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Chopped Salad

It is well known by many of my friends that I am a big fan of head lettuce.  I love it.  The crunchiness, versatility and most importantly how it takes me back to the 70's dinner table.  So for Easter dinner I made a head lettuce salad with a little twist.  My 70's dinner table inspired salad had all of the typical ingredients, onions, carrots, radishes, etc... but we chopped it up and got creative with the dressing to make it more relevant for our guests' distinctive palettes.

The carrots in this recipe were steamed for about 2 minutes.  I learned this trick from Anchor Oyster Bar in the Castro district of San Francisco.  I love carrots with an easier bite.  They make for a wonderful addition to any salad. You can get the olives at your local Italian grocery or in the deli section at your local grocery store. 

This is an easy one...

- 1/2 head lettuce, chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 red onion, chopped into small pieces
- 2 carrots, steamed for about 2 minutes and then chopped into small pieces
- 8-10 radishes, chopped into small pieces
- 8-10 pitted green olives that have been cured in Italian seasoning, chopped into small pieces
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Toss everything together very well.  Taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Serve!

Fennel Salad With Sweet Florida Onions

My dad is pretty impressive when it comes to his culinary skills.  Many of the recipes that you find on RecipePhile come from cooking, eating and exploring everything epicurean with my dad.  For the last few days I have been in Florida visiting my parents (my adorable niece and nephew were there as well as my brother and sister-in-law) and as usual, we ate like Kings (and Queens).

On Wednesday we ate at Ristorante Claretta and my brother and I devoured a 48 oz certified Angus beef T-Bone steak grilled Tuscan style ('La Fiorentina').  It was truly the most amazing steak I have had in ages.  Mom's prime rib ruled on Thursday and the grilled lobsters and risotto my brother made were to die for. 

My dad prepared an incredible salad for lunch one day with vegetables purchased from this incredible vegetable stand near Jensen Beach. Cathy the owner and her husband buy produce only in South Florida and the onions they have are incredible. 

The salad has become a staple in our household, but is best when it includes their sweet Florida onions.  The salad is easy to prepare and you can use just about any raw veggie.  Here is our version:

- 1 small bag of radishes
- 1 fennel bulb chopped
- 1 large sweet Florida onion (or vidalia if you are not in Florida)
- 2 red or yellow peppers
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- Rice vinegar
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Olio N'uovo
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop the veggies (bite size) and toss into a bowl.  Add about 3 or 4 tbsp of rice vinegar (my dad says that you should always add the vinegar first, because if you put the olive oil in before the vinegar the vinegar will not take to the veggies) and 2 or 3 tbsp of the olive oil.  We use Olio N'ouvo for this recipe.  It is extremely flavorful.  Season with  kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, toss well, taste, adjust seasoning to your liking and then serve.

Alternative Preparation for Green Papaya Salad

Last weekend my friends and I headed up to Orr Hot Springs Resort for an annual trip of soaking, eating and drinking in an amazing setting.  The theme for Saturday night's dinner was Vietnamese and one of the dishes, prepared by my good friends Scott and David, was a variation on the traditional Green papaya salad, which is hugely popular throughout Southeast Asia. The dish is usually made from unripe Southeast Asian papayas, but as they were unavailable Scott and David opted for seedless European cucumbers.  They are the long, thinner version of the cuke, usually wrapped in plastic, that you find in the grocery store.

While Scott was busy slicing and dicing the veggies for this amazing salad, David was chopping up a hot chili pepper.  Both Scott and I winced with concern over too much heat being added to the dish and kindly requested David serve the heat on the side.  Without us knowing he plopped the diced pepper into the bowl and quickly stirred to hide his addition.  According to David, and I quote, " I did indeed add the Serrano pepper in the end, despite both of your recommendations, and I think it really rounded the dish out, and made it even more fresh."  He was right.  The dish has just enough heat and was absolutely incredible.

We must give Gourmet Magazine credit for this recipe, but note that the shrimp was eliminated

Here is what you will need:

For the Dressing

1 large garlic clove, forced through a garlic press

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably nuoc mam)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 small thin fresh red or green Asian chili (1 to 2 inches long) or
serrano chili, or to taste, seeded and chopped fine (wear rubber
gloves)

Veggies and Such

2 seedless cucumbers chopped into bite size pieces
1 carrot, shredded fine
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves, washed well and spun dry
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, crushed

In a large bowl whisk together dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved.
Add cucumber, carrot, and coriander to dressing, tossing well. Salad may be made 2 hours ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before serving.

Serve salad sprinkled with peanuts.

Wilted Spinach and Fennel Salad

A few weeks ago I was tasked with making a salad for a dinner party that I was going to.  So I wandered into the grocery store with no list and no idea of what I wanted to make -- this happens often as I find the aisles of the store often invoke some great ideas for recipes. 

My head was saying wilted spinach salad with pancetta, but my friend was saying NO NO NO, so and so is a vegetarian.  What -- I thought to myself -- would add to the flavor of this salad in an interesting way without making my veg friend puke.  Then it hit me, and I have no idea why, FENNEL. 

I picked up two bulbs of fennel and big bag of spinach (as well as some other ingredients) and headed home.

This salad is easy to make and tastes great with grilled chicken on top.

Here is what you will need:

- 2 fennel bulbs (chop the white part into half moons and compost the rest)
- 2 bags of baby spinach
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 3 medium shallots chopped
- 1 1/2 lemons (juiced with seeds removed)
- Crumbled Gorganzola cheese
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the oil into a sauce pan and turn heat to medium.  Add the garlic and shallots and saute until the room fills with the smell and the shallots are translucent (stir constantly to keep the garlic from burning).  This should take about 2-3 minutes.  Add the fennel and continue to saute until it is translucent.  Add the lemon juice and cook for another minute.

Remove from the heat, let rest for about 2 minutes and then toss with the spinach.  Add salt and pepper to taste, top with cheese and serve.

Your guests will love this salad.

Apple and Cabbage Slaw with Mint

My very clsoe friend Nick makes a delicious slaw. This isn't the slaw that many of us are used to. The flavors in this dish are very fresh and reminiscent of light Asian flavors. He made this as an accompaniment to the pork shoulder we prepared and everyone absolutely loved Nick's take on a traditional slawl.

Here is how you prepare this dish...

Grilled Romaine...

What? Grilled Romaine. You must be kidding. That was my reaction when my friend Crispin suggested we try making this unique salad for a dinner party we were hosting. Unfortunately we had other salad plans so I tabled the idea for a few days and decided to try it out last night. Okay, this is not only amazing on the palette, but so so easy to prepare.

Cut the Romaine in half lengthwise, place cut side down on a hot grill for about 1 minute. Remove and drizzle with olive oil, squeeze a lemon onto the greens, add salt and pepper to taste and then sprinkle crumbled blue cheese on top and serve.

My guests loved picking it up and eating it with their hands. They also loved the flavor.

Asparagus Salad with Arugula and Duck Rilette Toasts

Credit for this recipe goes out to my friend Martin who made a fabulous dinner the other night. It was a beautiful evening and we ate a la fresca on his deck that overlooks the city by the bay. I must admit that I am not really a big fan of asparagus, mainly because of the 'stinkle' that it creates, but always the polite guest I gave it a whirl and loved the well paired flavors in this delicious salad. Martin used duck rilette in the making of this salad. In case you are unaware of what duck rilette actually is read on and I will tell you all about it.