Leite's Culinaria» salads

Bibb Wedges, Radicchio, Endive, and Blue Cheese Dressing

Sara Foster — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:59:56 +0000

Sara Foster | Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking | Clarkson Potter, 2007 | Serves 4

Like most people, I grew up on the classic iceberg wedge salad. I still think it’s one of the great side dishes, especially with a few new touches–like using more unusual and flavorful lettuces. I start with tender Bibb lettuce and add endive and radicchio for their crunchy texture and slightly bitter flavor. Prepare this in advance because the lettuce needs time to chill and crisp in the refrigerator.–Sara Foster

LC Inching Away from Iceberg Note: Remember those pale wedges of iceberg? The ones with the rust marks along the edges that were barely discernible beneath blobs of bottled blue cheese dressing? Yeah, us too. Not that this lovely little salad plate will remind you of it. Not at all.

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 20 minutes (not including time for chilling).

Bibb Wedges, Radicchio, Endive, and Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the wedge salad

1 head Bibb lettuce 
1 head radicchio 
1 Belgian endive 
1 ounce crumbled blue cheese (about 1/4 cup)

For the blue cheese dressing

3/4 cup mayonnaise 
2 ounces crumbled blue cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup buttermilk, from a well-shaken carton
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Make the wedge salad

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1. Cut the lettuce, radicchio, and endive into quarters through the stem ends, leaving the cores intact. Soak them in a large bowl of cold water to clean them thoroughly. Drain well and wrap the quarters, a few at a time, in paper towels to dry completely. Place the wrapped quarters in plastic bags and refrigerate for at least several hours or up to overnight to chill and crisp. Chill 4 salad plates in the refrigerator.

Make the blue cheese dressing

2. Place the mayonnaise, blue cheese, buttermilk, and vinegar in a blender and pulse several times, until the dressing is partially pureed with some chunks of cheese remaining. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. To serve, remove the lettuce, radicchio, endive, and salad plates from the refrigerator. Cut the cores from the lettuce, radicchio, and endive wedges, leaving the leaves of the wedges intact; discard the cores. Place one lettuce wedge, one radicchio wedge, and one endive wedge on each plate. Drizzle the blue cheese dressing over the salad, top with the blue cheese, season with additional salt and pepper if desired, and serve chilled.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Bacon and Blue Cheese Wedge Salad from Ezra Pound Cake
Boston Bibb Salad with Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette from The Bacon Show
Salad with Caramelized Pumpkin Seeds, Pears, and Pomegranate from Leite’s Culinaria
Butter Lettuce and Fresh Herbs with Maytag Blue Cheese from Leite’s Culinaria

Catalan Bread Salad | Escalivada

Chad Robertson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:00:07 +0000

Chad Robertson | Tartine Bread | Chronicle, 2010 | Serves 4 to 6

A number of classic dishes inspired this variation of bread salad. It was a late summer day, and the weather called for grilling. After a morning at the market, I had on hand the right mix of Provençal vegetables for making a ratatouille. Although bagna cauda, a warm sauce of garlic, oil, and anchovies, seemed the ideal accompaniment, cooler anchoïade held greater appeal. Eric and I grilled the vegetables over hot coals and dressed them with the anchoïade. In the Catalan tradition, it’s called escalivada, which refers to cooking the vegetables over hot coals. So that’s what I call this. The versatile anchoïade works well as a sauce here as well as for meat or fish and can also be eaten with fresh cheese such as ricotta.— Chad Robertson

LC Hard-to-Pronounce Recipe Note: Not all of us are accustomed to bandying about terms such as bagna cauda and anchoïade and escalavida. Nor are we accustomed to tossing together a lovely deconstructed bread salad. That doesn’t mean both of those things can’t happen with ease. Here, a cheat sheet…

Bagna cauda (pronounced BAN-ya-COW dah) is pretty much just as described in the above headnote. It’s often used as a fondue of sorts for meat or raw veggies or a vinaigrette to accompany robust flavors.

Anchoïade (pronounced on-SHWOY-ahd) is a garlic and—you guessed it—anchovy dip that takes countless guises. This version is more embellished than most, an intriguing juxtaposition of bitter and sweet that’s earthy and enticing. As with bagna cauda, anchoïade is common to Provence, the land of outdoor markets and Côtes du Rhone wine.

Any questions?

Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes.

Escalivada | Catalan Bread Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the bread salad

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into slices 1/4-inch thick
3 zucchini or summer squash, cut lengthwise into slices 1/4-inch thick
6 Gypsy or bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 red or yellow onion, cut into slices 1/4-inch thick
1/2 cup olive oil
4 thick slices day-old bread hewn from an artisanal loaf, whether store-bought or homemade
2 ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups mixed fresh flat-leaf parsley and basil leaves, torn into pieces
8 to 10 fresh figs, any variety, halved (optional)

For the anchoïade

2 cloves garlic
6 olive oil-packed anchovy fillets
1/2 cup walnuts halves or pieces
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
Grated zest and juice of 1 average-size lemon, preferably organic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dried figs, preferably Mission or some other dark-colored variety, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Make the bread salad

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1. Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.

2. Brush the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, and onion slices generously with some of the olive oil. Grill the vegetables, turning as needed, until they soften and are slightly charred, 6 to 8 minutes. If desired, cut each slice into smaller pieces. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Brush the bread slices with some of the olive oil. Grill, turning as needed, until crisp and slightly charred, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a platter and cut each slice in half or into smaller pieces.

Make the anchoïade

4. Place the garlic and anchovies in a mortar and, using a pestle, pound them into a paste. (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, or if you simply don’t have time, just toss them in the food processor, knowing you’ll end up with a less chunky, less rustic puree.) Add the walnuts and coriander seeds and pound to incorporate them. Transfer the paste to a bowl and stir in the lemon zest and juice, olive oil, marjoram, thyme, and dried figs. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Arrange the grilled vegetables on the platter along with the bread, tomatoes, parsley, basil, and fresh figs, if using. Spoon the anchoïade over the top and serve.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Zany Zuni Bread Salad from Amateur Gourmet
Summer Panzanella from site
Roasted Rabbit with Shaved Celery and Fried Bread Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
Warm Sourdough Bread Salad with Chicken from Leite’s Culinaria

Tomato and Green Bean Salad | Tomatosalata me Fasolakia

Michael Psilakis — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 03:45:23 +0000

Michael Psilakis | How to Roast a Lamb | Little, Brown, 2009 | Serves 4

This tomato and green bean salad is my version of a Greek steak house salad—it’s fantastic with a steak or any kind of protein. Add toasted chunks of day-old bread, brushed with extra-virgin olive oil, and it’s a Greek version of the Italian dish panzanella. I recommend going a step further by adding a grilled Spanish or sweet onion, separated into rings, as the char flavor works perfectly with the ripe fruit and vegetables.–Michael Psilakis

LC Summer Defined Note: We just want to remind you that you don’t have to be Greek for this recipe to taste like home. That is all.

Active time: 30 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes.

Tomato and Green Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1/2 pound string beans, preferably a mix of green beans and yellow wax beans, ends trimmed
1/3 to 1/2 cup Red Wine and Feta Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
4 vine-ripe tomatoes, preferably heirloom, cut into rough wedges
1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
6 small sprigs parsley, leaves picked and torn
6 small sprigs dill, leaves picked and torn
16 leaves fresh mint, torn
Kosher salt and coarsely cracked black pepper

Directions

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1. Prepare an ice water bath and bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the beans until tender but still snappy, about 3 minutes, then shock them in the ice water bath, swishing them around. Drain well and place on a clean towel to dry.

2. In a bowl, combine the beans, vinaigrette, feta, tomatoes, oregano, red onion, and torn herbs. Toss well with clean hands. Taste and adjust the seasoning with kosher salt and pepper.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad from Smitten Kitchen
Greek Salad from The Pioneer Woman
Grilled Lamb Kebab Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
Corn and Green Tomato Salad from Leite’s Culinaria

Warm Chicken with Green Beans and Chard

Nigel Slater — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:53:26 +0000

Nigel Slater | Tender | Ten Speed Press, 2011 | Serves 2

As much as I like big flavors, I sometimes want something more gentle, a little genteel, even. Chicken, French beans and chard lend themselves to such cooking. –Nigel Slater

LC Simple, Satiating Supper Note: This is an honest recipe, one that doesn’t stand in the way of the inherent loveliness of summer ingredients. We’ve nothing more to say.

Active time: 25 minutesTotal time: 35 minutes

Warm Chicken with Green Beans and Chard Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the dressing

A small shallot
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
Small bunch of mint, stems discarded, leaves finely chopped

For the chicken and salad

2 plump boneless chicken breasts
A little oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Sprig rosemary, finely chopped
7 ounces green beans, preferably the slender French ones
12 stalks rainbow Swiss chard
6 smallish tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on their size
A few nasturtium blossoms or leaves, if you wish

Directions

Make the dressing

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1. Peel and chop the shallot very finely. Place it in a screw-top jar with a good pinch of salt, the lemon juice, olive oil, and mint. Screw on the lid and shake the jar to mix the dressing.

Make the chicken and salad

2. Preheat a grill or grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Bring a pot of water to a boil.

3. Brush the chicken with the oil, season with the salt and black pepper, and scatter with the rosemary. Grill or sear the chicken until cooked through. Place on a plate and set aside for 10 minutes, perhaps with an overturned bowl or piece of foil on top to keep the chicken warm, saving any cooking juices that come from it.

4. Meanwhile, trim the ends from the beans. Slice the chard stalks into about 1-inch lengths and remove and reserve the leaves. Boil the beans and the chard stalks in boiling water until tender—a matter of 2 or 3 minutes in each case, depending on the size. Dip the chard leaves into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and drain. (I prefer to do this in two pans, as the red from the chard water may darken the beans, but it is up to you. Or you could cook the beans first and then the chard.)

5. Pour the dressing into a bowl, then add the drained green beans, chard leaves and stalks, the tomatoes, and the nasturtium flowers if you’re using them. Divide the salad between two plates or lovely serving bowls. Cut the chicken breasts into thick slices—about four each—and place on top of the salad.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Warm Chard Salad with Turnips, Almonds and Dried Cherries from Green Lite Bites
Lemony Green Bean Salad with Feta, Red Onion, and Marjoram from Food 52
Green Bean, Tomato, and Potato Salad with Almond and Basil Pesto from Leite’s Culinaria
Warm Sourdough Bread Salad with Chicken and Pine Nuts from Leite’s Culinaria

Seven Greens Salad

Camilla Plum — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:16:20 +0000

Adapted from Camilla Plum | The Scandinavian Kitchen | Kyle, 2011 | Serves 4

This dates from a time when herbs were scarce in the winter; when spring arrived, people would be desperate for any micronutrients they could find, especially in the far north, and they would crave the bitter taste of the year’s newest greens and weeds. If you know what you’re looking for, you can make delicious salads from a huge variety of greens. The traditional seven greens might include some of the following: chives, sorrel, wood sorrel, scorzonera or salsify leaves, mache, parsley, ground elder, samphire, wild arugula, chervil, the last of the kale, overwintered spinach, fava bean greens, or tiny dandelion greens collected while they still have strange violet-purple and red colors and resemble tiny octopus.–Camilla Plum

LC We Confess Note: We left something out of Camilla Plum‘s lovely recipe. Intentionally. Her original called for hard-cooked eggs and a creamy, roux-based, mustard sauce of sorts in addition to the vinaigrette. Forgive us, Camilla, but we found a sparer incarnation of this recipe, one that lets the inspired and eclectic taste of each of its seven greens shout out, to be a little more compelling—not to mention practical. Heck, this time of year, we’ve even dispensed with the vinaigrette, relying instead on the simplest dribble of oil to slick the greens. The salad is delicate enough to go with eggs sunnyside up and sturdy enough to withstand a side of steak. Still, for those who’d rather not forsake Scandinavian tradition, we tucked those extra ingredients aside, beneath the recipe. Far be it from us to dictate how you take your weeds.

Active time: 5 minutes | Total time: 5 minutes.

Seven Greens Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

4 cups mixed spring greens, preferably from the greenmarket
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

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1. Rinse the greens under cool running water very carefully. Let them dry on a clean dish towel.

2. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. Place the greens in a colander or a large serving bowl, dribble with the dressing, and gently toss.

The Original Way Variation: For those who can’t fathom a salad greens without a little more sustenance, this approach is for you.

Put 4 eggs on to boil. Keep a close eye on them as you want them almost but not completely hard-cooked. Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat, without letting it color. Mix in 2 tablespoons flour, stirring it constantly, and let it bubble for a minute to cook away the floury taste. Add 1 3/4 cups whole milk to the pan, a little at a time, taking care to incorporate it thoroughly before adding any more. Let the sauce simmer, stirring almost constantly, for about 10 minutes. You can add more milk if the sauce is very thick—it must be pourable. Drain the eggs, rinse under cool running water, peel and halve lengthwise. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add 4 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard, 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard, salt, and pepper. The sauce must not boil again after the mustards are added, or the taste will disappear. Let cool ever so slightly and then spoon just a little onto the greens. Top each serving with an egg.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Green Salad with Peaches from Fearless Kitchen
Spring Forward Salad from Healthy Happy Life
Goat Cheese Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
Blood Oranges, Dates, and Parmesan from Leite’s Culinaria

Arugula, Fennel, and Orange Salad

Lou Seibert Pappas — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:04:12 +0000

Lou Seibert Pappas | Williams-Sonoma Entertaining with the Seasons | Weldon Owen, 2010 | Serves 8–10

The bright flavors of peppery arugula, the anise accent of fennel, and the tangy sweetness of oranges come together in this vibrant winter salad. You can make the vinaigrette and prepare the fennel and oranges ahead of time and refrigerate. Combine all the elements just before serving.–Lou Seibert Pappas

LC Salad Days Note: The sturdiness of this starter’s simple components make it especially superb during coolish weather, especially those transitional seasons when your cravings veer toward something sort of salady yet still slightly substantial. This lovely little recipe is just the thing for those moments, as it’s able to stand up to a robust winter braise and also serve as a solo lunch (for that, we like to embellish it with a little round of goat cheese).

Active time: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes

Arugula, Fennel, and Orange Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the citrus vinaigrette

2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange or tangerine or clementine juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the salad

1 large fennel bulb
3 navel oranges
4 cups (4 ounces) fresh arugula (rocket)

Directions

Make the vinaigrette

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1. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange zest and juice, lemon juice, olive oil, canola oil, mustard, shallot, and tarragon, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Make the salad

2. Cut off the stems and feathery fronds of the fennel bulb and remove any bruised or discolored outer layers. Cut the bulb in half lengthwise and cut out any tough core parts. Cut the bulb halves crosswise into slices just shy of a half inch thick, and then cut the slices into 1-inch lengths.

3. Working with 1 orange at a time, cut a slice off both ends of the orange to reveal the flesh. Stand the orange upright on a cutting board and thickly slice off the peel and pith in strips, following the contour of the fruit. Cut the orange in half crosswise and thinly slice each half to create several half-moons. If desired, release the orange segments from the bitter membranes surrounding them. Repeat with the remaining oranges.

4. Place the fennel and arugula in a large serving bowl. (You can cover and refrigerate each of the salad’s components for up to several hours.)

5. When ready to serve, drizzle about 1/2 of the vinaigrette over the arugula and fennel and toss gently to coat. Arrange the orange slices on top. Drizzle with as much of the remaining vinaigrette as desired and serve immediately.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette from White On Rice Couple
Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette from Gluten Free Goddess
Arugula Salad with Almonds, Green Olives, and Tangerines from Leite’s Culinaria
Goat Cheese in Phyllo with Roasted Pepper Salad from Leite’s Culinaria

Roasted Sweet Potato and Feta Salad

P. Allen Smith — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:26:13 +0000

P. Allen Smith | P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Garden | Clarkson Potter, 2010 | Serves 8

I find it interesting to see how our tastes change as we mature. When I was a child, one of the few things I wouldn’t eat was sweet potatoes. That violated two rules of the house: you had to at least try everything that was served, and you had to clean your plate. Abiding by those rules must have helped me overcome my aversion, because trust me, I have no problem eating sweet potatoes now. In fact, by grade school I had developed a voracious appetite for them. I recall my dad warning me, after going for my third helping, that I should watch it because Daniel Boone had eaten so many sweet potatoes that he had foundered on them and subsequently died. Even though I loved stories about Daniel Boone and watched every episode of the TV show starring Fess Parker, that didn’t slow me down one bit.

While I didn’t try this salad as a kid, as an adult I can truly appreciate the savory blend of the roasted sweet potato and the tart flavor of the feta. And since spinach is a cool-weather crop, if the winter is mild, I often have some fresh leaves that I can harvest from the garden.–P. Allen Smith

LC As You Like It Note: There’s ample to like about this recipe as it is. And if you’re the sort who just can’t resist tweaking a little something here or there, you’re going to like it even more, as it takes well to a little tinkering if, say, you want to slip in some peppery arugula in place of the spinach, increase the honey for a more sweetly tart vinaigrette, or maybe even go all crazy and toss a handful of walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or pistachios across the top for a little crunch. Knock yourself out—and be sure to tell us about it.

Active time: 10 minutes Total time: 1 Hour 15 minutes

Roasted Sweet Potato and Feta Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the roasted sweet potatoes

4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 red onions, each cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup olive oil
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, plus more for serving

For the dressing

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

For the salad

1 pound baby spinach, rinsed thoroughly and patted dry
6 ounces feta cheese, diced or crumbled

Directions

Roast the sweet potatoes

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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).

2. Place the sweet potatoes and red onions on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and gently toss to coat everything well, being careful to keep the onion wedges intact. Spread the vegetables in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the vegetables and continue to roast for 30 more minutes. The onions should be blissfully soft and caramelized and the sweet potatoes should be tender with tinges of brown around the edges.

Make the dressing

3. While the vegetables are roasting, combine the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and process until combined.

Prepare the salad

4. Arrange the spinach in a shallow bowl or on a platter and scatter the warm onions and sweet potatoes over it. (If the spinach wilts a bit, all the better.) Drizzle with the dressing. Scatter the feta over the top. Grind some pepper over the salad, and serve immediately.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Rosemary Garlic Sweet Potato Fries from Pinch My Salt
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing from Sassy Radish
Sweet Potato Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
Sea Salt and Rosemary Sweet Potato Chips from Leite’s Culinaria

Prosciutto and Crottin Salad with Creamy Lardon Vinaigrette

Laurent Tourondel — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:49:28 +0000

Laurent Tourondel and Charlotte March | Fresh From the Market | Wiley, 2010 | Serves 6

How I love this creamy, tart, and decadent salad. The aged goat cheese has a velvety texture while the prosciutto adds the perfect amount of bite. This might truly be my favorite appetizer, but don’t tell the others. –Laurent Tourondel

LC Playing Favorites Note: Whichever goat cheese and proscuitto you fancy will work just fine here, although we thought you may wish to know that Chef Tourondel relies on goat milk crottin from Blue Ledge Farm in western Vermont and La Quercia brand prosciutto from Iowa (yes, Iowa).

Wine Note: Serve this dish with a Chardonnay that offers flavors of rich lemon, minerals, and a touch of toasty oak, such as Chardonnay, “Scherrer Vineyard,” Scherrer, 2005, Alexander Valley, California.

Active time: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes

Prosciutto and Crottin Cheese Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the vinaigrette

1/4 pound thick-sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper

For the croutons

1 small baguette
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, halved
2 small crottins of soft-ripened goat milk cheese (4 ounces each)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

For the salad

1 head frisée, light green and yellow leaves only
2 cups baby arugula
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces prosciutto, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Shaved black truffles (optional)

Directions

Make the vinaigrette

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1. In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring often, until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes.

2. Deglaze with the vinegar and continue to simmer until the vinegar is reduced to 2 teaspoons, about 3 minutes. Immediately add the cream and bring to a boil. Simmer the vinaigrette until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Season the vinaigrette to taste with pepper.

Make the croutons

3. Adjust the top rack of the broiler 4 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler.

4. Slice the baguette into twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and rub each slice with the cut side of the halved garlic, discarding the used garlic.

5. Slice each goat cheese crottin into 6 thin slices and place 1 slice atop each crouton. Press a slice of the raw garlic into the cheese. Broil until the cheese begins to melt and the edge of the bread is toasted, about 1 minute.

Assemble the salad

6. In a medium bowl, toss the frisée and arugula with the olive oil and red wine vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the salad among 6 serving plates and drape the prosciutto over the salad. Place 2 croutons on top of each salad and drizzle the bacon vinaigrette over the croutons. Garnish with chopped chives and black truffle, if using.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Fig, Gorgonzola and Prosciutto Salad from The Culinary Chase
Warm Goat Cheese Salad from Angie’s Recipes
Shaved Brussels Sprouts, Pecorino, and Prosciutto from Leite’s Culinaria
Goat Cheese Salad from Leite’s Culinaria

Tangerine and Beet Salad

Andrew Swallow — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:50:04 +0000

Andrew Swallow with Ann Volkwein | Mixt Salads | Ten Speed Press, 2010 | Serves 4

In the wintertime, I look forward to the arrival of bright, fresh tangerines because they pair so well with these sweet, roasted baby beets. It’s a simple, elegant flavor combination.–Andrew Swallow

LC Win Friends and Influence People Note: Simple, spare, and stunning. That’s this tangerine and beet salad recipe. Although because the sum is greater than the parts, people tend to initially sort of look at you askance. But then after tasting it, they come to appreciate what genius this combination of tastes and textures truly is. (Our unsolicited advice? Just smile and say thank you.)

Tangerine and Beet Salad Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

1 pound golden beets, preferably baby beets
4 teaspoons pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound tangerines, peeled
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, preferably from Meyer lemons
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons finely diced shallot
2 teaspoons basil chiffonade (ideally a blend of both opal basil and regular basil)

Directions

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1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (176°C).

2. Roast the beets on a baking sheet in the oven until tender. If using baby beets, this should take 20 to 30 minutes (or longer, if the beets aren’t fresh); if using regular-size beets, this could take up to an hour. Place the roasted beets on a towel and gently rub to remove their skins. Let cool to room temperature. Toast the pine nuts on a second baking sheet for 8 minutes and transfer to a plate to cool.

3. After the beets have cooled, slice off the top and bottom of each beet. If using baby beets, cut each in half. If using regular-size beets, cut into small wedges. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Slice each tangerine into thick rounds, then slice each round in half crosswise to form a sort of tangerine half moon.

5. Arrange 5 beet pieces and 5 tangerine slices on each plate. Drizzle each with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon olive oil on top and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon shallot, 1 teaspoon of the toasted pine nuts, and 1/2 teaspoon basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Flank Steak with Horseradish Beets from Jersey Bites
Warm Golden Beet Salad with Greens and Almonds from The Kitchn
Beet Salad with Feta, Orange, and Mint from Leite’s Culinaria
Goat Cheese, Roasted Beet, and Walnut Tart from Leite’s Culinaria

Thanksgiving 2010: Coloring Outside the Lines

Renee Schettler Rossi — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:56:14 +0000

It’s beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving. Ev’rywhere we go.

Turkey. Cranberries. Sweet potatoes. Heavy cream. Already all the familiar Thanksgiving ingredients are practically toppling onto us as we wend our way through the insanely crowded grocery aisles and are tumbling onto the kitchen floor each time we open the already crammed fridge.

Ah, tradition. It’s the same each autumn. Reliably, unsurprisingly, inevitably the same.

Or is it? Even though the ingredients that make their way onto our Thanksgiving table the last Thursday of November tend to remain unchanged, their incarnation doesn’t need to be the same. Sometimes coloring a little outside the sage-tinted lines isn’t such a bad thing. Nope. Not a bad thing at all.

We’re not suggesting you go rogue, strewing things with lavender and chiles and dubbing it a Texas Thanksgiving dinner. Nor are we saying forsake the familiar. We’re merely saying consider incorporating a little less black and white in the day, allowing for shades of whimsy to color your tradition this year.

All of the usual culprits are here, each with a slight quirk, from sweet potato casserole turned inside-out to pumpkin pies that aren’t exactly made with pumpkin. A mashed potato far easier than any you’ve had before. Vegetables with a bit of Spain to them. Brussels sprouts you honestly won’t recognize. Old-fashioned cornbread, but with a hitch. And dessert sprinkled throughout the meal, with cookies to go with your cocktails, sorbet as a tart interlude, as well as that unpumpkin pie.

As for the turkey, well, we don’t like to mess with tradition too much. So we’re offering you a single foolproof approach. And because we understand that the art of turkey roasting is rather subtle, not to mention tricky to recall from one year to the next, we’ve created a cheat sheet of essential tactics, just to ensure there aren’t any unintended aberrations to custom this year. (Psst. Don’t forget to remove that plastic bag of giblets before roasting. David’s been there and done that.)

It’s a Thanksgiving-palooza, whether you choose to orchestrate it as a menu, as we have here, or divvy it up and draw upon only what you please.

One last thing. It’s perhaps best to introduce guests to this approach to Thanksgiving dinner with a celebratory cocktail in hand, both yours and theirs. It colors the Thanksgiving dinner—and the family dynamics that accompany it—with a certain casual insouciance. Again, not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.—Renee Schettler Rossi