Spring Salad with Strawberries, Asparagus, and Avocado-Orange Dressing

In case there are any long-time readers out there, I know it's been nearly a year since I've posted on this blog.  Although I have not been photographing or posting my food lately, my adventures in the kitchen have not stopped.  There are tempting recipes to be tried - always! - and now, more and more, I've been finding intriguing recipes through social media.  One site (service? obsession?) I've enjoyed has been Pinterest.  Maybe you've tried it too?  It's borderline-addictive to explore food (and crafts, and quotes, and decorating ideas, and organizational tips) that others have "pinned." And it's useful for me to save great ideas by "pinning" as I find them on my internet forays.

One thing that happens with my pins is that they tend to stay pinned - they sit on my pin boards looking beautiful, but that's often as far as it goes.  To date I've pinned 4,175 things.  As for finished projects from those pins? Um, just a handful.

To remedy this common (as it turns out) situation and get us all trying - and finishing - some of the things that we pin, my internet buddy Dorian has started a roundup for finished pins, pin finishers, or "pinishers" as she calls them/us.

This week's Pinisher roundup theme is "food" (her list of weekly themes here) and I have a pinished product to share, and to link up with the other Pinishers! 

I found this spring salad recipe in a link tweeted by Whole Foods about a month ago.  I pinned it immediately.  And then, wonder of wonders, I actually made it the same week.  And every week since then.

 n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe for spring salad on Whole Foods' website.  My pin for the salad is here.

- This salad is a snap to put together.  I shaved the raw asparagus with a vegetable peeler, and I mixed the salad dressing with an immersion blender.

- I have found it easier - and more attractive - to toss just the greens with the dressing in a large bowl and then portion them onto individual salad plates.  Then I top the greens with the asparagus and then the strawberries, spooning a little more dressing over it all.

 

the verdict:

I am so glad I pinned and tried this recipe; it will be at the top of my rotation, especially for springtime dinners.  It's perfect for entertaining because it can be prepped ahead of time and assembled quickly before serving.  And it's as delicious as it is pretty.

I'm linking to Dorian's Pinisher roundup: The Pinishers, volume 1, Food - head over there to see the different pinished products, and join in yourself any week.

Plum Caprese Salad

My dad was an inveterate reader of newspapers. He subscribed to at least 4 papers at any given time, and he was rarely, if ever, seen without a folded section of newspaper stuck in his back pocket. He took great delight in finding articles of interest to his relatives and friends; in fact, when my siblings and I grew up and left home my parents reserved a desk drawer for each of us, just to hold newspaper clippings. Every time I visited my parents I'd open my drawer to find a stack of newsprint articles with my name scrawled in pen across the top margin.

Some of my favorite recipes are ones that my father unearthed in the newspaper, usually the New York Times. My own newspaper reading is spotty, but I rarely miss perusing the Food section of any paper that's in front of me. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling the sections of the weekend Wall Street Journal, and on the front of the Off Duty section I noticed an article about the many uses of the herb basil. It was written by none other than Dorie Greenspan, and was complete with several appetizing recipes. I immediately pulled out the ingredients for a fanciful Basil, Mozzarella, and Plum Salad. This is, in essence, the old standby, caprese salad, but, in a stroke of genius, Dorie substitutes plums for the traditional tomatoes.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the article and recipe here.

- The first step in the recipe is to make basil oil, which is not difficult but takes a bit of time to infuse.

- Once the basil oil is steeped, it is used in two ways. It's tossed with salad greens, and it's also stirred into a mixture of plums, mozzarella, torn basil, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, salt and pepper. The salad is assembled by spooning the plum/mozzarella mixture over the greens.

- We had some non-plum eaters around our dinner table the evening I served this salad, so I made theirs a traditional caprese salad with tomatoes instead of the plums.

the verdict:

This salad is both surprisingly beautiful and unusually delicious. It's a wonderful transitional salad - perfect for the end of summer/early autumn, when stone fruit is plentiful, and fresh basil is readily available.

Steakhouse Tomatoes

Since becoming a food blogger three years ago (my blogiversary was a few days ago, and I totally forgot about it!) I've done a lot of reading about food, visited a lot of cooking sites, and clicked on tons of recipe links. One of my favorite online food resources is the James Beard Foundation website. The Foundation keeps very busy hosting guest chefs at the Beard House, and, of course, it also bestows the annual James Beard Awards for cookbooks and chefs. The site is a veritable font of recipes, by Beard and others.

While I was browsing the site Beard's recipe for Beefsteak Tomato and Onion Salad caught me attention. Here's how Beard introduced this recipe:

"A pleasant, simple salad or first course typical of steakhouses throughout the East and to a lesser degree in the West. It consists of thickish slices of ripe beefsteak tomatoes and good sweet onions, usually eaten with salt and freshly ground pepper and sometimes with oil and vinegar, served in cruets. Excellent with broiled foods."
-James Beard, James Beard's American Cookery (1972)

I've been in New York steak houses, but, truth be told, it's been at least 20 years since I stepped foot in one. And although I have warm recollections of the steaks we enjoyed, sliced tomatoes don't really stand out in my memory. I do love tomatoes, and Georgia is known for its sweet onions, so this recipe is a fantastic way to use our local fresh produce. As a bonus, it's a snap to put together.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe on the James Beard Foundation website, here.

- I used sweet Vidalia onions from Georgia.

- Just before serving, I sprinkled some chopped fresh thyme over the salad.

the verdict:

This very simple dish is classic for a good reason: it's delicious! Using summer's best tomatoes and sweet onions, this is a perfect complement to a grilled main course.

Summer Fruit Salad with Mint Sugar

While I know, and almanac.com confirms, that summer doesn't technically begin until June 21, I've always counted Memorial Day as the beginning of Summer. After all, don't the swimming pools open this weekend? Also it's the first day that it's appropriate to wear white, and nothing signals summer quite like a pair of white jeans (or shorts, if you happen to live in a place where it's just too darned hot to wear long jeans between Memorial Day and Labor Day.)

Holiday weekends are perfect for parties and eating out-of-doors. When we were invited to a picnic and asked to bring a side dish, I knew I wanted to use some of the beautiful fruit my fridge was harboring. This recipe for Summer Fruit Salad with Mint Sugar sounded like it would be pretty and tasty without being fussy and time-consuming to prepare.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I found the recipe in my big yellow Gourmet Cookbook. This book, which I recommended in my Christmas cookbook post, is a serious goldmine of fantastic recipes. I've not hit on a dud yet, including the three that I've prepared in the past few days. If you don't have the cookbook, you can find the recipe here.

- The cookbook cautions, "simplicity is the key to a successful fruit salad, so don't yield to the impulse to include every fruit you see on your cruise through the produce section." The recipe mentions grapes, sweet cherries and peaches. Although I had cherries, I didn't end up using them because I had four other fruits begging to be included - strawberries, grapes, blueberries and cantaloupe - and I didn't want to push my luck.

- The mint sugar is simple to throw together in a mini-food processor, and then it's sprinkled on the cut and mixed fruit. Voila! A finished dish in minutes.

the verdict:

This salad was lovely and quite refreshing as a side dish at a cookout on a very warm (euphemism for very hot) day. The mint gave the fruit an extra kick of flavor and brightness, not to mention a pretty green color note.

Pea Shoot Spring Salad

There are certain ingredients whose appearance in Spring is so fleeting, and whose flavor is so delicate, that they beg to be prepared in ways that allow them to show their charms before they are gone for another year. I love it when I can find pea shoots, either at the market or in my farm box, and I devised this simple salad to showcase their flavor.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- First I wash and dry the pea shoots, then divide them among my salad plates. Over the top I arrange sliced spring onions, toasted walnuts, sliced tiny radishes, chopped cucumbers, and crumbled soft goat cheese.

- I dress the salad with a simple vinaigrette:

Whisk together 3 Tablespoons of walnut oil, 1 Tablespoon of white wine vinegar, a dab of prepared mustard, salt, pepper.

the verdict:

To me, this salad is the essence of Spring! I happily return to it again and again as long as pea shoots are available.

Avocado Mango Salad with Goat Cheese and Bacon

My extended family has gotten in the tradition of eating a simple Mexican meal on Christmas Eve, centered on a chicken soup that my sister-in-law orders from our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Taqueria del Sol's catering department. I offered to bring salad because I was dying to make Rick Bayless' Avocado Mango Salad from his book, Mexican Everyday. (I highly recommend this cookbook)

Although I first tried this recipe on Christmas Eve, the good news is that it is not wintry at all, making it a perfect salad for any time of the year. I've made it a half dozen times since December, and I'm always thrilled to have the ingredients on hand in my fridge.

notes:
- You can find the recipe online here or here.

- To make this a quicker, you can use bagged butter lettuce, and even pre-sliced fresh mango. Frozen mango is a bit too watery when it thaws, I found. If you cook bacon lardons ahead of time, you can keep them in the freezer and pull them out to sprinkle on the salad as needed.

- For a vegetarian version, you can replace the bacon with caramelized onions.

- You might want to taste the jalapeno before using it; the ones from the market seem to vary greatly in heat. After tasting, you can decide how much or how little to use to suit your tastes. I've made the dressing with milder and hotter peppers, and it's good both ways, although I prefer when it has a bit of a kick to it.

- The dressing is a tiny bit of work, because you brown the whole garlic cloves and whole pepper in the oil before tossing it in a blender it with the rest of the ingredients. But if you make a double batch of the dressing, you can keep it in the fridge for salads all week!

- If you have an immersion blender, it works well for the dressing, and saves on the cleanup over using a full blender.

- Rather than the cheese mentioned in the recipe, I always use goat cheese in the salad, sometimes a local goat cheese from my farm box that's coated with hot Southwestern spices.

the verdict:

This is my new favorite salad! I love the way that the savory, creamy, salty, and sweet flavors combine, all tied together with the smoky, slightly spicy dressing. The salad is not aggressively "Mexican," so it's versatile enough to accompany any kind of main course. I've even eaten it as leftovers (already dressed) 2 days later, and still enjoyed it.

Blood Oranges, Dates, Parmesan, and Almonds (and Arugula, too)

I've come to realize that my very favorite kinds of salads combine greens with fruit, and cheese, and sometimes nuts/seeds. When I find a combination that I love, (such as this one with spinach, blackberries and goat cheese, or this one with grilled peaches and goat cheese) I will make it regularly as long as the fruit is in season.

Right now it's easy to find blood oranges in the market. For eating out of hand I prefer other types of oranges, but blood oranges really shine in this wonderful salad by Suzanne Goin, from her the book Sunday Suppers at Lucques (Knopf, 2005). I saw the salad on the lovely blog, Sara's Kitchen, and it looked so fresh and wonderful that I just had to try it. (Actually everything Sara cooks looks pretty fabulous! Her blog is on hiatus right now, but it's worth checking out her archives)

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe is at the end of this post, below.

- The salad is a snap to make, only requiring slicing the blood oranges and deglet noor dates, and toasting the marcona almonds. The dressing is a drizzle of oil - fancy unfiltered almond oil, if you have/can get it, or olive oil otherwise (that's what I used).

the verdict:

I really love the wonderful combination of sweet, salty, and peppery flavors of this salad. It's made repeat appearances on my table in these cool months. I increase the amount of arugula and decrease the Parmesan and the oil; in fact, I often omit the oil entirely. (And when I'm not photographing the end result I cut the oranges, and dates in smaller pieces!)

the recipe:

1/2 cup raw almonds
15 Deglet Noor dates
4 large blood oranges
1/4 pound hunk Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 ounces arugula
2 tablespoons pure almond oil
Fleur de sel
freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet, and toast 8 to 10 minutes, until they're slightly darkened and smell nutty. Cut the dates in half lengthwise and remove the pits.

3. Slice the stem and blossom ends from the blood oranges. Stand the blood oranges on one end and, following the contour of the fruit with your knife, remove the peel and white cottony pith. Work from top to bottom, rotating the fruit as you go. Slice each orange horizontally into 8 to 10 thin pinwheels.

4. Place the Parmigiano-Reggiano, flat side down, on a cutting board. Using a chef's knife, shave eighteen large thin slices of cheese from the hunk.

5. Scatter one-third of the arugula on a large platter. Arrange one-third of the oranges, dates, cheese, and nuts. Scatter another layer of arugula, and continue layering in the same manner, letting the ingredients intertwine together but not pile up on one another. Drizzle the almond oil over the salad, and season lightly with fleur de sel, pepper, and a squeeze of blood orange juice.

Note: Use an artisanal unfiltered almond oil, such as Huilerie Leblanc. The best nut oils are stone-ground and pressed into a pale brown full-flavored oil. If it's clear and looks like vegetable oil, it won't have the intense, toasted nut flavor we're looking for. If you can't find a good pressed nut oil, drizzle with your favorite extra-virgin olive oil instead. If blood oranges are out of season, you can use another delicious orange. The dish won't be as visually stunning, but it will still taste good

Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad

Ah, Fall! Thank you for the abundance of orange foods - pumpkins, butternut squash, sweet potatoes - and a plethora of ways to enjoy them. Sweet potatoes are most commonly prepared to emphasize their sweetness, with added brown sugar and cinnamon, but they can be fantastic in a spicy, savory dish, such as Mark Bittman's Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I didn't have red bell pepper, so used an orange one. It tasted the same, but wasn't as pretty.

- To amp up the heat, I threw in some additional chopped hot peppers.

- Just in case we might find the citrus overwhelming, I added half the lime juice.

- This versatile dish can be served warm or cold

the verdict:

I had high hopes for this salad, and it met and exceeded them! Despite the extra peppers that I added, there wasn't a ton of heat in this dish, but it was flavorful and delicious. I love that it can be served at any temperature, and can serve as a filling lunch or a side dish at Thanksgiving.

Mexican Street Salad

Browsing for recipes is one of my favorite pasttimes. My cookbook shelves are filled to overflowing and I love paging through them, contemplating the possibilities. On the bottom shelf is a basket piled high with magazine clippings and handwritten pages, an invitation to delicious exploration.

But lately the recipes come directly to me. Via Twitter. I "follow" a couple dozen content-heavy contacts - @finecooking, @nytimesfood, @ruhlman, @bittman, @beardfoundation, @MarthaStewart, @bflay, @seriouseats and the list goes on. From their tweets, I've learned about food, restaurants, cooking events, and at least several days a week I've learned what's for dinner at my house.

A fun person to follow on Twitter is Jamie Oliver (@jamie_oliver), the UK chef who champions cooking at home. Jamie's website features a recipe of the day, and it comes across daily on Twitter. Here are some sample Tweets from Jamie:

"rite u loverly lot recipe of the day is delicious blackbery and apple pie ... perfect for this time of year jxx" (Sep 25, 2009) [I bookmarked it]

"simple chicken salad recipe of the day http://bit.ly/gW1oS enjoy jxxx" (Oct 7, 2009) [I made it; will post soon]"perfect for this time of year, grilled and marinated rabbit ... jxxx" (Oct 13, 2009) [um, I'll probably skip this one]

One of Jamie's recent projects is "Jamie's American Roadtrip," a television show that's currently airing in the UK, and an accompanying cookbook, "Jamie's America." Some of Jamie's tweets are about the show:

"thanks for all the loverly mesages about the show last nite glad u all liked it the navajo were amazing jxx"(Oct 7, 2009)
" http://twitpic.com/ka3mj - me and the navaho queen from this tuesdays programe hope your all well jamie oxx" (Oct 4, 2009)

Here's one that really caught my attention:

"u can see loads of recipes from the new book http://bit.ly/1tuUpo just clik on the book cover jxxx" (Sept 1, 2009)

I clicked on the link and found some wonderful recipes from his American roadtrip. The Mexican Street Salad caught my attention immediately. I had cabbage on order from my farm box, so I made sure I had the other ingredients on hand.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- Essentially the salad is made up of lots of sliced fresh vegetables and hot chiles with a zippy dressing of lime juice, olive oil and salt.

- Jamie says that it's easiest to use a food processor or mandolin to slice the vegetables. I found an "as seen on TV" mandolin set at Marshalls, which I inaugurated with this recipe. The mandolin made quick work of the shredding with minimal cleanup. Given how sharp the blade is, however, I plan to use the hand guard every time I use it.

- Although the recipe suggests using or substituting other vegetables, I followed it as written: white cabbage, red cabbage, radishes, carrots, onions, hot peppers (I used our homegrown serranos). I'd love to try other veggies too: celery, fennel, green beans, sweet peppers, broccoli.

the verdict:

Although it has similar ingredients to a coleslaw, it has none of coleslaw's creamy subtlety. This salad is lively! It really emphasizes the taste of the fresh vegetables. I made half recipe and ended up with a ton of salad. It lasted well for several days and each time it was as delicious as the first. We never got tired of it, and the next week I made another batch!

Grilled Peach Salad with Finocchiona

Most of the time I avoid sweet flavors in my savory dishes (although I love savory flavors in my sweets, go figure!) but I do love fresh fruit with savory - especially salty - food; cantaloupe with prosciutto is one of my favorite ways to start a meal. So when I saw Jamie Oliver's recipe for Grilled Peach Salad I had a feeling that I would love it with some of our fabulous local peaches.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I didn't have bresaola (very thinly sliced, cured, dried beef) but I did have some wonderful finocchiona (a dry Italian salami with fennel), cured at a nearby restaurant/specialty store, that I used. Prosciutto would also be great with this salad.

- In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that I threw my peaches on a stovetop grill pan, along with the requisite herb sprigs. I also chopped some of the herbs and tossed with the peaches and olive oil before grilling.

the verdict:

This is my new favorite summer salad. I love how the flavor-filled herbed grilled peaches combine with the savory ingredients, and the dressing does a lovely job of pulling it all together. I actually licked the plate when this salad was finished! The first time I made this salad, I was eating dinner by myself, but I have since made it for my husband and daughter, and they both love it as much as I do.

Avocado Cilantro and White Onion Salad

Although I make some type of salad every single night for dinner, during the summer salad-making turns from a chore to a pleasure. Farmers' markets, farm boxes, and even the local grocery stores are all brimming with fresh, inviting produce. I can step outside my front door and snip just about any kind of herb (except cilantro, which gave up the ghost very early in the growing season).

I was excited to see that the August challenge recipe for the Tyler Florence Fridays group is Avocado, Cilantro and White Onion Salad. I had half an avocado hanging around the fridge, and all of the other ingredients were handy, so I made the recipe right away. And then I made it a couple of days later because 1) it was just that delicious, and 2) my pictures from the first batch were pretty terrible. My initial excitement gave way to lasting happiness when I realized that this salad was not just a summer veggie thing; these ingredients are available all year long!

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe on this Tyler Florence Friday post

- Since I only had half an avocado, I made 1/8 recipe.

- I used some local Vidalia onion, and some wild garlic from the farm box people.

- The recipe calls for "freshly picked" cilantro. Since cilantro is the one herb that had refused to grow in my garden I decided that "freshly picked up" from the grocery store qualified.

the verdict:

This salad was so delicious! Although I would have been tempted to throw in some tomato, the avocado and onion made for a great duo, with fresh and flavorful support from the lime and cilantro. I licked the plate. Both times I made it.

I'll be making this recipe again and again, no matter the season.

Thanks, Megan, for this outstanding recipe choice (and easy, too!) I've been away from TFF for quite a while - this recipe was a perfect way to return!

Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Pecans and Blackberries

Earlier in the summer I enjoyed the most delicious spinach salad at a restaurant. It had blackberries, goat cheese and candied pecans, and the dressing was a rhubarb vinaigrette. I love a good spinach salad, and this was the best I've ever eaten, a perfect blend of flavors and textures. I couldn't get this salad out of my mind, but luckily I didn't have to, because it was fairly easy to recreate a reasonable facsimile at home.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The restaurant used candied pecans, but I skip those and just throw on toasted pecans. If you live near a Trader Joe's, did you know that you can buy already-toasted baking pieces of pecans? What a great shortcut.

- I've used herbed goat cheese but prefer the plain in this salad. Most often, I use a lovely soft mild goat cheese from my farm box.

- I usually have my salads without dressing, as in the picture above, but I found a honey vinaigrette which I think pairs nicely with the goat cheese in the salad (see picture, below). I based it on this recipe. Here's my version:

• 2 T chopped red onion
• 2 T cider vinegar
• 3 tsp honey (in my case, sourwood)
• 1 tsp walnut oil
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• salt to taste

The restaurant used a rhubarb vinaigrette, which was lovely. You could use raspberry vinaigrette too.


the verdict:

I love this salad and make it at least once a week. It's not as wonderful as at the restaurant, but it is a good stand-in.

Hong Vit Salad with Three Radishes

Back in September I joined Moore Farms and Friends (my famous “farm box” people), an association of regional and local farms that offers a variety of products throughout the year. My membership is more flexible (and probably more expensive) than a CSA. Each week the farm projects what will be offered in its $20 and $30 size “Farmer’s Pick” boxes. If I like the assortment then I select the appropriate box, and can order additional produce and products. Or, for a few extra dollars, I can bypass the pre-picked boxes and order exactly what I want from the long list of available produce (and other products). I can skip any week that I want – I only pay for what I order. I’ve surprised myself by ordering a box every single week since I’ve joined, except for weeks when I am not in town on Wednesday to pick up my order. All through the winter there was delicious regional food, including citrus, bitter greens, farm eggs and butter. Everything tastes noticeably fresher - we love our food from “the box!”

I don’t end up with anything that I don’t expect or choose. But there are some unusual offerings that I decide to try just for the adventure! A couple of weeks ago, the farm box offered hong vit, an Asian salad green that is in the radish family. Only this family member is grown not for its root but for its leaf. At the same time I ordered a beautiful assortment of white, red, and purple radishes. I thought it would be fun to combine these two radish-y cousins in a salad.

The first thing I did was a little online hong vit research. Information was a bit sparse. On a Chowhound post, I saw this tantalizing summary of a dish the poster had enjoyed at Napa's celebrated Ubuntu restaurant:

"RADISHES with local chevre and nori
banyuls vinaigrette, smoked salt, HONG VIT"

Hmm, no pictures, not much to go on. A bit more digging turned up a tiny description of the dish here. From what I could gather it is a radish salad with accents of greens, and both sweet and smoky notes.

Although it was hard to tell exactly, the Ubuntu salad seemed to be in the same general direction I was headed - the combination of radish and radish green- and it gave me some further inspiration. I even had smoked salt! I wanted add more emphasis to the greens, without ignoring the radishes.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The hong vit had a good bit of field grit. After 4 washes it was a little draggled!

- I used a vinaigrette that I'd made, inspired by Mark Bittman’s instructions in How To Cook Everything, using white wine vinegar and just a touch of Dijon mustard.

- My daughter A.L.E. gave me some wonderful smoked sea salt from a small spice purveyor in central New York. I sprinkled that over the salad, along with some freshly ground pepper.

- To get a sweet and cheesy element I added some cubes of Gjetost, a caramelized cheese from Norway. My daughters had given it to me for Mother’s Day, and I knew it would be perfect complement for the sharpness of the radishes.

- The garnish on top was a perfect farm box strawberry!

the verdict:

We loved this new set of flavors. The hong vit was very fresh tasting, and paired nicely with the crisp radish and sweet tangy cheese. The mellow vinaigrette tied it all together. Overall, a fun experiment with a new (to us) salad green - thanks, farm box!

Grilled Potato Salad with Vinaigrette

My husband claims it's my German heritage, but I have never met a potato that I didn't love! (He's more of a rice man himself, but we both agree on the fabulousness of pasta.) A week or two ago I had some lovely fingerling potatoes in my farm box and figured they'd be delicious in potato salad. I turned to my new favorite cookbook, Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything and prepared his Grilled Potato Salad, with a Vinaigrette also inspired by the book.

The best part about the HTCE book is that in addition to the hundreds of recipes, Bittman also has lots of charts and tables with options for varying each type of recipe. You are free to branch out as much as you'd like, but he is there providing structure to advise and support you. This potato salad was a perfect case in point.

Making this simple dish (and it was simple) involved flipping among 3 different recipes/methods in the book:

1) his instructions for potato salad, choosing the grilled version

2) his method of grilling potatoes, using the broiled version

3) his recipe for vinaigrette, where I loosely combined many of the optional ingredients that he lists (my version is detailed in the notes, below)

n.o.e.'s notes:

- My potatoes were small red fingerlings.

- To cook the potatoes, I tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and broiled them 6" from a medium-high broiler for 12 minutes then turned and broiled 10 more minutes.

- Here's the approximate vinaigrette that I made (did not use all for my 1/2 pound of potatoes):

3T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp chopped garlic
1 T chopped spring onion
1 T fluffy parmesan from microplane

- I shook the vinaigrette and poured it over potatoes while they were hot. Then I sprinkled the salad with a couple sprigs of chopped Italian parsley and oregano, stirring until coated.

- I cooled the salad before serving.

- Sorry about the picture; I did not take a good shot of the salad itself before we ate it all!

the verdict:

This was a nice, simple, fresh way to enjoy new potatoes in the early summer! I love having a simple recipe like this in my arsenal, and I love the flexibility it provided me to use what I had on hand and produce a lovely salad.

Komatsuna Greens and Heirloom Tomatoes

Our farm box folks have been offering a great selection of greens. I ordered 2 bunches of a green I've never heard of: komatsuna, or "Japanese spinach." There aren't a whole lot of recipes out there specifically for komatsuna, so I started with a regular salad.


I had a bunch of assorted heirloom tomatoes on the counter, so I whipped up the simple Mixed Tomato Salad found in Everyday Food's Great Food Fast cookbook:

2 pounds mixed tomatoes, such as red or yellow beefsteak, cherry, grape, and pear - I used 1 pound
3 T. red-wine vinegar
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
1 bunch arugula (6 - 8 oz) washed well and dried - I used 8+ oz of mixed arugula and komatsuna

1. Core the beefsteak tomatoes; cut each into 8 wedges. Halve the grape and cherry tomatoes; leave the pear tomatoes whole.

2. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together

verdict

This salad was close to perfect. With just a 1:1 ratio of vinegar:oil, and some good red wine vinegar, the bright dressing highlighted but did not overwhelm the fantastic freshness of the varied tomato flavors. The komatsuna had a very mild, clean taste - I will order this green again, and make this salad again. Honestly, it doesn't get any easier - or tastier - than this. [edit: I've made this salad as written, with just arugula, and it's really great. I've also used this dressing with other salads, and enjoyed it. This time I just threw the komatsuna in there because I had it!]

The next day I sauteed some komatsuna leaves in olive oil with sliced garlic and pine nuts, stirred in a bit of leftover tomato sauce and spooned it all over pasta. It was delicious.


{Note: I'm celebrating my first 100 blog posts with a cookbook giveaway - to enter, go here and leave a comment before December 3}

Delicate Vinaigrette Tames Wild Greens

I forgot to mention earlier that I see that the dogs have been taking care of my blog in my absence. Hmm, that might merit an extra treat or two! I'll just take a quick minute to briefly share this delightful salad recipe:


Lately the salad mix in my box of veggies has been a combination of several marvelous mustardy greens. They taste good mixed with milder greens in a tossed salad, but I wanted to highlight their particular character, so I tried this recipe (Gourmet, found on Epicurious) for Farmer's Market Salad made with "strongly flavored wild greens."

cook's notes

- I didn't have champagne vinegar (although I thought I did) so I used white wine vinegar.

- Each time I've made this I've (unintentionally) neglected to follow the specific directions for combining the ingredients. I just put it all in the bowl and whisked. It came together well enough, I think.

the verdict

I've been enjoying strong greens in my salads for awhile now and don't usually give them much special treatment - except when I make an Italian type arugula salad. In fact, I often skip the dressing entirely. Well, not anymore! This is a fantastic, deceptively simple dressing. It has a 2:1 oil:vinegar ratio, and not much else, but it is beautifully balanced and complements the strong flavor of the wild greens perfectly. I'm keeping a jar of this dressing in the fridge; with a quick shake and we have a wonderful salad!

Rocket Time!

On my first visit to London, I noticed that the English seem to be mildly obsessed with rocket, their catchy name for arugula. It is on the menu at nearly every restaurant in the city. For a fixed price pre-theatre dinner at Portrait, the restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery, I had an arugula salad and pasta with arugula (we had a choice between two dishes for each course) and both were fantastic.

But it wasn't until my husband and I vacationed in Berlin a year ago that I began to be preoccupied with arugula myself. We ate at Italian restaurants for at least 5 meals and I had a "rucola" salad each time. Upon our return home I found myself craving this peppery-flavored green.

I try to always have a stash of arugula/rocket/rucola/roquette in the fridge, and I make an arugula salad at least once a week. My method is simple: toss the arugula with a bit of my best olive oil - just enough to coat the leaves. Pile on a plate, top with shaved parmesan cheese and halved cherry tomatoes. I find that the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes pairs very well with the sharp pepper flavor of the arugula. The parmesan provides a nutty/salty presence. You can add salt and pepper to taste, and even some chopped garlic.

Sometimes I omit the olive oil, when I'm being really virtuous (not lately, however!) and it tastes almost as good. But mind you, I am one that really doesn't mind eating my salads without dressing.

This salad makes a great accompaniment to any Italian dish. We always have this when we eat pasta. This evening I used the last of the cherry tomatoes that a friend gave us from her garden.

I've ordered some arugula plants from my farm box folks, and I'll see how/if I can keep it alive indoors this winter. I'd imagine it won't be prolific enough for salad, but maybe for sandwiches and pasta and garnish.

Summer Dinner Party II (Mexican): black bean and corn salad

This evening we invited another couple to dinner on the spur of the minute. We share a love of Mexican flavors, and I wanted them to try the chicken enchiladas verdes recipe that I found earlier this week. To complement the enchiladas, I made a black bean and corn salad. The original recipe, from the Georgia Pecan Commission recipe page, has orzo in it and it makes an all-in-one side dish, but this evening I served it without the orzo as a salad on a bed of lettuce. I've seen a similar dish called "Texas caviar" - this one is different because it has black beans, toasted Georgia pecans, and a very simple healthy dressing of lime juice, olive oil and cumin.

When life gives you cabbage...

Make coleslaw!

I had another head of cabbage in my fridge (after making this coleslaw last weekend), and although I have two old standby coleslaw recipes that I love, I thought I'd try something new to accompany our hot dogs on Labor Day. I tried a recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (a Costco find):

Creamy New York Deli Coleslaw

1 head cabbage (2 lbs) cored and shredded, (12-14 c)
salt
1/2 tsp caraway seeds (can substitute celery seeds)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Hellman's light)
2T white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar (I used the tiniest pinch)
pepper
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 small onion, minced
(I added thinly sliced red bell pepper)

Toss cabbage with 1 tsp salt and allow to sit in a colander for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.

Meanwhile, toast the caraway seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Rinse the cabbage, then pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.

Whisk the toasted caraway seeds, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, and 1/4 tsp pepper together in a bowl large enough to hold the salad.

Add the cabbage, carrots, and onion and toss. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.



According to the Test Kitchen, salting and draining the cabbage keeps the slaw from getting water-y in your fridge. By the time I decided on this recipe, I didn't have enough time to drain for an hour, so my cabbage drained for about 25 minutes. I also didn't have time to chill it before serving, and we had no leftovers (except for that little container, above, which I set aside at the last minute so I could photograph it!) so I didn't get to check the wateriness.

I made a bit less of the dressing - just measured everything about 1/4 short - and there was plenty of dressing to coat the cabbage. I'm not fond of my slaw swimming in mayonnaise-y dressing, and this was perfect.

The Verdict:

We loved this coleslaw and I can see making it again and again.


{update}
I did make this again, and this time I remembered to take a picture (below). The caraway seeds are missing, because I add them to my serving only (my husband thinks they taste bitter).

Summer Dinner Party, part 2: Lime & Peanut Coleslaw

To balance the spiciness of the chicken and the creaminess of the corn, I wanted a fresh and cooling salad to round out the dinner menu. I found a delicious coleslaw recipe on 101 Cookbooks. That food blog makes for great browsing, and this was my first recipe to try.

I used Napa cabbage; I find it lighter and more delicate than plain old green cabbage. I also roasted the peanuts as directed, but I think it would be fine to use pre-roasted in a pinch.

I doubled the recipe which made for some serious chopping (cilantro, tomatoes, cabbage) and juicing (limes), but I did everything in advance and just tossed it together at serving time, adding the peanuts at the end.

The Verdict:
This was quite popular with the dinner guests - everyone asked for the recipe. It was refreshing and a bit tangy. The only thing I'd change: the recipe called for far too many peanuts. I added peanuts until it looked right, and I had tons left over. Additionally, several people picked the peanuts out of their salad, so I might serve them on the side next time.

I'll be excited to try more recipes from 101 Cookbooks!

I would repeat the menu for this dinner party again: spicy (chicken), creamy (corn), and cool (salad) was a great mix. I wish I could post pictures of the spread, but I didn't take any photos before we all dug in!