Avocado Week: Salad

Shrimp taco salad is so easy to prepare and so hard to fuck up. This was a particularly zesty recipe, with lime zested beans, chili-garlic rice, guacamole, paprika sour cream, and plenty of shrimp and salsa verde on top. Good Mexican food is so damned filling and so cheap. It might be one of the most satisfying cuisines I can cook.

We ate this salad after a day of running errands and it was honestly as good as any I've had in a restaurant. Fairly simple, too, with a layer of lime black beans, chili garlic rice, guacamole, paprika sour cream, and salsa verde marinated grilled shrimp with plenty of salsa slathered on top. It was only until later when I realized that not only had I forgotten the cheese, but that we didn't even need it in the first place.It's a recipe that orchestrates itself easily if you tackle the time-consuming elements, like the rice and beans, first and then prepare the cold toppings while those are cooking.In conclusion, here is our cat. She tried to jump on her cat tower while a potted plant was resting on top, miscalculated the distance, and got wedged in between the window and the cube because of her exceptionally rubenesque rear end. We laughed and took photos and posted them to PETA's Myspace and then we let her down. All was well and she ate shrimp off the counter.

Wendy's Berry Almond Chicken Salad

Last night, Swagger, FF, and I took a jaunt in the jalopy so I could bribe them into eating some of the fast food world's newest offerings. I ended up eating this one myself, the new Berry Almond Chicken Salad from Wendy's along with their new Wild Berry Tea. The press release came in a scant three hours before I tried the salad, and boasted a plethora of things I love, including an exhaustive array of one specific component of the salad. Or so I thought. What with the recent mayonnaise-based chicken salad popularity in the Subway and Arby's markets, I expected a similar coup from their female counterpart with the advertising focused on the trendy acai and fruit additions, but it turned out to look like most of the salads on the commercial market today.

All of the components of this salad were represented differently than how I'd expected them to be. With an absurd $6.99 price tag, I inwardly groaned. Not because I'd also just bought Swagger twenty five spicy chicken nuggets, but because I'd never willingly spent so much on a vegetable based salad before. From the get-go, the salad distinctly separates itself into two categories: ingredients that work well together, and ingredients that just fall short.

This being the first day of the salad's nationwide debut, I was disappointed, but not surprised, that my local Wendy's employees got the chicken wrong. Instead of the grilled chicken, one of the spicy chicken fillets was diced up in the salad. Oddly enough, this combination worked. With the nutty creaminess from the parmesan, the chicken's spice was toned down and I found myself enjoying the different play of textures within each bite. The salad appears to give you your money's worth in the parmesan department. The entire upper third of my bowl was filled with curly parmesan slices. The berries, though obviously fresh and juicy, came few and far between with each bite. The blueberries erred toward the anemic side and ended up uselessly rolling into the nether regions of the bowl, but the strawberries were the real star of the show, providing less flavor than the more powerful proteins, but a sweetness that balanced the dish out. The lettuce, some pieces clearly leftover from crappy iceberg salads and others, leafy and earthy, brought it all together with an interesting textural distinction and vaguely healthy air.

Honestly, if the salad had just stopped at chicken, cheese, berries, and a little arugula on top, I'd have been happy right there. With the addition of more textural elements, like the raspberry-acai vinaigrette and the toasted almonds, the salad took an irritating spin toward the overloaded. Both the nuts and the sauce completely disappeared behind the wakes of the more powerful flavors. The sauce left a wet, acidic aftertaste behind and the nuts acted as though they weren't there at all. It bothered me that elements that definitely bumped the price and calorie level of the salad played no integral role in improving the flavor.

Overall, I was pleased that Wendy's, in attempting to go beyond the traditional constraints of limp, over-dressed fast food vegetal fare, provided a good prototype for its imitators, but could not find enough to enjoy about this salad that justified its price tag and uniqueness. In a fast food market, this is an anomaly, but for home cooks, Wendy's isn't reinventing the wheel.

Raw Kale Salad with Root Vegetables

So, how's my personal challenge to actually cook new recipes from books, blogs, and magazines going?

Not too shabby! I've managed to cook two to three new recipes each week. The variety and change in nightly dishes has been wonderful, but actually discovering recipes that I'd make again has been a bit elusive. Out of ten or more recipes we've tried out, only two have been winners, one of those being a very simple kale salad perfectly suited for winter.
This salad is so simple, it's almost absurd to write a formal recipe, but it does involve a nifty technique to "soften" uncooked kale (also works on collards) by massaging them with oil, vinegar, and salt. I've been meaning to try this massaging technique for years now, but somehow haven't.

I am now an experienced kale masseuse! A little oil, vinegar, and salt, plus a tender touch does wonders on raw kale, making it wilt just enough to take the edge off of raw greens. Raw root vegetables grated, julienned, or peeled into ribbons liven up the salad, along with a simple vinaigrette. I used carrots, beets, and parsnips, but could also see rutabagas, fennel, kohlrabi, jicama or turnips working well in the salad. Feel free to use your favorite vinaigrette, too.Raw Kale Salad with Root Vegetables
serves 6
adapted from Vegetarian Times

Salad
1 large bunch of kale, stems removed, leaves cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoons salt
1 carrot, grated (1/2 cup)
1 parsnip, grated (1/2 cup)
1 beet grated (1/2 cup)
1 cup pistachios (or other nut)

Dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or maple syrup)

• Place kale in a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt over the kale. Gently massage (softly squeeze) the kale for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly wilted. Let rest for 30 minutes.
  
• To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, soy sauce, and agave nectar in a small bowl.
• Add carrots, parsnips, beets, and dressing to the kale. Toss to mix.
• Garnish with nuts and serve.
  

Wheat Berry Salad with Dates and Red Onions

Check it, I'm calling the wheat berry the next big grain. Your mom's hip to quinoa, and the stock boy at the grocery store can finally pronounce quinoa. It's time for something new. Quinoa, I'm not done with you (you pack so much protein and cook up in a jiff), but I need another grain to keep me occupied.

Wheat berries are the entire wheat kernel (except for the hull), comprising the bran, germ, and endosperm, so pack a bit of nutrition and fiber, but what I love about wheat berries is how nutty and chewy these little nugs are. Your mouth gets a workout with wheat berries!
I haven't been able to stop thinking about the chewy, hearty wheat berries in the salad I had a few months ago in D.C.. Unfortunately, unless you're eating at some crunchy, healthy salad bar, you probably aren't going to run into wheat berries out on the town, so have to take craving matters into your own hands.

I had to roll my eyes at my self for having never cooked wheat berries before, but it's easy. Go to your nearest health food store or regular grocery store that has a good bulk bin section and locate wheat berries — sometimes hiding under the pseudonym "hard winter red or white wheat." Then just simmer those grains for 45 minutes, no pre-soaking required.

I've got a whole bag of wheat berries and am excited to set the trend this winter. Below is a sweet dried fruit wheat berry salad similar to the one I had in D.C., but next up I'm trying this more savory wheat berry salad that incorporates loads of roasted root vegetables, because I just love to sit down with a rounded, one-bowl meal.Wheat Berry Salad with Dates and Red Onions
adapted from the kitchn
serves 6-8

I went with what I had in the cupboards, and substituted dates for dried figs in the original recipe. Apricots might also be nice. Since the salad is sweet with dried fruit and a sweet dressing, I also cut down on the agave nectar. And the oil was cut in half, because I hate oily salads.

1 1/2 cups wheat berries
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped finely
3 large stalks celery, chopped finely
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup roasted, sliced almonds
handful fresh parsley or mint, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste

• In a saucepan, cover wheat berries with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover pan with a lid, and simmer on low for 45 minutes, or until wheat berries are soft but still chewy.
  
• Meanwhile, add rice vinegar and orange juice in a small saucepan on the stove, and heat until boiling. Turn off heat, and add dates and raisins to the liquid to soften and absorb some of the liquid.
• When the wheat berries are done cooking, drain and transfer to a large bowl.
  
• Into the large bowl, add the remaining ingredients along with the dried fruit and liquid in the saucepan. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are combined.
  
• Serve warm or room temperature. Can be made up to three days in advance.
  

Pineapple Salad

Just like everybody else and their momma, I've been trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables...'cause it's just so dang good for you!

This salad, ripped right out of the pages of Gourmet, was the answer to what to do with that honkin' pineapple sitting on my table - not that I need an excuse to eat pineapple. Pineapple, jicama, avocado,cilantro, and onion in a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing was perfect as a light side to the spicy tempeh tacos I fixed.

Pineapple Salad
adapted from Gourmet
serves 4-6 as a side

1 pineapple, peeled and diced
1/2 lb jicama, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white or rice vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

• Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, and serve. Boom!
  

Roasted Squash and Beet Salad

Perhaps it won't take you three attempts at roasting squash (like it did for me) to make this salad with roasted squash and beets, dried cranberries, pepitas, and goat cheese inspired by a very similar salad I ate from the grab-and-go case at Talula's Table in Kennett Square.

Roasting squash is not hard at all, I promise. I just had a serious space case, and effed up royally -- twice in a row! But you will need to devote some time to roasting squash and beets, and toasting squash seeds, so that's why I'd deem this salad a special occasion salad, and not a quick what's-in-my-crisper-I'm-hungry salad.

This is really lame, but I'm not including a dressing. The salad at Talula's Table came with apple cider vinaigrette, and I hated it (liked the salad, obviously). I attempted an apple cider vinaigrette from Ina Garten for my rendition, and I hated it, too. According to everyone else, Talula's and Ina can do no wrong, so obviously I'm crazy. Just use your favorite vinaigrette. Mine is just straight-up balsamic vinegar.

Roasted Squash and Beet Salad
serves 6

2-3 large beets, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
1/3 cup pepitas
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces goat cheese
mixed greens, enough for 6 (who measures?), washed and dried

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. The next three bullets can all take place in the oven at the same time, but have different baking times
  
• In a baking dish, toss beets with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until tender, flipping beets half way through. (You can bake beets whole, then peel and dice, too, if you wish, but it'll take about 1 hour)
• In a seperate baking dish, toss squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tender (not squishy, though), flipping squash half way through.
  
• If using the seeds from the inside of your squash instead of purchasing pepitas at the grocery, wash pulp from seeds, dry seeds, and place in an oiled baking dish, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden, checking and stirring after 10 minutes.
• Time to plate! Arrange greens on either individual plates or on one large platter. Top with roasted beets, roasted squash, pepitas, dried cranberries, and goat cheese. And the dressing of your choice.
  

Copper Pennies

Sometimes I’ll leave a book or a magazine sitting on a chair as a reminder to read it. It will sit there for a year. Then I'll read it.

That’s exactly what happened with this recipe for Copper Pennies, a chilled, marinated carrot salad. It sat on my dresser for nearly a year as a reminder to make the dish. I made it a couple of weeks ago.

I had never heard of or eaten Copper Pennies until last Fourth of July holiday at my Dad’s house (really, his wife made them, and the dish is a favorite in her family). Copper Pennies is an old Southern recipe that is commonly found in church and community cookbooks, yet I had never run across it at reunions or picnics. The only thing I can figure is I must have been eye-deep in mac and cheese, deviled eggs, and caramel cake.

As a lover of sweet and tangy marinated anything, I had to have the recipe. So, my Dad’s wife wrote it out for me in her lovely handwriting (I’ve got doctor’s scrawl...and no PhD). And just like so many unpretentious, yet delicious hand-me-down recipes, it’s got a can of soup in it. Gotta love it!

I broke out this dish at a gathering this past Memorial Day weekend, and within five minutes of it being on the table, just like my Dad’s wife, I had a request for the recipe.

Make this simple recipe your summer hit...if you don't know about it already!

Copper Pennies
serves 8

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
½ cup bell pepper, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sugar
2/3 cup vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 can tomato soup

• Boil carrots until tender, but still firm, about 5-8 minutes. Drain carrots.
• Put carrots, bell pepper, and onions in a large bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat the oil, sugar, vinegar, salt, mustard, and tomato soup until the sugar dissolves. Let cool 15 minutes.
• Poor the cooled liquid over the vegetables and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain marinade off before serving, or dish out with a slotted spoon.

Raw Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Apple

I won Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, Cook with Jamie, from Serious Eats, and it arrived a few weeks ago! (Yes! Won! I can't believe it! This calls for one more exclamation point!)

This cook book, a couple of concert tickets, and a bouquet of Tootsie Pops are the extent of what I’ve won in my life from entering contests and playing bingo. I’m not the luckiest person, so I won’t be buying a lottery ticket anytime soon, and this recent winning guarantees that I won't be winning anything for the next three years – at least!

I think Serious Eats is, hands down, one of the best food sites out there, but I’m a little concerned about the state of their office space (my cookbook was covered in thick dust when I pulled it out of the padded shipping envelope), and wonder if a janitor made it into this year’s budget . No matter the filth, can’t beat free!

I’ve never watched Jamie’s cooking show, but I’ve caught him a few times on The Today Show before heading off to work, and he seems to be a very likable, chill dude that doesn't have a whisk up his ass. Cook with Jamie is a cookbook that covers the basics of cooking, and sticks to simple, fresh dishes. As Jamie states in the introduction, he thinks this cookbook should have been his first.Sliced beets before getting matchsticked.

My first dish from Cook with Jamie is the raw beet salad. Can you believe that I had never eaten a non-pickled beet until six years ago? It turns out I adore cooked beets, and eat them every chance I get. Now, can you believe I’ve never eaten raw beets until I tried this recipe? Turns out, I love raw beets, too.

This raw beet salad is very similar to coleslaw, which is up there at the top of the list of my favorite comfort foods. If you like the tang and crunch of coleslaw, but want to wow the crowd with color, I’d pull this recipe out.

Just like Jamie recommends in his book – substitutions, and a bit of this and a bit of that to suit your taste – I altered the recipe according to what I had on hand and my taste. It still turned out fabulous!

I used goat cheese instead of feta, green apple instead of pear, omitted the sprinkling of pine nuts, and changed the dressing to suit my love of tang and dislike of oil. (If you must know, the original dressing called for 3 ½ tablespoons lemon juice, 10 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste)

Raw Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Apple
Adapted from Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver
Serves 4

4 beets, different colors if possible, washed, peeled, and cut into matchsticks
2 green apples, peeled, cored, and cut into matchsticks
7 ounces goat cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
small bunch of fresh mint

• In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make the dressing
• In a large bowl, pour the dressing over the beet and apple matchsticks.
• Individually plate the salad, and crumble goat cheese on top, and sprinkle with mint leaves.