes this humble combination of ingredients to scale great heights.

This refreshing salad goes perfectly with the ham. To make short work of trimming the green beans, use kitchen scissors.