Salad Queen

Fennel Tangerine Salad

• 2-3 Young Fennel Bulbs
• fresh organic greens
• mandarin oranges peeled into segments
• fresh shaved strips of aged goat cheese (or a good quality Parmesan would make a good substitute

Vinagarette

• juice from 1 squeezed mandarin orange
• 2 t fresh local honey
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• fresh thyme
• fresh chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 t dijon
• freshly ground sea salt and black peper

A few weeks ago, I drove down to visit Debbie to attend the Napa Valley Home and Garden tour.

Ravenous after a long day touring beautiful homes, we stumbled into Cindy's kitchen in St. Helena for a delicious late lunch. We ate outside in a charming courtyard under a fruit laden fig tree (all the figs that fell to the table during the meal were officially declared to be our property!) The Bloody Mary's were absolutely delicious as were a beautiful array of small plates we ordered, but our favorite thing was a delicious but simple curried chicken salad. Scrumptious!

We loved it so much that we decided to use it as inspiration for our next night's dinner. I think we came pretty close to the original. Hope you like it as much as we did.

Chicken Curry Salad

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 T curry powder
• sea salt
• 2 large organic chicken breasts
• 4 strips applewood smoked bacon fried until perfectly crisp and golden
• 2 eggs
• 1 t dijon
• sea salt and white pepper
• 1/8 c lemon juice
• 2/3 c canola oil
• 2 t curry powder (I like Morton and Bassets for its mild pleasant flavor)
• farmers market organic tomatoes, preferably cherry, cut in half
• fresh organic greens
• almonds
• golden raisins

Pour several cups of chicken stock into a skillet, add 2 T of curry powder and sea salt. Place 2 organic chicken breasts in and let simmer slowly until breasts are tender and just poached throughout. Remove from heat and slice. Meanwhile cook down the curry and broth until there is a very small amount left in the pan. Add the chicken pieces back into the curry mixture and stir so they are thoroughly covered on all sides with curry. Remove and let come to room temperature.

To make the curried mayonaise dressing, add 1 egg and 1 egg yolk to your food processor. Add 1 t dijon mustard, a generous pinch of sea salt, a generous sprinkling of white pepper, and 1/8 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Process for a minute or so and begin to very slowly drizzle in 2/3 cup of canola oil while processor continues to run until mayonaise is thickened. Stop processing and add in 2 t curry powder. Rrocess until blended.

Put the lettuce into a large salad bowl and toss with the tomatoes, almonds and raisins. Scatter the bacon (whole slices) and chicken pieces on top and slather on a generous quantity of the yummy curry dressing.

Serves 2

My husband and I both agree that this salad tastes better than the steak dinner the night before!

for two:

Toss together salad ingredients:

• leftover steak
• 1 avocado cut into bite size pieces
• 5 mini bell peppers cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (farmer's market Sun Golds if you can find them)
• arugula
• 1 1/2 balls of fresh mozarella cheese (I love the Garofalo Bufalo from Costco)
• cooked corn sliced from one ear (leftover from the night before?)

Whisk together salad dressing ingredients:

• Juice from one lemon
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• pinch of dry mustard
• 1 1/2 t Italian herbs
• 1 t freeze dried shallots (available from gourmet stores or spice stores like Penzys--this is a fabulous item to have stocked in your pantry for all salad dressings...delicious!)
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Toss and serve.

 

This is a wonderful refreshing but tasty summer evening salad, great for those warm nights eating out on the deck.  The dressing has lots of flavorful ginger and the seasonings on the tuna really punch up the flavor. 

Salad Dressing

• 2" chunk of fresh ginger
• 2 T rice wine vinegar
• 4 T sesame oil
• 1/2 t pink himalayan sea salt
• 1/4 t stevia or 1 t honey
• 3 T sour cream
• 1 T sesame seeds

Chop ginger in a food processor then with blades going add in vinegar, salt, stevia, sesame oil and sour cream.  At the last minute add the sesame seeds.

For salad:

• Mixed Greens
• Fresh Cucumber peeled and sliced
• 3 green onions sliced
• 1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1/3 fresh salted cashews

For ahi:

• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper or to taste
• 4 (6-oz) Ahi steaks, about 1 1/2" thick (ask for "sear" or "sushi" grade if cooking medium rare)
• 4 tbsp fresh coarsely ground black pepper

Mix together salt, coriander, paprika, and cayenne and sprinkle on steaks.  Press pepper gently onto steaks and sear quickly on the BBQ.

Toss the salad ingredients except cashews with the dressing and serve on plates.  Slice the ahi on the diagonal and place on top of the salad.  Sprinkle with cashews and serve. 

 

I could tell you that this salad is wonderfully healthy with nine green fruits and veggies (and one red).  I could tell you that it is fast and easy to make if you buy a supermarket roasted chicken.  But what you need to know is that my husband and I both gasped when we took our first bite.  This salad tastes amazing!  It really does. 

 

Mexican Cotijo "Get Your Greens On" Salad

Salad Dressing --Toss the following in a food processor and process

• 1/3 green bell pepper
• 1 tomatillo
• 3 T cillantro
• 1 roasted green chile (from a can)
• 2 T Mexican Cotijo cheese (available at Safeway)
• juice from 1 lime
• fresh ground sea salt and black pepper
• 1/2 t cumin
• 2 T Pumpkin Seed Oil  (available at Safeway)

note:  The pumpkin seed oil is very expensive but you only need a few tablespoons.  If you would like to substite, try adding pepitas and 2 T of canola.

Fresh guacamole--mix together

• 1 avocado mashed
• juice from 1 lime
• fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

Chicken mix--mix together

• breast meat from a supermarket roasted chicken
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• pinch chile powder
• 1 chopped roasted green pepper (from a can)

Salad Mixings:

Mix together:

• chicken mix
• mixed salad greens
• 2/3 of the green bell pepper cut into strips
• 1 large farmers market heirloom red tomatoe
• 3 green onions chopped
• salad dressing

Top with:

• guacamole
• 3 T cotijo
• tortilla chips

 

This is not one of my personal recipes, but it is one that I have used and loved since the 1980's when I first stumbled on it in Marilyn and Jim Diamond's book "Fit for Life".  There is something about this salad that is just rich, delicious and tummy filling.  The butter and mayonaise in the recipe seem to add enough warm, loving, cocoon-like food tastes to make this salad a comfort food qualifier.  It satisfies the hunger and sticks to the ribs in a way that salads usually don't.  I find that even folks who do not appreciate salads will eat and enjoy this. 

This salad makes a great lunch and I have often served it to guests.  If I am serving someone who just simply never eats vegetarian meals, I might add a few slices of grilled steak (and it is great, by the way, if you happen to have a little leftover steak from last night's dinner to toss in), but even meat lovers should enjoy this salad in its original meat-less state.  Adding steak, by the way, completely defies the "Fit for Life" premise of food combining..according to the Diamonds, one never combines protein and starches together so the steak and potatoes combo would be a strict no-no to the original creators of this recipe!

Enjoy!

Potato Lovers Salad

• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1/2 t. sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 t. oregano
• 1/4 t. thyme
• 2 T. mayonaise
• Fresh ground black pepper

Mix dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

Salad

• 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 t. sea salt OR seasoned salt
• 1/4 t. paprika
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 4 cups lettuce, washed and torn into bite size pieces
• 2 cups spinach, washed and torn into bite size pieces
• 1 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 1 cup chopped red cabbage

Steam the potatoes until they are fork-tender. While they are steaming, prepare greens and cut the broccoli. Remove potatoes from steamer and put into a mixing bowl. Melt butter and pour over the potatoes. Toss well. Add your choice of salt and paprika and mix well. Broil 2 inches away from the broiler element for 5-10 minutes. While the potatoes are broiling, steam the broccoli until tender and bright green. Toss greens with red cabbage, alfalfa sprouts and add broccoli and potatoes (still hot). Add the dressing and mix well.

And here's a photo with the added steak:

 

This was a three girl project.  I made it with my daughter Lauren and her girlfriend Emma.  Lauren's pronouncement:  "Delicioso!"  Five of us sat out on the patio, our first time out this spring, and enjoyed it for a late lunch.  This salad takes a little bit of work, peeling shrimp, frying the won tons and candying the pecans, but it is definitely a salad you could serve to guests. Even my four year old grand-daughter could not stop eating it and kept begging for more shrimp. Enjoy!

 

• won ton skins sliced into ¼” strips
• canola oil
• ½ c pecans
• ½ c sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 1 lb raw shrimp shells removed
• 2 c fresh pineapple cut into bite sizes
• 1 mango cut into bite sizes
• 1 avocado cut into bite sizes
• 1 c sugar snap peas
• ½ c feta cheese crumbled into small pieces
• Mixed salad greens

Dressing/marinade

• ¼ c freshly squeezed orange juice
• ¼ c rice vinegar
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 3 T sugar (note:  this dressing tastes great with 3 T, but you can cut back to 1 if you prefer less sweetening)
• 1 t Dijon
• ¼ c peanut oil
• ¼ c sesame oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T soy sauce

Pour canola oil in a large pot to cover bottom to ¼” deep.  Turn burner to med-high.  When oil is heated, drop in small batches of sliced won ton skins allowing each piece plenty of room to spread out in oil.  Stir until golden and remove immediately from heat to drain on a paper towel.  Fry in batches until there are enough to garnish the salad.

 

Put sugar in the bottom of a large frying pan.  Add vanilla and just enough water to liquefy sugar.  Bring to a boil and toss in pecans.  When coated, drop onto foil covered cookie sheet.  Put pecans in oven under broiler for a few minutes until crispy and golden. Remove and cool.

 

In a large frying pan, add shrimp and 1/4 cup dressing/marinade.  Saute until just cooked through.

 

Add pineapple, mango, snap peas, avocado, feta and lettuce to large salad bowl and dress with dressing to taste.  Top with fried won tons and sugared pecans.  Serve.

 

Note:  I also made a chicken version where I substitued macadamia nuts for the pecans, left out the ssugar snap peas and added shredded coconut and sliced green onions.  This was also delicious!