Grilled Salad For Memorial Day

Having a holiday weekend has placed my blog posting into a little bit of a holiday. Memorial Day seems to bring about the beginning and ending of many seasonal things, but most of all we tend to memorialize with the help of the barbecue.
What better way to celebrate with family and friends than to barbecue along with some veggies. A few weeks ago in the L.A. Times there was a recipe for a grilled kale salad with a yogurt dressing and hazelnuts. Upon seeing this recipe I knew a time would come when I would make it, and nothing says Memorial Day to me like grilled kale.

This turns into....

There were about ten of us and I realized that I didn't have enough kale for all so I decided to grill the romaine as well.  Making sure both the kale and the lettuce had a nice coating of olive oil and grilling them for a few minutes it comes out with a nice charred flavor.

This.

The dressing is really easy and somewhat healthy being yogurt based. For some reason I was convinced that there was lemon in the dressing and added a little to the dressing anyways. I also used a spring onion instead of a shallot. This salad has to be served right away after grilling so make sure the dressing and hazelnuts are toasted before the greens are grilled.

Everyone loved this salad. It was crunchy, light, had a nice barbecued flavor but also had a freshness due to the mint included in the dressing. While the kale (and lettuce) are still appearing I plan to enjoy them in a new way that evokes warm summer nights

And while I'm at it here is the newest delivery. That bag of white things are dried lima beans which are a new adventure for me. What would you do with them?

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Grapefruit Salad

Grapefruit and lettuce

The inclusion of grapefruit in the latest box did not cause excitement nor break into the not very well known grapefruit dance. I do not love grapefruit nor do I hate it. I love grapefruit flavored things, like grapefruit soda, it is delicious. Every once and a while a ruby red grapefruit is delightful but I do not crave them.
I figured the best way to use the grapefruit would be using it in a salad because of this large romaine heart. And no I do not put citrus into all of my salads.

 I found this recipe and it intrigued me because it had such strong ingredients that they seemed like it would work well together. The other reason why I chose this recipe was because I had everything on hand. I liked how this salad turned out. The tang of the grapefruit mixed well with the saltiness of the Parmesan and salami.
Just another simple salad to try with the bountiful supply of organic romaine.

 

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Salad Week - # 2 A Salad To Make Right Now

When Borders was closing it's doors, which is still very sad, my friend Tish and I went there and ransacked the cookbooks. In my bargain shopping cookbook frenzy I picked up Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day by Padma Lakshmi. This is a great book, it has lots of pictures, and there are so many things I want to make from it.

While looking for a salad to make for the week, using this giant head of romaine, I found her recipe for A Very Herbaceous Salad. This salad could not be any easier, uses a minimal amount of ingredients and tastes so fresh.
The dressing is made up of
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar  (The recipe calls for sherry vinegar but not having any I opted for the balsamic)
Salt
Pepper
Whisk ingredients in a large bowl. If not using right away put in the refrigerator to chill.
When ready to eat add to your bowl:
one peeled and sliced English cucumber, 
romaine lettuce cut into sections,
1/3 cup of chopped Italian parsley,
1/3 cup of chopped fresh dill, 
1/3 cup of chopped mint.
Mix well so that dressing is evenly distributed throughout. Serve immediately.

Herby Delicious Salad

Sometimes when I make salad, because it accompanies something else, we don't finish it all. Since there were only two of us eating I didn't use the full head of lettuce, not wanting to waste it. This salad was so good that we finished it all, first before anything else. I foresee myself making this salad more as the weather warms up. The combination of herbs could be mixed up to allow for different flavors, and with summer around the corner, cucumbers are sure to be in future box deliveries. This will be something I will make again and I encourage you to as well.
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Start Of Salad Week - Beet And Orange Salad

A new box has come and the variety is starting to show. After a long cold, wet  winter that brought tons of leafy hearty green the appearance of color and variety is welcome. Hello carrots, favas, and spring onions. Oh and oranges, from Rainbow Valley Orchards. So excited that fruit is going to be appearing. Another surprise that appeared in my mail this week was a new South Central Farms tote bag. It is large and spacious and holds all sorts of fun things, like this weeks delivery of new produce. To see about getting a cool bag or a box of fun spring vegetables and fruit go here.
As the weather is warming up I've decided to make a themed week of salad, mostly because I have lots of lettuce.

The first salad I made is adapted from this recipe for Roasted Beets and Citrus with Feta.  For the salad I used spinach, red romaine, beets, and an orange. I didn't have any feta and used Parmesan, which was good but didn't give the good amount of salty bite that feta has. The dressing was sweeter than I would have liked, but I was still able to taste the Dijon mustard. This salad is also supposed to have grapefruit segments as well, which would have made it even sweeter, but I opted to omit them, replacing them with avocado. We ate this for lunch with a little frozen pizza on the side.

The players

We had a fair amount of leftovers, and ate them the next day. Normally leftover salad doesn't hold up very well but, this one actually tasted great. The dressing lost a little of the sweetness. The lettuce hadn't been totally immersed in dressing and still had a crunch. I also added little goat cheese crumbles which had a nice tang that worked with this beet hued salad of goodness. Make this and enjoy it even more the following day.

This is the salad from the first day, there are oranges in it they all just fell to the bottom. Why does the good stuff always end up under the lettuce?

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Showoff Salad For Valentines Day

When it comes to Valentines Day, I am a fan of just cooking a nice dinner at home. Making a meal that is not to extravagant but also making something that is a treat, food that we don't eat or make too often. With the arrival of the newest box, I knew there would be a gorgeous heart of Romaine that I had plans for.

A while ago I read Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl. It's a book about her memories of food and the stories that go with them. At the beginning of each chapter she has a recipe that accompanies each of her stories.  Since reading it, her recipe for Showoff Salad has been in the back of mind. I thought Valentines dinner would be a perfect time to make it.

Ingredient line up

It's called Showoff Salad because you place all the ingredients in front of you and then proceed to make the salad in front of your valentine (or guests), like you were at a fancy restaurant. Showoff Salad lives up to its name by letting each individual ingredient show off. The crispness of the salad mixes well with the lemon and the salty surprise of an anchovy.
This is the the condensed version of Showoff Salad by Ruth Reichl.

Showoff Salad

Assemble all your ingredients on a tray at the table. In front of your guests peel a clove of garlic, cut it in half and crush the half in the bottom of a salad bowl. Add the romaine lettuce leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces, and about 1/3rd of a cup of olive oil and toss thoroughly and dramatically until every leaf is coated. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. 

Break a coddled egg over the lettuce and toss until leaves glisten. Stick a fork into a lemon half and squeeze the juice over the lettuce. Toss until the dressing has a creamy look. Toss in anchovies and mix some more. 

Now taste it. Add whatever you would like if you think it needs more lemon, or more pepper, do it. When it is seasoned to your liking add croutons and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Mix one more time and serve.

Speaking of showing off, here is the box.

Some hints of spring are starting to appear, with a few carrots, bok choi, and a really nice head of purple cabbage. Cauliflower, black kale and other various greens are still coming strong. Which is good because now that it's getting cool again I need something warm and filling.











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