Salad (2011 - 2015)

[rarerollingobject]

Shaved zucchini, feta, red chilli and preserved lemon. Nice and refreshing.

[dcarch]

Jenni, picnic is such a good excuse for those wonderful salads.

Rebecca, the snap pea salad is so elegant looking.

rarerollingobject, I admire your incredible ability to orchestrate meat and vegetables into harmonious and delicious salads. Something I have been hesitating to try.

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Buffalo Mozzarella and home-grown Great White and Green Zebra tomatoes

dcarch

Edited April 8, 2011 by dcarch (log)

[rarerollingobject]

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Buffalo Mozzarella and home-grown Great White and Green Zebra tomatoes

dcarch

dcarch - incredible!!

[Jaymes]

Our favorite (by far) summertime salad is Watermelon Salad. We make it at least once a week, and often more. Everyone in the family, most certainly including the children, eats bucketloads of the stuff. And we think this is one of the best salads you'll ever find.

There are a lot of recipes floating around with lists of exact amounts of ingredients, etc., but basically:

Get a good, sweet watermelon, and chill it.

At dinnertime, seed and cube however much of it you think your family can eat, and put it into a big bowl.

Then add:

thinly-sliced sweet onions, like Vidalia, or Spanish reds, or Texas 1015's, or Maui

some Kalamata olives, seeded & halved

a handful of fresh mint leaves

a handful of crumbled best-quality feta cheese (we like the cheese imported from Israel or Bulgaria or Greece)

drizzle with a little good olive oil

splash with a little vinegar - wine vinegar, or balsamic, or sherry vinegar

Toss together and eat.

Yum.

Edited April 8, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[Jenni]

^^^

Jaymes, thank you for that recipe. I had something similar once on a much beloved holiday, and you have bought back a memory. I will definitely make it soon.

[rarerollingobject]

A nice one, adapted from a Rozanne Gold recipe:

Salad of oranges, radishes, rocket and pistachios, with a cinnamon, pomegranate molasses and honey dressing.

[dividend]

This recipe for Peach and Roasted Beet Salad is awesome. I love the pairing of beets with peaches. I ate it a lot last year in the late summer. It's a great side dish to roasted salmon. I think this combination would be great with a dressing of honey, ginger, and rice vinegar, but I'm a sucker for honey/ginger with fruit salads.

*It would help to spell BEET right, huh?

Edited April 20, 2011 by dividend (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Lately,

Curley Endive, salted Campari cherry tomatoes halfed, squeeze of lemon, nice oil

( Galardi ) works.. Fresh cracked pepper.

I love the bitterness ( endive ) and the sweetness ( tomato ).. could add a bit of ricotta salata if I had it.

Cheers

[auds]

My favorite favorite salad is fresh shell peas, just cooked; raw sugar snaps, sliced; pea shoots; sliced radishes; and goat or mild feta cheese. Either a light lemon vinaigrette or a honey cumin dressing. Picture TK when spring hurries up and gets here. I CAN'T WAIT FOR PEAS!

[OliverB]

this is semi on topic: I'm wondering if it's just me, or did you also more recently buy a bag or box of salad mix just to get a nice whiff of compost smell once you open it, even if it's totally fresh? I've returned quite some lately, even though most of the salad looked nice, the smell was simply off putting. I wish I'd have room in the fridge for a couple different heads of fresh salad, but it's not there, so if I want a mix of things I need to get those bags or boxes, but lately I've almost given up on them and just get a napa cabbage and slice some off for salad. Quality or freshness or what ever they do for preservation seems to lack lately, and not only at one store.

[pastameshugana]

Ok, dcarch, now you're playing with my head! That has to be one of the most spectacularly composed salad plates I've ever seen. My brain was tripping as one half was convinced the watermelons were cropped by the edge of the photo, and the other half was trying to decide if it could convince the wife to buy square salad plates just for the sake of making a salad like that.

Beautiful!

[rarerollingobject]

Posted also on the Dinner thread, but, it's a salad!

A very juicy and tasty Thai salad of: prawns, crispy roast pork, pomelo, mint, cashews, shredded ginger, chilli, and shallot. Dressed in fish sauce and lime juice, topped with crispy fried garlic and shallots, and served with prawn crackers for scooping.

[SobaAddict70]

Insalata di funghi -- oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, red leaf lettuce, extra-virgin olive oil, shaved Parmesan cheese, sea salt, black pepper

Takes about 10 minutes to make.

[TheTInCook]

Insalata di funghi -- oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, red leaf lettuce, extra-virgin olive oil, shaved Parmesan cheese, sea salt, black pepper

Takes about 10 minutes to make.

Are the mushrooms raw? I was taught that you're supposed to always cook shitakes because they can give some people a rash.

At this one tapas place I worked, I used to do a composed salad of roasted beets, goat cheese, and I think it was arugula or baby green mix. Pretty normal sounding right? Well, their were two kickers; a little drizzle of reduced beet juice, and on the bottom of the plate there was a smear of roasted beet/balsamic/brown butter puree. IIRC the dressing was a sherry vin.

[SobaAddict70]

Insalata di funghi -- oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, red leaf lettuce, extra-virgin olive oil, shaved Parmesan cheese, sea salt, black pepper

Takes about 10 minutes to make.

Are the mushrooms raw? I was taught that you're supposed to always cook shitakes because they can give some people a rash.

At this one tapas place I worked, I used to do a composed salad of roasted beets, goat cheese, and I think it was arugula or baby green mix. Pretty normal sounding right? Well, their were two kickers; a little drizzle of reduced beet juice, and on the bottom of the plate there was a smear of roasted beet/balsamic/brown butter puree. IIRC the dressing was a sherry vin.

Yes, they're raw.

I had this salad last night and I'm fine. But then, everyone is different. You can omit them entirely ... it will taste just as delicious.

[BeeZee]

I've found in those bagged salads (yes, they aren't ideal, but sometimes convenience is important) that when I get "that smell" there's usually a couple of slimy leaves mixed in somewhere. Shake the contents out and you'll find the offensive ones. Often they are stuck to the sides of the bags because of moisture.

[Anna N]

Posted also on the Dinner thread, but, it's a salad!

A very juicy and tasty Thai salad of: prawns, crispy roast pork, pomelo, mint, cashews, shredded ginger, chilli, and shallot. Dressed in fish sauce and lime juice, topped with crispy fried garlic and shallots, and served with prawn crackers for scooping.

I have never seen a salad that got me salivating like this one.

[Kouign Aman]

That whiff mostly seems to come from the redleaf lettuce in the mix, which goes to slime faster than the other components. It can be picked out, and the rest of the bag rinsed,but who wants to do that? YMMV

[FauxPas]

I love pomegranate seeds in salads. I like to make a baby spinach salad with sliced pears, walnuts and pom seeds on top, maybe some feta or a soft goat cheese or blue cheese crumbled on top. I make a vinaigrette with juice from some of the seeds and mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, honey and pepper.

I also like a warm potato salad with baby potatoes and lightly cooked green beans, mixed with halved cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, diced onion and a touch of oil and balsamic vinegar.

[dcarch]

A simple tomato salad

dcarch

[bmdaniel]

Tonight I made a SV asparagus, shallot, goat cheese and marcona almond salad with sherry vinaigrette - apologies for the terrible picture (but it was tasty).

[rarerollingobject]

Tonight I made a SV asparagus, shallot, goat cheese and marcona almond salad with sherry vinaigrette - apologies for the terrible picture (but it was tasty).

Beautiful! This kind of salad is right up my alley; how long did you SV the asparagus, and at what temp?

Edited May 28, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[bmdaniel]

15 minutes at 180F per MC (well, MC suggests 185F but my SV rig topped out at 180), then straight into an ice bath until chilled. Texture and flavor was very nice for the salad.

Just occurred to try bagging with the vinaigrette - might try that next time.

[rarerollingobject]

A raw beetroot salad (chioggia and standard), with mandarin juice, hazelnut oil and feta:

[Jenni]

Wowee that looks good! I notice you used hazel oil...I'm wondering what a few actual toasted hazel nut pieces would be like tossed into the mix. Must make this immediately!