Salads

[nicos]

Greek salad w/ roket and basil (or mix greens) extra olives and cheese

[suzilightning]

i love salads for dinner, too.

just made one last night with grilled andouille sausage, aged parmesan, tomatoes, englihn cuckes and raspberry walnut vinaigrette

another one we do especially if it is hot out is shrimp remoulade over mesculun.

i have a recipe for a poached tuna that i cut into diamonds and serve over greens

hmmmmm....that's all i can think of for now

[Fritz Brenner]

When I was in Rennes, France, the guy that I lived with used to make a cold rice salad all the time, and it was pretty tasty. When your rice is nice and cold, mix it with some good-quality canned tuna, diced tomatoes, corn, chopped red pepper, lotsa s & p, oil and vinegar. I guess this salad is pretty common in Brittany in the summertime, I also saw it served with peeled and diced cucumbers and even avocado; it's obviously pretty versatile.

I liked it.... but then again, I'm nothing but a tourist.

[Nikolaus]

Try these:

Rocket salad, with roasted red peppers, anchovies, and dried tomatoes. Over it, a simple vinaigrette made of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with sea salt and ground black pepper. It's very light and yet has extremely intense flavours.

Or: raw spinach leaves, roasted bacon, parmesan petals, with the same vinaigrette as above.

Finally, based on a traditional recipe from Sicily: sliced oranges and chopped fennel, olive oil and vinegar. Eventually, black olives to be added, but not necessarily.

[KatieLoeb]

I like the old standard Italian White Bean and Tuna salad. Drained and rinsed cannelini beans with drained Italian olive oil packed tuna flaked into it. Use the oil drained from the tuna cans and a shot of fresh EVOO to make a vinaigrette. Add sliced scalliions, diced tomatoes and diced bell peppers of whatever color you have for some crunch. Very tasty.

Nicoise salad simply tastes like summer to me. Gotta have all the acoutrements though. Small boiled potatoes, lightly steamed haircot verts, hard boiled egg, beets, the whole nine yards.

Lately I've been having raw spinach with sliced grilled steak, sunflower seeds, crumbled blue cheese, chopped tomatoes, chopped hard boiled egg and cashews. Almost any kind of dressing works, but I like a sesame soy vinaigrette with this.

I make what I call a "Funky Waldorf Salad" with fennel and cubed pears instead of celery and apples. Thinly sliced fennel, cubed pears, golden raisins, crumbled blue cheese, cashews and a dressing I make from thick commercial Russian dressing thinned with a little thawed apple juice concentrate. Garnish with some chopped fennel fronds.

I also like the standard Austrian salad made of peeled and seeded cucumbers thinly sliced with thinly sliced onions, torn iceberg lettuce and a simple vinaigrette of pumpkin seed oil and white vinegar. Very light and refgreshing. I like rice vinegar instead as it isn't so sharp. Pumpkin seed oil is delicious and nutty and apparently quite good for you. Who knew?

Edited July 28, 2003 by KatieLoeb (log)

[aliwaks]

I make what I call a "Funky Waldorf Salad" with fennel and cubed pears instead of celery and apples.  Thinly sliced fennel, cubed pears, golden raisins, crumbled blue cheese, cashews and a dressing I make from thick commercial Russian dressing thinned with a little thawed apple juice concentrate.  Garnish with some chopped fennel fronds.

Katie that sounds so good...may steal it and call in an Not the Waldorf Anymore Salad

[DVSDave]

Maybe it's my background (Korean-American raised in an Italian-American deli...) but I love the idea multiple small plates of assorted salads and/or pickles served along with a meal, along with a big bowl salad that is served family style.

Small plates are anything from radish and carrots, cucumber in rice wine vinegar, cold tofu in a spicy soy/sesame paste dressing, various seaweeds, fish cakes in oyster sauce, poached spinach, hell I could go on forever. If you're interested, Copeland Marks wrote a book called The Korean Kitchen that has some good recipe for these various dishes.

Big bowl is either the ubiquitous (in Korean households) romaine and scallion salad with soy and toasted sesame oil dressing (great with grilled beef or pork), or a mean authentic Ceasar (Caesar?) salad that my mom mixes up in this old school wooden bowl -- truly great, despite the fact she hates Parmesan and anchovies and can't even stomach her expert creation!

And since it's summertime, I'm a big fan of fruit salads with lunch. Healthier than the usual pretzels or chips, plus you can play around with seasonal farmer market produce.

Edited July 28, 2003 by DVSDave (log)