Mixed Bean Salad

My only changes were to salt the water and add the juice of one lemon to the dressing-- a fabulous salad!

Tomato and Pomegranate Salad

Now that I've found it, I hope to never be without this lovely salad in my life!

THE Kale Salad

This is my amalgam of three different popular recipes for kale salad:

1 bunch kale, washed well and drained
2 handfuls panko
1/2 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese, plus adiitional for garnish
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for garnish
Freshly squeezed juice of one large lemon (scant 1/4 cup)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the kale leaves away from the central ribs and discard the ribs. Slice the kale leaves into the thinnest possible ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place the kale in a large bowl. Pour half the lemon juice over the kale and massage it in for a couple of minutes until it starts to wilt. Set aside.

Toast the panko until golden brown.

Using a mortar and pestle or a knife, pound or mince the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a paste. Transfer the garlic to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, the remaining lemon juice, pinch of salt, pepper flakes, and black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the kale and toss very well (the dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat the leaves).. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes, taste and adjust for seasoning and then serve topped with the bread crumbs, additional cheese, and a drizzle of oil. This is enough for maybe 6 people.

Mushroom Salad with Yuzu Dressing

Mango Kale Salad

The other yummy kale salad in my repertoire. Totally refreshing.

Tuscan Kale Salad

One of several luscious kale salads I've been making lately.

Broccoli Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Tomato Vinaigrette

Goi Chay

Emily Ho posted this:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/salad/recipe-goi-chay-vietnamese-vegetarian-salad-067437

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Scallions and Cilantro

Lemony Herbed Rice Salad

I adapted this recipe from Viana La Place, adding a variety of fresh produce that was still warm from from Irwin's garden. It's a keeper -- light, fresh and full of flavor.

1 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 large or 1 small lemon
1 cup tightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped cooked vegetables (we had leftover steamed asparagus and broccoli, so I used those -- but it could have been any variety of vegetables, really)
1/3 cup green olives, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste


Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the rice and simmer over moderate heat until just tender, about 14 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

In a large bowl, toss the rice with the olive oil and lemon juice. Stir in the fresh herbs and other ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Moroccan Eggplant Salad

This Sephardic classic is always a major favorite on our seder table. I roast the eggplant on baking sheets instead of the more traditional pan-frying.

2 large eggplants
2 tablespons kosher salt
olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, mashed to a paste
juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Harissa or dried red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tablespoon ras al hanout
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Cut the eggplants in quarters, lengthwise and slice each long piece into 1/2 inch half slices cross-wise. Pat dry, toss with olive oil until all slices are coated and spread out on a couple of sheet pans. Roast at 400 degrees until browned, turning once and making sure not to burn the slices. This can take anywhere from 15 - 25 minutes.

Mix together the tomato paste, garlic, lemon juice, spices, and half of the chopped cilantro in a serving bowl. Add the eggplant slices, coating them with the tomato mixture. (Can be made up to this point a day ahead of serving) Garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro. Serve at room temperature. Serves 6

Field Salad

This was one exciting little salad, and so pretty to look at. I wish we had gotten a good pic. Next time.

Ingredients:
Endive spears
Baby arugula
Half a bulb of fennel, sliced very thin
Handful of ripe blackberries
Crumbled goat cheese
Candied pecans
Chopped chives
Blackberry vinaigrette

Warm Sausage and White Bean Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I added a whole lot of flavor-packed ingredients to this entree salad, including the "healthy fried onions" that I've been crowing about (steamed in the microwave and then browned in a dry nonstick pan), and to his great embarrassment, Bill all but licked the plate.

2 Bruce Aidells Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausages
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thick strips
salad greens
1 roasted beet, sliced into half moons
1/4 bulb of fennel, sliced into half moons
1 scallion, sliced thin
white beans
cucumber
kalamata olives
garlic
balsamic vinegar

Crazy Fruit Salad

I've been making Jane Bordy's citrus salad for years. The first time I made it my cousin Erica said "Ruthie! This salad is crazy! Its absolutely delicious!" And so its been my "crazy salad" ever since.

Its fabulous: pretty and refreshing and unexpectedly delicious.
Today I made a version with other fruits: Asian pear, cantaloupe, green grapes, bananas, poached cranberries, and no citrus at all. Equally good, and still crazy after all these years.

The recipe is something like:
1 ruby red grapefruit, peel and pith cut away, and sliced crosswise into thin rounds
2 navel oranges, peel and pith cut away, and sliced crosswise into thin rounds
a few ounces of dried cranberries, poached in simple syrup and cooled
a few ounces of dried apricots, poached in simple syrup and cooled

Toss together the citrus slices in a large bowl. Add the apricots and their syrup and stir. Scatter the cranberries over all.

Steak and Semi-German Potato Salad

There was a request for steak salad for dinner tonight. The results were very memorable - a good example of how a dish can somehow magically exceed the sum of its component parts.
I started with a composed salad of mixed greens and herbs, endive, fennel, cherry tomatoes, minced red onion, and grilled marinated artichokes as the foundation. Then I took a hot baked Yukon Gold potato and sliced it up and tossed the slices with a squeeze of lemon juice and a few tablespoons of mustard vinaigrette and then layered the warm dressed potatoes on top of the composed salad. I sliced and heated the leftover steak and fanned out the slices on top of the potatoes, pouring the accumulated steak juices over everything, and voila! A little extra vinaigrette on the side, and dinner was served...

Thai Seafood Noodle Salad

Bill cooked this up for dinner last night, inspired by the cover recipe on this month's Food and Wine: "a delicious tangle of chewy rice noodles, shrimp, squid and cashews." Fiery hot and satisfyingly full of all the exciting sweet-salty-tangy-herbaceous flavors we crave in Thai food. Mr. Toles was very pleased with himself -- and even more so today -- after the leftovers turned into spicy summer rolls for lunch.
(Photo by Dana Gallagher)
Ingredients

6 ounces rice vermicelli
2 red Thai chiles, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 pound bay scallops
1/2 pound small squid, bodies cut into 1/2-inch rings and tentacles halved
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup mint leaves
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup salted roasted cashews
6 lettuce leaves, for serving
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
*

directions

1. In a medium bowl, cover the vermicelli in cold water and soak for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a mortar, pound the red Thai chiles and garlic cloves to a paste with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, boiling water and the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and pound until the sugar is dissolved. Let the dressing stand for 30 minutes.
3. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and cook until white throughout and curled, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to the ice water. Add the scallops to the boiling water and cook until white and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the scallops to the ice water. Add the squid to the boiling water and cook just until firm, about 45 seconds. Transfer the squid to the ice water. Drain all of the seafood and pat dry.
4. Bring a fresh saucepan of water to a boil and refill the bowl with ice water. Drain the vermicelli, add to the boiling water and cook just until al dente, about 1 minute. Drain and transfer to the ice water. Drain again and pat dry. Cut the vermicelli into 3-inch lengths.
5. In a large bowl, toss the seafood with the vermicelli, tomatoes, bean sprouts, mint, red onion, cashews and chile dressing. Line a platter with the lettuce leaves and top with the seafood salad. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

MAKE AHEAD All of the components can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated separately. Toss the salad just before serving.

Steak Salad

My mom is a huge steak salad fan...or she was, anyway, before she went 95 percent vegetarian. I bet the steak salad I whipped up tonight would still tempt her though. It was Bill's first steak salad. He gets it. The tastes of corn and tomatoes and basil and seared steak seem imperative right now, to gt us through this looooong cold early spring.

Steak and Marinade:
1 lb flank steak
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced

Slice the steak into a few pieces. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Marinate the steak, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to two days. Preheat the broiler and broil the steak until medium. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then slice thinly across the bias. Serve warm, along with any accumulated juices, on top of the dressed salad. Pass extra vinaigrette at the table if anyone wants it.

Salad:
Mesclun
grape tomatoes, halved
cucumbers, sliced into half moons
chopped scallions
fresh herbs: cilantro, chives, basil
canned corn, or corn cut from the cob
cooked garbanzos
diced fennel

Herb Vinaigrette:
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
dijon mustard
minced garlic
salt and pepper
chopped basil
chopped cilantro
minced chives

Adaptation Salad (Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini)

I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, after Smitten Kitchen adapted it from Orangette, who adapted it from the Casa Moro cookbook. Needless to say, its an exciting mix of flavors, and satisfies a range of palates! Next time, I'll dust the finished dish with ground sumac for a little added visual flair.

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 ½ lb.), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
1 medium garlic clove, pressed
½ tsp. ground allspice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ of a medium red onion, finely chopped
¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves

Tahini sauce:
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt
3 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. well-stirred tahini
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine the butternut squash, garlic, allspice, olive oil, and a good pinch or two of salt. Using a large spoon or your hands, toss until the squash pieces are evenly coated. Turn them out onto a baking sheet, and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic and lemon juice. Add the tahini, and whisk to blend. Add the water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. The sauce should have plenty of nutty tahini flavor, but also a little kick of lemon. Add more olive oil to taste, if the dressing is too sharp.

To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add tahini sauce to taste, and toss carefully. Serve, with additional salt for sprinkling.

This salad, lightly dressed, keeps well in the fridge. Hold a little of the tahini sauce on the side, for dressing at the table. Before serving, warm slightly in the microwave.

Yield: 4 servings

Cary's Leaf Lettuce Salad with Orange, Fennel and Red Onion (with Green Olive Dressing)

This is my go-to party salad. People tend to want the details (for which I cannot take any credit), so here they are. This recipe -- Moroccan-inspired, refreshing and dead-simple -- comes out of Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby's Lettuce in Your Kitchen, which is one of my favorite cookbooks by two of my favorite cooks. I've added extra spices over time, as reflected here:

For the dressing:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup pitted and coarsely chopped green olives
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 T coriander seeds, toasted in a saute pan OR 1 T ground coriander
1 t ground cinnamon
1 T ground cumin
1 t ras al hanout (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the salad:
1 large head leaf lettuce (Bibb, Boston, red leaf, etc)washed and dried and leaves torn in half
2 seedless naval oranges, peeled and sliced horizontally into thin slices
1 medium red onion, peeld, halved, and halves very thinly sliced
1 large bulb of fennel, fronds and root end trimmed off, and rest of bulb very finely sliced lengthwise
Extra salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients, and whisk well.
In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients. Add salt and pepper. Stir the dressing well, and add just enough to moisten the ingredients. Toss well, and serve with a little extra dressing on top.
Serves 4 to 6.