Shrimp Salad

I had a nice lunch planned for John and Kathy today featuring my favorite avocado stuffed with shrimp, but woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that John didn't eat avocado.  I improvised this shrimp salad this morning.  The final menu was curried shrimp salad, white bean salad, homemade bread, plum chutney, and apple crisp with pumpkin ice cream.

Curried Shrimp Salad

1 pound boiled shrimp, some left whole and some chopped coarsely

1 cup chopped cashews

1 cup finely diced celery

3 green onions

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise 

Juice and zest of one lime

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Several dashes hot pepper sauce

1-2 teaspoons curry powder

Salt and pepper

Kale Salad

I really love this salad, although looking at the recipe it doesn't seem quite right:  Mayonnaise dressing?
Somehow it's perfect, anyway.  I have a little left over for lunch and I'm trying to figure out how to get it all for myself and not share with Dad.  It's from the Arizona Daily Star.  I'm putting a link to the whole article here, but it may not work for non-subscribers.

I substituted cotija cheese for the manchego.  We always have cotija around and it's really useful for a garnish.  It's sharp, salty, and crumbly, but not too assertive.

Also, I massaged the kale pieces with 1 teaspoon salt first to break up some of the tough fibers.  I rinsed it and dried it before proceeding with the recipe.

Kale Salad

Serves: 6

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the salad:

• 1 large bunch (about 1 pound) Tuscan kale, stems torn or cut out, leaves torn into small pieces
• 1/3 cup dried apricots, julienned
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 2 ounces manchego cheese, grated
• 1 Pink Lady apple, cored and cut into thin half moons
• Ground black pepper

To make the dressing, in a large bowl whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mayonnaise, sugar and salt. Add the kale and toss to coat well, then set aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, toss again to coat well.

Sprinkle the apricots, pumpkin seeds and cheese over the dressed kale. Toss again to evenly distribute. Season with pepper and additional salt, if needed. Fan thin slices of apple over the top of the salad and serve.

Condiglione: Fresh Tuna Salad

I used some leftover pan-broiled albacore to make this dish, which is loosely based on the recipe in La Place and Kleiman's Cucina Fresca.

I broke up the albacore and mixed it with 3 cloves minced garlic, slivered red bell peppers, chopped green onions, halved cherry tomatoes, and chopped fresh basil.  I dressed it with liberal olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and garnished it with hard-boiled eggs and black olives.  It was a perfect cold supper for a hot day.

Raw Kale Salad

I've made this several times over the past few months. It's inspired by the raw kale side dish I always order when I go to Good Life Cafe, a vegan raw food place in West Columbia.

I've used various kinds of kale, and all worked well. I really like the flavor of lacinato kale an awful lot, though.

Many raw kale salad recipes use the massage method, and it really seems to work -- it loosens up the intense fibrousness of the leaves and helps them absorb dressing without cooking.

With uncooked greens, I find a little serving goes a long way. One bunch of kale can serve many people over several meals.


Wash:

1 bunch kale

Remove ribs and cut into thin (half- or quarter-inch) strips across the grain. Place in bowl or colander, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and massage with both hands for a minute or two, squeezing and kneading to make the kale wilt and relax.

In another bowl, mix:

1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lemon
pinch salt

Add as needed to make a thin dressing:

olive oil
warm water
honey, if the lemon juice is bitter

Toss with kale.

Downtown Salads

I had jury duty last week, and because we had an hour and a half lunch break and a whopping $12 per diem, I decided to use my time and money to explore some downtown restaurants.


My first salad was at Ike's, and was named The Clooney.  It was so perfect:  greens topped with a lightly dressed mixture of garbanzo beans, walnuts, diced beets, and feta cheese!

Next I ate at the relocated famous Poca Cosa Cafe and ordered the salad pictured here.  This was a chicken and artichoke salad dressed with cilantro pesto dressing containing a hint of sesame oil and peanut, with bell peppers, peanuts, cherry tomatoes, and grated carrots.  It was a masterpiece of color and flavor. The Poca Cosa has a blackboard menu which changes daily and always features an inventive mole (how do I put an accent on the last e?).  I was afraid I would fall asleep during testimony if I ate the chef's choice plate, which is a trio selected from the day's offerings.  

Pretty Salad

Look how pretty this lunch was! The salad is from City Roots, and contained nasturtium flowers and leaves, pea shoots and arugula shoots, I think.

I made blue cheese dressing, which I have been making lately because Lawson announced he is sick of vinaigrettes with greens. I'm using no particular recipe, just an ad hoc, sample-as-you-go mixture of a minced garlic clove, some blue cheese, black pepper, salt, mayo, yogurt and milk.

Salade Nicoise

I was so happy to discover I had the ingredients to make this the other day.

Green beans, blanched
New red potatoes, boiled
Anchovy filets
Lettuce
Hard boiled eggs
Tuna
Olives
Capers
Mustard sprouts (from City Roots -- so tasty)

The dressing is a simple vinaigrette: just mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. You toss some of it with the potatoes and green beans while they're still warm. Then you serve everything at room temperature and drizzle dressing over it.

We ate it with bread and butter on the side.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant Salad

This is from Claudia Roden. It's simple enough to let the flavor of the eggplant come through.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant

Olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped

1 pound eggplant, partially peeled and cut in 3/4-inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1-pound can diced tomatoes

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

3 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground red chili

Cover bottom of a large skillet with oil and heat. Saute onion until soft and golden. Add eggplant and cook, stirring, for about five minutes. Then add garlic and cook until colored.

Add remaining ingredients and cook over very low heat for 20 minutes. Serve cold (we had it warm last night and cold today--delicious).

And here's the Sidecar recipe. Russell made these for us.

Sidecar

1 part lemon juice

1 part Cointreau

2 parts cognac

Shake with ice.

And our version:

Poor Man's Sidecar

1 part lemon juice

1 part Triple Sec

2 parts bourbon

Birthday Dinner

Dad and I collaborated on my birthday dinner last night. We had Crab Louis, Stromboli Bread, Golden Mushroom Soup, and two cute little desserts Dad picked up at AJ's. And Dad stayed up late and did all the dishes!

I saw this Stromboli Bread in a bread cookbook. I made my regular French bread dough (3 cups white flour) with the addition of 2 tablespoons of olive oil and let it rise; rolled it out to about 8 by 14 inches; sprinkled it with a mixture of Swiss cheese cubes, shredded parmesan, chopped ham, 2 cloves garlic, and a handful of chopped basil; rolled it up starting at the short end and brushed it with olive oil, then sprinkled on salt, pepper, and chopped rosemary; then poked holes in it before baking it without a second rising at 400 degrees for an hour. It was good-looking and delicious.

Succotash Salad

It's so hot here we finally got Emily a summer haircut. She loves it.

And because of the heat we've been eating lots of salads. Last night I tried this salad recipe based on one by Bobby Flay. It was a big success with ribs.

Succotash Salad

2 cups cooked lima beans

2 cups fresh corn, cooked and cut from cob

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, diced

3 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine vegetables in a bowl. Mix olive oil, vinegar, and seasonings to make a dressing; toss with vegetables. Serve cold.

Pois Chiches

I'm sharing this recipe partly because I'm in love with the French name for chickpeas--pois chiche--and partly because it's so easy and a nice change. I use canned garbanzos often because they're versatile and nutritious. Think of this as French bean salad. It's from Mereille Johnston's Cuisine of the Sun.

Pois Chiches Marines

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 slivered onion

2 teaspoons thyme

1 clove garlic, crushed

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

1 can chickpeas, drained

Saute the onions, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the wine and lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes. Then add the chickpeas, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 more minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Kidney Bean and Celery Salad

This is an absurdly refreshing dish for summer--no cooking, and it uses ingredients I usually have around the house. It's from an old Sunset Mexican cookbook and I don't believe for one minute in its authenticity.

I have kept coming back to it over the years, though. It's not overly sweet like other bean salads.

Kidney Bean and Celery Salad

1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 green onions, sliced, or ¼ cup finely chopped red or yellow onion
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons pickle relish or chopped sweet pickles
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Mix and chill.

Grilled Radicchio Salad

I'm glad you got out of town for a few days, Mom.

I invented a salad. I guess this means my cooking slump is over. I don't know if Lawson loves it as much as I do; he is not as into bitter leafy things as I. Too bad for him.

I've grilled radicchio before, but I was never successful at tempering its bitterness very well. This works, though. It accompanies easy grilled meals well, too, because you do most of the speedy prep ahead of time, then grill the radicchio along with your burgers or sausage or whatever right before serving.

Toss together and set aside at room temperature for at least an hour:

• cherry tomatoes, halved (or chopped good summer tomatoes, when available)
• sugar snap peas, de-stringed, halved if desired
  
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• merest hint of salt
• pepper
  

Then quarter one head of radicchio and lightly spray all sides with olive oil cooking spray. Grill quarters over direct but not too high gas or coals, turning as needed, until radicchio is browned but not charred.

Cut grilled radicchio pieces roughly with scissors, toss with tomato mixture, and serve.

The picture is blurry because my camera sucks. I am in the market for a new one.

Small Salads

When I first started making meals forty years ago, "salad" was something with lettuce, or possibly cabbage. And definitely dressing on top. (We'll leave aside Midwestern offerings with jello and/or marshmallows.)

I am grateful that Mediterranean, Mexican, and European influences have led me to the small salad: something ranging from pico de gallo to fresh relish to marinated vegetables, just a cup or two of something cool and interesting to make a contrast to the other dishes--cucumbers in yogurt; sliced tomatoes with fresh herbs; cherry tomatoes with black olives and some sliced onion.

Tonight's very pedestrian menu of salmon cakes, oven fries, and lima beans required such a salad. This one had Persian cucumbers, black olives, cherry tomatoes, a green onion, a little yellow bell pepper, a red jalapeno, and some wine vinegar and olive oil. And a little chopped fresh basil.

Still recovering from yesterday's bland lunch, I put wasabi paste in the tartar sauce. I liked it.

Sunny Side Up Salad

Attention: The best salad dressing is a sunny side up egg, sprinkled with white wine vinegar and salt and pepper, draped over a salad and then mixed up so the semi-cooked yolk emulsifies a little with the vinegar and forms an impromptu dressing. Best lunch ever.

Fish Curry and Accompaniments

This was a typical Saturday night dinner for two: a green curry of fish (frozen albacore); a cucumber and tomato salad with basil, green onion, lime juice, and Kalamata olives from the Middle Eastern market; brown rice; and pear chutney from the freezer, which I made last Christmas season.

I was very impressed with the olives. I had gotten in the habit of buying pitted Kalamatas for convenience, but these were whole and unviolated, and they were so flavorful and firm.

Tofu Salad

While laughing ice tea out my nostrils over your potato salad post, I had a flashback about a salad I used to make in Colorado twenty years ago. It was from a Sunset cookbook, and I couldn't find the recipe anywhere. Fortunately, Google to the rescue, and here it is: Shanghai Tofu and Peanut Salad.

I remember having my cousin Mary Ann and her husband Paul over for dinner and serving this. They were conservative eaters, but lovely and very funny people. He frowned when tofu was mentioned. He ate it, though, and smiled, and said, "This isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

This looks complicated, but really I just bake the tofu and marinate it during the day, and then add the rest of the ingredients at serving time. And don't get sidetracked by the limp parboiled bean sprouts--what a lousy idea--just use whatever crisp things you have around. I like snow peas, celery, water chestnuts, etc. Tonight's version had radishes, green onions, cucumbers, cilantro, and cashews instead of peanuts.

Making Menus

I love making menus. I feel so happy when the balance is just right, using ingredients I have on hand—menu-making is not a success if I have to run to the store. Yet I don’t care to do too much meal-planning in advance, preferring to await inspiration as I get hungry or the important guest meal approaches.

I have a friend who wanted a menu cookbook, because she could never decide what to serve with anything. Wow. I like menu suggestions, they’re fun, but of course I always change them.

Katherine told me about an extended-family backyard picnic she served a few weeks ago. This seemed just perfect for that kind of summer occasion:

Pulled pork
Ciabatta rolls
Green chili macaroni and cheese
Baked beans
Pea and peanut cole slaw
Cucumbers and onions in sour cream dressing
Brownies and a heaping bowl of fresh, cleaned strawberries

I was pleased with last night’s dinner menu:

Cold Poached Salmon with Mustard Sauce
White Bean Salad
Cucumbers in Vinegar
Blueberry Tart

White Bean Salad

1/2 pound dried white beans (or canned cannelini beans)
1 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves

Soak beans in water to cover overnight. Drain and rinse. Add fresh water and cook beans with bay leaves until tender. Drain; discard bay leaves; salt to taste.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
1 white onion, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Heat olive oil in large skillet and sauté onions and garlic until brown and very tender, about 30 minutes.

4 plum tomatoes, cubed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Gently combine beans and onion mixture with tomatoes, lemon juice, and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature.

New Crab Salad

This salad may never happen again, because it required hyper-fresh crab meat and just the perfect ingredients. But it came together nicely -- the crab was so sweet and delicate. And it was the perfect accompaniment to chicken wings.

I dressed some crab with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then I tossed it with arugula and topped it with crumbled goat cheese and pieces of rice crackers. Wonderful texture -- crispy and soft and cool.

Update: Turns out Anne Postic wrote about crab salad in today's Free Times. What are the odds? Her recipe sounds wonderful.

Crab Cakes

Every year at the beach Lawson makes crab cakes. But this year we brought the crabs back home to pick, and I made the crab cakes.

I used a simple combination of several recipes. This was roughly it:

1 lb crab meat
1 cup crushed crackers (These were thin rice-and-wheat cocktail crackers. Saltines would work, or bread crumbs.)
2 or more T mayonnaise
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 onion, diced and sauteed
3 T parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Mix; form into 4 to 6 cakes; roll in salted cornmeal; chill for an hour or two; pan fry.

I also made a salad that we ate over two days -- one of my usual bean, herb, and citrus summer salads. It contained garbanzo beans, mint, cilantro, roasted red peppers, carrots, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. On the second day I added some spinach.