Tag Archives: main course salads

Kale, Apple and Brussels Sprouts Salad

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If you had told me a few years ago that I would actually crave a kale salad, I would have thought you were crazy. I used to hate kale. It made my throat itchy.

Apparently, I was doing it all wrong. I was buying curly kale, and using it raw, in salads. Curly kale is best for blending into smoothies or sauteeing, stews and soups, where the heat can mellow it’s bitter bite.

For eating raw, Tuscan Kale (aka Lacinato Kale or Dinosaur Kale or Cavalo Nero/Black Kale) is a better choice. It is a bit more tender than the curly variety and the flavour, while still quite earthy, has an almost nutty sweetness. You need to remove the stems, slice it quite thin and let it sit in the dressing for about 10 minutes before serving. That will help to tenderize the leaves.

Since discovering Tuscan kale, I now crave it. I have made this salad a few times this month. Last time I made it I added some raw shredded Brussels sprouts for extra crunch. (Not shown in video). Highly recommend the addition.

The dressing for this salad is a spiced apple cider vinaigrette. I got the dressing recipe from thecozyapron.com. A few pinches of cinnamon, curry powder and cumin create a wonderful depth of flavour that really holds up under the weight of the kale and sprouts. Gouda cheese adds a richness and the spiced nuts add crunch, an essential component of any salad as far as I’m concerned.

The apples I used in this salad have a surprising pink flesh. They are called Lucy Rose. I have been seeing them on Instagram for a few years now and became obsessed with finding them in real life. I finally found them last week at Hintonburg market in Ottawa.

They are a cross between a Honeycrisp and Airlie apple. They have a sweet-tart taste with a crunchy texture, very similar to a Honeycrisp. While they are quite dramatic, the salad will still be delicious with a Honeycrisp apple.

Click here to print recipe for Kale Apple and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Spiced Vinaigrette.

Winter Squash Salad with Waffled Halloumi Croutons and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

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After my successful venture with Croffles (Croissant-Waffles), I started to look at other ingredients in my fridge with the same lens. Will it waffle, I wondered. It seems like such a shame to let my waffle iron sit in the cupboard gathering dust, only to pull it out twice a year to make waffles.

I had a package of halloumi cheese about to expire so I decided to experiment. I heated the waffle iron to medium and sprayed it lightly with cooking spray. I tried a range of thicknesses and settled on 1/2 inch slices. Because halloumi is so firm, it waffled beautifully. I achieved a burnished golden brown colour and crispy edges, with that tell-tale squeak in the centre. Resounding success.

I decided to build a winter salad around these “halloumi croutons”. Check out this video to see how it all came together.

I started with butternut squash. Seasoned with salt, smoked paprika and a good drizzle of olive oil I roasted it until tender and browned. I like to cut the squash into small pieces to maximize the crispy surface area. Pro tip: Use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds and stringy fibres in the squash. The serrated edge of the spoon is the perfect tool for this.

For greens I decided on a mix of baby kale, micro arugula, and shredded raw Brussels sprouts. Arugula, frisée lettuce, radicchio, and Tuscan kale would all be good choices. You need a fairly bitter, assertive lettuce/green to counterbalance the sweet squash and mild, salty cheese.

If you have a food processor with a slicing disc, it produces julienned Brussels sprouts in seconds. If not, with a sharp knife and some patience, and it can be done by hand.

Every salad needs crunch. This one comes from spiced walnuts. If you have never made your own spiced nuts before, it’s quite simple. A lightly beaten egg white acts as the glue to help the spices stick to the nuts. I used a mix of sugar, salt, sumac and a pinch of cayenne. They only take about 12 minutes to toast and they keep for weeks in an airtight container. You can play around with the nuts and spices.

For the dressing, I created a sweet and tangy pomegranate vinaigrette. Pomegranate seeds were the final garnish, twinkling like glittering jewels.

Click here to print recipe for Winter Squash Salad with Waffled Halloumi Croutons and Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

Green Goddess Salad (and meal prep for a reset)

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Happy New Year. Yes, I realize that we are already a week into the new year, but I practice slow January. (not to be confused with dry January 😉). I have difficulty with transitions. I do not rush into the new year filled with goals and resolutions. I like to ease my way, gently, into the new year.

Cookie month (or December, as the Muggles like to call it) was glorious. I was in my happy place baking over 12 different kinds of cookies. If you follow me on Instagram, you likely saw this video of how I packaged them up for giving away. I love packaging and designing labels almost as much as I love baking and gifting them.

By the beginning of January, I was convinced that my body was comprised of 100% cookie. I always need a reset at this time of year. To remind myself to practice mindful eating and set myself up for success, I like to do meal prep. I fill my fridge with prepared lean proteins (poached chicken breasts, jammy eggs), washed lettuce and other veggies, a jar of delicious homemade salad dressing and some spiced pita chips (we’re not monsters here, we still need crunch).

These ingredients are good in the fridge for 4-5 days, so I always have a quick and healthy lunch or dinner ready without having to think about it. In the recipe I provided, I presented it as a salad for 4-6 people, but it’s a great way to meal prep and fill your fridge for the week too.

If I’m roasting or grilling chicken, I prefer thighs, but chicken breasts are very delicious and moist if you poach them. It’s a method that most people don’t consider. Place skinless boneless breasts in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and skim the foam off the top. Turn heat down to a simmer and add onions, carrots, celery, parsley, salt and pepper and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 120°F. Then leave them in the poaching liquid in the fridge to chill. The chicken breasts absorb all that flavourful liquid and they are super moist.

For perfect “jammy” eggs bring a pot of water to a boil, gently lower eggs into water (I love this tool for that task). Boil for exactly 7 minutes and then remove and submerge in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and chill. If jammy eggs are not your jam, 11 minutes will give you hard boiled. Cooked eggs, keep well in their shell for about 5-6 days. The yolks in these eggs were not photoshopped! They are really this vibrant orange hue. I buy them at Farm Boy. I have been told that the colour comes from marigold and other plants that contain the pigment xanthophyll in the feed of the chickens.

The Green Goddess dressing recipe is from Mandy’s Gourmet Salads cookbook. Basil, parsley and tarragon contribute their verdant tones to create a gorgeous emerald green dressing. My regular house dressing is just a simple vinaigrette, but this is a nice change and feels special. It comes together in the blender in less than a minute.

All salads need some crunch element. I’m all about texture. Croutons or nuts are great, but why not make some spiced pita chips. They keep well for at least 2 weeks in an airtight container. I spiced mine with za’atar and sumac. You can find za’atar in many supermarkets or make your own with this recipe. I find sumac at Bulk Barn.

Click here to print recipe for Green Goddess Salad.

Persimmon Salad

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I have long been an admirer of persimmons. Each fall I’d see them at the market and marvel at their vibrant orange hue and smooth shiny skin. Yet, until a few weeks ago, I never actually bought them. I had no clue what to do with them.

Because 2020 hasn’t presented enough challenges already😉, I decided to confront my ignorance and brought a bagful home with me. I’ll share with you what I learned. There are two main varieties of persimmons. The first are known as Fuyu. They are the squat tomato shaped ones you see in the picture above. The second variety, Hachiya, are oblong shaped with a pointed base, like a large acorn.

The Fuyu variety is non-astringent. These can be eaten when firm and crisp, just like you would an apple. The skin is tough, but edible, so I prefer to peel them. They are quite sweet, with an almost vanilla-custard flavour. They are best eaten raw, in salads.

The Hachiya variety is astringent, and a completely different story! If you bite into an unripe persimmon you will be sorry. Loaded with tannins, it will make your mouth pucker and go dry. These need to be ripened completely, until they are soft. Inside they will be creamy, almost pudding like. They are great to use in baking, much like bananas for breads and cake.

Because they are so sweet, I though that I’d pair them with hardy, bitter lettuces. I used kale, arugula, radicchio and frisée. I found some beautiful red carrots so I made carrot ribbons with a vegetable peeler with one carrot, and sliced a second carrot into coins for a variety of shape and texture. Pomegranate seeds added a pop of crunch and shine.

For additional texture, I candied some nuts and seeds with maple syrup. My mix included pistachios, pecans and pumpkin seeds. I finished the salad with some crumbled ricotta salata cheese. Salty feta would also be great.

If you’re anything like me, you fall into a salad rut, making the same bowl every night. I think that’s why salad always tastes so good when someone else makes it. It’s different than yours and your tastebuds crave change. This salad was certainly new and exciting in our house! Let me know if you try this and that you think.

Click here to print recipe for Persimmon-SaladDownload

Winter Crunch and Wheat Berry Salad

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Happy New Year! Hope everyone survived the holidays. We had lots of family time over at the saltandserenity homestead, which explains why you have not heard from me since December 19! We managed to consume most of the cookies I posted about last month and I made latkes twice. All in all, a very delicious month.

As is customary around here, the first post of the new year is something healthyish, emphasis on the “ish”. Let’s start with the crunch. Of course we have the obligatory vegetable crunch, provided by raw kale, Brussels sprouts and sugar snap peas. Walnuts add supplemental crunch and a slight bitterness, which I have recently learned to appreciate. If you’re not into them, pecans or hazelnuts would be great. Just DON’T FORGET to toast them.

Apples provide a sweet-tart crunch. I found some Cosmic Crisp apples to use in my salad. If you see them, grab them! A cross between the Enterprise and Honeycrisp apple, Cosmic Crisps are out of this world crunchy and juicy and a bit more tart than Honeycrisps. They are excellent in salads as they are slow to brown.

The final crunch in this salad is provided by coarse homemade breadcrumbs. I took some stale sourdough bread, cut it into cubes and tossed it liberally with extra virgin olive oil and salt. I toasted them in a moderate oven until browned, and then crushed the croutons into coarse crumbs. That way, each bite of salad has some of this delicious crunch. They are also excellent in soups.

The addition of wheat berries make this salad a nutritional powerhouse. They are a whole grain and are packed with fiber, protein and iron. If you have never tried them, you will love their chewy texture and nutty taste.

We’re not going overboard with healthy. Baby steps here. There is cheese in this salad, Pecorino Romano, to be specific. The delicate funk and rich tangy flavour of pecorino is a perfect foil for the sweet apple and the bitter greens.

Click here to print recipe for Winter-Crunch-and-Wheat-Berry-Salad.

Arugula Apple Salad with Spiced Cider Vinaigrette

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One Friday night, about a month ago, my cell phone began pinging furiously with text messages from my mom and four sisters. Our last mass text convo was when my brother sent out a group email to all his sisters with the subject “Mom passed.” He was referring to her driver’s licence renewal test, not her life. He immediately heard from all his sisters.

This text chat was much less controversial. Apparently my daughter brought an apple salad to a family dinner that I wasn’t able to attend. They all raved about it, assumed I had given her the recipe and wanted me to forward it to them. I couldn’t take credit for this salad. My daughter got the recipe from Ingrid Beer’s blog, thecozyapron.

Ingrid used frisée lettuce, arugula, honeycrisp apples and candied walnuts in her recipe. My adaptation kept the arugula and apples but I added spiced pecans and pistachios, radicchio, Belgian endive and pomegranate seeds. I mixed in some Gruyere cheese  because I think that apples and Gruyere are a match made in heaven.

Feel free to make the salad your own. Goat cheese would be great. Pears would be a nice change from the apples. I did not change anything in the dressing. It is perfect exactly as created by Ingrid. It has become my new house dressing.

You’ll be hooked from the first forkful!

Click here to print recipe for Arugula Apple Salad with Spiced Cider Vinaigrette.

 

Spring Panzanella Salad

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The Panzanella salad was created in Tuscany as a way to use up stale bread. The classic version  is traditionally made in summer. It includes chunks of stale bread and tomatoes, sometimes, onions and basil, simply dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

It is customary to soak the bread, as I discovered on a trip to the Amalfi coast a few years ago. I also discovered that the time honoured panzanella salad is not my jam. I really dislike the texture of the soaked bread. I prefer my stale bread with a bit of crunch.

This is my springtime take on the typical panzanella salad. It’s not prime tomato time yet, so I focused on spring produce. I have included a recipe at the end of the post, but there are no rules. Feel free to improvise and use what looks good to you.

I started with one of the first signs of spring, pea shoots. These are the sweet, curly, tender leaves and stems of the pea plant. Pea shoots have a subtle pea flavor and a light and crunchy texture. They are becoming more readily available. if you can’t find them, arugula or watercress would be a good substitute. If you can find fresh peas, they would add a perfect pop to this salad. Sugar snap peas are a good alternative.
Asparagus is a natural choice for this salad. Although I said there are no rules, I do have two fundamental edicts. Please don’t buy those flavourless skinny-ass pencil asparagus. And, please peel the bottom 2 inches of the stalk once you have trimmed the woody end off. It’s how I was trained. It’s a small detail that adds a bit of finesse and style to your salad.
Up next are radishes. Regular radishes add a bit of heat to the salad.

If you can find watermelon radishes, buy a few. They are larger than regular radishes and kind of gnarly looking on the outside.

But slice one open, and you will be smitten by that gorgeous magenta interior. They are milder than regular radishes and make any salad seem luxe.
And, because I refuse to believe that #putaneggonit is over, top the salad with a jammy (seven minute) egg.

Click here to print recipe for Spring Panzanella Salad.