Tag Archives: salad

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon, Pecorino and Red Onion

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The other day I got to sneak away to one of Seattle’s year-round farmers markets for an hour with a friend.  I hadn’t been to a farmers market for a while and apparently felt that I had to make up for lost time.  I came home with some of my favorite hazelnuts, many pounds of potatoes, rutabagas and turnips, sweet crisp apples, a new supply of Nash’s field peas, and a big bag of Brussels sprouts.  Big.

I’ve had my eye on this salad for a while, and I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint.  The version below is adapted from the Food 52 website, and I’ve updated the recipe title to reflect my own preference for the order in which the flavors should dominate.  As always, one of the joys of cooking at home is that you get to tweak every dish to taste perfect to you.  Go ahead, pile on the cheese or leave the onion out altogether.  You’re the cook.

Any Brussels Sprout Salad is going to start with Brussels sprouts, in this case about 1/2 lb., finely shredded.  (I used the thin slicing blade of my food processor.)  Thinly slice 1/4-1/2 of a small red onion and let it soak in cold water while you make the rest of the salad.  In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. whole grain mustard, and a few grinds each of salt and pepper.  Whisk to dissolve honey, then whisk in 1 Tbsp. olive oil and whisk again until the dressing emulsifies.  Pile your Brussles sprouts and drained red onion into a salad bowl, toss with dressing, then add 2 oz. finely grated pecorino cheese and toss again.  Taste and adjust (more lemon?) if that seems like a good idea.

The original recipe says that this salad serves six, but I will get personal here and let you know that J and I polished the whole thing off by ourselves for lunch, alongside a wedge of Smoky Cauliflower Frittata.  I told you we’d be making that again soon. 

Romaine Salad with Handmade Croutons and Bright Lemon Vinaigrette

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Like you, I have never understood people who only eat salads.  I like them–a lot–but I also need heartier fare, like chili and pizza and deeply chocolatey cookies.  That said…I also eat a lot of salads.

I find it unfortunate that salad is an afterthought on so many tables.  Wilted greens, carrot rounds, and a bottle of storebought Italian dressing do little to improve a meal.  It takes so little thought and love to elevate a salad to delicious heights.  A careful choice of greens, a few toppings sprinkled like precious gems, an old jar glistening as you shake a freshly-made slick of dressing.  Those are the salads I prefer.

Winter in Seattle means short, dark days.  “Sunbreaks,” the local term for momentarily clear skies, are reported in the weather news.  (Did you know that?  It’s true.)  We have to take our sunshine where we can get it.  This salad is a great place to start.

To make this Romaine Salad with Handmade Croutons and Bright Lemon Vinaigrette, first preheat your oven to 375.  Cut or tear a few slices of bread into small (1/2″ to 3/4″) pieces and toss them on a baking sheet with a Tbsp. of olive oil and a minced garlic clove, then bake about 8 minutes, until crisp and golden.  Set your croutons aside to cool.  In a jar, combine and then shake together the zest of one lemon plus 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. salt, another minced clove of garlic, and 5 Tbsp. olive oil.  Wash and dry a head of crisp Romaine lettuce, then slice it into 1/2″ ribbons and transfer to a big salad bowl.  Top lettuce with a handful of pitted and torn Kalamata olives and a few spoonfuls of the lemony dressing.  Toss the salad well.  Add the croutons and a few coarse gratings of parmesan cheese, then toss again.  Taste a leaf to make sure the salad has a bright lemon flavor, then serve.

We love this salad, which was adapted from Annie Somerville’s fantastic Fields of Greens cookbook, with pasta or a pizza (like this one or that one).

Creamy Pear Vinaigrette

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At this time of year, there are often two things happening in my kitchen.  First, I am eating a lot of salads made from crunchy winter vegetables, because, well–even here in temperate Seattle–I know that tender lettuce is out of season in the dead of winter.  And I am starting to crave a salad that speaks of springtime, full of lettuce’s delicate crunch.  The second thing that is often happening in my kitchen right about now is that a pear is lingering in the fruit bowl that is five minutes too ripe to be considered absolutely perfect.  When these two events coincide–which, as I said, they often do at this time of year–I take it as an omen and make this salad dressing.

This Pear Vinaigrette is creamy, sweet, and lower in fat than more traditional vinaigrette dressings.  Tonight I just tossed it with lettuce for a very simple green salad, but you can also use it to doll up a fancier salad by including nuts, fresh or dried fruits, cheeses, you name it.  In your blender, just whizz a chopped super-ripe pear, 1/3 c. olive oil, 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 2 Tbsp. apple juice (or water), 1 tsp. dijon, 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, a few grinds of pepper and 1/4 tsp. salt.  A very-ripe pear makes this dressing plenty sweet for me, but you can also sweeten it to taste with maple syrup.  (I haven’t tried this, but the gorgeous vegan blog v:gourmet recommends it.  Although I only met her–I mean her website–moments ago, I trust the writer implicitly because we have almost the exact same favorite cookbooks.)

Speaking of cookbooks, this recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant’s Cooking for Health.  Of the many recipes I tried in that book when I first got it, I think this is the only one that stuck in my regular rotation.  It probably says a lot about my expansive cookbook collection when I keep a cookbook for just one recipe.  Although now that I’ve jotted the recipe down here, maybe I will move it along to make room for a new cookbook.

If you were making room on your shelf for just one great new recipe collection, which would it be?

The Best Soup of 2011

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I’ll give you that it’s 2012 already.  But when this soup showed up on 101 Cookbooks recently, it reminded me of how much we loved it last year.  Friends came over for dinner and I made a few little things to go along with it, too.

First, Nash’s Field Pea or (if you don’t have Nash’s Field Peas, poor you) Split Pea Soup with Curried Brown Butter: I, myself, like to make a big pot of soup–enough to serve unexpected company or to have leftovers for the freezer.   So you could scale this down if you prefer a smaller quantity.  Saute 2 big onions, 6 minced cloves of garlic, and 1/2 to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes in a knob of butter.  When soft, add 3 c. field peas (well sorted and washed and soaked overnight)–or, once the field peas run out, green split peas.  Add 3 quarts water, bring to a boil and simmer until soft.  If you’re using split peas or lentils this might take 30-60 minutes.  If you’re using last year’s field peas from Nash’s, it might take all day.  When the peas are soft, mix in 2 tsp. salt and 1 can light coconut milk.  Puree well, then add additional salt to taste.  In a separate pan, brown 1/4 c. butter, then sizzle in 4 tsp. Indian curry powder for one minute.  Mix most of the curried brown butter into the soup, then serve bowls drizzled with the remaining curried butter and chopped chives.

This Easy Little Bread is just as its name implies and goes great with (butter or cheese and) soup.  Dissolve 2 tsp. yeast in 1 1/4 c. warm water, then mix in 1 Tb. honey.  Meanwhile, mix 1 c. all-purpose flour, 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. oats and 1 1/2 tsp. salt in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients into dry until well combined, then scoop dough into a buttered loaf pan.  Let rise for 30 minutes, then bake for about 40 minutes at 350.  Cool on a cooling rack.

A Lemony Kale Salad kept the meal from being too brown: Chop 1 washed, stemmed bunch of kale to smithereens in a food processor.  Toss in a handful of currants and a handful of toasted pine nuts.  Mix up a dressing of 1/4 c. lemon juice, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. microplaned parmesan, a minced small clove of garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss it all together with more parmesan.

And finally, a Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake, made from lemons we picked from the tree outside the window when were in California last week.  It’s from Rustic Fruit Desserts, and it’s a family favorite (we call it “glaze cake”).  First, preheat the oven to 350 and coat a 9″ cake pan with olive oil, then granulated sugar.  Beat 3 room-temperature eggs, 3/4 c. sugar, and the zest of 5 Meyer lemons at high speed for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1 1/4 c. all purpose flour with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. baking powder.  Mix 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla into the egg mixture, then add 1 c. olive oil while the mixer is running at low speed.  Add flour mixture just to combine, then scoop it into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Glaze with 3/4 c. powdered sugar mixed with 2 Tbsp. Meyer lemon juice.