Salad (2011 - 2015)

[FauxPas]

I really enjoy seeing your posts on such a variety of topics and appreciate the time you take to do photos, make links, etc. 

 

Your Sundance link took me to a Kansas horse farm, though. I wonder if this is the right one?:

 

http://www.sundancenaturalfoodscompany.com/

 

Citrus growing is interesting to me. We have a very good local grocery chain here on Vancouver Island which has contracted with Buck Brand organic citrus in California and now buys their entire crop. We are still getting some of their fruit but it feels in-between seasons to me. There are better grapefruit than oranges, currently, for example.

 

I have grown some citrus at our place in southern Arizona - Ruby red grapefruit, Cara Cara orange and tangerine. But it's a bit tricky there - summers are so hot and winters can be cold. We lost some of our early trees. I know you grow herbs, maybe veggies, do you have fruit/nut trees yourself? 

 

Here in BC, I have a few hazelnut trees and it's a battle to get them before the deer and the raccoons do. Also, apple trees all around. 

 

All these things are wonderful in salads, as well as cooked dishes. 

 

And yes, that CSA box looks delish! We have several farm markets here, nothing is more than 10 mins away, so we go to them. But for urban living, your situation is heavenly! 

 

And once again, I love seeing your posts and all the wonderful things you do with the bounty you have available! 

Edited July 9, 2014 by FauxPas (log)

[rotuts]

here:

 

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/148424-dinner-2014-part-3/page-19#entry1976837

 

bottom plate  two salads, nice in the heat :

 

Potato, and 'Bread salad'

[Smithy]

I'm glad to see you have access to Valencia oranges, FrogPrincesse.  I remember them as being wonderfully sweet and juicy - and very convenient since they were available when the Navel oranges had all been picked - but farther north in the San Joaquin Valley they're being replaced because there's no market for them.  Perhaps that trend is beginning to reverse.

 

How did you prepare the golden beets?  I've been exploring beets a bit, and have a couple languishing in the refrigerator (where they probably don't need to be) while I decide what to do with them.  Your salads look like a good option.

[FrogPrincesse]

How did you prepare the golden beets?  I've been exploring beets a bit, and have a couple languishing in the refrigerator (where they probably don't need to be) while I decide what to do with them.  Your salads look like a good option.

 

I prepare them like regular beets - I trim them (leaving about 1/2 inch of the stem), scrub and clean them really well, place them on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap the foil around them, and roast them in the oven at 400F until tender (45 min to 1 hour depending on the size. I test them with a knife if needed.). Then I just peel them when they are cool enough to handle.

Edited July 9, 2014 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FauxPas]

I have the Cuisinart steam oven so I steam-bake the beets in it w/o any foil. 

 

Here is a salad I make frequently at this time of year when we get the fresh local nugget potatoes and local green beans and the tomatoes are good (though not always local). Warm potato salad - steam or steam-bake those lovely little nugget potatoes then add green beans to steam a bit more, some kind of chopped onion and mix together while still hot with some chopped tomatoes and the onion. A bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with feta cheese and maybe some green onions. 

 

This alone can be dinner. 

 

Edited July 10, 2014 by FauxPas (log)

[FauxPas]

FrogPrincesse (thanks!) got me started on this one - it contains peaches and golden beets, along with butter lettuce, Walla Walla onion, sweet red pepper and goat cheese. Almost everything is local or from nearby. Dressing was comprised of olive oil, white wine vinegar, fresh squeezed orange juice, a touch of honey, basil and pepper. 

 

 

 

[Smithy]

That's beautiful, FauxPas. I love the napkin, too: it's lovely on its own, and perfect with the salad!

[FauxPas]

Over at Serious Eats, they have a new article on how to make extra-tangy, extra creamy macaroni salad. Once or twice a year I get a craving for a macaroni salad, so thought I'd make use of their tips and I was pleasantly surprised. The extra cooking time and the up-front addition of the vinegar made a difference. Really perked up a simple mac salad.

 

 

[BeeZee]

Over at Serious Eats, they have a new article on how to make extra-tangy, extra creamy macaroni salad. Once or twice a year I get a craving for a macaroni salad, so thought I'd make use of their tips and I was pleasantly surprised. The extra cooking time and the up-front addition of the vinegar made a difference. Really perked up a simple mac salad.

when I was a kid, my Mom made a macaroni salad with tuna (canned, of course, this was the 70's after all) where you put French dressing on the noodles while still warm (then after it cooled, some sour cream and other stuff was added) as the first step of dressing it. Makes perfect sense.

[HungryChris]

I like salads and often like to include something like avocado, pickled roasted beets, palm hearts or canned or marinated artichoke hearts. The other day I made my version of chicken mei fun and opened a can of bamboo shoots which I do reluctantly because I usually end up throwing the rest of the can away a few days later. This time I drained the unused shoots and put them in a container with vinegar based salad dressing to cover. The next day I included them in the corn and tomato salad I brought to work for lunch. I love the texture and flavor and will not be throwing  them away again.

 

HC  

[Sophie Cook]

Here's a photo of a recent watermelon salad I made. Perfect in Summer! 

You can read the recipe here.

 

[Anna N]

I like salads and often like to include something like avocado, pickled roasted beets, palm hearts or canned or marinated artichoke hearts. The other day I made my version of chicken mei fun and opened a can of bamboo shoots which I do reluctantly because I usually end up throwing the rest of the can away a few days later. This time I drained the unused shoots and put them in a container with vinegar based salad dressing to cover. The next day I included them in the corn and tomato salad I brought to work for lunch. I love the texture and flavor and will not be throwing  them away again.

 

HC

Neat idea. Thanks for sharing. Going to file it away and hope I can retrieve it at the appropriate time.

[Shelby]

Here's a photo of a recent watermelon salad I made. Perfect in Summer! 

You can read the recipe here.

 

This looks delicious, Sophie!  I have a big, fat watermelon in the garden that is about ripe.  I will make this!  

[FauxPas]

Salad of baby greens with fennel, celery, bacon, apple, pecans and a caramelized apple vinaigrette. Posted here on Apple thread also, but thought it fit well here also. Based on a recipe at Food52. 

 

[GlorifiedRice]

Okay Im half joking half serious here...

 

I love salads! I eat one every day, but I sometimes dont want all that crunching and chewing. its too much at times. Salads take a long time to eat.

Has anyone ever juiced a salad?

[GlorifiedRice]

Also these Dole Chopped Salads need to be eaten with a large spoon. They cannot be eaten with a fork.

http://wincofoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DoleChoppedBlends.jpg

[FrogPrincesse]

FauxPas - nice-looking salad, very autumn-like with the apples and the nuts.

 

Summer is still in full swing in San Diego. Yesterday I made this quick salad for a picnic with baby tomatoes, grilled corn, feta, tarragon (homegrown). The dressing was kalamata olive oil with sherry & red wine vinegars, and plenty of back pepper.

 

 

 

Today for lunch I had this one with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, feta, tarragon, olive oil, red wine vinegar (and a glass of Zaca Mesa Chardonnay).

 

 

 

 

[rumball]

Has anyone ever juiced a salad?

you can think of gazpacho as a liquid salad. but then i am not talking about restaurant style pureed mostly tomato thing. 

of course, i still use plum tomatoes canned in juice, pureed and  diluted by 1/3 with water and cooked minimally for 3-5 min as liquid, but then you add diced celery, cukes, red bell pepper and MORE tomatoes, parsley, spices....can add some dry white wine too.. so it becomes a liquid salad. actually that is exactly how i called it when i was describing it to my mom - a salad that does not require so much chewing..

if you also grate pepper/celery/cukes - there is very little chewing left (for those who sadly can't or don't want to do it a lot), but the taste is the same.

i prefer mostly raw/roasted veggies myself for salads, but i also convert various dishes from soups to sides or 'main salads' quite often.

depending on ingredients, of course, addition of diluted yogurt can almost stretch it into a soup of a kind. you can also dilute it with veggie juices raw or pasterized - spicing the liquid similar to dressing will make more like a soupy salad .

then there is bulgarian yogurt soup (tarator) - where you add chopped walnuts/cukes/dill and garlic to yogurt base.

then there is 'cold russian borsch' - that is you simmer beets until done and then add chopped fresh cukes, sliced cooked beets, chopped hard boiled egg and chopped fresh dill. you can add some garlic/scallions/chopped walnuts too. or grate most veggies. that should qualify for liquid salad too.

they are mostly cold soups, as i think raw veggies would be funny in hot soup.

but i very often put raw garnishes in my soups too, since i just want my fresh veggies ALL the time... it's not exactly a salad, but sort of in-between.

like i add chopped scallions/watercress and sliced cherry tomatoes to my boullabaisse.

and chopped cherry tomatoes/diced red bell pepper to my corn chowder.... you get the idea.

herbs go in instead of 'green salad' - parsley/dill/cilantro. and watercress is just a fantastic actual salad green addition. most creamy chowders can take it fantastically.

mexicans have this tortilla soup, where you add raw fixings to a creamy soup, just like for tacos fresh avo, chopped iceberg, scallions, hot-pepper or salsa cruda (tomato-cilantro-onion-jalapeno)

i prolly can come up with more examples, given time.

[GlorifiedRice]

What is the correct way to eat a CHOPPED SALAD?

Fork? Spoon? Spork?

[Smithy]

What is the correct way to eat a CHOPPED SALAD?

Fork? Spoon? Spork?

Why, has someone given you grief over the Dole salads in your Aug 31 post in this topic? I'd expect the answer to be 'whatever works best for the eater'.

[huiray]

Chopped salad?  If you are referring to what I am thinking about - then, SPOON, of course.  Fork alone as a poor second choice.  Fork and spoon, if the serving  bowl allows that.  The people who look askance at me as I spoon the salad to my mouth can go f*ck themselves.**

 

(Just as folks who gasp at my eating curry with rice on a plate with fork and spoon need to get out more in the world)

[GlorifiedRice]

Why, has someone given you grief over the Dole salads in your Aug 31 post in this topic? I'd expect the answer to be 'whatever works best for the eater'.

 

 

Oops! Im sorry!  Brain isnt working as well as it used to.

[GlorifiedRice]

Chopped salad?  If you are referring to what I am thinking about - then, SPOON, of course.  Fork alone as a poor second choice.  Fork and spoon, if the serving  bowl allows that.  The people who look askance at me as I spoon the salad to my mouth can go f*ck themselves.**

 

(Just as folks who gasp at my eating curry with rice on a plate with fork and spoon need to get out more in the world)

Is there a special spoon though?

[huiray]

Is there a special spoon though?

 

Not that I know of.  Just use a soup-type spoon whether round or oval (=Tablespoon).  Or a Chinese-type spoon, the ones with an elliptical/oval flat-bottomed "bowl" and a handle at an angle to the bowl.  If you are a giant and your mouth is of the expected dimensions then, hey, a serving spoon would work better (and the serving of salad would be commensurately much larger, of course)  If you are a child and have a small mouth, then why, a teaspoon might be called for.  The standard set of implements at a Korean meal usually include a pair of metal chopsticks and a fairly long-handled metal spoon - maybe you might like that long-handled type.  I.e. whatever works best for you.

Edited October 9, 2014 by huiray (log)

[gfweb]

for some reason I have no problem with metal forks and spoons, but Korean metal chopsticks feel like dental tools in my mouth.

 

I understand that this isn't rational.