Ever Wonder How The Salad, Caesar Got Its Name?

   

Italian immigrant, Caesar Cardini presumably tossed the first Caesar salad in July 1924, when he was running low on food and assembled a salad for his guests from what was leftover in his kitchen! I'll bet that was night to remember!

So many restaurants have Caesar salad on their menu, most of them are just mediocre and I'm almost always disappointed. Worse, now they come topped with your choice of grilled chicken, meat, or shrimp, not that anything is wrong with adding these items; to me doing so takes away from a great tasting salad being able to stand on its own. Assembling a great Caesar salad is like preparing a perfect bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. As simple as that may seem, it takes carefully selected, high quality ingredients to pull off the perfect creation.

For a great tasting Caesar you need crisp romaine, torn, not chopped. Homemade croutons made using an airy bread like Ciabatta with bite-size cubes that are baked until chestnut brown and crispy. Freshly shaved hard cheese and a vibrant dressing. 

Here is my version of the classic Caesar ... sans Cardini's call for raw egg and whole fresh caught anchovy fillets. Replicating fresh anchovy fillets from their origin is not easily feasible, so I discovered if I whisked some high quality anchovy paste into the dressing it gives the dressing the perfect hint of anchovy flavor. Instead of the customary Parmesan cheese, I use Pecorino Pepato, an intense, salty sheep’s milk cheese studded with peppercorns.

I wonder if Cardini thought while he was assembling his creation that decades later his salad would be one of the most popular salads in the world! Kudos to the late Cardini!

Croutons

2 cups French bread, cut into bite-size cubes

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400°. Toss French bread cubes with olive oil and garlic powder. Transfer to a rimmed baking pan. Give the pan a good shake so the cubes land in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes or until chestnut brown.

Dressing

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

½ teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl combine until well blended, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and black pepper.

Salad

6 generous handfuls romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces

⅓ cup fresh Pecorino Pepato cheese, shredded

Anchovy fillets, optional

In a large bowl, toss romaine leaves with just enough dressing to coat the leaves. Transfer salad to 6 rimmed plates, top each with Pecorino Pepato cheese and top the salad with croutons. Serve anchovy fillets and leftover dressing buffet style. Yield: 6 servings.

Kiwi Berries

I spotted kiwi berries last week in Whole Foods Market. For those of you who know me, you probably know I love to discover food I've never heard of ... I asked the produce team leader about these grape size berries, he said they taste like kiwi fruit.

I first sampled these with my foodie friend Lena. When we cut the berries we were amazed the likeness to kiwifruit. Honestly I don't know what I was expecting and didn't ask Lena what she expected, but we both said, so cute! The only difference we found, the berry seemed sweeter than any kiwifruit we've eaten. After our marvelous lunch, (more about this later) we popped juicy sweet halves into our mouths and ate them with Mexican dark chocolate infused with salt and pepper! All around this was a fun and tasty discovery!

Kiwi berries, (also known as hardy kiwifruit, arctic kiwi, baby kiwi, cocktail kiwi, dessert kiwi, grape kiwi and northern kiwi) are vine grown and produce a smooth skin, unlike their larger cousin, the kiwifruit with it's light brown fuzzy skin. Ripe kiwi berries are dull (if they're shinny, they're not ripe) and should yield to light pressure. Kiwi berries make a lovely addition to assorted fresh fruit and they are beautiful as a garnish or just savor them on their own like we did.

Arugula and Kumato Salad with Poached Egg

Winter-Friendly Salad

I created this combination the other day for lunch and Mr. Fabulous deemed it one of the best salads he has ever eaten. It's got a lot of salad-friendly ingredients I love to use when building a salad. Like crispy lettuce leaves combined with crunchy ingredients and comfort food ingredients like soft cheese and a poached egg. Arugula leaves and kumato tomatoes (reddish-brown tomatoes) are cold weather-friendly, raw salad ingredients. Both wind up being the basis for a lot of salads we eat during the colder months. 


Here I've tossed arugula leaves with a basic oil and vinegar dressing. I topped the arugula with slices of kumatos, a perfectly cooked poached egg, crumbled blue cheese, (French Bleu d'Auvergne - my favorite) toasted sunflower seeds, and croutons made from homemade bread. I seasoned it with fresh ground black pepper and salt. The egg was just warm enough to further enhance the flavors of the ingredients and it just ever so slightly warmed the blue cheese. The crispy croutons sopped up the runny yolk. Yummy!

Ravens Game Day Salad

PURPLE SALAD

People tell me they love my purple cabbage salads. I vary the ingredients and use an array of nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, cheese and vegetables. Here are some suggestions for combinations that are popular. (You can use the colorful ingredients I've added to the purple cabbage - julienned carrots and peas as the basis for your salad or not. For this combination, Feta cheese, toasted sunflower seeds and roasted red pepper would be delicious).

Add any of the following three combinations to shredded purple cabbage for a delicious tasting, unique salad. The added bonus is this colorful, nutrient-rich salad complements steaks, burgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, seafood and pork. 

• fresh mango chunks, roasted cashews, crumbled feta cheese, green onions, chopped red pepper
• sliced celery, blue cheese, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, chunks of apple
• toasted sunflower seeds, chunks of kumato tomatoes, cubed fontina cheese, baby arugula 

Dress the salad with any one of your favorite salad dressings. I love to toss with a good homemade oil and vinegar dressing or my all-time favorite, Apple Celery Seed Dressing, see October 27, 2010 post for the recipe. 

GO RAVENS!

PURPLE SALAD

Curried Shrimp and Pineapple Salad with Cashews and Cranberries

If you've been following this blog then you know I crave salads in winter and you also know I like to stay with my steadfast rule of eating foods in their growing season. So it can be a bit challenging because just about any fruit or vegetable is available from the grocery store during the winter months. I try very hard not to buy fresh food that is not in season.


For a delicious, colorful and healthy lunch I combined romaine lettuce leaves with cooked chilled shrimp, chunks of golden pineapple, toasted cashews and dried cranberries and tossed it with my tasty recipe for curry dressing. It's a zesty combination full of texture and flavor that won't disappoint. Complement with slices of authentic French bread or wholly slices of Ciabatta. Yummy!


Helpful to know: The amount of dressing is a matter of preference, I prefer the ingredients to be just lightly coated rather than swimming in dressing.


Curry Dressing

1 cup olive oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon salt

¼- ½ teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, curry powder, ginger, salt and pepper, whisk until well blended. Leftover dressing will keep for weeks refrigerated.

Arugula Salad with Tangerine, Avocado and Purple Cabbage

It happens every year right about now - I need to eat more salads! I'm tossing this together as part of the dinner we are sharing with friends tonight. It's super simple. Arrange arugula leaves in rimmed serving plates, top with segments of tangerine, chunks of avocado and shredded purple cabbage. Toss with my recipe for Fresh-Squeezed Tangerine Dressing. Yummy!

Fresh-Squeezed Tangerine Dressing

Helpful to know: Fresh-Squeezed Tangerine Dressing will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving. Shake just before using.

1 teaspoon salt

Several grindings of fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup tangerine juice, freshly squeezed

¾ cup canola oil

In a 2-cup capacity jar with a tight fitting lid, combine salt, black pepper, Dijon mustard and tangerine juice. Add canola oil ¼ cup at a time, shaking well after each addition. Keep dressing at room temperature until ready to serve. Shake just before using. Refrigerate any unused portion. Yield: About 1 cup.

Cherry Glen Monocacy Chipotle Cheese and Lettuce Salad with Apricot Dressing

Pare/Pear/Pair
11/11/11

                                 
Well since it's not going to happen for another 100 years, I thought I would feature today's date, 11/11/11 to coincide with my pare/pear/pair posting in which I'm pairing pared pears. The salad (pictured below) combines ingredients that make up a perfectly complementing pairing of pears with Cherry Glen's award-winning Monocacy Chipotle cheese. 


It's no wonder Cherry Glen's Monocacy Chipotle (like no other soft cheese I've ever tasted) won a Blue Ribbon at the 2010 American Cheese Society Competition! Congratulations Cherry Glen you deserve this Blue Ribbon! In case your not familiar, Cherry Glen's Monocacy line (five variations of soft-ripened cheeses) is similar to Brie but is slightly more tangy and flavorful and has that same similar creaminess for which Brie is so noted. The chipotle version has the addition of chipotle pepper, (you can barely see the spots of burnt orange color in the triangular pieces of cheese pictured below) a smoked and usually dried jalapeno pepper. This cheese roars with flavor!


While Nick was attending a business luncheon the other day, I thought I would fool around with some options for pairing this marvelous tasting cheese. It seemed obvious something sweet was needed to offset the peppery flavor that comes from the chipotle pepper. Apricot logically seemed complementing, so I whisked together a salad dressing made using apricot preserves and moscatel wine vinegar. Moscatel wine vinegar is an aromatic and complex vinegar with rich overtones of stone-fruit nectar, blossoms and honey. It paired beautifully with the remaining dressing ingredients.


I love creating and eating salads and I'm known among family, friends and catering clients for my unusual and fantastic tasting salad combinations. Today a lettuce leaf salad appealed on many levels and I also had a variety of interesting foods that would add texture, some sweet, some savory that would turn out a great salad.  I combined pieces of romaine lettuce leaves with chunks of perfectly ripe pared pears, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries and Cherry Glen's Monocacy Chipotle Cheese. I tossed it with enough dressing to coat the leaves. OMGoodness! Indeed a great pairing! 

Apricot Moscatel Dressing

Helpful to know: Moscatel wine vinegar can be found in upscale grocery stores, gourmet shops or online. Apricot Moscatel Dressing will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before serving; shake well just prior to using.

1 teaspoon salt

Several grindings fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup moscatel wine vinegar

¼ cup apricot preserves

⅛ cup shallots, minced

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a 2-cup capacity jar with a tight fitting lid, combine salt, pepper, mustard, moscatel wine vinegar apricot preserves and shallots. Shake until ingredients are well blended and salt has dissolved. Add olive oil and shake again to combine ingredients. Store at room temperature until ready to serve; shake well just prior to using. Refrigerate any unused portion. Yield: About 1 cup.

Cherry Glen Monocacy Chipotle Cheese and Lettuce Salad with Apricot Moscatel Dressing

Late Harvest Salad

BROCCOLI 

I love salad of any kind and when the weather gets cooler, I particularly enjoy hardier salads that include vegetables instead of lettuce.  Here I've combined perfectly cooked (just fork tender) broccoli pieces with slivers of roasted red peppers, shredded carrots, toasted pine nuts and two of my favorite foods, Kalamata olives and Valbresso brand feta cheese. I showered this colorful, nutrient-rich combination with some extra virgin olive oil. As you can see from my photograph, Late Harvest Salad is a cheery-colored, wonderfully textured side dish that will disappear quickly! It's great accompanied with fish, chicken or beef.  

Helpful to know: Cook the broccoli until just fork tender, under cooked or over cooked broccoli will result in a completely different salad. To keep the broccoli from cooking any longer after it’s been removed from the steamer, place a shallow rimmed bowl in the refrigerator to get cold while the broccoli is cooking. This way you won’t be wasting water by running it over the broccoli to get it cool.

Summer Salad

I prepared this summer salad when my nephew Connor came over for lunch the other day. We both agreed the combination of flavors was delicious. The combination wasn't planned, I used ingredients I had on hand. I marinated the shrimp in a lemon, olive oil dressing, then tossed the shrimp and the marinade with bite size pieces of romaine lettuce leaves, chunks of yellow tomatoes, avocado, julienned carrots, sweet red pepper, green onion, pine nuts and croutons. You don't have to be wedded to these ingredients, (that's what I like about salads, just about any mixture of garden greenery works) use whatever you have on hand. Garbanzo beans, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, peas, scallops, hard boiled eggs, cucumber, olives, Feta cheese are some examples of what would also work.

Helpful to know: Shrimp need to marinate for about 3 hours.

Shrimp and Marinade

1 pound large shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, combine shrimp with 3 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper to taste. Marinate for 3 hours. Toss shrimp and marinade with any combination of lettuce leaves and your favorite salad ingredients.  

Savory and Sweet Pineapple Salad

If a pineapple isn't ripe when you buy it, it can take several days to ripen to juicy deliciousness. Given fruit ripens on its own schedule and that I wanted to be certain I had perfectly ripened pineapple for a graduation party I catered over the weekend, I bought an abundance of pineapples!

I turned what pineapple I didn't use into this colorful and surprisingly fantastic tasting salad. Surprisingly tasty because I combined unusual ingredients ... savory Kalamata olives, tangy Valbresso Feta cheese, salty roasted cashew nuts and green onions with sweet roasted red peppers and perfectly ripe golden sweet pineapple chunks, then I tossed it with just a wee bit of my standard oil and vinegar dressing. Mr. Fabulous, (who was skeptical of the combination) deemed it one of the best savory and sweet combinations he'd ever tasted! We enjoyed it with ham sandwiches, a complementing combination and the perfect cool weather dinner on a hot summer evening.

The salad is simple to assemble, start with ripe pineapple chunks, top with chopped roasted red peppers, thinly sliced green onions, a few Kalamata olives, some crumbled Valbresso Feta cheese and roasted and salted cashews. Toss with a little of your favorite oil and vinegar dressing or prepare my tried and true, super simple, standard vinaigrette dressing recipe.

Helpful to know: A ripe pineapple should have a golden shell. Pineapples ripen from the bottom to the top. Often the bottom is golden and has a fragrant sweet smell and the top is still a little green, if this is the case, you will need the pineapple to ripen a bit longer on the kitchen counter. If the pineapple is ripe you should should be able to pull out some of the top center leaves fairly easily. Pineapples are available year round, but are at the peak of their growing season from March through June.

Kerry’s All-Purpose Vinaigrette

An all-purpose dressing that is so delicious and can be prepared so quickly, you might ask yourself why you ever bought bottled vinaigrette!

Helpful to know: Kerry’s All-Purpose Vinaigrette will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before serving; shake well just prior to using.

1 teaspoon salt

Several grindings fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a 2-cup capacity jar with a tight fitting lid, combine salt, pepper, mustard and apple cider vinegar. Shake until ingredients are well blended and salt has dissolved. Add olive oil and shake again to combine ingredients. Store at room temperature until ready to serve; shake well just prior to using. Refrigerate any unused portion. Yield: About 1 cup.

Broccoli, Sweet Onion and Cashew Salad with Creamy Tamari Dressing

A gorgeous celebration of colors that is as delicious as it is beautiful. It is the perfect accompaniment to fish, chicken or beef.

Tidbits for perfection: Cook the broccoli until just fork tender, under cooked or over cooked broccoli will result in a completely different salad. To keep the broccoli from cooking any longer after it’s been removed from the steamer, place a shallow rimmed bowl in the refrigerator to get cold while the broccoli is cooking. This way you won’t be wasting water by running it over the broccoli to get it cool. Sweet onion, such as Vidalia contributes to the wonderful flavor in this salad. This dish is not a good keeper; serve immediately after you have tossed it with the dressing. Place a shallow rimmed bowl in the refrigerator.

Broccoli

3 cups broccoli with stem, cut into small florets

Steam broccoli until just fork tender. Transfer broccoli to the shallow rimmed platter, and set aside, keep at room temperature.

½ cup sweet onion, thinly sliced

½ cup red pepper, chopped

Add onion and red pepper to broccoli.

Creamy Tamari Dressing

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk garlic, rice vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise, sugar, tamari and black pepper until well blended.

Broccoli Sweet Onion and Cashew Salad with Creamy Tamari Dressing

½ cup cashew pieces, roasted and salted

¼ cup dried cranberries

Pour dressing over broccoli, onion and red pepper, gently toss until well combined. Add cashews and cranberries. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

Arugula and Tropical Salad with Salty Lime Dressing

Mr. Fabulous and I try to eat at least one salad a day, but there is very little in season right now so I’m always a bit challenged this time of year. Arugula and radicchio thrive in cooler temperatures and take center stage in this colorful, nutritional and unusual salad combination. I’ve also added fiber-rich hearts of palm, sweet mango and coconut. Macadamia nuts and black sesame seeds give it just the right amount of crunch. The salty lime dressing is the perfect compliment for some of the tropical-based ingredients in this salad.

Radicchio (pronounced reh-DEE-kee-o) is an exotic Italian salad ingredient related to chicory; its' garnet color adds vibrancy to tossed green salads. Radicchio has a peppery flavor which is countered in this salad by the sweet mango and coconut. It has a pronounced flavor so a little goes a long way.

Hearts of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. Fresh hearts of palm are only available in the regions where they are harvested, primarily Florida and South America. This tender-crisp, delicate flavored vegetable is low in calories, cholesterol free and an excellent source of fiber.

I love the visual effect black sesame seeds add to this salad … look for them in the international isle of your grocery store.

Tropical Salad with Salty Lime Dressing

Salty Lime Dressing

⅓ cup olive oil

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

In a 1-cup capacity jar, with a tight fitting lid, combine the olive oil, lime juice and salt, shake until well blended.

Tropical Salad

6 very generous handfuls arugula

Shredded radicchio, about a small handful for each salad

Place arugula and radicchio in a large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Divide among 6 serving plates.

1 ripe mango, cut into bit size pieces

1 can (14-ounce) hearts of palm, sliced

½ cup macadamia nuts, roasted

Shredded coconut

Black sesame seeds

In a small bowl, combine mango, hearts of palm and macadamia nuts, toss with dressing to coat. Top arugula and radicchio with mango mixture, distributing ingredients evenly. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and black sesame seeds. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings.

Winter Coleslaw

Salads are an integral part of our meals and we love them as much in the warm weather months as we do when its freezing cold outside. Last night was no exception. On the dinner menu was BBQ ribs and my recipe for Roasted Romano Potatoes. I love coleslaw with ribs and potatoes and thought a winter version of the popular summer salad would be fitting with our meal. So I shredded some white cabbage and tossed it with sliced celery, baby arugula leaves, pomegranate seeds, fresh orange segments and toasted almonds. I dressed it with one of my favorite savory salad dressings and a small amount of mayonnaise. Yummy!

Kerry’s All-Purpose Vinaigrette

An all-purpose dressing that is so delicious and can be prepared so quickly, you might ask yourself why you ever bought bottled vinaigrette!

Helpful to know: Kerry’s All-Purpose Vinaigrette will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before serving; shake well just prior to using.

1 teaspoon salt

Several grindings fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a 2-cup capacity jar with a tight fitting lid, combine salt, pepper, mustard and apple cider vinegar. Shake until ingredients are well blended and salt has dissolved. Add olive oil and shake again to combine ingredients. Store at room temperature until ready to serve; shake well just prior to using. Refrigerate any unused portion. Yield: About 1 cup.

Traditional Spinach Salad with Non-Traditional Dressing

Happy New Year!

Nick and I eat this quite often and that's, of course, because it's so good. I believe you'll agree!

Helpful to know: Choose mushrooms that are white and firm. To keep them fresh, store in a paper bag with the top loosely folded over. Place on a shelf in the refrigerator (not in the crisper) for 1-2 days. The amount of bacon you use is a matter of preference; about 1½ slices per salad seems to be just right. As with most salads, I prefer to toss just the greens with the dressing and then top each salad with the additional undressed ingredients.

Non-Traditional Spinach Salad Dressing

Apple Cider Celery Seed Dressing (see October 27, 2010 post)

Traditional Spinach Salad, undressed

8 generous handfuls baby spinach

8 medium mushrooms, sliced

8 hard-boiled eggs, room temperature, chopped

8-12 slices bacon, cooked until crisp

8 slices red onion, thinly sliced

In a large bowl, toss spinach with Non-Traditional Spinach Salad Dressing until lightly coated. Divide spinach evenly among 8 salad plates or shallow bowls. Top each salad with mushroom slices, chopped egg, bacon and red onion, distributing evenly. Serve any unused portion of Non-Traditional Spinach Salad Dressing (Apple Cider Celery Seed Dressing) buffet style. Yield: 8 servings.

Red Cabbage, Cranberry, Walnut and Roquefort Salad

Yesterday Mr. Fabulous and I hosted a luncheon to celebrate the coming together of his elementary school classmates. What a hoot!

I prepared some all-time favorites, Hot Seafood Salad, Bloody Mary Aspic (see postings below) and my recipe for Red Cabbage, Cranberry, Walnut and Roquefort Salad. The salad combines unusual ingredients that pack a tremendous amount of flavor and crunch. The result is unexpected … where its dances on your palate!

Everybody raved about the food. Thanks to all who were available to join us for this fantastic reunion celebration!

Red Cabbage, Cranberry, Walnut and Roquefort Salad

5 cups red cabbage, shredded

⅓ cup cranberries (formerly raisins)

⅓ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions

½ cup Roquefort cheese, crumbled

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine cabbage, cranberries, walnuts, green onions and Roquefort. Toss with Apple Celery Seed Dressing. Season salad with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

Apple Cider Celery Seed Dressing

This crowd-pleasing dressing is delicious tossed with any combination of salad fixings and raw vegetables. It also enhances cold pasta dishes and fresh fruit. A dressing this versatile will be your first choice when entertaining. It is mine!

Helpful to know: Apple Cider Celery Seed Dressing will last for several days in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

⅓ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon onion, freshly minced

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon celery seeds

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, salt and dry mustard. Add onion and apple cider vinegar. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly; you’ll see the mixture actually change texture as you whisk. After all the oil has been added and the dressing has slightly thickened, stir in celery seeds. Mix until well blended; transfer to a 2-cup jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Shake well prior to using. Yield: 1½ cups.

Arugula Salad with Kumato's, Blue Cheese and Toasted Walnuts

In the world of lettuce leaves, one of my favorites is arugula ... aka rocket. Right now my garden is full of these bright green, unusually shaped leaves. I've paired the leaves with a complimenting trio of mini kumato's, blue cheese and toasted walnuts. Mini kumato's are sweet, red-brown grape tomatoes. This awesome tasting salad has a lot going on, great crunch, fabulous flavor with beautiful autumn colors! I toss it with my all-purpose vinaigrette salad dressing, (click on Cold Garden Greenery below, posting title, Garden Variety) a delicious combination of olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

To assemble salad, toss generous handfuls of arugula with kumato's, blue cheese and toasted walnuts.

Mini kumato's can be found in the produce section of most grocery stores.

Garden Variety

Whenever my mother made lettuce leaf salads for us when we were growing up, she always put them together from whatever ingredients she had on hand. As children, we grew to love her salad combinations and still do!

I adopted her salad success. Like her salads, our salads almost always have something crunchy, like toasted nuts or homemade croutons, something with a slightly creamy texture, like cheese, (think Feta, blue, mozzarella) hard boiled eggs or avocado and assorted vegetables with all kinds of texture.

So use you imagination when assembling a salad, make it interesting and colorful. Cherry tomatoes, julienned carrots, sliced mushrooms, celery, shredded radicchio, sesame seeds, bell peppers, sprouts, shredded cabbage, bacon, onions, black olives, apples, grapes, pears, oranges, grapefruit and dried fruit (cranberries are a favorite) are salad additions that can be included with leafy greens.

Tips for preparing salad

• If you’re plating individual salads for a sit-down dinner party, allow one heavy handful of lettuce leaves per person. For a large gathering and buffet style service, allow 1½ handfuls per person.
• Salad dressing should be room temperature.
• It is best to toss lettuce leaf salads just prior to serving.
• Dressing should just “coat” the leaves; too much dressing will result in a soggy salad.
• Toss lettuce and weighted ingredients separately.
• Weighted toppings (tomatoes, carrots, peas, nuts, eggs, dried fruit, etc.) tend to sink, so pre-plate salad greens for small gatherings and then top each salad with the heavier ingredients.
• For larger gatherings or buffet style set ups, serve salad from a rimmed platter or a shallow bowl rather than a deep bowl to avoid having the heavy ingredients sink.
• Lettuce leaf salads are generally not good keepers and rarely make good leftovers.

Our salads were never tossed with store-bought dressing and because I grew up seeing how quickly my mother whipped up something fabulous from scratch, I'm constantly amazed when people tell me it takes too long to prepare homemade dressing. It takes me longer to read and decipher the list of ingredients on a bottle of commercial salad dressing than the minimal time it takes to combine a few fresh ingredients to make a delicious, healthy dressing! Toss your creation with a great salad dressing like my simple, five-ingredient, all-purpose vinaigrette.

All-Purpose Vinaigrette

An all-purpose dressing that is so delicious and can be prepared so quickly, you might ask yourself why you ever bought bottled vinaigrette!

Helpful to know: All-Purpose Vinaigrette will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before serving; shake well just prior to using.

1 teaspoon salt

Several grindings fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a 2-cup capacity jar with a tight fitting lid, combine salt, pepper, mustard and apple cider vinegar. Shake until ingredients are well blended and salt has dissolved. Add olive oil and shake again to combine ingredients. Store at room temperature until ready to serve; shake well just prior to using. Refrigerate any unused portion. Yield: About 1 cup.

Nuts About Pairing Yellow and Blue

When our friend arrived today, Nick and I offered to take him to lunch or have lunch at home on the sun porch. He opted for home on the sun porch and I was complimented. I'd just gotten home from the Farmer's Market, recycled bags were brimming with fruits and vegetables I wanted to share. We devoured BLT's, they were perfect ... Artisan bread was lightly coated with mayonnaise (a favorite comes from Whole Foods Market, it's their brand, 365) and covered with thick juicy tomato disks, garden fresh red leaf lettuce leaves and crispy, hormone and nitrate-free bacon. For our side dish, I halved baby yellow pear shaped tomatoes, tossed them with a little extra virgin olive oil and topped it with toasted sunflower seeds and one of my favorite types of bleu cheese, raw milk Bleu D' Auvergne. Yum was the primary word while we munched. For dessert we ate this mornings picked peaches.

At the farmer's market, I couldn't help but feeling sad as summer's produce is waning ... I'm thrilled tomatoes (my summer favorite) will be available for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, in the next few days I'll be featuring more posts and recipes using tomatoes and peaches. Stay tuned and let's celebrate the last of this season together.

I'm Painting my Palate...

As promised here is the menu for our Colorful Plate Party. After we've had cocktails and some summery appetizers, we will sit and begin the evening with Summer's Harvest Soup (posted September 2nd) and I'll pass around assorted artisan breads - I opted to buy bread rather than make it - it's too hot. Generous slices of ciabatta, pumpernickel and a hearty multi-seed will accompany olive oil for drenching. I'll pass around bowls of crabmeat and shrimp for guests to add to the soup, its optional as the soup's flavor speaks volumes, but adding either of these decadent seafood favorites ... is simply decadent! It adds another dimension of elegance as well.

Steak Fahitas (see August 31st post) will follow the soup/bread course. For dessert I can't wait to share my recipe for Spearmint Peaches I shared on Click and Cook on August 26th. One thing I know for sure, everyone will have had their fill of Summer's Harvest! Happy Labor Day weekend.

Stacking the Harvest

Well, we've been doing a lot of recipe testing this week for our forthcoming Colorful Plate Party ... to find out what this gets turned into, check back around lunchtime when Nick and I will be taste-testing.