Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Green Bean and Red Pepper Salad

Recipe Source: France, Christine and Steven Wheeler. Barbecues and Salads. Anness Publishing, London, 2002 p. 320

I made this salad for my husband's birthday dinner. This is the dinner he threw himself because it provided an excuse to make ribs. I wanted to serve side dishes that would go well with barbeque, and this one looked like a good idea. It was also pretty simple and straightforward to make. Finally, you can make it ahead of time, which was crucial for me. This dinner was given two days after returning from our trip up to Maine, where we lugged up food for about 50 and for a class I taught as well. The kitchen was an unmitigated disaster and I needed to get it clean – and all the food cooked – before people got there.

I made a few changes. I couldn't find pickled Serrano chilies so I used pickled jalapenos, which in hindsight wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We knew at least one of our guests did not deal well with spicy food. I also used butter lettuce in place of iceberg, because I detest iceberg. I also drastically reduced the amount of olive oil because my husband can't handle that much oil and this was his party.  I made up for it by adding about 5 tablespoons of the liquid that the jalapenos had been pickled in, which may have contained some oil but not a lot.  Finally, I added some oregano.  This salad went over pretty well, and the leftovers held up pretty well for an extra day.

Green Bean and Red Pepper Salad (serves about 10 as a side dish; approx. $0.81/serving)

12 ounces cooked green beans, quartered

2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped

3 tablespoons (approx.) chopped fresh oregano

2 scallions, chopped

1 can sliced canned pickled jalapenos

1 head butter lettuce, shredded

2 ounces mixed olives

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Small bowl

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in the large bowl.
2. Lay out your shredded lettuce on your serving platter.
3. Top with the mixture from the bowl.
4. Combine the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in the smaller bowl. Drizzle on top of the salad.
5. Top with the olives and serve.

Recipe: Sweet Zucchini Pickle

Recipe Source: Hoffman, Susanna. The Olive and the Caper. Workman Press, New York, 2004 pp. 72-3.

Before I planned my menu for the big camping trip up in Maine I asked for suggestions. Only one person had any requests: she said she liked my salads and my pickled salads. This, while not even vaguely resembling a medieval recipe, looked tasty and like it would travel well. I decided to include it in my meal and people really liked it. It was pretty easy to come up with, it definitely traveled well, and it provided more vegetables for people to choose from. It was a little sweet for my tastes, personally (hence the catchy name), but most people really liked it.

I didn't make a lot of changes to this recipe because there weren't a lot of changes to make. I did add a little bit of cubeb to the mix, as well as a little bit of ground coriander just to make it fit in a little better with some of the other dishes I was serving. I also had to use apple cider vinegar because I was out of white wine vinegar and at 3 AM your options are a little limited. Like I said, this went over pretty well. Be sure to make this the day before you intend to serve it. Hoffman says that it will last up to two months in the refrigerator, but you'd likely eat it well before then.

Sweet Zucchini Pickle (serves about 20; approx. $0.42/serving)

3 pounds zucchini, sliced to ¼" thick

2 onions, quartered and sliced to 1/8" thick

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon (approx.) fresh ground cubeb

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon dry mustard powder

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric

½ teaspoon whole cloves

1 ½ cups brown sugar, packed

1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

Equipment:

• Large seal-able plastic bowl
• Large saucepan
• Colander

1. Combine the onions and the zucchini slices in the colander with the salt and let stand ½ hour.
2. Combine the cubeb, coriander, mustard powder, mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves, sugar and vinegar in the saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove from heat.
3. Add the zucchini and onions to the pot and set aside to cool.
4. Transfer to the sealable bowl. Cover and seal.
5. Refrigerate at least overnight before serving.

Recipe: Onions with Almodrote

Recipe Source: Gitlitz, David M. and Linda Kay Davidson. A Drizzle of Honey. St. Martin's Griffin, New York, 1999 pp. 58-9

I intended to make this last year for a medieval enthusiast event we attended over Memorial Day weekend, but never got around to making the finished product. When I went to plan my menu for an event we attended this past July, up in Maine, I found that this recipe was still flagged. Well, I thought to myself, why not? It had vegetables, which was my primary concern at that point. I did make it and it worked well. About the only change I made was to use regular pearl onions instead of frozen. I did peel them. When it came to the chopped fresh mixed greens, I used a plain old salad mix from the grocery store to save on time. The salad was tasty, people really seemed to enjoy it and there wasn't much left over.

Onions with Almodrote (serves about 30 as a side dish; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 recipes Almodrote

4 tablespoons olive oil

24 ounces mixed salad greens

20 ounces pearl onions, peeled

Equipment:

• Large saucepan

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onions and cook 4 – 5 minutes, until there is only a very little bit of oil left in the pan and the onions are browned and tasty.
3. Allow the onions to cool. I actually made them a couple of days in advance and assembled the final salad on site.
4. When you're ready to serve, put the greens in a serving bowl. Top with the onions and the almodrote. Serve.

Recipe: Not Your Typical Potato Salad

Recipe Source: Holmin, Dalal and Dr. Maher A. Abbas. From the Tables of Lebanon. Book Publishing Company, Summertown, 1997 p. 64

Potato salad is a kind of American barbeque staple. I'm not really sure why. Traditional potato salad calls for mayonnaise, and lots of it. Mayonnaise is one of those things that I've never grown to like. I've never even been inspired to grow to like it. There's just something suspicious about it. Sure, it keeps your burger bun from getting soggy, but so does eating the burger before the bun disintegrates. It's more popular in some parts of this country than in others. Here in New England I can usually avoid it (except in things like, say, traditional potato salad). When we go on our annual non-vacation to Western Pennsylvania, though, it seems like I have to pitch a mega hissy fit to get them to leave it off sandwiches and the like.

Please don't be insulted if you're one of those people who like mayonnaise. I'm not trying to insult you, I'm not calling mayonnaise a culinary blight on the scale of a dirty bomb, I just don't like it.

Anyway, I made this for one of our usual Sunday open house dinners. After all, it was technically a cook-out. I used scallions instead of the white onion (the original offered both as options) because I could get scallions. (I don't know why I've been having so much trouble finding white onions lately, but it irks me.) I increased the thyme – I didn't need the rest of the bunch, and according to the authors of this book it's very good for you. I increased the cumin too, because cumin is one of my favorite flavors. I increased the lemon juice just a bit as well. Try this sometime soon!

Potato Salad (serves 6; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 pounds white potatoes, chopped into ½" pieces

1 tomato, diced

1 bunch scallions, sliced

1 bunch fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon cumin

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Large saucepan
• Colander

1. Fill the saucepan about ¾ of the way with salted water. Bring to a boil.
2. Boil the potatoes until just soft enough to eat. Drain.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients and the potatoes in the large bowl.
4. Toss well to coat. Serve.

Green Stuff Salad

Recipe Source: Brennan, Georgeanne.  Williams-Sonoma Salad.  Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001 p. 30

I made this when my in-laws came to visit this past May.  It's a pretty easy salad, made even easier by the fact that you can make it well ahead of time.  There were some notable changes to the original.  The fresh fava beans were right out, since I didn't have any.  The olive oil in the dressing was reduced and the cheese and anchovies were omitted to make the salad healthier - I wanted to reduce the fat and omit the salt out of consideration for the dietary needs of my guests.  The garlic was increased, but you knew that already. 

Green Stuff Salad (serves 4; approx. $1.76/serving)

1 pound frozen peas, thawed

1 pound green beans, trimmed

4 zucchini, peeled

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• Vegetable peeler
• Small bowl
• Whisk

1. Fill the saucepan with water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Add the beans and cook about 3 minutes, until tender.  Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
2. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil again.  Blanch the peas for about a minute, then drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
3. Use the vegetable peeler to get thin, wide ribbons of zucchini.  Combine in your serving vessel with the beans and peas. 
4. In the small bowl, whisk the garlic, lemon juice and olive oil together.  Pour over the salad and serve.  This salad can be served at room temperature and can be made ahead of time. 

Recipe: Free Grape Salad

Recently some friends of ours decided to go to New York City for the weekend.  We agreed to watch their cats, which was fine.  The cats are very little work, especially since they have no interest in us.  They also had done their food shopping with the intent of being home for the weekend.  They had some produce that they had to get rid of, did we want it?  Our answer, naturally, was "Yes."  These grapes were part of that windfall. 

Most of the other vegetables got used pretty quickly, but the grapes had been hiding out in the fridge for a while.  I was making a salad as a side dish and found the grapes.  Why not, I asked myself, use the grapes?  I included some strawberries for color, and the tops of some spring onions because they work like scallions with a slightly different flavor.  Finally, when considering a dressing, I decided to use just some rice vinegar.  I didn't want to clash with the strawberries, so I needed something very mild. 

Free Grape Salad (serves 2; approx. cost per serving not available)

4 ounces salad greens

1 cup strawberries, cut into manageable pieces if necessary

1 cup green grapes

Tops of 2 spring onions, sliced thin as for scallions

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Equipment:

• No equipment is needed.  It's a basic salad. 

1. Combine the fruits and vegetables in the serving bowl.
2. Sprinkle the vinegar on top and toss to coat.
3. Serve.

Recipe: Asparagus Antipasto

Recipe Source: Wright, Clifford.  Little Foods of the Mediterranean.  The Harvard Common Press, Boston, 2003 p. 250

I wonder if asparagus might not be my favorite part of spring.  It's always been one of my favorite vegetables, and I honestly can't get enough of it.  Sometimes I like it grilled or roasted, maybe drizzled in a little bit of olive oil.  Sometimes I like it blanched, as it was supposed to be here.  I once made a delicious asparagus soup, I wonder if I could ever find the recipe again.  Anyway, I like to use as much asparagus as I can get my hands on, although it's not exactly cheap.  It's so healthy and delicious! 

I didn't make a huge number of changes to this recipe, because it's really quite simple.  The biggest change I made was to omit the olive oil.  My husband doesn't like oil on his salads, and it just added unnecessary fat.  I did overcook the asparagus slightly, which was disappointing to me, but at least it still tasted decent.  My husband came up with another change to the recipe and I felt that it was a good change.  He sprinkled Dizzy Pig's Shaking the Tree Lemon Pepper rub over a serving.  While that rub would usually be used for barbecue, it worked tremendously well with the asparagus.  For more information on the rub, click here.

Asparagus Antipasto (serves 4; approx. $2.50/serving)

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

4 cups red leaf lettuce, ripped

10 cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Pinch kosher salt

1 tablespoon Shaking the Tree Lemon Pepper Rub (optional, but highly recommended)

Equipment:

• Large saucepan

1. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
2. Add the asparagus.  Blanch no more than three minutes or else you will get mushy asparagus.  No one wants that.
3. Arrange the leaves of lettuce on a serving platter.  Top with the tomatoes and cheese. 
4. Arrange the hot asparagus on top of the cheese.  Top with a pinch of kosher salt and some of the lemon pepper seasoning.  Serve. 

Recipe: Asparagus and Pea Salad

Recipe Source: Martha Stewart Living no. 197 p. 188, April 2010.  Find the original recipe here.

This recipe is a testament to the fact that you can make mistakes - lots of them, in fact - and still have a dish that tastes good.  It's also a testament to the idea that you can overcome food trauma and learn to enjoy foods that you previously detested. 

Let's put the last things first.  Peas have never been one of my husband's favorite vegetables.  He learned that we would be enjoying peas that evening and frowned.  "But I don't like peas," he complained.  "Too bad," I told him.  "They're seasonal."  He groused and groused.  Then when I was doing my prep work, he frowned.  "What are these?" he asked me.  "Peas," I told him, stating what I thought was the obvious.  "I thought peas came from a can," he said, "or boiled into goo."  "No," I told him, "peas come from the farm, and then you eat them."  He found himself really enjoying this dish despite the fact that it contained peas. 

First things last, now.  I made a few mistakes, and a few changes on purpose.  I didn't have white balsamic vinegar.  Anyone who has been to my house recently knows that I need to purchase fewer condiments and use the ones I have.  I therefore used pomegranate balsamic vinegar in the dressing.  It will probably be prettier if you use the white stuff; as for taste, I couldn't say but I like the pomegranate myself.  I skipped the parsley because I still frequently question the purpose of parsley.  I used more peas than called for because that's how many I had.  I forgot to buy fresh tarragon.  I know, how can someone whose favorite herb is tarragon forget to buy it?  Stupid mistake!  But I had plenty of dried tarragon on hand, and while it wasn't the same it still was good.  Finally, I couldn't find pea shoots.  This was a surprise as they sometimes have them at my market, but we'll define "sometimes" as "only when I don't need them."  I used spinach instead, since my husband had purchased some baby spinach while I was away and I wanted to use it up. 

Asparagus and Pea Salad (serves 6; approx. $1.32/serving)

1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

2 tablespoons pomegranate balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 tablespoons dried tarragon

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup shelled peas

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces on the bias

6 ounces baby spinach

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Bowl
• Whisk

1. Combine the first six ingredients in the bowl.  Whisk to combine very well.  Set aside.
2. Bring a large saucepan full of water to a boil.  Add the asparagus and peas and blanch 3 minutes. 
3. Drain. 
4. Layer the spinach on the bottom of your serving vessel.
5. Top with the drained vegetables.
6. Drizzle the dressing on top and serve, either hot, at room temperature or even chilled. 

Recipe: Salad with Pineapple and Kalamata Olives

This is a quick and easy salad I made to accompany the lemon-pepper chicken dish.  Did I mention it was easy?  I went into this thinking, "Hmm, my pasta dish is distinctly lacking in vegetables.  What do I have on hand that I can use, seeing as how I didn't actually plan meals for that week?"  I had salad greens.  That was easy.  I had some pineapple that was in danger of going very bad if it didn't get used quickly.  I had some olives that were taking up space in the fridge.  And I had pomegranate balsamic vinegar.

I'd been in Syracuse bringing my daughter to visit family over the weekend.  When I came home, my husband had left the bottle of pomegranate balsamic vinegar on the counter as a surprise for me.  He knows my inherent adoration for all things pomegranate.  I decided to try it on this salad and much to my surprise it worked well.  Well, I guess it shouldn't surprise me really, but I honestly wasn't sure how it would work with the pineapple.  Fortunately it was delicious!

Salad with Pineapple and Kalamata Olives (serves 4; approx. $1.16/serving)

1 bag Italian Salad Greens

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

2 - 3 cups cubed pineapple

2 tablespoons pomegranate balsamic vinegar

Equipment:

• You're kidding, right?

1. Combine the first three ingredients in your salad bowl.
2. Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar.
3. Serve. 

Recipe: Parsley and Boston Lettuce Salad

It doesn't get much easier than this, folks.  I was inspired to make this by a recipe I found in the March edition of Everyday Food, but I didn't actually refer to it when I made the salad.  That's because I was in a real rush, didn't feel like actually looking for the magazine, and don't like to have my laptop in my cooking space.  I made this for our annual (if slightly belated) Purim party, when I wanted something light and spring-like and healthy.  I also wanted something easy that wouldn't make a huge mess, since our party consists of making cookies and we were going to need a whole lot of space. 

Parsley has never been one of my favorite herbs.  It always came off being bland and useless, better as a garnish than as an ingredient.  That started to change when I started learning more about Persian food.  While parsley still doesn't exactly excite me, I like the fresh, green flavor it brings when combined with other herbs like cilantro.  Here, it cleansed the palate quite nicely. 

Parsley and Boston Lettuce Salad (serves 4; approx. $1.10/serving)

1 head Boston lettuce, washed, leaves torn to bite-sized pieces

1 bunch parsley, leaves only (you can reserve the stems for making broth if you like)

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Equipment:

• There is nothing special required for this recipe

1. Combine the lettuce and parsley in the serving bowl.
2. Toss well to combine.  (I didn't do the best job of this, but it's okay.  Your diners will inadvertently mix things up as they serve themselves.)
3. Sprinkle the rice wine vinegar over the top of the greens.
4. Serve.