I just made a "24 hour salad" for a bridal shower I'm going to tomorrow. Since I have nothing much to do while nursing my ankle, thought I'd post the recipe and 2 photos. My mom has made this for years. It's a pretty salad for presentation and very good once it's mixed and served!
What's your favorite Spring or Summer salad recipe?
24 Hour Salad
1 large head iceberg lettuce-shredded 1/4 C. onion, thinly sliced (I used scallions and red onion). 1/4 C. celery, diced 1 (6 oz.) can water chestnuts, sliced 3/4 pound bacon, fried and crumbled 1 pkg. frozen tiny green peas 2 C. mayo 1 Tbls. sugar 2-3 Tbls Parmesan cheese, freshly grated.
Put lettuce in bottom of a deep bowl. On top, layer onion, celery and water chestnuts. Sprinkle bacon over top and then cover with frozen peas. Spread mayo on top as if icing a cake. Cover entire area. Sprinkle sugar over mayo and cover with thin layer of Parmesan cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours before serving. Mix well.
One bag of Baby Spring Greens A large handful of sweet grape tomatos sliced red onion 1/4 cup pecans (that's pee cans.) 1/4 cup craisins 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 1 egg chopped 3 oz diced chicken
One of my favorite salads is a curried rice salad. Basically saute onions, garlic, ginger if you want in oil till fragrant with a little curry paste or powder. Put in your uncooked rice, saute till translucent and then put in your stock. I use basmati rice. I add a handful of raisins into the pot shortly before the rice is done. Cool and put in a large bowl, adding chopped apples, celery and toasted nuts of any sort. I usually taste and add rice vinegar and a small amount of olive oil to moisten the salad. You can also mix in a bit of mango chutney and actually...even mango if you want to splurge.
You know how you buy celery, use a couple of ribs for a sauce or soup and then throw out the rest a later when you happen to find it in the back of your vegetable crisper and it's yellow and wilted? Well, here's my favorite recipe for using that celery up.
Celery Salad with Echourgnac and Walnuts
4 to 5 ribs of celery 4 ounces Echourgnac, Reblochon, or Taleggio (I've also used other types of cheese and they seem to work fine) 1/2 cup toasted walnuts 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
Remove strings on outsides of celery ribs using a vegetable peeler. Cut celery ribs on the diagonal into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the cheese into thin slices and then cut again into small pieces about 1 inch. Coursely chop walnuts. In medium bowl, mix celery, cheese, walnuts and onions.
Combine the oils, vinegar, salt and pepper, Whisk the incredients until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Pour over celery and other ingredients. Toss well to coat the salad. May be served immediately or set aside for up to an hour. Serves 4.
This recipe is one that we made at our cooking class in France with Paula Lambert. She also suggests that you could use the salad as a bed for grilled chicken and garnish with tomatoes.
I love this Spring salad! Raw asparagus is surprisingly nutty tasting.
Raw Asparagus, Pea, and Arugula Salad
1 lb fat asparagus 2 cups garden peas or shelled fava; or frozen peas, defrosted 1/2 lb arugula good parmesean cheese or pecorino pistachio oil, hazelnut oil, or olive oil delicate white or rice wine vinegar salt and pepper
Snap off just the really bottom end of the asparagus. Since you'll be peeling the stems, you can use more than usual. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the stems all the way up to the tips. Cut off the tips, and blanch the tips for 2 minutes. Slice the stems on the diagonal. Put the arugula in a plate or shallow bowl, and toss with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. In another bowl, combine the asparagus tips, cut-up stems, and the peas or fava. Toss this mixture with oil, etc. Top arugula with the vegetables. Shave slices of the cheese, and add.
These all sound like keepers. I'm a big salad fan in the summer, so keep 'em coming!
One of my favorite salads is Israeli salad:
4 tomatoes, diced 1 English cucumber, diced 12 radishes, diced 1 bell pepper, any color, diced 2 scallions 1 large Kosher Jewish pickle 1/2 cup green olives with pimientos, chopped 1/4 cup parsley 1/4 cup olive oil 1/3 cup lemon juice salt and pepper to taste
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and bell pepper. In a food processor, quick pulse the pickle and the scallions for a coarse chop. Add to the vegetables in the large bowl, along with the olives. Finely chop the parsley in your processor and add to the veggie bowl. Then toss all the veggies with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for several hours and serve. Makes 4 - 6 servings.
I'm a huge garlic lover. This is my absolute favorite salad.
Salad consists of: 1 bag baby spinach 1 bunch of green onions (sliced) 6 roma tomatoes (sliced) 1 package of garlic croutons
Dressing to be made at least 8 hrs ahead of serving. 1c mayo 1egg 3+ cloves of garlic (minced) 1 pinch of salt 1T of either fresh lime or lemon juice 1T of either soy or worc. sauce (any combo of citrus juice or sauces will work fine)Mince garlic with pinch of salt, mix with rest of ingredients and chill for at least 8hrs. (overnight is best, and I usually use 4 good sized cloves of garlic.) Add croutons to salad, toss with dressing just before serving.
If done properly this is garaunteed to kill a moose at 40 paces.
Posts: 368 | Location: Mississippi | Registered: 31 October 2004
You know how you buy celery, use a couple of ribs for a sauce or soup and then throw out the rest a later when you happen to find it in the back of your vegetable crisper and it's yellow and wilted?
One of the things I liked last year in Italy was that you don't have to buy the whole thing of celery. You can just pull of what you want. That was very handy and took care of the yellow, wilted dilemma.
These salads sound so good--I love summer salad time.
Last night, on a whim, I served a table full of Italian friends good old American carrot and raisin salad. They loved it. I did spring for big, white uva passa from Chile, though.
If there is a recipe for this salad, I'd love someone to tell it to me. Even inb my old fashioned US cookbook it says, "carrots, raisins and a piquant dressing".
Most American carrot-raisin salads use mayo as a base with some lemon juice. Try it with yogurt and honey. Another nice twist is to add a little coconut or pineapple.
I love adding rice wine vinegar and that pickled ginger you use in sushi, then sprinkle toasted nuts on top...mmmm....it's kind of "Thai" at that point - I don't use the raisins though, it's basically carrot, celery, green onion and the dressing...
We have a salad in my family called, for obvious reasons, Scarola Salad. My daughter (29) still has it as her all time favorite and yet it is sooooo easy to make....
Get a large platter and layer the bottom of the platter with lettuce (romaine or iceburg; your choice)
Then put a layer of slice boiled potatoes.
Now a layer of sliced tomatoes
Add a layer of sliced cucumbers
Add sliced sweet onions and then add sliced hard boiled eggs.
Take some cider vinegar, vegetable oil and mayonnaise and shake it up really well to make a dressing and pour it over the whole platter.
Give it 15-20 minutes to macerate; slice and serve!! It's a great summer salad platter with some burgers or grilled chicken or just as meal by itself.
Doug
ANCORA IMPARO
Posts: 2128 | Location: Winter Park, FL | Registered: 18 May 2005
Gee Doug, my family has made a similar salad for years. We use regular vinegar and add a tin of flat anchovies (with their oil). It is so simple and everyone loves it!
Sheri
Posts: 144 | Location: Philadelphia,Pa | Registered: 13 August 2006
