Hippy Dippy California Burning Man Kale Salad with "Goddess" Dressing

So several years ago I met a group of people through my friend Stuart who attend something called the Burning Man Festival. Now for those of you, like myself, who do not know anything about Burning Man it can be summed up in one word, sandy. Well, you will see why.

According to Wikipedia:

Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September, which coincides with the American Labor Day holiday. The 2012 Burning Man Festival took place between August 27 and September 3. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described as an experiment in community, art, and radical self-expression. Burning Man is organized by Black Rock City LLC.  In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man. 2011 attendance was capped at 50,000 participants and the event sold out on July 24.  In April 2011, Larry Harvey announced that the organization had begun the process of transitioning management of the festival over to a new non-profit organization called the "Burning Man Project".

So what this excerpt doesn't tell you is that it's a massive community effort on the part of the people there to leave no visible footprint. That means what came in goes out. And with 50,000 people in attendance that's no small feat. It's really interesting.

Of course ultimately it's all about experience at burning man. Partying, drinking. drugs. music and art all collide in a sort of hippy spirited free living environment where social norms are challenged as free thinking takes it's summer holiday.

The event is divided into groupings called camps. Each camp has a theme and a proposed purpose. Some self involved and other open and public. There are whole camps which are focused on music, dance, and even food. One of the most interesting was one I heard about that offered showers. And then there's one that just makes bacon all day and night. Hello Bacon! I would have been there all the time. I know my burner friends are cringing.

So what does this have to do with Kale Salad. Well let me tell you. Nothing really except as a segue into talking a little about the Hippy movement of the 1960's.

Years ago when California became a hotbed of the so called Hippy Movement, it also became the home for the first serious vegetarian food movement in this country. Why, well because one of the outgrowths of this culture was an awareness of nature and naturalism as it applies to life, including what and how one eats. This led to the growth of the vegan raw and vegetarian food culture in the west and this went on to inspire California chefs in their first looks at a farm to table cooking mentality. Isn't connectivity an interesting thing.

One of the hallmarks of the early California raw, vegan, and vegetarian food trends was a heightened awareness of produce and sourcing fresh foods. Another was also the further development of the salad as a meal concept.

Of course California had led the way in pretty inventing the "Salad Meal" with the introduction of such dishes as the Cobb Salad ( introduced in LA. at the very famous Brown Derby restaurant) or the Crab Louis Salad ( which was introduced much earlier in San Francisco). Or the Caesar Salad which came out of prohibition era Tijauna Mexico, where wealthy Californians would go to escape the liquor laws.

Further in the 1950's and 60's Sunset magazine introduced the US readers to a variety of Salad meals like these. Some of which, like the Taco Salad, are so common today one would never think that it was not a known quantity everywhere in the US. all the time.

Another hallmark of the Hippy driven vegetarian food movement was a moving away from animal fat based sauces and dressings. As a result there are interesting and delicious ingredients that when used together make for very nice results. As with everything this movement moved into main stream culture in California and helped to shape California cuisine.

One such dressing that has become as famous over time as ranch dressing, especially on the west coast is something called "Goddess" dressing. The name comes from another dressing very popular in the 1960's  "Green Goddess" which is rich in dairy and not vegan. So goddess dressing was the vegan version of this using tahini (sesame paste)  as the base and incorporating other flavors to make a rich creamy satisfying dressing without the dairy.

As I continue to experiment with Kale Salads I have made my own version of this dressing. It's so good you can put it on anything. Annie's all natural products and Trader Joe's make a version of this that is really good but making it at home makes it a little better I think.

And I put together a Kale salad recipe that I think is as good as any Californian Vegan Hippy Dippy Chef would make. Maybe even a little better....but that's for you to decide. Enjoy Ya'll.

California Style Kale Salad with "Goddess" Dressing

1 bag of kale stems removed or 1 bunch kale stems removed both options cut into small pieces or ribbons
2 small carrots shredded
4 radishes sliced thinly
2 tablespoon sesame seeds white/black mixed
10 oz baby bella mushrooms quartered and lightly sauteed and cooled and drained
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
1 bunch mint leaves finely chopped
1 bunch parsley finally chopped
2 green onions diced on a bias
1/4 cup crushed parmesan croutons or toasts ( optional leave out if you want this salad gluten free)

Mix all ingredients except sesame seeds and green onion pieces in a big salad bowl and toss generously with "goddess" dressing, garnish the top with the sesame seeds and the green onions.

"Goddess Dressing"

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Tahini paste (plain)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 whole green onions chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce (if you have it)
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons dried parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
  water as needed to thin out if desired

Place everything in a food processor and blend till smooth
Will keep covered for up to two weeks in the fridge

Kale Salad with Red Onion, Pan Roasted Mushrooms and Garlicky Parmesan Mustard Dressing

Kale, Collards, Swiss Chard, Rainbow Chard, Mustard Greens, these are all superfoods and things we should all have in our diets way more than we do normally. These leafy greens are full of goodness and all the things that do a body good. But eating them...well...actually enjoying eating them, well that's another story.

When I was a kid leafy greens made it onto my plate via two sources. The first was of course my southern background. Cooked greens, I mean VERY cooked greens, collards in particular but also spinach were readily prepared and available at suppertime. They were normally cooked down to a green mush and were flavored with ham, bacon or vinegar ( which explains my penchant to this day for salty greens ) and served warm on the dinner plate.

The other source was the industrialized food machine which grew larger while I was a kid making canned and frozen vegetables available every night for the home cook, without much thought or prep. I mean there is some truth to the adage "just open a can!" Greens were certainly one of those vegetables and my Mother and Grandmother did their share of serving us prepped foods for dinner. For one thing it was cheaper. Navy families in the 1970's didn't make a lot of money. And secondly fresh fresh produce was not always easy to come by.

And while growing up we ate a salad with every meal, I don't think the general home cooks ever thought of using such raw ingredients as Kale in a salad. That's a pretty new thing outside of vegan and vegetarian cookery and the foodie kitchens of the west coast. But the age of the super green is upon us and with it the introduction of Kale salad to the masses.

Kale is the truly the new superfood these days and why not. Loaded with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants it is a great food to have in one's diet. But let's face it, it's also tough, bitter and kinda tastes like dirt. Pardon me for thinking this way but salads are only great because of the things in them or on them that make them taste good. And lets face it, most of that taste comes from the dressing. So that's where I started with any salad let alone a Kale salad.

Now I have had a lot of Kale salads in the last two years. Here in New York it is all the rage. Everyone loves a Kale salad up here, says the New York Times, proclaiming it the salad dejour and offering articles on recipes and restaurants all celebrating this green as a salad component. I mean let's face it, every foodie, chef driven restaurant  in the city ( especially Brooklyn) has two things on the menu, Pork Belly in some form, and a Kale salad.

So about two years ago I became interested in Kale salad. Even my favorite chain restaurant Hillstone   ( aka. Houston's in some places) got into the act and put a Kale salad on their menu. So I started with other folks Kale salads when I wanted to make mine. I had seen several dining out and also at work ( I work for a caterer) and then came up with my first version. And I have to say it's rich and it's really good. It's all in the very different ingredient mix and dressing.

So when I posted my original Kale Salad recipe it was picked up on the net by two different people. One person Pinned it on their page which drew attention to it. And another blogger and life coach Dawn Greaney http://www.dawngreaney.com/2013/01/recipe-kale-cabbage-salad-with-roasted-peanut-vinaigrette/picked it up, actually tried it and then put it up on her blog for folks to see! That was kinda cool. I mean sometimes it does feel like I am writing all these things to an audience I never see or talk to or even know exists. So feedback like that is really awesome.

So I told Dawn at the time that I would be working up another kale salad recipe and this is it. This one unlike the other recipe bears no resemblance to the Houston's or Hillstone Kale salad. And while the other one is similar I cannot say it is actually the same recipe or even came from there. This recipe is similar to the first ( showing my love of parmesan cheese) but way, way, way more savory and meaty. I mean it is a mouthful of lovely flavors. It is sort of a caesar salad and sort of not. It's base is a caesar-like flavor profile but when mixed with the mushrooms and kale it is really not a caesar.

So since the dressing as I have said is the most important thing I started there in making this salad. Last time I used my love of peanuts and cheese to flavor the salad. And as dressings for Kale salads go I have noticed many chefs mine at work included had a based their dressing on some version of lemon vinaigrette. I wanted something more rounded and fatty. So I chose roasted garlic and Dijon as the answer.

I added mushrooms because I saw it on a Kale salad at work as a garnish. But then I thought of using them to replace any meat that one might add to a salad and give it real body. By adding them in quantity it really changes the salad.

Everything else is from my love of caesar salads as an entree salad. I mean in my mind caesar is hard to beat. It's rich and crunchy and cheesy and delish!

So here is my unoriginal original Kale salad with my touch. I hope someone actually makes this one too and gets back to me. Enjoy Ya'll!

Kale Salad with Pan Roasted Mushrooms, Red Onion and Garlicky Parmesan Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:

1 bag or small bunch of chopped Tuscan Kale stems removed then chopped into ribbons or small pieces
10 oz baby bella sliced mushrooms (sauted with very little oil in a hot pan till lightly browned but not over cooked)
1/2 a package Trader Joe's Parmesan Bread crisps crushed ( or any parmesan bread crisps crushed if you want to make this salad gluten free substitute slivered almonds for bread crumbs)
1/2 small red onion diced finely
1/2 cup grated or freshly shredded parmesan cheese ( reserve a few tablespoons for garnish)

1 cup ( or a little less) Garlicky Dressing ( recipe follows )

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss making sure that salad is dressed liberally
Wait 20 mins before serving
garnish with extra cheese
Enjoy

Garlicky Parmesan Mustard Dressing

4 Anchovies

3 heaping tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup lemon juice ( I used the green bottle shame on me )

2 tablespoon Apple cider  vinegar

1 cup grated parmesan cheese from the refrigerator case ( it processes better)

1 small head or about 8 large cloves roasted garlic ( easy: Garlic cloves baked in oil in the oven in a small ramekin for about an hour at 300 till brown sweet and soft)

1 tablespoon ground pepper

1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of good olive oil

Method:

In a food processor add everything but the oil and pulse till combined

Then add oil little by little with the machine running till the dressing comes together and you get a thick yellow dressing you may not use all the oil. Done! Will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Greek Panzanella Salad and San Diego Al Fresco Dining

I don't know what it is about Greek salad that I like so much. Well that's not really true I like the combination of all the flavors and the feta cheese! It's a very simple salad and I have developed a recipe to make it very fun and a little special for entertaining this summer.

Now Greek Panzanella salad is hardly anything new. Ina Garten has a great one in her cookbooks and it's also a favorite at my catering company. But I think that over time I have developed a really great recipe on my own with the help of my memories of a particular restaurant is Charleston SC. You see growing up in my home my Mother and Grandmother made Greek salad in the fashion of Louis Papas from Tarpon Springs, Florida. You can see the reference for this type of Greek salad in an earlier post from my blog. In fact, it's a great and different way to serve Greek Salad as an entree. However, my experience with the classic Greek salad that most people know and love came from my patronage of the Athen's Restaurant on James Island, in Charleston SC.

Athen's was a real family business and was a great success. It was truly as Greek American as you could get. Charleston actually has a fairly sizable Greek community and this restaurant was a favorite. However, the Greek salad they offered was mostly a platter of shredded iceberg lettuce covered with a blanket of crumbled feta cheese and doused in a yummy oregano dressing. A few slices of tomato and a scatter of kalamata olives some salami slices and peppers and you had it. Nothing fancy but really salty and tasty. I would go to this restaurant with my friends often and this was my favorite thing to eat.

The original Athen's was sold and relocated and I hear is not as good but I hear the salad is pretty much unchanged. Good, because it was good!

                                           Athen's Restaurant Greek Salad

Now when I was San Diego one evening we had another dinner outdoors in the great backyard that my friend's house had. It was a simple meal of baked sausages with red grapes and my version of a Greek Shepard's Salad. Now what is a Shepard's Salad, well it's normally a greek salad but without the lettuce, which is just fine with me. But to bulk it up especially for a crowd I like to make it as a panzanella. Panzanella is a traditional Italian bread salad. Basically toasted day old bread bread tossed in a dressing with tomatoes and basil and cheese. Very simple.

So for my version I like to use a simple greek salad with homemade hamd-pulled foccacia crouton's and all the usual veggie and feta suspects. I like to use multicolored grape tomatoes which are sliced and real Greek feta ( which I crumble), chopped greek black olives, chopped red onion, the crouton's and a yummy oregano dressing. Sometimes some chopped pepperchini sometimes not. But this is a great summer salad, heck it's a great salad anytime! So give this a try and see if people don't clean their plates. I made it two years ago at my Mom's Christmas party and of all the things on the groaning board,  this was the one thing that went completely! Enjoy Ya'll!

Forrest's Greek Shepherd's Salad with Hand Torn Crouton's and Oregano Lemon Dressing

Ingredients:

2 pints red or mixed grape tomatoes cut in halves
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 cup kalamata olives halved
4 persian cucumbers cut into small wedges ( slice in half longwise, half again longwise, then cut in slices)
One half a small loaf of foccacia bread pulled into pieces tossed with olive oil sprinkled with garlic powder  and baked at 350 degrees until browned and crisped and cooled
1 cup crumbled Greek goats milk feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley.

Add some Dressing toss salad with all ingredients in a large bowl until dressed to your taste

Oregano Lemon Dressing:

1 1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoons garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
5 tablespoons Dried Oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon Mayonaise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth and combined
It's best to make the dressing a couple of hours before serving to allow flavors to marry

San Diego Farmers Market: Chicory Salad with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Radishes in a Black Truffle Lemon Vinaigrette

I feel like telling everyone about this salad for the Spring and even the Summer. It's my new favorite salad and it's a total accident that I made it. It was an attempt at using up all the wonderful fresh vegetables and salad greens that were on hand in the fridge the night I was asked to make a salad for Pizza night.

San Diego has wonderful local farms like most of California. In fact the produce is so fresh and wonderful it's no wonder that salads as a meal became a thing in California. So the CSA that my friends belong to drops off a box of veggies every Friday on the doorstep! I mean gorgeous stuff. Leeks the size of your head. Garlic chives, lettuces and greens, mushrooms and root veggies in variety and quality so fresh it's amazing! I cooked two meals while I was out there and each time had use of this wonderful produce.

So one evening, actually my last, we decided to make a salad to go along with the Pizza that we were getting from a wonderful local place known as the Hut. Yes funny! But really local fresh and delicious. So for the salad I opened the fridge and found the following ingredients. Giant white mushrooms, fresh asparagus, chicory, and red and black radishes. I loved these ingredients because they played off the earthy flavors of some and the spicy almost picante flavors of others. They created contrast and visual interest. Layers of green with soft white and brilliant red and deep black accents. I also found for the dressing lemons, california slivered roasted almonds and some wonderful walnut and Black Truffle oils. So armed with these few ingredients I made a salad that even with out any dairy ( and you know how I love cheese ) was so wonderful! I know that cause the entire bowl disappeared. That and the pizza!

Of course I can't leave out the setting for this meal. Tom and George have a pool and a table out back on a lovely concrete lanai. As well as a little sitting area and fire pit. How wonderful it was to eat great food and share great drink around such an amazing table with built in mood lighting and flickering candles and then relax around a a fire in the cool dry evening air later on. Heaven!

So here's the recipe for the salad. Enjoy it this spring when the asparagus is at it's peak and all summer while available. The colors of the veggies and sharpness of the flavors with the rich oils contrast wonderfully.  While I know it's not really original, it is delicious! And that's really the only kind of food I want to cook. You know the kind people want to eat! Enjoy Ya'll!!

Chicory Salad with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Radishes in a Black Truffle Lemon Vinaigrette

For the Salad:

2 small heads of Chicory cut into 1/4 inch chiffonade whole head chopped down to the stems
1 1/2 pounds large white mushrooms sliced
2 small bunches asparagus cooked on high in the microwave for about 5 to 7 mins each or blanched for 8 mins stove top and shocked in cold water with ice ( either method requires cold water to stop the cooking process) Then cut into 1 to 11/2 inch pieces
1 bunch of red radishes thinly sliced
2 black radishes thinly sliced ( I used a mandoline)
1/3 cup slivered roasted almonds reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish

For Dressing:

1/4 cup Walnut oil
3 to 4 tablespoons to taste of  fresh Black truffle oil ( note* if you like truffle flavor use white truffle oil it is MUCH stronger)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix well till combined

To Serve: 

In a large bowl combine all ingredients
Add dressing and season with more salt and pepper to your taste and toss
I add a little cracked pepper on top as a garnish and sprinkle the top with remaining almonds.

Steak salad...well a Salad that can stand up to steak

There are salads and there are salads. There was an amazing post on 101 cookbooks the blog, the other day about a yellow bean salad with a coconut dressing. Sounded delish and it inspired me to look at beans again as another source of side dishery for the summer. I make several mean green bean salads. I love them. They are lighter than a starch yet give you that feeling that you are eating something substantial. And salads are a source of summer culinary joy! But I mean there are salads that stand on their own and are an entree unto themselves, and then there are salads that are part of a collection of dishes in the summer that help to make up a feast. This post is about such a salad.

 The other day a friend brought over the most amazing rib-eye steaks ever. Aged for 30 days and so decadent. He wanted to serve it up grilled with some soft blue cheese from france melted on top and a dap of butter. Heart healthy I know! So I was to come up with some sides that would support this very ambitious red meat eating frenzy.

At first I thought I would make a potato salad and a tomato salad. This sounded pretty good. But as the evening approached and I went to the store I decided on a little something more summery. Inspired by the 101 cookbooks post I looked around the store and decided that a green bean and fresh corn salad with a warm bacon dressing and some other tasty tidbits was in the works.

Now before you scoff at this being another one of these "I love bacon things",  let me say that this salad actually came out very light. There was in fact very little dressing on it and because of the crunchy beans, corn,  onions and almonds it was hefty but not heavy. The dressing was really little more than the left over bacon drippings some red wine vinegar, some danish dill sweet mustard ( I had in the pantry) and a dash of olive oil. Believe me when I say lightly dressed yet delicious. The mustard and the dill helped a lot.

But the real tribute to this salad was that it really stood up flavor wise to the steak. And that's what's great about it. So the next time you are going to try and use some green beans, give this a try.

Haricot Vert and Fresh Corn Salad with a Warm Bacon Dressing.
make 4 to 6 servings depending on other sides

8 ounces Haricot Vert ( I used one package from the Trader Joe's Veggie Aisle)
2 ears of corn yellow sweet
2 stalks of celery finely diced
1/3 of a red onion finely diced
1/3 cup sliced almonds
3 oz slab bacon cut into lardons
1/3 cup french fried onions ( I use the fancy french ones you could use French's)
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns ( optional for garnish)

Cook beans in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes on high remove and cool
Cut beans into three segments
Cut corn off the cob
Cook the bacon slowly to release the fat. Remove leave drippings in the pan
Put all remaining ingredients into a bowl along with the beans, corn and bacon.
Toss in the dressing taste and season with S&P to taste and let stand at room temp for about an hour, or serve immediately if you want.

Dressing:

Warm the bacon drippings in the pan ( about 2 tablespoons)
Add 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoon Dill mustard ( Or mix dijon with some dill and sugar)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon water
S&P taste
Stir together over low heat till warm and mixed through, dress salad while warm.

Fresh Corn and Shrimp Salad

Every now and then I try to use the fresh ingredients that are totally seasonal and in the rawest form. This is especially true in the summertime when we have access to things being sold in their real growing season. I also have been trying to eat more fresh foods ( aka salads) in the heat wave we are having because grilling is hot!

Now being from coastal South Carolina. I have over time and upon reflection recognized that people down there are slightly Shrimp obsessed. I mean it's clear why. Shrimp are fresh and local and Shrimp are good eats. In any form fried, boiled, poached, bbq'ed, roasted, hot or cold Shrimp are good! They are also a great summer warm weather protein. Light and fresh they go well with the "it's too hot out to eat a big meal" mentality. I mean your could consume a pound of peel and eat shrimp and still have room for that burger right...but I digress.

So this summer for some reason I have also returned to my memory of eating fresh corn. I mean it's a memory because I only remember it as a small boy in the summer at my Big Mama's house. Corn right  out of the garden and right off the cob, blanched for a hot second and served up at the table with lots of butter and salt and pepper. Yum! It was amazing. So this summer I thought why not return to that goodness. And so I have, serving up a corn salad which I wanted to pair up with a seafood as an entree salad for a rooftop meal. I choose shrimp because they are so easy breezy cover girl to throw into anything right out of the freezer bag. Just thaw, de-tail and go! But I suppose you could use just about any seafood/shellfish.

The point is the corn salad is nice and crunchy and fresh. I mean it's not even cooked!
The seafood you could leave out and no one would miss it. In fact I made this again the other day and left out the tomatoes and the seafood and it was amazingly good! So eat a little corn Ya'll it's good!

Fresh Corn Salad with Herbs ( Shrimp and tomatoes optional)

Feeds 4 to 5 as a side dish

6 large ears of freshest corn cut right off the cob
1/2 small red onion finely diced
5 scallions chopped including whites
12 basil leaves chiffonade
1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley

Dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
4 tablespoons tarragon vinegar ( use cider if you don't have )
1 bunch of chives
1/2 cup parsley
4 tablespoons milk plus more added only if too thick in the blender
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything in a blender and puree till smooth.

Mix dressing with the corn and other ingredients till lightly dressed and serve right away. Or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight for a more marinated flavor.

Additions:

Add chopped multi-colored cherry tomatoes and some heart of palm sliced also some peel and eat shrimp for an entree salad.

Shrimp and Fresh Corn and Herbs Salad

Pocono Mountain inspired: Kale Salad With Roasted Peanut Dressing, A salad for your summer!!

Kale. It seems to be the new national salad obsession. I mean people a few years ago would never have eaten Kale in the quantities and the manner they eat it now. I mean Kale is a hearty, bitter green with a lot of fiber and a chewy consistency. It's super good for you and can be a great cooked green, but eaten raw seemed a little challenging to me.

Now Kale is not a new green, but American's are very greens challenged in general. I mean spinach seems to be the green that everyone knows. In the south we have the collard, which is cooked down into a pile of goodness with pork fat,salt, vinegar and sugar and served warm with a little spicy kick to them normally. But kale is not as popular nor was it marketed as a grocery staple by Green Giant back in the day, which was how a lot of America got it's veggie knowledge. But now Kale is everywhere. In restaurants in food magazines, in cooking shows in cook books. Kale seems to be the new green. And as such new types of Kale are coming to light. I knew of curly kale but  the italian variety Tuscan or Black Kale with a straighter leaf seems to have come into the spotlight as of late. Although it must be said that California has been growing it a long time now!

Now my first real contact of cooking with kale was actually in a pasta dish which my friend George Moy prepared for me one weekend on a retreat in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. You see another friend of mine bought a very cute house up in the Pocono Mountains about 2 hours from NYC.  Now weekend getaways are a huge deal when you live in the city. People love to get out and enjoy a little of what suburbanites and country folk know all the time. Namely, nature is amazing and we feel better when we a around it! So this house for several years became my get away. My friend rarely was there and I had free run of the place anytime I wanted. So I took people up for weekend retreats. There were some amazing dinners during those weekends, and food was central to the themes of those weekends. Well that and lots of drinking!

So Kale, well as said George was responsible for one of the meals during a weekend and made a simple  and classic pasta dish with Italian sausage, garlic, onions, kale, red pepper flakes and a touch of cream. SO simple and yet so good! Comfort food at it's best. But  here the curly kale with was cooked down  and was delicious with this mix of ingredients. Again not raw. I really did not encounter a Kale salad again until I had one prepared at work for me by the Chef for a client tasting. Very good salad, with white anchovies and almost a caesar like dressing. However I was still not a fan. Then I was asked to make a kale salad on request and found that it was probably one of the most challenging salads I had made. Why? Well mostly because while it came out nicely it didn't have the look or the taste I was really wanting. I used black kale and white anchovies much like the chef at work but found the salad too bitter and somehow not quite....well good!

However kale salads kept coming up in articles and in recipe blogs. So I decided I should try one again. And again I took my love of green on green salads and a curious taste combo as a starting point and I think it came out a winner. I have said it before but I really love monochromatic foods. I think they pop on a plate and give great eye appeal to whatever they are served with. So that having been said they also have to be interesting looking. Texture and color have to be involved, like with my cole slaw recipe, http://cookforrestcook.blogspot.com/2012/02/greener-version-of-cole-slaw.html, which I have been enjoying this summer a few times so far. My favorite chain restaurant has a Kale salad with a peanut dressing also using cabbage and that was a starting point. The other flavor profile I chose was from a habit of eating parmesan cheese flatbread with peanut butter on them. Now Parmesan Cheese and peanut butter might sound like a strange combo but believe you me it is awesome! So decided to use that as a base for my salad with kale and when it all came together the results were, well kinda spectacular! I also went back to using curly kale, in honor of my first encounter with it in the Poconos, and added in chopped green cabbage for that green on green look I like so much. A few nuts for crunch some parmesan cheese and dressing of roasted peanut oil and wham! You got a good salad!

So here it is folks a salad for your summer, Kale Salad ala Forrest! Enjoy Ya'll!

Kale Salad and Cabbage Salad with Roasted Peanut Vinaigrette
makes 4 good sized portions

For the dressing:

3/4 cup Roasted Peanut oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon dry Mustard powder
1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 anchovies filets (optional)

Place in a food processor and mix well till combined.

For the salad:

 2 1/2 cups  curly kale ( not tuscan or black)  stems ribs cut out, leaves chiffonade chopped finely and then cut into three times really shredded ( Kale is tough so you want really fine small pieces but not confetti)
2 cups cups shredded and fine chopped green cabbage
12 mint leaves chiffonade chopped
1/4 of a bunch of fresh cilantro leaves and stems are fine finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped dry roasted peanuts no salt
1/2 cup whole dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup  finely grated parmesan cheese plus 2 tablespoons

Method:

In a large bowl mix all greens with peanuts and cheese
Add dressing till nice and wet
Toss well
Let sit 5 to 10 mins
Serve in individual bowls or onto a large platter.

Dirty Martini Salad a Salty Indulgence for the Summer!!

OK. I know that salt is both a boone and a bane to modern man. I mean salt has preserved, flavored and finished foods for centuries. Our bodies need it to function. But too much of it is a bad thing, especially nowadays with so much added salt added to everything we eat in this country. And yet still I love a good salty indulgence. It's that part of me that will always favor a salty snack over a sweet one.

I have had the opportunity over the last several years to go out to folks houses and prepare some great summer meals for them. This summer will prove to be the same I hope. I also come up with special recipes for entertaining during the summer on my roof deck. It's so awesome to be up there in the summer when my neighbors are not. And they rarely use the buildings roof, ah well more for me!

Two years ago I was invited out to Jersey to my friends John and Mike's house for a impromptu cookout. John asked me if I could bring a salad. I of course said yes. But time go the better of me that weekend with work being busy and Sunday morning I found myself looking at a bus trip in an hour and nothing prepared of even really though through. So I did what I always do, I looked in the fridge to see what I had on hand. After observing the goods, lettuce, green olives, red onion, and blue cheese, I came up with a crazy idea. I had been making martini's the night before for a client and it dawned on me then that I love to eat the marinaded blue cheese stuffed olives while I am drinking my Martini. The salty bomb of flavor just is so satisfying, even as the martini with it's bitter edge and sweet undertones strikes a contrast with the salty pungnet flavor of the olives and is in a word...divine.

So I thought about how I would make this flavor combination come to life in a salad. And it struck me, just mix all the elements into the salad and add a few things to give it texture and contrast and how could that be bad. So that's what I did. I chiffonaded the greens and I chopped the olives. I made a dressing out of sour cream blue cheese and vermouth with a little bit of spices, olive juice and vinegar. I added both chopped red onion and French Fried Onions form the can for spice and I crushed up some Parmesan Crisps I had into little chards to add crunch. It all came together beautifully and I had people asking for the recipe at the end of the afternoon.

So I give you this recipe for your summer party time. Shaken or stirred it's a winner! Enjoy Ya'll

Forrest's Dirty Martini Salad

2 Hearts of Romaine lettuce chopped into chiffonade
1 head of tuscan or black kale ribs removed and chopped into fine chiffonade
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 table spoon water
sprinkle of salt
8 oz blue cheese crumbled
1 carton on dairy sour cream
3 tablespoon olive juice from the jar
2 tablespoon vermouth (dry)
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup water
1 small jar of green stuffed olives chopped into slices
1 large can French's brand french fried onion pieces ( 1/4 cup held in reserve for garnish)
1 small red onion chopped
1 package Eli's brand parmesan crisps slightly crushed into bite sized chards

In a bowl add chopped kale lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water and a dash of salt, toss and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes

In a mixing bowl add the next 7 seven ingredients and whisk to combine and dilute with the water a little bit at a time till your dressing had you desired consistency. ( mine is runny but lumpy)

To serve: Add lettuce and kale to a large mixing or salad bowl
Add the olives, both kinds of onion and the parmesan crisps
Add dressing to taste and toss till well coated. Top with freshly ground pepper and reserved french fried onion pieces. Enjoy!

A WInter Veggie gets Salad Dressed for Dinner

Winter is not a time that is associated with salad. When we think of Summer we think of salads. Live, fresh and vibrant with the energy of the Spring and Summer sun, or blanketed and mellowed by the Falls harvest sunsets. But during winter the only reason we have such bounty around is the world economy and Winter produce from the southern hemisphere.

That may be, but I am obsessed with salads. I love simple old fashioned tossed salads but I what I really enjoy are the more complex and interesting vegetable salads. Green beans, mushrooms, squash. All make interesting and different salads while fresh and in season.  But there are also some veggies that even in the winter make hearty winteresque salad ideas. One of those is Cauliflower. Another is brussel sprouts. Another is kale.

These are the vegetables of the winter months. Leafy greens and solid flowering cabbage family related vegetables. They are also the vegetables that we as Americans have a estranged relationship with. Within the last few years they have been making a come back. New preparations and an interest in healthier eating have motivated food professionals to find new and or interesting ways to prepared and present them to the eating public. Even Food Network personalities are promoting and presenting these vegetables as a foods that we could be preparing and eating.

I have been eating these vegetables all of my life. Often badly. But then I discovered something that changed the way I looked at almost all root vegetables. Roasting. Yes roasting.  

I mean we all know that roasting can do wonderful things to meat. It was not  until a few years ago that I realized what roasting was to so many different foods and more importantly, how that made a difference in the vegetables come out. Or really anything....well almost anything. But I digress.

I wanted to make a salad using cauliflower. Why? Well, the usual reason....I had some and it needed to get used up! That and I mean many of us grew up on broccoli and cauliflower salads that were mayonnaise based and gloppy. Now I love certain mayo based salads but the one I am thinking of I did not really ever care for.  Ew! So I thought why not incorporated roasted cauliflower in with some greens and other goodies and come up with a first course for dinner. I know not original but I  I think I came up with something yummy and not ordinary. See what you think.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Arugula and Walnuts and Goat Cheese


1/2 Head of Cauliflower cut into small florets
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Roast in oven at 325 for 20 to 30 mins or until browned and caramelized remove from the oven a set aside to cool.

1 bag baby Arugula

1 red pepper diced finely
1 small red onion diced finely
2 jalepeneos diced finely
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

Mix all ingredients then let sit at least 2 hours

Balsamic vinegar
olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 shallot finely diced

Mix in a small bowl and beat till combined and creamy

1 small log goat cheese

To assemble in a large bowl add cauliflower and arugula and the pepper mixture
plate the salad and drizzle with the dressing. Crumble goat cheese on top. Enjoy!

Tomato Salad Red, White and Blue!

Now I have talked before about tomatoes and if you have been to dinner at my house or have been to a roof party in the summer you know I am a huge fan of the tomato salad. Not the tomato mozzarella NYC Italian kind of tomato salad mind you, not that there is anything wrong this that. However, I like a more complex tomato salad that actually has a salad dressing and one that has a tangy cheese and one that has some crunch.

Now looking at all the tomato options available to us at the modern farmers market or grocery store can make your head spin. I absolutely love the rise and prevalence of the Heirloom tomato! Heirlooms are nothing more than the strains of seeds which have somehow missed out on the genetic engineering spree in the farming industry in the 50's 60's and 70's and moving forward to today. They are in essence the original tomatoes enjoyed by Americans in a simpler time. They deliver great flavor and color and texture, and in the summer I cannot help but serve them up in a fabulous salad or find a way to enjoy them almost daily. In short they like mashed potatoes would go down on the list as one of my favorite foods.

So tomato salads are about as all American as apple pie. In the summers they grace many a picnic or summer dinner table. And they could not be easier to make. My favorite version can be dressed up or dressed down but no matter how it's presented it's clean simple and tasty. This recipe is for 4 people and is presented on a platter but you could use any type of presentation you'd like. I have made this into an elegant starter for a summer meal as well as served it up all mixed together tossed in a big bowl.

Since it's winter this recipe recommends using Campari tomatoes which are a varietal famous and popular in California cuisine and popular during the Winter months because they are grown in Mexico in abundance during the Winter season. They are  a hybrid type originally from Europe and have exceptional color and are larger than a cherry tomato but smaller than a normal salad or steak type. They are visually a perfect "little" tomato and have great taste and texture as well as flavor. Billed as the "tomato lover's tomato" they are sure to please! Now like I said any tomato will do, but since we eat with our eyes first, Campari Tomatoes give visual impact to the dish. The rest of the ingredients are simple and clean and just yummy. So if you want to try a new salad which is easy breezy cover girl, give this a whirl! Enjoy Ya'll!!

Winter Campari Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

1 package Campari Tomatoes sliced in half ( allow for three tomatoes per person)
3 oz blue cheese ( I like Maytag it's pricey but REALLY good)
3/4 cup whole walnut halves
10 fresh good looking picked basil leaves
5 fresh basil leaves cut into chiffonade
1/2 cup herb Vinaigrette ( I use dried oregano)

On platter arrange tomatoes
Nestle basil leaves amongst the Tomaotes
Scatter Blue cheese in small chunks over the tomatoes
Scatter walnut halves around the tomatoes
Sprinkle the basil chiffonade around the salad
Spoon on the dressing
Serve!

Truffled Mushroom and Asparagus Panzanella ( from On the Plate )

So every year for the past 5 years in the summer I have thrown a roof party. This involves a BBQ and a buffet dinner as well as copious amounts of fun and drink.

It is really a blast to do, and I have gone fancy, and I have gone simple. But whatever I do I try to do at least one thing that is new and different and no one has had me cook before. It's a chance to put out a new recipe that I think will be good and get the feedback from the people attending.

In the past few years I have become a big fan of the Panzanella salad. Panzanella for those of you who do not know is a traditional Italian Bread Salad. Made with day old bread and tomatoes some basil and good olive oil and some vinegar. Maybe some cheese is thrown in but it's a simple salad and quite an ingenious way to use up day old or slightly stale bread.

My first real encounter with the versatility of this salad came in the catering world about 10 years ago. I was working for a very forward thinking catering chef and he threw a ton of veggies and a savory dressing into the bread salad and called it a Market Panzanella. There were a variety of versions of this salad over the years that I saw at work or in cookbooks including one of my favorite versions, the Greek Panzanella. I make a mean Greek Panzanella, as my Mother and her friends will tell you, because she has used my recipe to many accolades from the Ladies of Mt Pleasant!  But without a doubt no matter how many versions of this salad I have made none of them were as popular as this version which I served at the BBQ party last year.

You see I really don't believe that there are that many new things under the sun, however, sometimes something comes along and reminds us in a new fresh manner why we liked something to begin with so much. So it is with recipes. Nowadays it's all in the twist. The fresh approach. Or the combination of something with something else. That's where this salad came from. Well that and necessity!

By necessity I mean that  I had planned on a certain number coming for dinner to the BBQ.  In and amongst the items I had chosen for the buffet to go with the BBQ food was a mushroom and asparagus salad. However, when more people decided to let me know that they were going to come I could not increase the amount of salad ingredients I had already purchased but I could figure out a way to stretch it! And that way was bread. You see that's why I love Panzanella for a big party. BREAD IS CHEAP. You can make a big bowl of it and as long as you have the bread dressed well and slightly moist from the dressing but still with some crunch, you got a taste sensation people will love. They forget what else is in there! Well not really but it just sort of all goes so well together.

In this case I had had a salad in mind that was rich and decadent. It was a mushroom and asparagus salad with Arugula and onion in a lemon truffle salad dressing. Simple, fresh and very deep and savory. Normally one would think of it was a Fall or Winter salad but in this case adding other elements made me feel like it could be a summer salad winner. The problem was I had purchased what I needed to make the salad for a certain number of guests. now I was facing twice as many coming. So I thought what if I tweaked this just enough to come up with a volume I needed but retained the excellent taste I wanted to offer. This idea worked.

The original salad relies on the Umami of the ingredients. Umami is the Japanese idea that a taste or profile of tastes make up another sense in terms of physically enjoying food. It's the seventh sense. There are lots of foods that have umami, but this salad was full of them. It's a recipe I have derived from a salad that Jean Georges made in Food and Wine magazine several years ago, and has been a favorite of mine ever since. But the idea of turning it into a panzanella was a little fun.

So armed with the original salad ingredients and some added cherry tomatoes for color, I assembled the Panazanella. It really beautiful. Green, earthy, red, purple and soft crusty white bread with tinges of yellow from the lemon zest. And it tasted really really good. It was gone in no time. A testament to it's goodness. I know that it made an impression because a food critic from a local rag mentioned it in his column about where and what he ate during that weekend. It was "perfect for summer"! Well I think it can actually be perfect almost every time of the year. But you be the judge of that. Give it a try and see if you don't just like it! Enjoy Ya'll!

Forrest's Truffled Mushroom and Asparagus Panzanella
(makes 10 to 12 portions as part of a buffet dinner)


Ingredients


1 large bunch fresh green asparagus
1 large bunch fresh white asparagus
4 tablespoon oilve oil
2 pounds baby bella mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package dried morel mushrooms
1/2 package baby Arugula ( more if you want to stretch the salad)
1 large sour dough country bread loaf cut or ripped for texture into 1 inch cubes including crust
About 5 to 6 cups
1 large red onion sliced into ribbons
1 small pint cherry tomatoes sliced into halves ( 1/4 cup reserved for garnish)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 bunch scallions chopped ( 1/4 cup reserved for garnish)
1 cup sliced almonds
Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar for final dressing
Sea salt to taste

For Dressing

1 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup truffle oil
2 tablespoon minced jarred garlic
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Method


Trim asparagus so fiberous ends are gone.
Cut asparagus up into 2 inch ribbons
Place in microwave proof bowl and cook for 4 mins. on high.
Check to see if done but not overly soft, if they need more then cook more in 1 min increments till done
Cool.
Place oil in a skillet and heat. When hot, add mushrooms and saute till done and liquid is absorbed. Add dried thyme and add the morels* ( see below) . Cook for about another 3 mins
Remove from pan and cool.
 *(Place Morels in hot water and let soften. When done drain and cut morels in half longwise 
and add as in above.)
Place Bread cubes on baking sheets in one layer. Heat oven to 325.
Place bread in oven and toast for 15 to 20 mins
remove and cool.
When ready to serve, place all ingredients into a large salad bowl.
Slowly add half the dressing mixing slowly with your clean hands.
Continue to add dressing till salad is nicely coated.
You should use all the dressing but do it to taste
If salad is still to dry add more olive oil and Balsamic vinegar till moist.
Garnish with the reserved scallions and cherry tomatoes and serve.

For dressing

In a blender add all ingredients except the 2 oils
With blender going add slowly both oils till incorporated and smooth.

Tarpon Springs..Going Greek in Florida or Pappas and Potatoes!

Tarpon Springs, Florida. I don't know if you know Tarpon Springs but it is a charming little hamlet just north of Tampa Florida on the gulf coast. Named after Lake Tarpon an inland body of water and settled first in the late 1800's, Tarpon Springs came into the national view after Greek settlers brought the sponge diving industry to the Florida coast. During the 1930's this industry thrived accounting for a major portion of the US sponge production. It was even the subject of a movie " Beneath the 12 Mile Reef" filmed on 1953. However, the film was partially historical at that point. In 1947 a red tide swept through sponge beds practically killing everything in it's path and almost wiping out the sponge industry. A final death blow was dealt it around the same time as synthetic sponges became available and cheaper and drove the natural sponge business out.

Tarpon Springs was and is to this day the largest Greek community in the US. and today has benefited from the residents of the 1950's turning it into a major tourist destination both for the Greek food and the history and tradition of the post sponging industry, and the deep sea fishing industry.

In the late forties savvy Greek fishermen decided to cash in on the one resource they had in abundance, heritage! They recognized that they had culture, food and fishing knowledge that could translate to dollars if marketed correctly.  One such savvy businessman was Michael Louis Pappas, son of Louis Pappas. The Riverside cafe opened in 1925 under the senior Pappas's direction and created what has generally in the USA been accepted and served at Greek restaurants everywhere as "Greek salad". You know lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and black olives in a lemon herb oil based dressing. Believe it or not Pappas is actually credited in the Greek community with creating this style of americanized "Greek Salad"  and it is now served nationwide in Greek restaurants and diners everywhere. In 1952 after his father's heart attack the younger Pappas took over running the family business and grew it into a small dining empire. Pappas's restaurant was so famous that at it's peak it boasted 19 cashiers, 30 cooks and 90 servers and is said to have served 4000 people one Easter Sunday. Pappas did a lot to push his town forward but he also did a lot to change the salad created by his father. He added a variety of veggies, improved the dressing making it distinctive and also added a base of potato salad which made it truly a meal in itself. At one point the restaurant sold 1000 of these salads a day on average.

Pappas closed his Riverside Cafe in 2005 and passed away in 2009. It was bought and reopened and remains open today but word has it it has lost the panache of it's original owner.

My Mother's parents moved from Chicago to Tampa in the early 1950's trading in the big city for a smaller town and frigid winters for Floridian sunshine. My grandmother being the adventurous sort she was and not shying away from new experiences or culinary explorations, and my grandfather enjoying the fishing thing, found Tarpon Springs a nice respite and close getaway from Tampa and the everyday. It was there that they first encountered Pappas and the salad he made famous.
Of course the renown of this salad spread to the Tampa area and for the most part in that part of the state if you order a Greek Salad you are going to get one in the style of Pappas.

So as you can imagine this was the version of Greek salad I grew up eating at home. In fact the first time I had one away from home I was disappointed by the lack of ingredients, and flavor. I have been making this salad for years myself now and I enjoy people's reaction to eating it. it's so rich and full and satisfying.  Of course I have made improvements and changes but it's still along the lines of the original. I made it for a group of friends years ago in Charleston and my friend Autumn, who was among that group, asked me to make it again over  this past Christmas,when we had her and her husband over for dinner. She said she just remembers it being so good. And so it is. So for those of you who want to try a twist on the ordinary Greek Salad, here you go. Give it a try it makes a great one dish party meal with some garlic bread and can pretty much be done in advance so can spend more time with your guests.  Enjoy, Ya'll!

Forrest's "Best Ever" Greek Salad (after the Pappas Riverside Cafe Tradition)

Ingredients:

1 large head of Iceberg Lettuce ( or 3 hearts of Romaine trimmed) shredded.
3 cups of Greek potato salad ( recipe follows)
1 red onion diced
1 med cucumber diced into cubes
2 Tomatoes 1 diced and 1 reserved cut into wedges
1 green bell pepper diced
1 can of beets diced
12 small cocktail shrimp cooked and peeled
1 jar Kalamata Olives in juice drained ( reserve juice) from this 1/2 cup diced Kalamata olives reserve rest for garnish
8 radishes slices into discs and reserve 1/2 of the radishes for garnish
4 green onions diced
12 ounces Feta cheese ( 2 crumbled and 2 chopped into squares)
1 8 oz jar greek Salonika peppers drained ( 1/2 chopped the other half reserved as whole
4 anchovy filets diced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
oregano

Greek Potato salad:


6 large yellow potato boiled and cut up
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 bunch green onions diced
1/2 cup parsley chopped
1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoon minced fresh or jarred garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Method for Potato salad: 

Take all ingredients and combine in a bowl
Mix gently and place in the fridge ( best if made the day before) chill well.

Forrest's Best Ever Greek Salad Dressing 

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup reserved olive juice/oil
1/4 cup regular Greek yogurt or mayo
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
4 tablespoons Dried Oregano
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Place everything but olive oil in blender and while running pour oil slowly in from the top till creamy.

Method for Salad:

Get a large serving platter out

Mound the potato salad in the center of the platter

Place all ingredients from salad list except the reserved green onions, whole olives, feta cubes, tomato wedges, radishes and shrimp in a bowl.

In the bowl dress and mix the salad fixings generously till dressed to your liking ( I like it wet but not dripping)

Carefully cover the potato salad with the dressed salad, mounding it till the potato salad is hidden.

Garnish the salad first with the shrimp, then the tomato wedges around, then sprinkle the feta, olives, radishes. Finnish off with the green onions to give some visual punch.

Serve within 10 mins. And watch them ooh and ahh!! When you serve make sure you dig down and get the potato salad underneath. Serve with my garlic bread from another post!! You'll be a rockstar trust me!!!

Fritos not Corn Chips Please!!! California Patio Salad with Tuna and Creamy Avocado Dressing

Ok this is really a Mexican salad. It's one of the oldest recipes for an entree salad I can remember from my family dinner table. It is also not original. ( Oh! like anything really is these days!) That is to say from what I know, it was the rage on many a dinner table in the 1960's and still lingers in the hearts and I imagine on the tables of many families today. But try and find it on the internet and not so much luck!

I mean every time I make this salad, people ask for the recipe. It is the way my mom got the recipe herself. In 1963 she and my father were living in California, newly weds, and got invited to a dinner party. It was a lovely evening and my mom said that when the hostess brought out the dinner to the table in the backyard patio she was surprised to see it was a salad. I guess that's because it was 1963 or because it was California, but in any event she was not familiar with this salad or the "Salad as a Meal" concept. I'm not sure which, but I digress.

 As the story goes it was apparently it was a hit, as everyone dug in a devoured it! After dinner she asked the hostess for the recipe and took it with her, secure in the knowledge that she now had a winner for the next dinner party she would throw.

SO, that brings us to the table today. I know this salad from growing up with it. We had two kinds of Mexican entree salads in the house recipe box. One was made with ground beef and beans and taco chips, your traditional Mexican taco salad. The other was this tuna based salad with an avacado dressing and corn chips. I was later told in life by a reliable source that this tuna salad had come from a Sunset magazine recipe printed first in the 1960's. I was also told by this person that it had been a big favorite of home entertaining in the 60's and 70's but had somehow fallen out of the mainstream as time passed.

Online I found it or a version of it after really really searching a few cooking recipe sites and some Blogs including noblepigwine.com where she actually had a version of this recipe. She had adapted it from Dice and Slice cookbook. Well I don't have no stinkin cookbook! (yet!)  But I do have the original recipe from the 1960's dinner party in California, and that's good enough for me.

So the thing you need to know about this salad is IT IS REALLY REALLY GOOD AND PEOPLE REALLY REALLY LOVE IT! So if you make it prepare for the compliments and people wanting seconds. 

So what makes this salad so good, well simple, the dressing! It's creamy and rich and not for the faint of calories. But it's also good fats so you can feel better about eating it! The other thing is that you can't just use any old plain tortilla chips. No! You must use Fritos Brand Corn Chips. The reason for this is simple. In the 1960's chips were not as prevalent as they are today. Nationally, Fritos was the only "Corn Chip" on the commercial market. So when Sunset made the original recipe they intended you to use Fritos. ( Which by the way are actually,for chips, very healthy! Oil not withstanding) The taste is the difference. You can use Corn chips but Fritos will give you a much better salad taste. I Promise!

OK so to make your salad it's really very simple! Please note presentation notes it will make the TADA! factor when you serve it. Enjoy Ya'll!

California Patio Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients

For the Salad :
4 cans of tuna 5 oz (1 can of tuna 5 oz for every person, this makes a salad for 4 plus seconds)
1 head Iceberg or romaine lettuce core removed and chopped into thin strips
2 large tomatoes cut into wedges ( hold in reserve for garnish)
1 large tomato diced
1 bunch Green onions chopped ( white parts and green parts) ( 1 cup held in reserve for garnish)
1 can 8 oz black california olives sliced ( hold 2 tablespoons for garnish)
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese ( hold 1/2 cup for garnish)
1 bag Fritos Brand Corn chips crushed! 1 1/2 cup crushed for salad, the rest held in reserve for garnish

Simple right?

For the Dressing: ( in a blender) this makes extra dressing on the side if people want it!

2 large or 3 small very ripe avocados removed from the shells and placed in the blender
(cut the avacado in half and with the butt of the blade pick out the pits, then use a spoon to remove the flesh)
1/2 cup salad oil ( I like canola)
1 cup mayo
31/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 garlic cloves minced
3 tablespoons Cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 cup water ( use to thin as needed)

Place in a blender and go go go!! If its to thick add water through the top in a slow stream till smooth and creamy.

To assemble place all ingredients in a very large salad bowl except the ones held in reserve for garnish.
add 1 cup dressing and toss, add more dressing to your liking till salad is dressed moist, but not wet with the dressing.

To serve:

Wipe the inside rim of the bowl so it's clean down to the salad in the bowl.
Then sprinkle a large hand full of chips on the top.
Place the tomatoes in a ring on top of salad around the bowl, in a circle all wedges facing in the same direction back to front like half moons around the bowl.
sprinkle on green onions
then black olives
then cheese

To serve present at table and serve so each person gets something from the toppings. And have extra dressing on the side for people if they want it.
Enjoy the compliments !!!

Hail Caesar and pass the Mayo and Sriracha!

So someone asked me to complete the entry from the other day and talk about Caesar salad. Ok let's talk about Caesar salad.

The Caesar salad is probably the most well known salad in the restaurant world today, well.... within the continental US. There are many types of salads proffered in chain restaurants everywhere in this country now, but the Caesar alone stands as King. American's can't get enough of it. and ever since Caesar Cardini supposedly created it one night on the 4th of July in 1924 when his kitchen ran out of anything else to serve. He served the salad table side to add to it's panache. It became wildly popular and swept the nation. Today everyone serves a Caesar. From the Cheesecake Factory chain out of Hollywood to Applebees, the Caesar is probably the most popular salad. The Cheesecake Factory serves 5 tons of Caesar salads a year, that's a lot of Caesars!

I can still remember as a very little boy having a Caesar salad made table side for the first time at a fancy restaurant in Tampa Florida. The impressive preparation was so theatrical, it was wonderful how the waiter combined all the ingredients into the large wooden bowl and then tossed in those 2 coddled eggs. Then with a few stokes of the wooden spoons created a creamy rich and wonderful sauce that enveloped the crisp romaine leaves. A few crunchy croutons, a generous handful of grated cheese and a few twists of pepper later and presto! He served up a mouthwatering, satisfying, Umami giving, salad that changed the way I looked at lettuce forever!

I think Umami is the best way to describe why a Caesar is so satisfying. It contains at least three maybe four elements that provide that Umami punch. It's a hearty almost meaty taste and it is just so satisfying.

OK, now I have tried to recreate that freshly tossed Caesar experience for years at home. That wonderful moment when the salad is made fresh with the dressing in the bowl from scratch! But truth be told I am just plain lazy sometimes, and just don't feel like coddling eggs or using raw ones. So from scratch the old school way just seemed too tedious. And I  have tried to like bottled Caesar dressing, but I have yet to find a good one! Even the Cardini Family who produces a dressing based on the original recipe can't seem to bring it to the table. So I just decided long ago I wanted to make my own dressing but in an easier way and even hold it in the fridge for later use.

Now from working in catering for years I had gleaned from various chefs that Caesar dressing can be made many ways. And the way around using eggs and the get the dressing to hold easily is to use one of my favorite things in the world, Mayonnaise! ( Hello Eggs and Oil!!) However, getting the rest of the dressing to really be stellar was a bit tricky. I mean I have come to expect a certain taste and consistency from a good Caesar dressing, so starting with the basics of the dressing and building upon them to an even more elevated taste sensation was the goal here. After all I just didn't want just any old Caesar dressing. But the best Caesar dressing I could come up with!

So I experimented and experimented. And whenever I went out somewhere that had an interesting Caesar, I would try to inquire what the ingredients were. I also looked at recipes in my books and online from everyone, trying different things and really seeing what were things that worked and things that did not. For example one thing that never should be in Caesar dressing is soy sauce! (which one famous person suggested) Yuk! However one restaurant I went to had some background taste in their dressing I could not place immediately. Finally after asking I realized I knew the flavor but had not expected it, Sesame Oil!! And Frankie's Sputino NYC. which also had a mayo based dressing gave the the clue to add a little heat by using tabasco. However, I liked the heat idea, but I have grown to love Sriracha sauce so much, that I put in everything now from soups to mac and cheese! So that became my "heat" element. So after much trial and error here is the finished version. If you want to try to make a Caesar salad at home and really impress people with an easy awesome dressing give this a try! Hail Ceasar!


The Best "Caesar" Salad you'll ever want to make!!!

Ingredients:

For the Salad: Serves 6 to 8 people

3 large hearts of romaine chopped squarely ( include the white ends almost to the stalk and cut off any bad green ends otherwise use all) and held cold in the fridge
2 1/2 cups croutons ( I like Trader Joe's salad croutons, they taste like homemade but you can make your own or buy your favorite brand)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 tablespoon capers drained

For the dressing:  

6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
splash of caper juice
2 cloves minced garlic
2 anchovies filets ( plus more garnishing for each portion)
1/8 teaspoon Sriracha Sauce
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Mayo ( I like Dukes brand)
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
3 teaspoons lemon juice

Mash anchovies and garlic into a  really creamy fine paste on the bottom of a large salad bowl ( Wooden if possible).
Add the Mayo then the liquid ingredients whisking vigorously till smooth and combined.
Add cheese and pepper and stir till combined and smooth. If too thick add more water a teaspoon at a time. ( At this point you could hold the dressing in the fridge for later use. You can also increase the quantity to make more to have on hand. It lasts a least 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge.)

Place dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl if you did not use it to make the dressing.
Place Chopped lettuce, croutons, cheese and capers in the bowl and toss together till coated. Serve immediately!

Christmas Recipes number one... Da' Wedge!!

Butter Lettuce Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese, Truffled Dressing and French Fried Onions

Alright, now everyone has seen this Retro salad making a huge come back all over the place ( even at Outback Steakhouse) the Wedge.

Usually served with Blue Cheese and Bacon and maybe tomatoes with a think dollop of Blue cheese dressing for good measure.

My updated version comes via the Lady chef of a very wealthy Russian Oil and Natural Gas Baron who lives on the upper east side where I sometimes work in their house. Her version did not play on the wedge nor did it have blue cheese nor did it have truffled dressing BUT it did have french fried onions on it! You know the kind out of the can!!! Yes for real, a billionaire with a Penchant for "French's"! Oh the culinary shame of it all. Well I say if it's good and tasty why fight it and I loves me some Fried Onions!!! So I second thought I guess her salad had nothing to do with this but it did inspire me! This is a big salad with huge smack you in the face flavors. It is not for the weak at heart!  Try it you'll like it!

Ok for Da' Wedge you will need

 2 to 3 heads of butter lettuce depending on the size washed and sliced into 3 portions ie. wedges.
They will be somewhat floppy not like the iceberg version but set on the plate on angle so the wedge shape is evident and just nest the outer leaves around it.
Next you will need 3 oz's of good quality Blue cheese, I love Maytag, or even Stilton would be interesting.
Crumble it over the lettuce and don't be cheap.

Next the dressing:

2 Scallions white part only finely diced ( reserve green part for later)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup olive oil.
1/8 cup truffle oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
4 Tablespoons Mayonaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Place everything into a blender except oils
Turn on and while running slowly pour in oil till emulsified.

Pour a nice amount of dressing over the salad and top with a handful of fried onions.
Garnish with the 2 reserved scallions green parts thinly sliced.

Enjoy!

Picture from Liete's Culinaria Not exactly my salad but you get the idea!