Chicken & White Bean Salad

When I started posting recipes I had no idea I'd end up with so many salad recipes. And really, until the past couple years, I was mainly just your basic potato salad-type of person; can't recall many others that I ate. But for whatever reason, I now seem to eat a lot of them! This one's from Cooking Light. I add the tomatoes in very gently at the end so they don't disintegrate.

Whisk together the following for the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt & pepper

Drizzle vinaigrette over the following and gently combine:

2 cups coarsely chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken

1 cup chopped tomato

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/3 cup slivered fresh basil

2 16-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

Chinese Chicken Salad

Is this really Chinese? I mean besides the soy sauce & sesame oil? Whatever...I fall for almost anything with sesame oil. Generously adapted from a Food & Wine recipe. The original recipe calls for the meat from a 2.5 pound rotisserie chicken, which would certainly be good. But I often buy several chicken breasts at once and then just quickly roast them. As long as you're careful to take them out just when they're cooked through--and not cooked to death--they are still quite juicy.

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar (or more, to taste)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon sriracha, or other hot sauce (again, to taste)

1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced (I used Savoy--use whatever you like)

3 scallions, thinly sliced

2-3 carrots, julienned (or shredded, I suppose)

3/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (or more) roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Sprinkle chicken breasts liberally with salt & pepper. Bake at 400 degrees until just done, 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Mix next 7 ingredients for dressing. Adjust seasonings--it will need to be strong to cover all the salad! Dice or shred chicken and add to the vegetables and peanuts. Pour over half the dressing and toss. Add more dressing until salad is coated to your liking. Serve on lettuce or as is. I often end up just eating it right out of the bowl!

Italian-ish Orzo Salad

I saw some orzo sitting in my cupboard and it got me thinking as to what else I had around that I could mix with it. There are probably a hundred million variations on this recipe, but this is what I ended up with and I CAN'T STOP EATING IT! So put in whatever ingredients you like and make your own.

3/4 cup orzo

1 can cannellini beans

1 can (petite) diced tomatoes

1/4 cup capers

2 shallots, thinly sliced

handful chopped herbs (I had cilantro & parsley on hand)

shaved Parmesan

olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & freshly ground pepper

Cook the orzo according to directions; drain. Rinse and drain beans. Drain tomatoes but reserve juice. (Note that some canned tomatoes have added sugar or HFCS. I mistakenly bought one of these once and found the juice too sweet to add back in.) Combine all ingredients except the last four. Drizzle over a glug of oil & vinegar. Mix and season to taste with salt & pepper. Add in reserved tomato juice to moisten.

Super thin shallot slices courtesy of my ceramic slicer, similar to a mandoline.

And the ceramic slicer properly used with the guard. Really, if you don't use this you're just asking to cut yourself. (Yes, I cut myself).

Carrots

I love carrots. But I do not like shredded carrot, for reasons unbeknownst to me. A few years ago I bought this implement under the assumption it was a zester.

I'm not sure if it technically is, but I do know that when I want to get some sort of citrus zest I use this implement:

So basically, this first "zester" has been a dud...until I found a new use for it--probably it's proper use--which is julienning!!! It's been a revelation... julienned carrots are so much better (and prettier) than shredded!
Without further ado, here is a recipe using julienned carrots: Sesame-Broccoli Salad. I haven't been making it that long, but every time I have it's been a big hit. (Adapted from an Eating Out Loud recipe here.)

2 heads broccoli, chopped (throw in sliced stems as well)

1 cup lightly packed cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup julienned carrot

2 green onions, chopped

3/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds

1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries, or raisins)

for dressing:

1/2 cup canola oil (I've been using peanut oil since that's what I had on hand)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 - 2 teaspoons sugar

2 - 3 teaspoons soy sauce

Whisk dressing ingredients together, then pour over salad. Toss to combine and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let flavors meld.

Brussels Sprout Salad

I am not much of a salad person. But this...it's my current addiction! Here's the original recipe/post if you have fancier ingredients. (For the life of me, where to get Marcona almonds?!) Be careful when toasting your walnuts. I've reduced the suggested temperature from 350 to 300 degrees because of a recent over-toasting incident--though I used the walnuts anyway and the salad was still delicious! Here's my guesstimate amounts for one person:

10 - 12 Brussels sprouts, trimmed of any dried leaves and at the root

1 - 2 tablespoons golden raisins

1 - 2 tablespoons walnuts

Parmesan cheese, shaved

olive oil

champagne vinegar (or whatever you like)

sea salt/kosher salt & black pepper

Dice the sprouts into about 1/4" cubes (many of the leaves will fall off in the process--that's fine). Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add some salt and throw in the sprouts. Blanch for a minute or two until bright green (do not overcook!). Drain the sprouts under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Meanwhile, toast walnuts in a 300 degree oven for 5 - 10 minutes until fragrant. Cool and coarsely chop. Mix together the sprouts, raisins, walnuts and cheese. Drizzle over the olive oil and vinegar, then sprinkle w ith salt and pepper. Toss and serve!

See, not diced exactly, often more wedge-y. Doesn't matter!

Tuna & Chickpea Salad

This is hardly an earthshaking recipe...but it sure is tasty! And simple. And a nice alternative to mayo-based tuna salad (though I like that as well).

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can tuna, packed in olive oil, drained

Mix the parsley, shallots, capers and garlic in a small bowl. Place the chickpeas in a bowl and lightly mash with the back of a spoon. Break the tuna into chunks and add to chickpeas. Stir in the parsley-caper mixture and combine. Stir in the oil until you reach the consistency you like, season to taste and set aside. Let sit for at least one hour before serving.

Easter 2009

I didn't have any Easter plans this year, but I did want to make something egg-y and spring-y. Hence, the following recipes....

Curried Egg Salad:
This comes from Gourmet by way of Epicurious.com. I love the combination of the sweet, tart apple, the bite of the onion and cayenne, and then the curry.

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1+1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, 1/4 inch dice
1/3 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt to taste

Whisk together the mayo, lime juice, curry powder, mustard, and cayenne. Add eggs, apple, onion, cilantro, and stir to mix, adding a bit of salt if necessary (shouldn't need much).

Cucumber Avocado Soup:
I am reminded by this, the first batch of the year, that I LOVE THIS SOUP! (And also, I LOVE AVOCADOS!) I have no idea where it came from--I only have an index card with a list of ingredients scribbled down and instructions to puree. It's very simple and quick, but you do need a blender or food processor. Also, you might want to start off with nonfat or low fat yogurt--once you've gone over to the dark side of full fat yogurt it's hard to go back!

1 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (these are the really long ones in plastic wrap)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 - 1 jalepeno, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 cup cold water

1 avocado, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 scallions, chopped

1 cup plain yogurt

salt & pepper

Puree. Eat.

This does need a liberal amount of salt and/or lemon juice to season. Alternate adding them until you get the taste you like.

French Potato Salad

This is adapted from "Cook's Illustrated" (July/Aug. 2002), although I had been making something very similar to this, SAUCISSON LYONNAISE from Trade Secrets for a Three-Star Chef (Doubleday, 1994; a wonderful little cookbook) for years already. The main difference is that the latter recipe has bits of kielbasa mixed in. I've included those instructions at the end.

2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 tablespoons salt
1-3 cloves garlic
1+1/2 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 shallot, peeled & finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
optional add-ins: capers, minced chives, chopped cornichons
salt & pepper

Place potatoes, 6 cups of cold water and salt in a large pot; bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium. If you want to "mellow" the garlic, dunk it in the simmering water for about 45 seconds, then mince. Simmer potatoes until tender but still firm, abut 5 minutes. With a large slotted spoon, spread out potatoes in a rimmed baking dish. Reserve cooking water.

Whisk together mustard, vinegar and garlic. Mix in oil and 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water. Sprinkle potatoes with freshly ground pepper, then cover with dressing. If there doesn't seem like enough liquid for all the potatoes, add in more cooking water and another splash of vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Toss shallots, parsley and any other add-ins with the potatoes. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Serve warm or store in the refrigerator.

Variation: SAUCISSON LYONNAISE
Take one pound of kielbasa and cut into a few large chunks. Boil them for 10-15 minutes; skins will split. When cool enough to handle, take off the skins completely and cut into "bite-sized rounds." Add into salad with parsley & shallots.