Salad 2016 –

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

Dammit, @blue_dolphin, I do not need another cookbook. Mind if I move in with you for a while? (Seriously, those all look delicious. I may have to buy that book.)

Thanks!  You are most welcome to swing by!  
Good Things was the book of the month for December in the cookbook group I participate in.  It didn’t grab me right away. It’s not a book to pick up at 5:30 when you’re already hangry but I spent a little advance prep time making a few condiments, dressings, etc and have been very much enjoying Samin’s creative ways of using them…and my own, too!  I need to write a little review over in the Cookbooks topic. 

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks!  You are most welcome to swing by!  
Good Things was the book of the month for December in the cookbook group I participate in.  It didn’t grab me right away. It’s not a book to pick up at 5:30 when you’re already hangry but I spent a little advance prep time making a few condiments, dressings, etc and have been very much enjoying Samin’s creative ways of using them…and my own, too!  I need to write a little review over in the Cookbooks topic. 

 

I may take you up on that! And yes, please write a review of the book.

 

This part really strikes home for me, where you said: 

Quote

...It’s not a book to pick up at 5:30 when you’re already hangry but I spent a little advance prep time making a few condiments, dressings...

 

This is the thing I keep telling myself I have to do. If I don't have prep work done by, oh, midafternoon then I'm going to be eating one of my planned-overs (tonight it was chili) or a grilled sandwich. I can't be messing around with washing, chopping, roasting, mixing and so on when it's almost dinner time already. I do need to work on that advance prep business, and her creative ideas might be good inspirations.

[blue_dolphin]

18 hours ago, Smithy said:

This is the thing I keep telling myself I have to do. If I don't have prep work done by, oh, midafternoon then I'm going to be eating one of my planned-overs (tonight it was chili) or a grilled sandwich. I can't be messing around with washing, chopping, roasting, mixing and so on when it's almost dinner time already. I do need to work on that advance prep business, and her creative ideas might be good inspirations.

Yeah, my chances of eating a salad increase dramatically if there’s a dressing prepared and greens washed. I’ve been using escarole & radicchio a lot lately because they’ve been looking great at the farmers market but importantly, they’re really sturdy so I can wash enough for a few days, spin dry, and store wrapped a towel. I should branch out and get some other options. 

 

Salad du jour was roasted honeynut squash and pear, escarole and radicchio dressed with the house dressing from Good Things, baked goat cheese and pecans.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Another salad based on the roasted vegetable salad matrix from Good Things. 
Roasted cauliflower, roll-cut carrots and chickpeas on a bed of baby kale with pickled onions, dressed with the tahini sbagliato dressing and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. 

The first time I used this dressing, I found it overly garlicky, surely due to my use of a huge garlic clove, but happily that flavor didn’t intensify and the roasted vegetable salad stood up to it just fine. 

[Darienne]

20 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Another salad based on the roasted vegetable salad matrix from Good Things. 
Roasted cauliflower, roll-cut carrots and chickpeas on a bed of baby kale with pickled onions, dressed with the tahini sbagliato dressing and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. 

The first time I used this dressing, I found it overly garlicky, surely due to my use of a huge garlic clove, but happily that flavor didn’t intensify and the roasted vegetable salad stood up to it just fine. 

That's it.  I'm moving to SoCal and will be your housemate.  I could live on salad.  We have it 2 out of 3 nights...I mean nothing else besides salads of all kinds. They don't look as good as @blue_dolphin's but I love them.

[blue_dolphin]

I made another roasted veg salad from the Good Things matrix:  roasted sweet potato wedges, lentils, pickled red onion, goat cheese and Calabrian chili crisp on baby kale & frisée lightly dressed with house dressing. 

The Calabrian chile paste from Good Things is kind of a PITA to make.  At first, I thought I’d just as soon but one of the many ready-made versions, but it’s growing on me and the crispy crunch from all the nuts and seeds is especially nice in this salad. 
Not sure why @Darienne hasn’t arrived yet.  Perhaps she is waiting for @Smithy to give her a lift in the Princessmobile? 

[blue_dolphin]

A simple carrot salad from Good Things. Kind of a riff on the classic carrot-raisin salad. This one tosses the carrots with dates, fresh ginger, garlic, ground cumin, cilantro and pickled Thai chiles, then adds a quick dressing of olive oil, lime juice, chile vinegar (from the Thai chiles) and salt. 

I piled the salad on a bed of baby kale that I dressed with the same dressing. 
This wasn’t a meal salad, I had it alongside a salmon burger for lunch. 
 

Edited January 13 by blue_dolphin (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Roasted butternut squash salad with pears and Stilton from Fine Cooking magazine (RIP)

The recipe called for bacon but I was out so I used guanciale and I pretty much ignored the plating instructions. 

[Darienne]

47 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Roasted butternut squash salad with pears and Stilton from Fine Cooking magazine (RIP)

The recipe called for bacon but I was out so I used guanciale and I pretty much ignored the plating instructions. 

Have you considered an additional career as a professional food photographer/plater?  Your plated salads look so inviting.

[SLB]

32 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Have you considered an additional career as a professional food photographer/plater?

 

I share this sense:  your food photos bring something that marketers dream of.  For what it's worth -- I'm interested in your food, and your reports about its taste and whatnot.  But your photos induce a whole separate pleasure [and, envy:  does everythign come out so . . . neat, in your home?  Girl, HOW??  ]. For real.  

[C. sapidus]

Avocado, mango, and fried plantain salad with brisket bacon, Gorgonzola cheese, and pistachios - from the Dinner 2026 thread

 

[Smithy]

First attempt at making and using the House Dressing from Samin Nosrat's Good Things (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I didn't bother trying any of her salad suggestions, as such: the salad is spinach, olives, tomatoes, a hard boiled egg, mushrooms and croutons. 

 

 

The "House Dressing" is a honey/mustard sherry vinaigrette. One of the interesting steps about it is that you finely dice a shallot, rinse it, then soak in the vinegar and a bit of warm water for a couple of minutes before whisking in the rest of the ingredients. I think the soak helped tame the shallot a bit. When I tasted the dressing by itself to adjust seasonings, I thought it would all be a bit much (too much vinegar, too much shallot) but atop the salad it tastes wonderful. I'll have no trouble using this batch.

 

Edited to add: @blue_dolphin links to the dressing recipe in this post.

Edited January 18 by Smithy
Added link to relevant post (log)

[blue_dolphin]

11 minutes ago, Smithy said:

First attempt at making and using the House Dressing from Samin Nosrat's Good Things

 

I’m glad you liked it!  I’m finding it very versatile. One of the book’s uses for it is a warm potato salad that’s next up on my list. 

[Smithy]

4 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I’m glad you liked it!  I’m finding it very versatile. One of the book’s uses for it is a warm potato salad that’s next up on my list. 

 

Oh, that totally makes sense! And as it happens, I have a glut of potatoes right now. Thanks for mentioning it!

[Smithy]

On 1/17/2026 at 6:19 PM, blue_dolphin said:

 

I’m glad you liked it!  I’m finding it very versatile. One of the book’s uses for it is a warm potato salad that’s next up on my list. 

 

I didn't get to that today after all, although I tried some of the dressing with mashed potatoes from the refrigerator and found it was a worthy lunch. I did start to pull potatoes from my frozen bucket in the garage, but they are so hard-frozen together that I figure I'll go after them with a chisel tomorrow. 🙂

 

What I did do today was make her Creamy Sesame Ginger Dressing, with the intent of having more than one dressing available in the refrigerator. After that I worked on outside chores, and when I came back inside (having given up on the potatoes) I was HANGRY. And not sure what to eat, but it needed to be quick.

 

I pulled together a salad of already-roasted vegetables -- handy things to have in the refrigerator -- and chickpeas, heated them in the microwave, tossed in some spinach, and dressed with that sesame-ginger dressing.

 

 

The dressing is another keeper. I had doubts about it when I was tasting it by itself, but atop those vegetables it's a fine dressing indeed.

[Smithy]

Lunch today is a very similar salad to yesterday's: roasted vegetables, cooked chickpeas, and (this is a change) a few bites of Juusto cheese, all gently reheated in the microwave oven, then tossed with spinach and dressed with the above-mentioned Creamy Sesame Ginger Dressing.

 

 

What's especially interesting is that the dressing is even better now that it's had time to sit in the refrigerator overnight. What a delightful blend of flavors! (The rewarmed Juusto helps, too.)

[blue_dolphin]

On 7/7/2023 at 4:17 PM, blue_dolphin said:

More beets!  This is a combo from Ruffage.  Roasted beets with smoked whitefish, sour cream and dill that I turned into a salad by putting it on a pile o'greens.

I went with Trader Joe's smoked trout instead of whitefish and used some leftover aji verde (garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice and mayo) instead of sour cream. 

I made this again with roasted, marinated beets, garlic and herb labne, and smoked sablefish from my weekly fish share.