I need new salads

[stovetop]

There's something very appealing about radicchio

I love the taste of charbroiled radicchio or endive, grilling somehow brings out the sugars, I was so hooked on grilled endive.

steve

[FatTony]

I second the grilled raddichio or endive (these are great and fast on a ridged grillpan). Excellent with a mustardy dressing. Not sure you need anything else!

[beccaboo]

Tonight we're having roasted beet, blood orange, walnut, and lamb's lettuce salad.

[bakezoid]

Wow! If these were each patented we'd be in infringement heaven, instead we're all about adding great ideas together.

Try sauteeing chopped shallots along with the mushrooms and sticking a slice of Korean Butter pear under the arugula.

And try chopped red radicchio, belgian endive and romaine hearts with a blue cheese vinaigrette.

If you can get good tomatoes and cucumber (I can't except in the summer) cut htmeinto medium piece with some chopped onion, feta and yogurt. Now I am missing the summer even more than before.

I love this thread and can't wait to read more.

[stovetop]

Charbroiled green beans (blanched), cherry Tomatoes, roasted yellow or red pepper and yukon gold potato with a olive oil, with a balsalmic and fresh basil Vinaigrette.

steve

Edited January 15, 2005 by stovetop (log)

[rosebud]

Just threw together a salad with vinegar, EVOO, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, pepper. Peeled a naval orange and sliced the wedges into the bowl, sliced up an avocado and thinly sliced a some red onion. Placed all that on a bed a romaine (all of this was on sale this week at the Safeway). Got a "this salad is rather exciting from my DH."

One of my favorite salads calls for sliced Belgian Endive, sprinkled with fresh lemon juice and EVOO, with crumbled bacon and Stilton (or gorgonzola). Quite, quite nice. And all the work is cooking the bacon.

[snowangel]

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared. We're months away. Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

[jgm]

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared.  We're months away.  Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

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Oh, dear. You've got it bad, haven't you? Might try fixing some tomato soup from some really good canned tomatoes.

Maybe not. When you've got a "real" tomato craving, nothing else will do.

Well, when the time comes, try chunks of tomatoes and cucumbers with mint and a little olive oil. Splash some vinegar on if you'd like.

OK, I'm going to take a risk here. Years ago, I dated a guy who left Lebanon as Beirut was becoming an insane place to live. He was a pretty good cook... fixed lots of things I'd never seen before, including the above salad. He also took a can of Veg-all, drained it, and dressed it with mayo and a little vinegar. As I remember, it was susprisingly good. Now, I know nobody on this list has a can of Veg-all, so blanch the same vegetables, or cook them until softened, and toss them with the mayo and vinegar. This guy also took a round steak and baked it with cinnamon and cherry tomatoes. I'd probably use a better cut of meat, but that's something I'll do again. Interesting combination of flavors.

Too bad the relationship didn't work. He was the ONLY guy I ever dated who would eat anything placed in front of him. Never, ever did I hear him refuse to eat particular foods... unlike someone we won't name, to whom I'm married.

[Jaymes]

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared.  We're months away.  Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

I'll bet you have a Sam's where you live. They sell "Nature Sweet" grapevine tomatoes. Small, cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, and with the most wonderful flavor. That's what I'm eating at my house. They're almost good enough to make you forget that summer is months away.

[snowangel]

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared.  We're months away.  Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

I'll bet you have a Sam's where you live. They sell "Nature Sweet" grapevine tomatoes. Small, cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, and with the most wonderful flavor. That's what I'm eating at my house. They're almost good enough to make you forget that summer is months away.

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I know. But it's not like a big fat slice on toast with bacon and lettuce. Or, a big fat tomato, eaten fresh from the garden (wearing shorts and a tank) with the juice dripping down one's arm. And, when it's a bazillion degrees below zero, it's pretty hard to imagine that there is that thing called summer, or remember why one even owns shorts and tank tops.

[Jaymes]

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared.  We're months away.  Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

I'll bet you have a Sam's where you live. They sell "Nature Sweet" grapevine tomatoes. Small, cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, and with the most wonderful flavor. That's what I'm eating at my house. They're almost good enough to make you forget that summer is months away.

I know. But it's not like a big fat slice on toast with bacon and lettuce. Or, a big fat tomato, eaten fresh from the garden (wearing shorts and a tank) with the juice dripping down one's arm.

And that's right, but they do make a pretty darn passable bread salad.

[Andy Lynes]

My eGCI course on leaf salads is here if thats any help.

[M. Lucia]

I really, truly love salads. It may be odd to profess love for what many call "rabbit food," but there are just so many combinations and potential for different flavors. Here are some suggestions that I hope will help.

Fattoush (arabic salad with toasted bread)

Two Hearts Salad

(artichoke hearts and hearts of palm, for 3 hearts you can add sliced celery)

Snow peas, halved grapes, and feta cheese

Shredded steamed beats in a yogurt and mint sauce

Herbed Black-eyed Pea Salad

(purslane, parsley, blackeyed peas, pomegranate seeds, ground walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil)

Then there are grain salads like those with bulghur or couscous.

[viva]

I got a bunch of radicchio in my produce box this week - thanks to this thread, I had a lovely grilled radicchio, green bean, and artichoke heart salad in a white truffle vinaigrette with a little reggiano on top. Lovely.

[Farmer Dave]

[

I know. But it's not like a big fat slice on toast with bacon and lettuce. Or, a big fat tomato, eaten fresh from the garden (wearing shorts and a tank) with the juice dripping down one's arm. And, when it's a bazillion degrees below zero, it's pretty hard to imagine that there is that thing called summer, or remember why one even owns shorts and tank tops.

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[Rosco]

There are only so many salads between the blue cheese iceberg, green and fruit, louie, spinach, and so on. hell, ive even gone through the idaho spinach and strawberry special. Only thing i have left to try i can think of right now is a remoulade. any intresting salads i should know about?

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I surely have not made as many salad combination as you, but one that I tend to make these days is tomato and avacato, chopped with salt, olive oil and fresh lemon juice to taste. Its kind of like the tomato and cucumber, but with a much more interesting texture.

Rosco

[ingridsf]

I was thinking about salad today. (Unusual -- I usually think about pork.) There are two salads I've had that I just realized are different from most I eat, which tend toward the basic greens dressed w/ citrussy vinaigrettes.

Actually, they're so simple they're barely "salads," but I wonder if they'll ring any memory-bells with anyone. The first was very tender home-grown leaf lettuce sprinkled with white vinegar and sugar. My mother only served it in the summer because she didn't think store-bought lettuce was tasty enough to go without a more conventional dressing. The thought of it reminds me of eating dinner in the summer with a fan going.

The other was equally simple but a little mysterious. My roommate served me a plate of chiffonaded dark green leafy greens sprinkled with lime juice. That was all she did. I really liked the flavor with the spices of the curry I was eating with it but couldn't identify the greens. It was spinach but I swear the shredding changed the flavor. Very odd.

Frankly, I was surprised I liked two salt-and-fat-free dishes! Anybody reading this and thinking, "Oh, I dress greens like that all the time,"?

[gini]

I really, truly love salads. It may be odd to profess love for what many call "rabbit food," but there are just so many combinations and potential for different flavors. Here are some suggestions that I hope will help.

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I am consistently being told "You eat like a rabbit" because I have a salad for lunch every day. But I love them!

Frankly, I was surprised I liked two salt-and-fat-free dishes!  Anybody reading this and thinking, "Oh, I dress greens like that all the time,"?

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Mmm lime juice on greens. Actually these two posts combined reminds me - I'm a big fan of quinoa salads dressed with lime juice as the acid.

For yesterday's lunch I had shredded arugula, crumbled goat cheese, marinated artichokes, and mixed olives under a sauce of aji. Did I mix too many regions in there? Who cares! The "dressing" had such a nice kick to it!

[Daniel]

Today I had smoked chicken breast with frisee,lentils and a sherry vinegar.. Chopped egg and bacon would have been good too.. But that would have defeated the point of eating a salad for me..

Edited April 20, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[ayana]

A staple of the Israeli diet (delicious, but quite potent, be warned):

Moroccan Carrot Salad

4 to 6 servings

1 kg carrots

¼ cup olive oil

2 tsp zchug (purchased Yemeni-Israeli hot pepper sauce, you can get it at an Israeli market), or 1 minced green serrano pepper

Half a head of garlic (or 5-6 cloves)

Juice from 2 lemons

1 tsp cumin

salt

¼ cup parsley cut thin

Cut off peel of carrots with a sharp knife - do not peel. Chop in circles (1-2 cm thick). Put them in pot with water to cover (a little salted) and cook about half an hour until soft but not too soft - still firm. Drain and cool. Mix lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic cloves and spices in a bowl. Add the cooked carrots to the mixture and stir. Cool. (It’s better if it sits for a few hours in the fridge). Mix in parsley just before serving.

In Vietnam I had an unbelievably delicious salad of shrimp, avocado & fresh pineapple:

Hanoi Shrimp-Avocado-Pineapple Salad

Replication attempt of yummy salad at Moca Caphe, Hanoi, Vietnam

About 10 medium fresh shrimp, cooked in salted water and peeled

Several slices of fresh pineapple (do not substitute canned), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 ripe avocado

1 small red onion or ½ large one, chopped

Olive oil to taste

Lemon to taste

Mix all ingredients except avocado in a bowl. Chop avocado into bite-sized pieces and gently fold in. Serve immediately.

The Naked Chef has this great grilled zucchini-dried mint-minced garlic-lemon-olive oil-red hot pepper flakes salad that I like to make. He's got more ideas here:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cats/salads.php

Happy salad eating!

Ayana