Salad 2016 –

[blue_dolphin]

8 minutes ago, heidih said:

Is the cauliflower just thin sliced & raw? I was offered too many of those bought from the grocery store raw veg & dip trays - so I have avoided playing with it. 

 

Yes.  The recipe says the raw cauliflower is to be, "shaved into thin vertical cross pieces, leaving the core intact," whatever the heck that means 🤣

At first, I thought it would have been better to slice the cauliflower similarly but roast it instead of raw.  Turns out the texture of the thin, raw slices works quite nicely here.  Though roasted, crispy bits have their own charm!

 

[blue_dolphin]

Another Abra Berens cauliflower salad, this one from Ruffage. Shaved cauliflower salad with smoked whitefish mayo, lemon, radicchio and herbs. Plus a bonus sandwich below. 

As in the barley salad above, I subbed smoked trout for the whitefish.  Had this as a main dish salad and ate it all up. I thought this was quite good and would make it again.  

And, in fact, I did make it again! This time, I made enough for a side salad and planned leftovers. 

Here's the salad:

This time I used a mandoline instead of a knife to cut the cauliflower. Both were fine. 

 

Now, about the leftovers. In the intro to the cauliflower section in Ruffage, Abra mentions how her cooking is sometimes similar to Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal cooking and describes using the leftovers from one of the raw cauliflower salads in a sandwich.  I did the same, adding more smoked trout to the leftover salad and tucked everything into a pita for a bonus lunch the next day.  

Gingery quick-pickled beets and citrus carrots from Snacks for Dinner on the side. Everything recommended. 

[heidih]

I like selecting, slicing/dicing and assembling dressings for salads. But - as a singleton who likes variety I do on occasion buy the kits. Were I to buy the various ingredients - well cost amd waste. So today a Thai ispoired one. I always add onion and vinegar and do not use the toasted quioa packet as  find it adds nothing and sogs out with the leftover. Most kits last me at least 2 days. I use the grain like bread crumbs.

[Shelby]

16 hours ago, heidih said:

I like selecting, slicing/dicing and assembling dressings for salads. But - as a singleton who likes variety I do on occasion buy the kits. Were I to buy the various ingredients - well cost amd waste. So today a Thai ispoired one. I always add onion and vinegar and do not use the toasted quioa packet as  find it adds nothing and sogs out with the leftover. Most kits last me at least 2 days. I use the grain like bread crumbs.

This looks really good.  I like and buy salad kits a lot especially during the winter.  Misfits had them at a good price.  I've never seen this type with the quinoa before.  

[Tropicalsenior]

On 4/9/2023 at 10:07 PM, blue_dolphin said:

Gingery quick-pickled beets

That sounds really good and something that I would like to try. Is this a recipe that you could share?

[blue_dolphin]

12 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

That sounds really good and something that I would like to try. Is this a recipe that you could share?

 

Check your messages.  He cuts the beets and par-cooks them before pickling.  I started with already roasted beets and it worked fine.  I'll try his way next time!

[Tropicalsenior]

I just made half a batch. Went to get my beet and it looked like a shriveled Rubber Ball so I wound up using canned beets.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[heidih]

My dad snarked at his wife the other day for putting dill pickls in their regular green salad w/ Ranch. So this marked down kit today caught my eye. We shall see.

Edited June 13, 2023 by heidih (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Beet Carpaccio with Strawberries, Flowers and Fennel Seeds from Abra Berens' book, Pulp. 

The beets are roasted and mandoline-d into thin slices, dressed with a lemon/orange vinaigrette, decorated with strawberries, edible flowers and candied fennel seeds. 

 

[heidih]

8 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Beet Carpaccio with Strawberries, Flowers and Fennel Seeds from Abra Berens' book, Pulp. 

The beets are roasted and mandoline-d into thin slices, dressed with a lemon/orange vinaigrette, decorated with strawberries, edible flowers and candied fennel seeds. 

 

Candied fennel seeds interest me. Method?

[blue_dolphin]

8 minutes ago, heidih said:

Candied fennel seeds interest me. Method?

 

Sugar + a little water in a pan.  Cook into a syrup.  Add fennel seeds.  Continue to cook and stir 'til the syrup crystalizes on the seeds. 

 

There's a recipe in the book but I already had some hanging around from making this Ottolenghi pineapple herb sorbet and his recipe is much more detailed!. 

[blue_dolphin]

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. 

[SLB]

So, I went to a conference last weekend at a wonderful site in rural Virginia, a site with legendary food.  They served a broccoli salad that was pretty traditional-Southern (except cranberries for raisins), and which was just delicious.  So I am now on a broccoli salad tear, and am very interested in ones you've had that you particularly enjoyed.

 

I'm also interested in how I can get around the sugar that is called for in most of the mayonnaise-based recipes.  I appreciate its function as a balance of flavor, and feel comfortable adjusting downward the amount called for.  But I'm interested if anyone here has converted the sweetness in a savory dressings/sauces into some other kind of flavor (not subbing in alternative sweeteners), but deploying some other flavor altogether.  It might be that the only real option is to just try to get away with less sweetness, but it seems like there might be a general approach.  

[heidih]

@SLB Miy favorite way is not traditional. No mayo and no cold creepy grated cheese. I roast half a big head (broken to florets) with olive oil until just starting to char. Rather than salt sprinkle I do fish sauce sprinkle. Other half lightly cooked  or raw - cut up smallish so does not take forever to chew. Mix together with dried cranberries, good amount of raw garlic, lots of cracked black pepper, touch of Dijon, and sprinkle with balsamic. The mustard is a personal favorite with cruciferous vegetables. The balsamic lends a sweetness. The olive oil from the roasted half is usually enough for whole bowl. Let sit a while to allow happy flavor mingling.  In green garlic season i like that white and green instead of mature cloves.

[heidih]

PS: sometimes some chopped toasted nuts for crunch to offset cranberry chew.

[SLB]

That sounds DELICIOUS. 

 

Thank you!!

[heidih]

 @SLB I like that same general process with brussells sprouts- larger halved, and little nugget ones whole. I m not overly fond of the shaved raw trend but if you are...  Have fun.

Edited July 17, 2023 by heidih (log)

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, SLB said:

So, I went to a conference last weekend at a wonderful site in rural Virginia, a site with legendary food.  They served a broccoli salad that was pretty traditional-Southern (except cranberries for raisins), and which was just delicious.  So I am now on a broccoli salad tear, and am very interested in ones you've had that you particularly enjoyed.

 

I'm also interested in how I can get around the sugar that is called for in most of the mayonnaise-based recipes.  I appreciate its function as a balance of flavor, and feel comfortable adjusting downward the amount called for.  But I'm interested if anyone here has converted the sweetness in a savory dressings/sauces into some other kind of flavor (not subbing in alternative sweeteners), but deploying some other flavor altogether.  It might be that the only real option is to just try to get away with less sweetness, but it seems like there might be a general approach.  

 

Funny that you should mention this now. I'm on a salad tear in general, and for the first time in several months decided to make a broccoli salad. Here it is so far, sans dressing: broccoli, toasted walnuts, crumbled bacon, and barberries (NOT raisins, nor cranberries). Like @heidih, I don't like cheese in mine. I just now remembered that I usually add chopped red onion; since I'd forgotten it, I may leave it out.

 

 

 

My usual dressing is the mayonnaise type with red wine vinegar, half and half (because we have no milk) and a touch of sugar. I don't like much sugar in mine; for my tastes, it easily can get too sweet.

 

Since mine isn't dressed yet, I may set some aside to try Heidi's version, although my broccoli hasn't been roasted. Hers sounds really good too!

[chromedome]

I don't sweeten mine at all. I typically peel the stems and thin-slice them, then cut the thin slices into julienne. Once that's in the bowl I chop the heads to a fairly crumbly texture (and sometimes add cauliflower just for the contrasting color). My GF can't envision broccoli salad without cheese, but I usually cut mine into reasonably small dice rather than shredding it. I like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds in mine as a textural element. Used to add bacon but my poor sweetheart can't eat it anymore, so we do without. Dressing of mayo, dijon and either cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Salt enough to balance things out (more, now, absent the bacon). It occurs to me that I have a bit of applewood-smoked salt, which might help compensate for the bacon's loss.

[Darienne]

37 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Funny that you should mention this now. I'm on a salad tear in general, and for the first time in several months decided to make a broccoli salad. Here it is so far, sans dressing: broccoli, toasted walnuts, crumbled bacon, and barberries (NOT raisins, nor cranberries). Like @heidih, I don't like cheese in mine. I just now remembered that I usually add chopped red onion; since I'd forgotten it, I may leave it out.

 

 

 

My usual dressing is the mayonnaise type with red wine vinegar, half and half (because we have no milk) and a touch of sugar. I don't like much sugar in mine; for my tastes, it easily can get too sweet.

 

Since mine isn't dressed yet, I may set some aside to try Heidi's version, although my broccoli hasn't been roasted. Hers sounds really good too!

I love this salad, but don't make it often.  It's so rich...like a dessert almost.  Yummm.

 

No cheese here either...

Edited July 17, 2023 by Darienne (log)

[Smithy]

I split the batch of broccoli salad, dressed some in my usual way and the rest according to @heidih's plan, barring the fact that the broccoli wasn't roasted. Both batches are resting quietly and settling in.

 

 

I must say that the batch without mayonnaise looks more attractive to me: the mayo-dressed batch looks washed out, doesn't it?

 

I'll post tasting notes later.

[SLB]

I can't wait.  

 

In truth, I think all mayo-based broccoli salads look somewhat unpleasant; which makes for more impact when the delicious hits. 

 

And thanks so much, all of you.  I'll report back, too!

Edited July 17, 2023 by SLB (log)

[Smithy]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

I split the batch of broccoli salad, dressed some in my usual way and the rest according to @heidih's plan, barring the fact that the broccoli wasn't roasted. Both batches are resting quietly and settling in.

 

 

I must say that the batch without mayonnaise looks more attractive to me: the mayo-dressed batch looks washed out, doesn't it?

 

I'll post tasting notes later.

 

3 hours ago, SLB said:

I can't wait.  

 

In truth, I think all mayo-based broccoli salads look somewhat unpleasant; which makes for more impact when the delicious hits. 

 

And thanks so much, all of you.  I'll report back, too!

 

I don't know whether you were including me in the "I can't wait" note, but here are my notes, based on tonight's tastings:

 

1. I think both versions are delicious!

2. @heidih's version is deeper in flavor, less heavy on the tongue, and perhaps more delightful because the flavors are very different than my normal conception of broccoli salad.

 

The upshot: I don't plan to abandon my mayo-based version, because I still like it. However, I'm adding Heidi's version to my salad repertoire. It's a lovely, fresh take on broccoli salad and an excellent change from the old standard!

[heidih]

I'll just add that I have nothing against a mayo based one - it can be comforting (w/o the cheese!). I used to get delightful fried zucchini at a little place that served it with the perfect homemade ranch dressing. Nothing like the drivel out of a Kraft bottle If I found a similar dressing I'd try that in a broccoli salad.  https://www.allmenus.com/ca/harbor-city/350657-three-brothers/menu/

Edited July 18, 2023 by heidih (log)

[SLB]

I definitely was referring to your feedback, @Smithy.

 

I made a take on @heidih's but used champagne vinegar instead of balsamic, and some Afghanistani raisins that I bought for the children who come over and have been languishing in the cupboard.  Also, toasted slivered almonds, which were also languishing.  

 

I thought it was really good!  I particularly enjoyed the half-roasted/half-slightly-steamed combo.  I used more than a touch of mustard, and would do that again for sure. 

 

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Edited July 18, 2023 by SLB (log)