Category: Salads

Great Warm Caprese Salad

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This may have come from the Wall Street Journal, or maybe Ina Garten – can’t really remember. It’s perfect for when tomatoes are abundant, but even winter grocery store tomatoes taste great.

12 plum tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
sprinkling of garlic powder
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
8 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese
12 basil leaves, julienned (Stack all the leaves on top of one another, roll them up and cut little thin slices. They’ll form little strips of basil. Thanks, Ina!)

Set oven to 425.

Lay tomatoes cut side up in a baking dish. Blend olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder and sugar and drizzle over the tomatoes. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and put Mozarella cheese on top. Put back in the oven for 2 minutes to soften the cheese. Remove again, then sprinkle basil over everything. Drizzle one more time with olive oil and give it one last go with the salt and pepper. Serve warm.

So good.

Ina’s Celery, Walnut & Parmesan Salad

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You wouldn’t think that celery could be the star of a dish, but this salad from Ina Garten pairs crisp cool celery with the tartness of lemon, the crunch of toasted walnuts and the salty goodness of Pecorino Romano. (Ina uses Parmesan.) I also make it with apple cider vinegar if I don’t have lemon juice. The dressing is good on lots of fresh vegetables – and I make this salad out of tomatoes and cucumbers when they are abundant.

Mix dressing in a big bowl:

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp lemon zest 
1/4 cup lemon juice or 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp shallots, minced, or a little bit of garlic, mashed
1 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 1/2 tsp fish sauce (from Asian market)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

5 cups chopped celery (Usually one whole stalk of celery.)
big handful of grated Pecorino Romano, grated on the biggest holes in a box grater
2/3 cups toasted walnuts, rough chopped.

Roast walnuts for 10 minutes in a 350 oven, or you can pan roast them for several minutes on medium high heat, shaking them constantly.

Add celery, nuts and parmesan to the dressing and toss well. Delish!

Bean, Corn & Tortilla Salad

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A great vegetarian main dish salad with the crunch of Doritos, sweet bite of lettuce and veggies and a warm element of beans and corn. On July 12, 2011 Kumy rated this an A+!

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn (I love Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn)
1/4 cup medium salsa

Heat in a small saucepan until corn is softened. Remove from heat.

1 cup chopped scallions
1 ripe avocado, diced
3 plum tomatoes, cut in chunks
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/8 tsp Black pepper

Toss together gently in a big bowl.

12 oz romaine or iceberg letter, cut for salad
3 cups broken “cool ranch” Doritos
3/4 cup grated pepper-jack cheese

Add lettuce to the big bowl, along with the pinto bean mixture. Top with Doritos and cheese, and toss gently. Serve with extra salsa.

Baby Kale & Carrot Salad with Citrus Dressing

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baby kale and carrot saladThis one hasn’t made it into the book yet, but I’m skipping that since it was so good. Le Quartier Bakery in Omaha sells sandwiches and a side salad with Kale and carrots in a citrus dressing. I’ve been hungry for that salad for days, and bought some baby kale, and a bottle of fresh orange juice to concoct something similar.

I was thinking of making it for supper tonight. And I started to pull it together, when the usual happened. Someone drank the orange juice and I can’t really remember what else was in the salad. No matter, I googled Citrus Salad Dressing and found Ree Drummond’s recipe. I punted and made something similar and it was amazing!!!  We have had this three nights in a row, since we had lots of leftover dressing.

1 box baby kale
1 carrot, grated

Salad Dressing:

In a mason jar, add

1/8 cup water
1 1/2 Tbsp marmalade (I used Orange-Apricot Marmalade)
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic, grated
Splash of white wine vinegar. (Cider vinegar would be fine, too.)
2 Tbsp sour cream.

Close with a lid and shake well (violently, according to Ree.) 🙂

Dump baby kale into a nice bowl, add the grated carrot on top, and add some of the salad dressing. It was actually amazing. We practically licked the bowl!

Asian Cabbage Slaw

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Simple and delicious – great for a picnic.  Great side with grilled chicken.

2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp oil
2 tsp sugar
pinch salt

Mix in a large bowl

3-4 cups cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 cup cilantro, chopped
4 scallions, cut into 2″ pieces, and slivered into “matchsticks”
1/2 jalapeno, split, deseeded and minced

Dump all veggies into the bowl and toss well.

Chopped Garden Salad

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This make a nice big salad, and is really good for potlucks and block parties.

Salad:

1 head of iceberg or romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup sweet peas, fresh or frozen
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup diced zucchini or yellow squash
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/8 cup diced radish

Mix together in a large bowl, and spread out on a large, flat platter.

Dressing:

2 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup mayo
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
splash of apple cider

Buzz together the parsley, chives and garlic in a food processor or grind them together in a mortar and pestle. Add mayo, buttermilk, salt, pepper and splash of vinegar and buzz again. Gently stir in blue cheese.

Just before serving, drizzle dressing over salad on platter. Serve extra dressing in a pitcher on the table.

Spinach Salad from Delice

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I love the Spinach Salad at Delices,  a local restaurant.  Here is my version of that salad.

baby spinach leaves
pecan pieces, toasted for a few minutes in the oven
green onions, sliced thinly
orange slices
Brie cheese 1/4″ x 2″ slices

Mix with a light creamy dressing, or vinaigrette.

Orange Couscous Salad

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Great for picnics, potlucks and block parties – this salad is delicious at room temperature, and it makes a lot.  I used to make this often for the 58th Street Block Party – which has been an annual event since the early 1940s!

Making this for the Fourth of July with one variation:  I’m sauteeing the onions in a little olive oil because neither Kumy or Maya like the flavor of raw onions.  It’s still a good flavor in the salad and then nobody has to pick bits out

2 cups boiling water
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup couscous

Blend together in a large bowl, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

1 can 16 oz. chickpeas, washed and drained
1-2 cups mandarin oranges

drained
1/2 cup diced red onions
1/2 cup golden raisins

Add to the couscous.

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbs orange zest (grated orange peel – just the orange part)
1/8 cup orange juice (I add the juice of one whole orange)
1 Tbsp minced fresh chives
1 tsp salt

Blend in a little bowl and pour over the couscous mixture. Blend gently and refrigerate for an hour. Can be served cold or at room temperature and tastes even better the next day.