This salad was one of several at our Thanksgiving buffet dinner. Everyone liked it, as far as I know. I thought it was wonderful. It could be the main dish of a vegetarian meal. The next day several of us dipped into the leftovers and enjoyed it all over again. The watercress, however, isn’t all that nice the next day if it’s left in the salad.

The dressing is easy – apple cider vinegar, honey, oil and salt and pepper. You do need to prepare a few fresh veggies – carrots, tomatoes, green onions, and add some dried cranberries, toasted pine nuts and toasted pumpkin seeds too. The wild rice does have to be cooked (using some vegetable stock, not just water) of course. Some of the dressing is tossed with the rice and allowed to sit for an hour before you finish prepping the entire salad for serving.

The recipe is another one from the Mitsitam Café. I told you about this a few days ago when I posted the recipe for Cedar-Planked, Fire Roasted Salmon. The recipe is also in the Museum’s cookbook, The Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook: Recipes from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Worth making.

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If you happen to think you don’t like winter greens, think again. Lots of those winter type greens (in this case it’s escarole and kale) are perfectly edible raw. Mostly we know kale and other more typical winter greens as something you cook, and cook and cook to get it tender. Not needed here, as long as the pieces are cut into fairly small bite-sized pieces. Bacon is certainly an enhancement to just about any sturdy green salad. With a nice red wine vinegar dressing (including a hint of honey), and tossed with the bacon and some orange sections (supremes) it’s just the most fantastic taste. This may become a real new favorite around my house. I just have to remember to buy the hearty greens.

This is another recipe from a cooking class with Megan Barnett, a personal chef. I really liked her recipes (bacon inspired) and will make all but one of her recipes. The dressing can be made ahead, all the greens can be tossed ahead of time. Even the bacon could be cooked and crumbled ahead of time. And the orange supremes. The walnuts can be toasted and chopped ahead too. It’s all a matter of combining the ingredients just before serving. Make this salad. You may have to hunt in more than one grocery store for escarole. I find it a bit hard to locate sometimes, but it has a really good, hearty taste and texture.

What I liked: the fresh taste of the salad dressing. All the ingredients in the salad – walnuts, a bit of blue cheese, a bit of bacon. And then the greens. All of which I like to eat anyway.

What I didn’t like: nothing whatsoever. I’d make this salad over and over and over again. Especially nice for guests, I think. Because it’s different.

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When you go shopping, do you always know exactly what you’re going to do with the veggies you buy? Sometimes I do, but oftentimes I have no plans, other than knowing we haven’t had [insert vegetable name here!] in awhile and I’ll make something with it. That was the case here, with 2 beautiful small globe eggplants in my refrigerator. As I’m writing this, I’m remembering that last night we went out to dinner to a local Italian restaurant and I ordered a grilled vegetable salad (small) for my entrée. It contained green and yellow squash in microscopic thin slices and two thin rounds of eggplant. And the eggplant didn’t look like it had been grilled, but perhaps it had. It was very disappointing. I was expecting some red bell peppers, some onions maybe, or even some fennel. None of those. Just zucchini and eggplant.

But, I digress. My DH is crazy about eggplant parmesan, and when we go out to dinner and it’s on a restaurant menu, he’ll very often order it. I like it too, but I know (as a cook we know these things, right?) that eggplant parmesan is usually just loaded in fat/oil because of frying the eggplant. I don’t think restaurant chefs are at all cautious about how much oil they use – and eggplant is a particularly “bad” vegetable for soaking up anything you put it in – like oil! So, when I decided to make this salad or side veggie, I tried to be very aware of how much oil I was using. And I probably did use about 4 T. Maybe a bit more. And that’s a lot, although this made enough to serve about 6 people, probably. So maybe it wasn’t all that bad after all. But I ate a lot of it – so that negates my theory! I’ve also taken the leftovers out of the refrigerator and eaten this as a snack. It was really good, obviously, if I’d do that!

So what did I do? Using a Frugal Gourmet recipe as my starting point, I followed some of his suggestions, but then I veered off and did my own thing. I salted the eggplant and let it sit for half an hour or so while I got the rest of our dinner ready. Then, I rinsed it off and dried the slices on towels (don’t use terrycloth or lint will stick to the eggplant – use a dishtowel type or paper towels). Using a large, flat nonstick skillet, I poured in about a T. of grapeseed oil (that’s my oil of choice for cooking) and sautéed the eggplant on both sides, adding another T. of oil when I turned them over. Place them on paper towels when you’re done to soak up a bit of the excess oil, if there is any. I didn’t really have much, so I put them directly onto a serving platter.

Meanwhile, I mixed up some Greek nonfat yogurt, mashed garlic, lime juice, some crushed oregano, salt and pepper and kept adding lime juice until it tasted “right,” then let it sit until the eggplant was done. If you have time, mix this up ahead of time so the garlic will permeate all of the sauce. I spread the eggplant all over the serving plate and spooned the sauce on each piece, then garnished with some fresh mint from my garden. It was very pretty, I thought. I served it just barely warm. It also is good cold. I layered the pieces into a refrigerator container and after they’d chilled, they actually can be removed fairly easily and the plate recreated, which I did a couple of nights later. As leftovers, the yogurt mixture (already spread on the eggplant) had turned a kind of icky brownish color. I suppose it absorbed some of color from the eggplant skin. Next time I’d keep the topping separate and replenish it as leftovers. Or maybe the best thing is to eat it all up in the first sitting!

What I liked: the flavor was delicious, even leftover it was still delicious. The topping is also good with the garlic and mint and lime juice. I liked it all lot.

What I didn’t like: just keep the topping separate if you think you’ll have leftovers as the topping looks unappealing after a couple of days residing in the refrigerator. Be careful about adding too much oil when you sauté it – it will soak up whatever you pour around it!

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People in lots of places in the Northern Hemisphere are already experiencing much cooler weather, like it’s fall, of course. But in Southern California, uh, no. No fall. No cooling temps. The hottest part of our summer usually is in September and October. I sort-of have a date-goal, that by about Halloween our weather has begun to cool down, at least at night. But until then, it’s still lots of sunshine, no rain, and plenty of air conditioning going on in my house.

So, summer salads are still on my dinner menus, maybe twice a week, and on menus at most restaurants. Here in California, salads are on the menu at restaurants year ‘round. Which is why I went to a Phillis Carey cooking class recently that was all about salads. Main dish salads. And they were, each one, delicious. Worth making. Like this one.

She took some of the usual ingredients of a Nicoise salad (potatoes, Kalamata olives, green beans, hard boiled eggs) but instead of tuna (canned tuna if you’re eating it in France, maybe seared ahi if you’re having it here in California), which is the usual protein in a Nicoise, she used big, gorgeous shrimp. What a great concept. Then she paired it with a mustardy lemon olive oil dressing. Do use fresh lemon juice in the dressing – and add more if it isn’t lemony enough. That’s an essential flavor.

What I liked: absolutely everything about it. Even down to the capers on top of the egg. Loved the dressing too.

What I didn’t like: nothing. Deliciousness in every bite.

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My friend Cherrie and I had been on a short hiatus from going to cooking classes. They took a trip and so did we, and for a variety of reasons including date conflicts, we just couldn’t fit in any fun cooking class get-togethers. But we’re back on track again, going to our favorite cooking school, Great News, in Pacific Beach (San Diego). Most often she and I seek out classes taught by Phillis Carey. She’s just tops on our list of great cooking instructors.

This class was all about main dish (summer) salads, and you’ll see all four of the salads up here on my blog eventually. I’m not going to post four in a row. That would be a bit too much, I think. This salad, though, was my favorite of the four that Phillis prepared. I do love ahi tuna, for one. And the cannellini beans too. So good. And the dressing. Well, everything about it was good.

First Phillis soaked the red onion in acidulated water to take out that harsh onion-y taste. That little tip works like a charm. The tuna is seared quickly – you know – you want the tuna to be still red in the middle like you see in the photo at top. If you cook ahi all the way through it’s much too dry and hard to swallow. Just buy it from a reputable fish market. There’s an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. There are herbs (thyme and parsley), there’s garlic, tomatoes and red bell pepper. And there is arugula on the bottom. You could also make this with shrimp, Phillis suggested. I loved it with the ahi, I’ll tell you. If you used shrimp, make more dressing and marinate the shrimp briefly in that extra dressing before grilling it. And be sure to give the top of the salad a good grinding of freshly ground black pepper. It needs it.

What I liked: everything about it. Refreshing for summer. Healthy (well, except for the mercury in the tuna – just don’t eat this often). Lively flavors.
What I didn’t like: nothing at all. Loved it all.

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It was, most definitely, a cold salad kind of evening. In fact, it was still in the mid-80’s at 8 pm the other night after I fixed this. It was too hot to eat outside. But the recipe didn’t need me to heat the oven, although my DH did have to grill the peaches. That was the extent of the cooking. Right after dinner sat in the cool Jacuzzi for awhile, which was very refreshing.

My inbox on this particular day contained an email from one of the magazines I subscribe to – and it listed “25 peach recipes you can use today,” or some such advertising come-on. But I clicked over to look, and up popped this salad, which came from Southern Living in 2008. I had the fresh mozzarella. I had peaches. I had arugula. I had fresh cilantro. I was in business.

What intrigued me – besides the grilled peaches – was the salad dressing. It’s composed of a whole peach, the cilantro, honey (I used agave), lime zest and juice (and I augmented it with lemon juice since I didn’t have enough lime juice), ground cumin, chili powder, olive oil AND tequila. Tequila, I thought? Odd, but interesting.

There you can see the salad a little more clearly with the chicken around the edges. This salad did not include chicken in it, but I decided this should be a dinner entrée, so I used some of the leftover chicken from the perfect Roast Chicken I did a couple of nights ago. I whipped up the dressing in the food processor. Just know that you have to use the dressing in a couple of days. Cilantro, once it comes in constant contact with liquid, becomes a liquid. And not all that nice. I have a lot left over that I’m going to need to use asap. So you might try cutting down on the dressing quantity because I think it will dress a salad for more than 4 people. Next time I’ll make the dressing without the cilantro and just mince it up and add it as needed. That way I wouldn’t have a time limit on using it up.

What I liked: the freshness of it – the peaches were just perfect specimens – they looked beautiful on the plate – the dressing gave a distinct flavor to everything, including the fresh Mozzarella. A delightful summer salad for sure.

What I didn’t like: nothing, really. Just remember my suggestion about the dressing – use it up, or make a bit less of it as it doesn’t keep.

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I know, I know, what’s so special about a grilled chicken salad! Well, let’s just say it’s all about the dressing in this recipe. If you don’t care about the salad part, that’s fine, but you do need to try the dressing on a salad of your choice.

Wanting a cold salad for dinner in the summer is certainly standard fare around here. I dug out this recipe that I think came from a cooking class I went to in the mid-80’s. It’s that old. And the recipe for an artistic salad such as pictured above, was on the cutting edge at the time! My notes say this recipe came from Jean Francois Meteigner, at Cicada (an L.A. restaurant). At the time the restaurant was on Melrose. There is still a Cicada, but it’s in downtown L.A. and somebody else is the chef. Meteigner has moved on to another restaurant in Santa Monica. In any case, this is his recipe and it’s a good one.

I made the dressing an hour ahead and let it sit out at room temp so the garlic would infuse a bit more. Afterwards I refrigerated what was left and used it up within a few days. As for the salad, it’s a mixture of baby spinach, arugula and mixed salad greens. Then you add some cucumber, fennel, fresh corn cut off the cob (or use frozen if that’s all that’s available), toss the salad with the dressing, then add the decorative touches – fresh wedges of tomato, avocado, green onions and artichoke hearts, if you’d like. When I served this as a main dish salad I added the chicken. The next day I served a lovely green salad  (pictured above) with some crumbled blue cheese, some toasted pecans, and the dressing.

So, first is the salad dressing. As you can see from the ingredient list, it has some sweetness to it. Not too much, but enough that you know it’s sweet. The original recipe called for honey – I used agave nectar instead. Otherwise, I stuck to the recipe as written. It’s delicious. Several people asked me about it- they couldn’t tell what was in it – the sherry vinegar adds a different taste. And the lemon juice gives it a nice tartness, although the agave certainly balances it. Worth making.

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Then, if you’d like to make the chicken salad part, with all the delicious fresh veggies that go along with it, here’s that part.

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Imagine my surprise a few months ago, at a cooking class with Phillis Carey, when she looked over at me and said, “this is your salad dressing, Carolyn.” Wow, really? Phillis came up with the salad components, but she used my Creamy Blue Cheese Garlic Dressing. It’s one I’ve been making for years (it’s probably my favorite salad dressing), but just recently put up on my blog, purely an oversight that it hadn’t been “up” on my blog before. It’s one that isn’t overwhelming with the blue cheese. It’s more like a creamy blue cheese vinaigrette, really. You can see from the photo above – it’s not a gloopy sour cream based dressing as there isn’t any sour cream or mayo or anything “creamy” in it except 2 ounces of blue cheese – so all you see is oil and lime juice on the lettuce. It has a bunch of other stuff in it too, but it’s a simple dressing.

Anyway, I was quite thrilled. Thanks, Phillis! Now on to the salad. Phillis has you season a nice, big sirloin steak with a Cajun/Creole seasoning mix. If you don’t have a jar of something on hand, click over to this site for a recipe for a Cajun (spicy hot mixture) to make your own. In my recent reading of Mary’s site, Deep South Dish, she uses a seasoning mix she buys, called Slap Ya Mama. Our local stores here in Southern California usually carry some of Emeril’s jars, but not much else. I may have to order some of this mixture just for fun. As with any kind of spice mixture, you know, don’t you, that once you mix up a variety of spices they tend to become one and they lose their pungency within a few months. Five different spices kept separate will keep fresh for at least a year (oh, I keep mine far longer than that) but once combined give it just a month or two at most. Keep that in mind.

Several years ago I made up a batch of the the spice mix I use for my grilled Corn with 10-Spice Rub. I thought I was so clever – I made a really huge batch just at the beginning of corn season and put it in a small pint sized plastic bag and set it on a shelf in my walk-in pantry. Mistake #1 was putting it in a plastic bag – should have been sealed in a tight lidded jar. Anyway, I used some of it a week or two later. And again. Then it sat on the shelf for about 3-4 weeks. This time I walked 15 feet to my kitchen island and realized a steady stream of the spices were in a trail on my hardwood floor. Oh my. As I held the bag in my hand, it was moving. Eek! Yikes. The bag was just crawling with critters. This was back when I had an infestation of different kinds of critters in my pantry – not only weevils, but another kind of tiny speck of black bugs that ate my chocolate. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you read all about it. I had to throw out many, many pounds of food (pasta, flours, grains, spices that weren’t sealed in cans or jars, and about 20 pounds of chocolate). THAT was a painful lesson. Now nearly everything is either jarred, canned or sealed up in big plastic bins in my pantry. The Container Store was my best friend back in those days.

There are differences between Cajun and Creole cuisine – Cajun tends to be more spicy (although it doesn’t have to be), Creole has more subtle flavorings (often tomato-based and with more French or Spanish heritage). Spice Hunter does make a single combo mixture of both seasonings, if you can find it. If you’re interested in learning more about the differences, I found a website called ochef, which explains a bit more. According to his information, as years have gone by – and a century or two of cooking, the two styles have married and intertwined a lot and there’s less and less distinction between them.

This salad is just perfect for a late summer harvest of vegetables – the corn, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, etc. If you prefer a really tender steak you can use a ribeye or a New York. If you stick with the sirloin, you might want to tenderize it a bit – marinate it in some kind of acid (like a vinaigrette) for an hour before grilling, then add the Cajun seasoning. Sometimes sirloin steak can be a bit chewy – it may depend on what part of the steak you get on your plate!

What I liked: all the flavors in this salad – and topped off with the blue cheese dressing. If you’re a lover of blue, you could also add a few small chunks of it to the salad. You will hardly know there is any blue in the vinaigrette.
What I didn’t like: not enough onion! I just adore roasted or grilled red onion, so I’d add more to the salad. That’s it!

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The other day I was archiving my photos (I’ve finally developed a system for saving my food photos on CDs) and when I got to this one I was puzzled. I didn’t remember posting it. Sure enough, I hadn’t. It was from a cooking class with Phillis Carey. A class from several months ago, actually. And I’d written EXC on the recipe (meaning excellent) and a note saying “dressing is really good.” So, there you have my few-word synopsis of this recipe.

It starts, though, with some really good heirloom tomatoes. This one calls for cherry tomatoes, but if you don’t have those, regular sized will do. Try to buy the multi-colored cherry tomatoes if you can – the salad is ever-so pretty that way. You also need some soft goat cheese, a little bit of buttermilk, arugula and fennel. If you have all that (as well as usual kitchen staples like olive oil, lemons, mayo and chives) then you’re in business.

You could also make this an entrée type salad – just add some nice, big, plump shrimp on top. If you can’t find arugula, you can use baby spinach or watercress too.

Phillis showed us a really clever trick

So, here you have a simple collection of cherry tomatoes. I’ve put them on a Tupperware lid. To keep them contained, it’s good to have a short lip on the lid.

In the below picture, I’ve placed a second lid, the white one, turned upside down on top of the cherry tomatoes. So you see there’s a little “window” in the middle.  In the bottom photo you can see the edge a bit better on the bottom lid.

I took my long serrated-edged knife, and holding the lid (and the tomatoes) fairly firmly in place, I sawed back and forth until I’d cut all the cherry tomatoes in half. A whole bunch of them in one fell swoop. If you have all one type, they’ll all get cut the same. If you’re really a – – l retentive, you’ll very carefully place each tomato with the stem end up. I didn’t bother. The idea came from one of the chefs at Great News, the cooking school I go to more often than not. It was Phillis’ class, but the chef-helper knew of this great trick. It’s a good one.

What I liked: the dressing. For me, salads are almost always about the dressings anyway. But when you have superior ingredients (like arugula, for instance, which I just love) and fennel (another veggie I really love), then it’s a salad marriage made in heaven. This isn’t a tart, vinegary kind of dressing (the only acid comes from a bit of lemon juice), but more creamy type from the soft goat cheese.

What I didn’t like: nothing, really. Be sure to toss the salad just before serving because the dressing will wilt the greens soon. That’s why arugula is used, because it can stand up to that kind of a creamy dressing. The dressing also doesn’t keep too long, so use it up in a day or two if you can.

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Two years ago: Tiramisu (an America’s Test Kitchen recipe, my favorite)
Three years ago: Zucchini Pancakes (a delish dinner side dish)

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You could, if you didn’t care about making things right, prepare any old salad with Caesar dressing, put some steak on it and serve it with some toasted bread and call it a Steak Caesar Salad. But it would not have the great flavor this one does because of the marinade for the steak, the mayo-based Caesar dressing that just “makes” this dish, or the herby, spicy toast slices that you’ll crave. So, you need to go through all the steps to make this the right way – making the croutons, making the dressing, combining and marinating the meat, then putting it all together.

Since I love garlic, Caesar dressing has been a regular on my menu since as long as I can remember. And for the last couple of years I’ve been making Phillis Carey’s Caesar dressing, which makes it makes it so very easy. Both recipes use mayo as the base – that’s why it’s so easy, see? This one, in this recipe, though, is slightly different that the regular Caper Parmesan Dressing one I use most often. Both are good.

So, would you just go buy a steak, marinate it and make all the component parts and serve this delicious salad one day soon? Thanks!

What I like about this: the dressing, first and foremost. But the steak was delicious too, and the croutons. Yes, I loved it all.
What I didn’t like: well, nothing really, other than the need to plan ahead a bit for this one.

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Two years ago: Tomato, Blue Cheese and Saffron Vinaigrette
Four years ago: Pineapple Salsa (great on barbecued meat)

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