Namasu - Pickled Carrot & Daikon Salad

Asian flavors (and pickles) are both foods I like. If you don't, this probably isn't for you. A little serving of this on the side of any Asian dish adds a bright, zingy bite to the meal.

Ingredients

1 lg daikon, julienned (1/8 x 1/8 x 2 inches)*

     -- about 3½ cups

1 lg (3 medium) carrots, julienned*

2 tsp kosher salt

3 T rice vinegar

1 T sugar

1 T lime juice

1-2 T orange juice

Optional garnish: toasted sesame seeds

* I bought carrots that were pre-cut, and used a mandolin to prep the daikon. If you don't have a mandolin or a food processor to slice the veggies, you could shred them on the largest section of a hand-held grater. The texture isn't going to be quite the same, but it could save you a LOT of prep time! (and knife work, if you're not that efficient with practice)

Directions

Toss together the daikon and carrots; sprinkle with salt and gently toss again. Let sit (room temp) about 20 minutes. Veggies will soften a bit and release some water.

While veggies are resting, whisk together vinegar, sugar, lime and orange juices* until sugar is dissolved. (Ideally the lime and orange juices should be replaced with yuzu juice; it's not that hard to find but I rarely have it on hand and I usually have lime and orange which are a pretty good substitution.)

Drain liquid from carrot & daikon mixture.  Drizzle vinegar dressing over vegetables and toss to coat; let stand at least 15 minutes.

Serve at room temp or chilled, garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

Chicken-Cabbage Salad with Pineapple & Apple

This recipe, from Better Homes & Gardens (along with the photo at right), was the inspiration for my lunch today. I used canned pineapple, and made my own sesame, ginger & peanut butter dressing, but all the flavors were basically the same. Just linking it here so it'll pop up when I search my own blog for ideas!

Quinoa Strawberry Salad with Basil & Citrus-Maple Vinaigrette

The basic idea for this salad comes from Eating Well magazine (April 2020). I didn't follow it exactly--what I threw together is listed below--but it's all the same thing, really. It's the citrus-maple vinaigrette that really tempted me. The fact that our local strawberries are available now, and my basil plant is growing gang-busters right now were definitely contributing factors...fresh, local summer flavors at their peak!

Ingredients

¼ C olive oil

2 T lemon juice

2 T maple syrup

pinch each salt & pepper

2½ C cooked quinoa

1 C chopped, fresh strawberries

½ C crumbled feta

3 T packed, chopped or torn fresh basil leaves

Directions

Cook the quinoa according to pkg directions (I used only water and a generous pinch of salt) and chill.

Whisk together first 4 ingredients for the vinagrette.

Pour vinagrette over strawberries, feta, and 2 T of the chopped basil in a bowl; gently stir into chilled quinoa. Garnish with remaining basil to serve.

This amount would serve 3-4 as a side. Put it over a bed of greens (including some more basil--yum!) and it could easily be stretched to feed more diners.

Citrus "Walnut" Salad ... knock off!

 A few years ago (November 2018) Food Network Magazine published a recipe for "Citrus-Walnut Salad" that looked and sounded delicious. I ripped it out of the magazine to try. 

Then it sat around for a couple years. 

Whenever I'd think about making it...

the time to supreme the citrus (which I've done for other recipes), 

toast the walnuts (yes, I've toasted and candied a variety of nuts before), 

and then realize that I didn't have endive or maybe the radicchio... 

As delicious as it would be, I've never yet taken that much time for 'just' a salad. 

So, here's my knock-off version that takes it from gourmet to every day (and still super tastey!!)

1) I used a store bought bag (gasp! yes!) of spring mix salad greens.

2) I didn't supreme my own tangerines and blood oranges, but opened up a can of mandarins.

3) I didn't roast or candy my own walnuts (I'm allergic anyway), but substituted some honey roasted peanuts.

4) I did make my own dressing, very similar to FN's.

Dressing Ingredients

1-2 T orange juice

   (Yup...drained from the canned mandarins!)

1 T rice wine vinegar or mirin

   (Mirin is sweetend rice wine vinegar; if the orange juice is really sweet, opt for the rice wine vinegar.)

1 T grainy Dijon mustard

pinch crushed pink peppercorns

pinch salt

2 T olive oil

   (I had blood orange infused olive oil...worked great to intensify the orange flavor, but that wouldn't be necessary.)

Directions

Combine everything except the olive oil in a small bowl. Whisk vigorously while slowly pouring in the olive oil to emulsify. Season with additional salt & pepper as desired.

Orange-Maple Dressing on Sweet Potato Salad

This was definitely inspired by the Washington Post's version, here. The critical part is the dressing. The salad itself could have any number of things with the sweet potatoes. Feel free to improvise off my suggestions below...

Dressing Ingredients

2 T orange juice

2 T olive oil

1 T balsamic glaze

1 T fresh ginger, minced to a paste

pinch (generous) nutmeg

pinch salt - to taste

Dressing Directions

Whisk together all ingredients vigorously, to emulsify.

Salad Ingredients

2-3 medium sweet potatoes

2 scallions

½ C dried cranberries

½ C honey roasted peanuts*

1 T chopped fresh parsley

* Pecans would be more traditional with these flavors, but with my tree nut allergies, I always substitue. Pine nuts would be another option; anything...to add a crunch factor.

Salad Directions

Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Cook until tender. The Washington Post's recipe indicated boiling; a similar version from Food Network said to steam them. I sautéed mine because I like the bit of caramelization they get that way, though it does add a little more fat. I reduced the olive oil from the original recipe's dresssing; so it works out to be the same overall. Do as you please! Cook them; cool them.

I reconstitued my dried cranberries in some extra orange juice for 20 minutes or so, then drained them; it's not necessary, but I like the extra flavor and juiciness it adds.

Chop the parsley and scallions -- and the nuts, if desired, though they'd be fine whole too if they're peanuts or pine nuts and already quite small.

Toss the scallions, cranberries, nuts and parsley with the dressing. Pour over cooled sweet potatoes and gently stir to coat. Serve chilled.

Quick-pickled Strawberries

Saw pickled strawberries as a salad topper recently - something I'd never had or even heard of before. But I'm a fan of most things pickled! The amounts below are approximate; adjust to suit your taste (and relative sweetness of strawberries, etc.). Great on green salads...

Ingredients
1 lb strawberries
1-2 C white balsamic vinegar
¾-1 C water
½ C sugar
1 T salt

Directions
Hull strawberries; halve or quarter depending on size. Place strawberries in canning jar (or other container if you'll use them fairly soon...this is a "quick" pickle). Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt in saucepan; heat, stirring, until sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over strawberries. Let cool; cover and chill.

Here's a bonus...

This is a quick pickle. Leave the berries in too long, and they won't taste of strawberry anymore, just...pickley (vinegar). They only need to be in the brine until it cools. BUT...don't waste that brine! It's basically the same ingredients as a shrub (maybe add a bit more sugar). Pour an inch or more into the bottom of glass and top it off with seltzer (or prosecco, or gingerale, 7-Up, etc.) for a tart and refreshing beverage!

Israeli (Pearl) Couscous with Nectarines

Most often with couscous, I go savory (parmesan or gruyere with some fresh herbs is a favorite). Israeli (or "pearl") couscous is wonderful as a savory side, but between the two, I prefer pearl couscous when the preparation is sweet -- with apricots and warm spices makes a great breakfast alternative to oatmeal.  The slightly chewy texture, relatively quick cooking time and bland mild flavor that goes with anything...it's great! And although the smaller, standard variety of couscous works just fine, I also personally prefer pearl couscous for most cold salad recipes...similar to other pasta salads. Here's a mix that can go hot or cold:

Ingredients
2 C cooked pearl couscous (prepare according to package directions - super easy)
½ sweet onion, small diced
1 nectarine, small diced
¼ C orange juice
1 T melted butter
salt to taste
¼ C fresh basil leaves, chopped or torn

Directions

Gently stir together all ingredients - reserving a little of the basil leaves for garnishing. If you're preparing this hot the butter doesn't have to be melted in advance, just mix it in with the hot prepared couscous and it'll melt as it mixes. Garnis with remaining basil just before serving.

Watermelon Salad - 2 ways

Summer means watermelon! I like it...but just plain watermelon gets boring fast. (At least it does to me...) Here are a couple quick and easy ways to bring some extra flavor to fresh watermelon.

Watermelon with Feta & Seeds/Nuts

Ingredients
4 C watermelon, small diced
½ C crumbled feta
¼ C sunflower seeds*
3 C torn/chopped lettuce

Optional: lemon poppyseed vinaigrette

* Walnuts are often used here, but I'm allergic. Sunflower seeds are great, but I've also used toasted pine nuts. Walnuts or another nut will do -- anything that adds a crunch and a little nutty-umami flavor.

Directions
Make a bed of the lettuce on serving dishes (or one large platter). If desired, gently toss diced watermelon with vinaigrette. (It adds extra zing for sure, but with the feta and seeds, this salad is delicious without any dressing!) Scoop diced watermelon onto bed of lettuce; top with feta and sunflower seeds.

Watermelon with Lime Dressing

Ingredients
4 C watermelon, small diced
1 lime
¼ C sugar

Directions
Zest the lime, then juice it. Place lime juice, about half the zest, sugar, and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat but continue boiling until liquid is thickened and reduced about ¼ cup. Let cool.

Gently toss watermelon in lime dressing. Divide into serving dishes (or serve from one large bowl); garnish with remaining zest.

Mediterranean Chickpea-Tomato Salad

Ingredients
1 15-oz can chickpeas
1 C small diced tomato
¼ C crumbled feta
¼ C chopped kalamata olives
2 T finely chopped fresh ming
1 T finely chopped fresh parsley
2 T olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1½ t sugar
1 t salt
½ t pepper

Directions
Drain and rinse chickpeas. Gently toss all ingredients in a bowl.

Honey-Mint Grapefruit (Citrus) Salad

The original recipe calls for all grapefruit -- a mix of white, pink & red makes for the most interesting presentation -- and personally, I LOVE grapefriut. But right now, I have both grapefruit and oranges in quantities that I need to use up; so, that's what I used. It's delicious immediately, but kind of nice if the flavors marinate for a while.

Ingredients
grapefruit (white, pink & red)
honey - about 1 T for each grapefruit
mint -about 1 T for each grapefruit
salt

Directions
Supreme the grapefruits. (There are YouTube videos that demonstrate how to "supreme" citrus. Basically, you're cutting away all the peel and membranes. Cut off the ends, then slice carefully along the membranes so that segments of the grapefruit fall loose.) Reserve all the juice, putting it in a separate bowl from the fruit.

Mince the mint. Whisk the mint, honey and a pinch of salt into the juice. Pour over grapefruit segments, stirring gently to combine. Best served chilled.

Frisée-Romaine Salad with Bacon and Croutons

4 large (or 6-8 small) servings.

I want to make and post/save this recipe; but I don't have Frisée on hand. Or Romaine. I do have lettuce and I'd like to use what I have before I buy more (or what I have would just end up going bad). AND I have leftover croutons (store bought) to use up as well. So...what I've made -- and pictured -- is sort of a 'corrupted' version of the recipe. Though it was still delicious, the recipe AS IS is  definitely better!!

Ingredients
1 head Frisée lettuce
1 head romaine
8 oz thick sliced bacon
4 large slices quality, artisan bread
    ~ whole wheat, sourdough...anything will work; suit your tastes
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
salt & pepper
optional: granulated garlic
vinaigrette -- recipe below, though any vinaigrette will work

Directions
Wash and dry lettuce; cut or rip into small pieces.

Cut bacon into ¼" pieces; fry until slightly crispy. Drain well on paper towel lined plate.

Cut bread into small cubes. Melt butter and olive oil together. Toss bread with butter-oil mixture. Sprinkle and toss with salt, pepper, and garlic (if desired). Bake in 325˚ F oven 20 minutes (or more) until just becoming crunchy.

Toss lettuces with vinaigrette; add bacon and croutons, toss well. Serve.


Vinaigrette...
1/3 C red wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
¼ tsp salt
pinch black pepper
2/3 C extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Slowly whisk in olive oil to emulsify.

Roasted Root Vegetable and Farro Salad

Ingredients:
1½ cups farro
1 bay leaf
2 lbs assorted root vegetables: carrots, rutabagas, yams, turnips, parsnips, butternut squash, celery root, etc.
1 lg red oinion; peeled and diced
½ C olive oil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
sea salt
pepper
3 oranges, peeled and medium diced*
2-3 T sherry vinegar*

Directions:
Cook farro in 2 qts well salted water until tender (45 min - 1 hr); drain.

Preheat oven to 425˚. Peel root vegetables; medium dice (½"). Spread in single layer on baking sheet with onion, 2 T oil, and thyme. Roast until tender and slightly browned (20-30 min). Remove from oven. Toss cooked farrow with remaining oil and sherry vinegar. Combine with roasted vegetables and orange pieces. 

Salad can be served warm, cold or room temperature.

* When I first tasted this salad at an evening cooking class, I wasn't wild about the orange pieces. (Maybe they'd be okay if they were orange supremes? or the canned mandarin oranges) but the orange flavor was good. I didn't have either, but did have some orange juice. I also didn't have sherry vinegar; I do have a variety of flavored vinegars...worked/tasted fine. :)

Rainbow Coleslaw

I'm not a big coleslaw fan, mostly because of the mayonnaise-y, creamy dressing. This recipe has no mayonnaise (or sour cream, buttermilk, etc.) but is dressed with a simple vinaigrette/pickling-brine. Maybe for some, that is NOT a coleslaw. It is, however, more to my personal liking. 

Ingredients: 
½ head green cabbage, finely sliced 
½ head red cabbage, finely sliced
4 carrots, shredded or finely julienned
2 bell peppers*, julienned
1 C chopped parsley 
½ C white wine vinegar 
½ C olive oil
1 tsp salt 
½ tsp pepper
2 Tbls sugar

* You can use any color bell peppers you want, but a yellow and red add more color variety since there's already green cabbage and parsley, and orange carrots in the mix.

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Toss with remaining ingredients in a larger bowl. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving, to chill and allow vinaigrette to pickle the salad.

Asian Pickled Cabbage

Ingredients:
1 head green cabbage
1 large carrot
2 red chili peppers
1 C rice vinegar 
½ C sugar
1  1½" knob fresh ginger
1 Tbls kosher salt

Directions:
Peel and thinly slice ginger. In medium saucepan, bring the rice wine vinegar, sugar, sliced ginger, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil, turn off heat and set aside.

Slice or chop the cabbage, discarding the core. Peel carrot; using vegetable peeler, shave remaining carrot into long slivers, then cut slivers in 2" lengths. Seed and dice the chili peppers. Combine cabbage, carrots, and peppers in a large bowl. Using a mesh strainer, pour the warm vinegar mixture over cabbage salad, straining out ginger; toss until thoroughly coated. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, tossing occasionally, or overnight.

The cabbage will wilt and release liquid in the process of chilling. Use a slotted spoon when serving.

Chopped Apple Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:       ¼ C pomegranate molasses*

                        2 Tbls red wine vinegar

                        1 heaping Tbls Dijon mustard

                        1 Tbls honey, more to taste

                        ¾ C extra virgin olive oil

                        salt & pepper to taste

Salad:            6 apples (Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji
                           or any combination of them)

                        2 C baby spinach, remove stems if desired

                        2 heads endive, thinly sliced

                        1 C toasted walnut halves

                        ½ lb blue cheese, crumbled

                        salt& pepper to taste

                        optional: pomegranate arils as garnish

Directions:

Prepare vinaigrette: Whisk together pomegranate molasses, vinegar, mustard, honey in small bowl. Salt & pepper to taste. Whisk in oil, a little at a time, until emulsified.

Prepare salad: Core apples and cut into ½” dice, leaving skin on. Combine apples, spinach, sliced endive, walnuts (coarsely chop, if desired) and blue cheese. Just before serving, toss with vinaigrette to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Optional: garnish with pomegranate arils.

* Pomegranate molasses can be purchased at well stocked grocers or middle eastern markets.

Holley & McKenna

Spinach Salad with Apple (& Walnuts)

Since I'm allergic to nuts, I'll generally substitute peanuts or sunflower seeds...or just leave them out, but they do add a nice textural element to the salad as well as a subtle saltiness.

Ingredients 

2 Tblsolive oil

1 Tbls cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt& pepper

5 oz spinach leaves (about 5 C, lightly packed)

½ Granny Smith apple 

¹/₃ C walnut pieces 

Directions 

Toast walnut pieces in a dry skillet over medium high heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes).

Whisk together oil, vinegar and mustard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss spinach with dressing to coat evenly.

Core apples, slice into matchsticks (“julienne” - photo doesn't accurately reflect this). Sprinkle apple pieces over salad, followed by walnut pieces.* Serve immediately.

* Nuts, a common allergen, can also be served “on the side”.

Blackberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients
½ C blackberry vinegar
1 Tbls white balsamic vinegar
½ C extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbls honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbls minced shallot
½ tsp thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Whisk together all ingredients. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to blend.

I found this vinaigrette to be a little lighter on the blackberry flavor than I wanted, so I added 2 or 3 tablespoons of blackberry juice.