Salads

First of all, how are you doing?  I hope you are feeling well and hanging in there.  Are you trying to make sense of how your life is changing?  Me too, and some days it’s easier than others.   I’m thinking it’s pretty normal to feel like things are out of our control, and to not really be sure what we can do to be of some help.   Maybe one thing we can all do is to try and stay as healthy as we can, and that means keeping our social distance, eating right and getting plenty of fresh air and exercise.

I am attempting to balance the goal of eating right with limiting my once usual daily trips to the grocery store.  This has proven to be as challenging as not reaching for a second chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven.  However, I have become determined to grocery shop only once a week, and this has changed my strategy and approach to the grocery quest, especially when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables.

An easy way to eat right is to make sure you can throw together a salad that is hard to stop eating.  This one is chock full of nutrients and packs a flavor punch as well.  When shopping only once a week, fresh lettuce can be a challenge, so here’s another alternative.  This salad is made with items that can stand a week or two in the refrigerator with no problem.  Let’s start with a nice head of red cabbage, which to me is sweeter and juicier than regular old green cabbage.  You usually only see cabbage in slaws, but here it takes on a whole new personality.  Red cabbage is chopped into decent sized pieces, then tossed with thawed frozen green peas and green onion.  From there on in, you can make this thing your own, but I always like to add freshly roasted radishes, beets, and a yellow or orange pepper if I happen to have one hanging around.  Strips of bright orange or purple carrots and even more color and crunch.  To round everything out and add some sweetness, toss in some dried cranberries or apricots.  To top it off and add a salty crunch, here come the roasted pumpkin seeds.  Then all that’s left is to pour on your own favorite dressing.  You’ll feel good after eating it – that’s a promise.  And after you’re finished, treat yourself to a couple of cookies.  After all, as my heroine Julia Child often said, “Everything in moderation”.  Exactly.

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I was thinking back to summers of my childhood, when all of us kids wreaked havoc at home and my mom, Neeners, was at her wits end, often looking heavenward and muttering ‘Give me Strength’.  When Neeners was at this point, I got shipped off to spend the night with my grandparents and Aunt Margie, and it was always a huge treat. If I was there on a Saturday night, it meant popcorn and watching Portland wrestling.  If I was an overnight guest on a Monday night, that meant that I could horn in when Margie and grandma’s friend Gladys would come for lunch on Tuesdays.  Gladys worked downtown (two blocks from Margie’s house) at the hardware store.  I was not a fan of Gladys. She seemed pretty snooty and never smiled.  Also, she was not a fan of children and I could not understand why since I was undoubtedly charming and most likely a brilliant conversationalist at six years of age.  However, Glady’s arrival meant we got to have grandma’s Salmon Salad for lunch.  This was high living, and as a kid we never had such things at our own house.  Looking back, I think it was just canned salmon, shredded iceberg lettuce and a whole lot of Miracle Whip all stirred together and served on nice dishes.

I have such fond memories of those visits (without Gladys) and wanted to recreate Salmon Salad in my own style.  This salad is hearty enough for supper and takes advantage of all that is Summer.  We’ll start with fresh salmon, and you can either grill or bake it to suit your mood. Then comes the garden bounty. I went a little bit nuts here since I am currently in major panic mode due to our garden churning out more food than we can give away, so take what you like and leave the rest, for another time.  The salmon sits on a bed of rainbow chard, and is topped with fresh yellow and red beets, colorful sweet peppers, watermelon radish, purple carrots, scallions, grilled corn, fresh blackberries and steamed green beans.  Add some grilled bread with garlic butter and a not-too-tart vinaigrette made with blackberry jelly.  I’d like to think Margie and grandma would have enjoyed it, but even if they didn’t, they’d tell me they loved it, because that’s what aunts and grandmas do.

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I was messing around with the idea of fruit salads the other day and was trying think of something other than the ‘just a big bowl of fruit’ or the ‘just a big bowl of fruit with gloppy dressing’ that is often so sweet you can’t taste the fruit.  Here is the end result:  Still plenty of fresh fruit, and the dressing is a pineapple Greek yogurt that is thickened by straining it for a couple of hours.  Fruit is beautiful to look at, so rather than slathering it with the dressing, it’s layered, parfait style.  The Greek yogurt is not super sweet, and since I love pineapple it’s the flavor I chose, but if you’d prefer a different flavor, go for it.  This was really fun to do, and you can pick a couple of kinds of fruit, or several.  If you make this in parfait glasses, it’s fun to mix and match the fruit differently in each one.  If you are feeding a crowd, just grab a large glass bowl and start layering, making sure you’ve got some fruit on top.  It started out as a fruit salad, but also works great for breakfast, a high protein snack, or dessert.

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We We are smack dab in the middle of the holiday party season, which usually means a potluck or two.  Are you the person who always gets asked to ‘bring a salad’?  …Me too.  This is because I have a tendency to go hog wild over them and don’t know when to quit (don’t get me started on my venture into the hard-boiled eggs dyed with beet juice as a garnish-nobody wanted to go anywhere near that).  I’m digressing…here we have what I hope you will think is a solution to the ‘bring a salad’ blues.  You can put it all together at home and toss in the dressing once you arrive at your destination.  This salad is as good to eat as it is pretty to look at.  Crisp, red cabbage and slivered chard for the base.  Next, we’ll add in some dried cranberries for a sweet-tart kick, then some pomegranate seeds for a tart and crunchy visual show stopper, then fresh blueberries for a sweet surprise.  The dressing is not your typical slaw-type of dressing…we add a big dollop of blackberry jelly for color and sweet, and then a good squeeze of lemon juice to balance everything out.  Sound good?  Oh! Then I threw on a big old handful of roasted pumpkin seeds on top.  Nothing like a salty and crunchy finish.  If you bring this to your next party, be prepared to be the designated salad assignee for a long time to come.

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Caprese salads are simple by definition, and usually only consist of tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella cheese and olive oil. But here’s the thing… fresh mozzarella, in spite of all of its many virtues, can be a bit of a yawner in the flavor department. In this recipe, the fresh mozzarella is given a little more personality by marinating it in olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and tons of herbs. I think you will find this to be a game changer in all things Caprese. The only thing missing here is a loaf of artisan bread and a bottle of wine…….

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They say what grows together goes together, and those words couldn’t be truer than when combining these seasonal flavor powerhouses: fresh asparagus, juicy sugar snap peas, and sweet, ripe strawberries.  The asparagus stalks are peeled into ribbons, and the tips are sautéed until just crisp/tender – the best of both worlds.  I’ve also thrown in some roasted pumpkin seeds for crunch, and slightly sweet Double Strawberry Vinaigrette for dressing.  Oh – and then there’s the blue cheese…. Good stuff, Maynard.  …

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What do you say we take a small time-out before the holiday food frenzy and be good to ourselves in a healthy, but delicious way?  I see my friend Rebecca every few weeks, and after catching up on family stuff, we usually jump right in to recipe ideas. Rebecca is a serious Pinterest explorer, and one day she started telling me about this great massaged kale salad she was experimenting with. I just had to try the concept, to see how this attempt to tame the savage beast we know as kale could be possible. Sound weird? It’s not – really. Massaging kale that has been sprinkled with salt helps it to release moisture and also seasons it, which means improved flavor. This results in a lot less bitterness and a more tender texture, which is very helpful for those of us who can find kale to be challenging to embrace as the nutritional powerhouse that it is. We add some sweetness too – we’ll be roasting some rings of Delicata Squash to add to the top. Delicata is not only delicious, but is a dream for lazy cooks like myself. It’s so tender you can even eat the peel – no kidding! But wait…. As good as this was, the salad just needed a little something more, so you’ll find plenty of crumbled Smoked Gouda cheese. Finally, the whole thing is topped off with a Fig Balsamic Dressing for a sweet and savory kick. Now we’ve got ourselves a serious salad we can feel good about eating.

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This is one of those salads that you really can make your own – it all depends on what’s crying out to you from your garden in desperate need of picking, or less dramatically – what looks really good at your local farm stand or supermarket. This one takes advantage of the best of summer – fresh green beans, steamed until just tender, sliced cherry tomatoes and grilled corn that has just begun to char and caramelize. Add a few more touches here and there, and whip together a light, creamy lemon and mustard vinaigrette, some tangy blue cheese, and you are good to go. This salad travels well and fits right in at any picnic or barbecue.

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