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The beans get cooked and dropped into a dressing while still hot so they absorb lots of flavor. The tomatoes add bright notes to the salad while the lettuce texture plays well with the other elements. The beans could be made a day or two ahead, and would easily mix into other preparations.
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Tagged with: butter lettuce • celery • cranberry shelling beans • lettuce • salad • shelling beans • tomatoes
This recipe calls for a sweet mustard spiked dressing, but this combo would really well with an orangey-creamy dressing such as Creamy Orange Dressing (see recipe) or Orange Poppyseed Cream Dressing (see site for recipe). If using an orange based dressing, try adding pistachios or almonds instead of sunflower seeds.
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This salad is a study in contrasts with the tender slightly bitter Butter lettuces and the silky nutty avocado up against the crunchy sweet-tart elements of the quickles. Using plenty of Italian parsley in the vinaigrette gives an earthy and green element to bring things together.
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An autumnal salad that is pretty to look at and tastes of the coming season. The ingredients act as foils and links all at the same time, and form a sort of flavor merry-go-round with each other. If you wish, you can add diced apples for more sweetness and crunch to the salad. See the “option” in the recipe.
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This is very definitely an autumnal salad that is a study of contrasts and complements. If you can get the pomegranate seeds, do use them as the acid really adds to the whole. This salad can easily be turned into a full meal by enlarging it and adding grilled chicken or shrimp that has marinated in pomegranate juice, garlic, and mint.
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Slaw like in texture, this salad is crunchy and lightly sweet from the cabbage and tomatoes, and has a refreshing aroma from the cilantro. The baby leeks, which could be replaced with scallions, add a bit of pungency and the allium funk. This salad would be great under grilled salmon or snapper, or as a side to grilled pork or barbecued ribs.
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This is a satisfying main course salad with plenty of crunch and lots of umami flavor, thanks to the roasted mushrooms and the roasted chicken. This recipe is based around the roasted chickens you find at the store or any leftover chicken you have on hand. Using a Ben-Riner or other fixed blade slicer makes the prep for this salad fly. You could even slice the vegetables the day before and bag or box them until needed. Tearing the mushrooms with your hands is quick and leaves lots of edges to crisp up and add texture to the dish.
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Tagged with: cabbage • carrots • celery • chicken • lemon • lettuce • Meyer lemon • mushrooms • oyster mushrooms • salad
Poaching the salmon the night before makes this a quick dish to assemble after work or if company is coming and you want to spend time with them rather than the stove. Actually, pretty much all the prep can be done the day prior, and all you do is assemble things just before serving. Since this can be a knife and fork type salad, you can leave the lettuce in leaves if you wish instead of tearing them into bite-sized bits.
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Here is a salad with nice textural contrasts that is light but very satisfying. The beans can be done a day or two ahead of time. Making extra beans allows you to use them for other things such as a smashed paste as a dip for chips or crackers, part of a vegetable braise, or an accompaniment to sausages.
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This salad of sharp and/or bitter greens is cut with a sweet-ish dressing made with port wine as part of the base, along with roasted almond oil to link to the nuts and the microgreens. If you can’t find the broccoli greens, use some others, but the broccoli micros from New Natives have a wonderful sweet and nutty flavor cut with a bit of sharpness that is perfect here. This salad would be good with rich foods or simple dishes such as a roast chicken cooked with little other than salt and pepper, some oil or butter rubbed on and maybe thyme. It will also play well with roast winter squash dishes.
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This is a variation of Haricot Vert Salad that has a little more “pop” to it due to the lemon and yogurt in the dressing. Combined with the aromatic dill, this salad has plenty of presence. If you get tomatoes in your box, add some dice tomatoes to the mix, or see suggestions in Chef’s Tips. If you wish, you can substitute potatoes for the filet beans. If you get tomatoes in your box, go ahead and seed one or two (to yield a cup) and cut them into ¼ inch cubes and fold into the salad after everything else has been finished.
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Tagged with: beans • dill • filet beans • gluten-free • labne • potatoes • shallots • spinach • tomatoes • vegetarian
Inspired by Waldorf Salad, this has a lighter dressing and has cheese added, based on the classic pairing of apples and cheese.
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Another item inspired by a trip to a taqueria. This time it was a plate of tacos, with the charred meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions that led to this. I really like the surprise of grilled lettuce with the hot/cold contrast and the play of flavors the lettuce gains from the light charring from the grill. There are plenty of fun options that can be added to the salad listed to add interest as well. Having a spritzer for your oil makes this dish simpler, and keeps it lighter.
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Tagged with: cheese • cherry tomatoes • cilantro • little gem lettuce • salad • scallions • tomatoes
A salad with some substance, and a good amount of crunch. If you can grill over wood, the salad will taste even better with a bit of smokiness. Be sure not to cook the squash and lettuce through. Your Little Gems just want some charring, and the squash wants only to be cooked until no longer raw and a bit charred outside. This salad could be a starter, part of a mezze/antipasti table, or buffed up with some other vegetables and some proteins to make for a light dinner.
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This salad is about contrasts; of flavors, of textures, colors, and if you are quick enough, you can even work contrasting temperatures into the salad. Escarole and radicchio are both bitter, but the roasted beets with their marination of balsamic vinegar provide a sweet contrast. If you wait to grill the radicchio until just before dressing the salad you can even get a contrast between the hot red radicchio and the rest of the salad which is served cool, or even cold. Radicchio can be quite bitter, but grilling it mitigates much of the bitterness. To step this salad up, check the options in the ingredients. The use of avocado or a creamy blue cheese, or adding romaine lettuce will mitigate the bitter elements further and will contrast nicely with the crunchy elements.
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This salad combines smoky grill flavors with fresh vegetable crunch, and drapes it all in a mildly garlicky dressing. The little bit of cheese on top rounds out the interplay between the slight sharpness romaine and summer squash have, while the grilling of the two helps to emphasize the sweetness the underlies these two vegetables.
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Grilled Romaine tastes great and the textures add a lot to the dish. The shaved roots each bring a different texture, color, and flavor to the salad that play well off each other to please the palate and eye. The dressing brings everything together.
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This is a riff on a classic of Italian cuisine, only it has kale in it, because, y’know, it’s kale, and besides being good for you, it tastes good raw. As long as it is fairly tender and young. I find that crumpling kale leaves seems to result in a reaction that makes the leaves sweeter, so be vigorous while prepping the kale here. This is a salad that can be done quickly, especially if you are practiced at stripping the stems out of kale with your fingers, and your favas are already done or you skip them.
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Here’s a riff on a favorite from the 2012 Harvest Fair. Here I use Chioggia beets, but golden beets would work as well. The red beet beets would do okay, but are “earthier” tasting. The dressing has a very little cream in it to offset the acid of the apple and the tannins of the greens.
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Tagged with: apples • beets • chioggia beets • curly kale • golden beets • Granny Smith apples • kale • salad • scotch kale
Modern American cuisine smacks into traditional Mediterranean. This salad was inspired by a Salade Niçoise, but is much, much simpler. You want to use good quality tuna for this-at least use albacore if you can’t find any European tuna packed in olive oil. Also, If you have beans you have cooked yourself the dish will be better for them, but the recipe simply calls for pantry staple canned white beans. Rinse them really well.
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Tagged with: basil • bell peppers • cucumbers • fish • kale • lacinato kale • oregano • quickles • salad • scotch kale • tomatoes • tuna
A paean to late lasting summer bounty. Although the salad is like a lot of the Moroccan inspired ones posted before, this could be combined with lettuce if you wanted. It could also be piled onto toasted flat breads or grilled slabs of some crusty sturdy bread like a ciabatta or the like.
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The taste of fresh ground coriander is a refreshing floral, citrusy flavor with a little bit of nuttiness to it. I like to use it as one would pepper when I don’t want the bite or heat pepper can bring. I have a pepper mill just for coriander seed I like it so much. I suggest giving it a try. Find an old mill at the flea market, or grind some up and try it to see what you think before buying a new mill.
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Pistachio oil is pricey, but is a wonderful indulgence. It works magic in dressings, lentils, and grains, and is a nice way to finish scallops or fish. It matches well with orange and other citrus. Look for smaller bottles and keep it in the refrigerator. If you do not have pistachio oil, just use a plain red wine vinaigrette.
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Tagged with: cheese • eggs • herbs • Italian parsley • lettuce • little gem lettuce • nuts • onions • oregano • parsley • quickles • salad • vinaigrette
This is a salad built on other components made earlier, such as quickles and grilled peppers. The cold crunchy vegetables and vinegar are perfect for appetites flagging in the heat.
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Tagged with: carrots • lettuce • little gem lettuce • nuts • peppers • quickles • salad • Tokyo turnips • tomatoes
The dressing for this salad has only a little cream in it, hence it is mentioned last. It is just creamy enough enhance the earthiness of beets and offset any sharpness of the mustard. The colors of this salad are nice and bright, and the flavors are vivacious. If you do not have a fixed-blade slicer for the carrots, see the method for using a peeler in the notes. A grater just doesn’t give sharp edges to the carrots to achieve the desired effect of crispness.
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I really like salads with oak leaf lettuces. I love the shape of the leaves and enjoy the flavor/texture combination. This salad has lots of color to it, and the beets, carrots, and creamy blueberry dressing all have earthy notes as well as bright top notes to contrast and compliment each other. Although I usually dress the lettuces in my salads in a bowl before serving, I like the colors of the lettuces, so drizzle the dressing over the leaves once they are on the plate for this salad. If you prefer more dressing, just put the leaves into a bowl with some dressing and toss to coat, then plate the lettuces and top with the rest of the ingredients.
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