Warm Yucca Salad

It's the beginning of salad season! But not leafy salad season yet, where I'm satisfied with just a few leaves and a good vinaigrette. But a little bit of a heartier salad with maybe some lettuce leaves on the side. And that's where yucca comes in, satisfying like a potato with a little bit of a chestnut flavor to it. It's a great salad to have to celebrate the beginning of salad season! Enjoy and happy weekend!

• about 2 pounds of yucca
• 1 medium size red onion, about 1/4 pound, quartered and sliced
• 1/2 pound mixed tomatoes, quartered if small enough.
• about 8 oil cured olives, pitted and halved
• 4 tablespoons olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• a squeeze of lemon
• sea salt
• ground black pepper
• anchovies*
• capers*
• arugula*

Trim your yucca at both ends. (To cut the yucca, I use a big old knife and to peel the outer layer, I use a small paring knife. Please be careful.) The ends are a little tough, so trim a little more than you think. Cut your yucca into manageable pieces and peel the thinner outer layer, sometimes it peels nice and smoothly separates and other times, it's a bit of a chore. Cut into smaller chunks. Rinse well and cover with cold water and sea salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes or so until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. You will see a small fibrous thread on some of the chunks that you can remove and then cut into smaller pieces and set aside in a bowl. While the yucca is cooling, in a pan, combine 4 tablespoons of the olive oil and the red onion, saute for about ten minutes, until softened, on low heat. Toss in the tomatoes and olives, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Toss the onion, tomato and olive mixture into the yucca chunks along with the remaining olive oil, vinegar, the squeeze of lemon and sea salt. I was in a salty mood today, so I tossed in some chopped up anchovy wrapped capers and I think it made the salad! Serve with a little arugula on the side for a nice peppery contrast. Serves 4.