Salad (2011 - 2015)

[BeeZee]

fennel and orange salad, simple and refreshing after a weekend of heavy eating!

[huiray]

A traditional Caprese last night with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and very fragrant basil (all from Trader Joe's). Seasoning was Arbequina olive oil, balsamic vinegar (both from TJ as well), black pepper, and fleur de sel.

http://farm8.staticf...b30b29ee2_z.jpg

For a less traditional take on the Caprese, see the Mozza thread here.

Myself, I like LOTS of basil with my Insalata Caprese. I also tend to make them only when I can get the nice mozz made in-house by Rosa (or Tony) Hanslits here. I like to use black tomatoes for this - Black Krim or Cherokee Purple...and, this summer, also Japanese Black Trifele, Nefertiti, Chocolate Amazon...but good "ordinary" tomatoes will do too.

Here's one plate I had back in June this year, drizzled w/ Alziari olive oil.

[FrogPrincesse]

Here is a recent salad wtih Warren pears, pomegranate, mixed greens (baby romaine and butter lettuce) and a walnut oil + sherry vinegar dressing.

[Jason Perlow]

This one we made over the weekend. Local Florida shrimp, cooked in Louisiana shrimp boil. Asian-style Peanut/Soy/Fish Sauce/Chile/Rice Vinegar salad dressing, mixed with rice noodles.

This is one with Costco scallops, seared, done a few weeks ago. Straightforward vinaigrette.

And a chicken larb done in a similar timeframe, I think back in November.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jason Perlow (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I had this (psychedelic-looking) salad with dinner last night. Cara Cara oranges, cucumber, watermelon radishes, mint, olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Crunchy and refreshing. It was based on a recipe in The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.

[M0ng00se]

rarerollingobject and SobaAddict70: Your salads look really sexy, great job.

I highly encourage everyone to get outside of the box and use different greens as the base of their salad. I have to admit I have shamelessly become a bit of a snob in regards to it. It's rare you will see me happy

eating a salad that has a base of lettuce or springmix.

Try using kale, arugula, watercress, basil (all types), rau om, and other asian herbs as your base. There's so much flavour to be had:

My standard signature salad is usually base of arugula, walnuts roasted in walnuts oil, baby heirloom tomatoes, and shaved double-smoked cheddar. Vinaigrette is very simple lemon zest lemon juice dijon olive oil, touch of maple syrup.

[liuzhou]

Chinese cuisine doesn't usually do salads. In fact, most Chinese people are very wary of raw foods of any description.

One exception is this dish from China's far north-east. It is known as 老虎菜 (lǎo hǔ cài), which can be translated as Tiger Salad.

Tiger salad is freshly made to order from very thinly sliced (juilienned) green onion (spring onion), cucumber, daikon radish, carrot, perhaps some green pepper and certainly coriander leaf (cilantro). The slivers of vegetation are mixed together then served with a chilli dressing. Some versions include thinly sliced chillies in the salad, then dress with a garlicky soy, vinegar and sesame oil dressing. The strips of vegetable are supposed to resemble the stripes of the tiger.

This is my version today. Carrot, spring onion (scallion), kohlrabi (replacing the daikon as an experiment and because I had some), green chilli and the obligatory coriander leaf. The pictures were taken before I dressed it with a Thai spicy mango dressing (not at all traditional).

Edited January 12, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[huiray]

Another exception to the "no raw food/salad" dictum in Chinese cuisine is a dish called "Yee Sang" (魚生) which has both raw and cooked vegetable components as well as raw fish. It is traditionally served on the 7th day ("Yun Yat", or "Everyone's Birthday") of the usual 15-day Chinese New Year celebrations, popular in the Chinese communities in SE Asia. Often served until the 15th day ("Chap Goh Meh" [in Hokkien]) in some places. (Some images here)

Here're pictures of some of my home-made versions. I used sashimi-grade raw salmon and tuna.

Before adding all the side-components and sauce and tossing:

After tossing:

Another batch, before-and-after:

...and one more, before tossing:

Edited January 12, 2013 by huiray (log)

[liuzhou]

That looks very SE Asian rather than Chinese. China inspired perhaps.

I've never found limes in China - other than in the Western food sections of a few (foreign) Beijing or Shanghai supermarkets. I've never met anyone here who knows what they are.

Despite living almost in sight of Vietnam, it is very difficult to get any SE Asian stuff such as limes, lemongrass etc.

[liuzhou]

Here's the dressed tiger salad.

[huiray]

The modern iteration of "Yee Sang" was indeed formulated in SE Asia, yes, but the origins of it is thought to possibly come from Shantou & Chaozhou. I consider it a "Chinese-cuisine-type" dish, or, if you like, a Malaysian-Chinese or Singaporean-Chinese dish in its modern form; i.e. more than just "China inspired". :-)

Some links here, here, and here; or even this, although the dish pictured looks different from the SE Asian versions.

Regarding limes - the "ordinary" limes found in SE Asia - other than Kaffir limes - are also not exactly the same as the ones found in the UK or in the USA. There is some argument about what exactly they are, with some folks considering their taste to be somewhat between a Western/US-type lime and a lemon.

[liuzhou]

Regarding limes - the "ordinary" limes found in SE Asia - other than Kaffir limes - are also not exactly the same as the ones found in the UK or in the USA.

Yes, but neither are generally available in China.

[huiray]

Regarding limes - the "ordinary" limes found in SE Asia - other than Kaffir limes - are also not exactly the same as the ones found in the UK or in the USA.

Yes, but neither are generally available in China.

Oh well, maybe you need some contacts in Hong Kong to send you some regularly. :-)

http://data.mongabay..., Hong Kong SAR

[PeterLG]

Couple of salads from summer.

Caprese with Buffalo Mozzarella, Spanish dry-cured pork, balsamico reduction.

Same theme. Romaine w/ Prosciutto & Mozzarella

[FrogPrincesse]

Inspired by a recipe in Babbo, a roasted vegetable salad with carnival squash, parsnip, torpedo onions, arugula, goat cheese toast.

All vegetables were from my CSA. The squash was cut in little cubes and roasted in the oven with olive oil and sage (wild white sage collected during a hike). The parsnip was sliced and roasted with cumin. Sherry vinegar and arbequina olive oil dressing.

Edited January 15, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Ericpo]

Ok, this is my first post on eGullet...Fennel Salad. I'm experimenting with this for the first time...what flavors pair well with raw fennel?

What I'm really trying to come up with is a crisp, cold salad. If at all possible I would like to incorporate some contrasting colors, for it is true that we eat first with our eyes.

So far, I have this:

Sliced raw fennel

Sliced green onions

Sliced yellow peppers

I toss these together, then drizzle with:

Extra virgin olive oil

White wine vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Suggestions?

[FrogPrincesse]

Ok, this is my first post on eGullet...Fennel Salad. I'm experimenting with this for the first time...what flavors pair well with raw fennel?

What I'm really trying to come up with is a crisp, cold salad. If at all possible I would like to incorporate some contrasting colors, for it is true that we eat first with our eyes.

So far, I have this:

Sliced raw fennel

Sliced green onions

Sliced yellow peppers

I toss these together, then drizzle with:

Extra virgin olive oil

White wine vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Suggestions?

Welcome to eGullet!

Fennel goes great with citrus. Orange wheels (blood oranges are in season here) with sliced fennel and some mint, for example. Olive oil/lemon juice dressing.

Edited January 19, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Darienne]

Welcome to eGullet Ericpo. You will no doubt enjoy your participation here.

As to salad dressings. FrogPrincesse mentions olive oil/lemon dressing which is what I use almost all the time. I find that vinegar dressings are bit too...well, vinegary.

But how about lime juice/olive oil dressings? Does anyone use this combination and on what ingredients? I have one salad - roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, poblanos and corn - two recipes I put together - which calls for lime juice? What else?

[Ericpo]

Thanks everyone!

FrogPrincesse: I live in North Dakota....if I could find a blood orange, you can bank that I'd try that combo! Regular 'Ol oranges will have to suffice.

hmmm, Darienne...Lime juice is delicious with chili's. If you have a favorite hot sauce, try adding a dash or two to the dressing. Also Cilantro is complimentary to lime, though it is a cliche. Here's a crazy thought: Vanilla. Sweet potatoes are awesome with a carmelized brown sugar sauce...why not with a hint of vanilla?

Also, I think I agree that vinegar is a bit strong with fennel. Which is why I used just a little white wine vinegar, for the delicacy of flavor. Though I might have to try a citrus blend instead. This salad is going on a menu that already features orange as a primary flavor...I will ponder.

[huiray]

Ericpo, try RIPE lime juice. :-)

As for fennel - try it wherever you might use celery.

Vinegar is too vinegary? Uhh, that logic escapes me. Just use less, or use a mellow vinegar. How about a good balsamic vinegar? (a good one, not the caramel-colored fake ones)

[Ericpo]

Huiray, I tried balsalmic...usually my favorite vinegar. It tends to overwhelm fennel's delicate licorice flavor, which is why I went with white wine vinegar.

[huiray]

Ericpo, I meant balsamic in a general sense wrt the side-discussion about vinegar, not necessarily with regards to fennel. :-) OTOH, a dash of nice balsamic (10-year old stuff, or 30-year stuff) - a very litle - I would not have thought would take over the taste of fennel?

[Keith_W]

Well since we are posting pics of our Yee Sang I thought I would show off the one I made for last year's Chinese New Year (well technically it's still this year). It was (is) the Year of the Dragon, so I carved a dragon's head from a carrot:

... then arranged the fish and peeled mandarin to look like a dragon:

Yes I know it is missing the green radish, but unfortunately you can't find it in Australia at this time of the year

[SobaAddict70]

Ok, this is my first post on eGullet...Fennel Salad. I'm experimenting with this for the first time...what flavors pair well with raw fennel?

What I'm really trying to come up with is a crisp, cold salad. If at all possible I would like to incorporate some contrasting colors, for it is true that we eat first with our eyes.

So far, I have this:

Sliced raw fennel

Sliced green onions

Sliced yellow peppers

I toss these together, then drizzle with:

Extra virgin olive oil

White wine vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Suggestions?

That depends on the season.

Since it's the middle of winter where I am, here are a few ideas:

Fennel, celery, cheese. Or pair with sliced mushrooms instead of celery. Dress with a lemon vinaigrette -- extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, herbs of your choice.

Or, fennel with radicchio, endive and honey-roasted shallots. Peel and trim shallots, then drizzle with honey, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast the shallots at 350 F for 20-30 minutes. Combine with the greens. You can make a dressing out of the shallot pan juices if you like, or the lemon vinaigrette above.

Or, try sliced fennel, watercress, roasted chestnuts and sliced Cara Cara oranges, Make a dressing of 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon white wine, sea salt, black pepper and about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Whisk the vinegars together in a small bowl, then whisk in the sea salt, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. You can use that dressing for any salad, not just this one. (Or sub in red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and red wine, for the white wine vinegar and white wine. I would use that for salads with meat, for example.)

[Ericpo]

Radicchio! That's exactly what is needed! Mmm, and I really like the idea of roasted shallots along with the other raw ingredients....I will give that one a try, SobaAddict70.

Thanks!