Salad Days: Recipes for Delicious Organic Salads and Dressings for Every Season

163 Pages·2011·38.85 MB·English

by  Pam Powell

Salad Days
RECIPES FOR DELICIOUS,
ORGANIC SALADS AND DRESSINGS
FOR EVERY SEASON
PAM POWELL
The Salad Girl
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Spring Salads
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Greens 101: Salad Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Spring Marinated Asparagus Salad with Simple Spring Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . 16
Sautéed Fiddlehead Fern and Mâche Salad
with Spring Ramp Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Arugula and Asparagus Salad with Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ravishing Radish Salad with Chive and Cracked Pepper Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . 21
Fresh Fig and Mesclun Salad with Sweet Honey Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Mother’s Day Melon and Baby Spring Greens Salad
with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Pea Sprout and Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Rhubarb Vinaigrette. . . . . . . 26
Baby New Potato and Upland Cress Salad
with Chive and Cracked Pepper Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Curried Hen Salad with Creamy Curry and Honey Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Grilled Pork Tenderloin Medallions on Spring Greens
with Rosemary and Rhubarb Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Red Raspberries and Spring Mâche Salad
with Raspberry and Pink Peppercorn Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Spring Bing Cherry and Curly Cress Salad with Ginger Cherry Vinaigrette . . . . 35
Asparagus Caesar with Creamy SarVecchio Parmesan Caesar Dressing. . . . . . . 36
Spicy Grilled Shrimp and Strawberry Salad with Spicy Strawberry Vinaigrette . 37
Fresh Dandelion Greens Salad
with Scallion and Honey Bacon Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Grilled Spring Lamb Chop and Fresh Arugula Salad
with Apple Mint Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Garden Fresh Tabbouleh Salad with Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Memorial Day Quinoa Salad with Ginger Cherry Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Beet Greens, Golden Beet, and Blueberry Salad à la mode
with Savory Blueberry Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Wild Crab-Stuffed Artichoke Salad with Lemon Tarragon Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . 47
Baby Greens and Fava Beans Salad with Simple Spring Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . 48
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Summer Salads
Mango Tango Salad with Chili Lime Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Summer “Sea-sar” Salad with Creamy Lemony Dill Caesar Dressing . . . . . . . . . 54
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Asiago Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Grilled Grass-Fed Steak Salad with Creamy Cowboy Ranch Dressing . . . . . . . . . 56
Peachy Keen Salad with Peach Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Summer Shore Salad with Sweet Onion and Tarragon Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Plum Great Salad with Plum and Cilantro Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Red, White, and Blueberry Salad with Pink Lemonade Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Bitter Greens and Golden Berry Salad
with Balsamic and Vanilla Bean Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Grilled Wild Salmon and Red Raspberry Salad
with Pink Peppercorn and Raspberry Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Nectarine and Nasturtium Salad with Simple Summer Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . 68
Grilled Veggies and Cheese Tortellini Salad
with Basil and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Picnic Table Potato Salad with Stone-Ground Mustard Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Tri-Color Marinated Pole Bean Salad with Lemon and Chive Vinaigrette . . . . . . 73
Farmers’ Market Cobb Salad
with Buttermilk and Peppercorn Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Asian Summer Slaw with Honey Ginger Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Old-School Potato Salad with Creamy Turmeric Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Sweet Corn and Confetti Cabbage Slaw
with Creamy Cilantro and Cayenne Pepper Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Apricot and Arugula Salad with Curried Apricot Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Aunt Nan’s Nectarine Salad with Warm Bacon and Nectarine Dressing . . . . . . 83
Rainer Cherry Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Watermelon and Hidden Springs Feta Salad
with Watermelon and Lemon Basil Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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Autumn Salads
Sweet Seckel Pear and Dried Wild Blueberries Salad
with Savory Blueberry Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Autumn Dried Apricot and Couscous Salad
with Curried Apricot Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Persimmon and Spicy Pumpkin Seed Salad
with Chili Cranberry Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Mediterranean Roasted Beet Salad
with Fennel and Sweet Orange Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Orchard Apple and Green Kale Chopped Salad
with Maple Cream Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Champagne Grape and Endive Salad with Simple Autumn Vinaigrette . . . . . . . 98
NaNa’s Brown Sugar and Curly Kale Salad with Brown Sugar Vinaigrette . . . . 99
Autumn Cobb Salad with Cranberry and Sage Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Asian Pear and Dried Cherry Salad with Gingered Pear Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . 103
Succotash Quinoa Salad with Stone-Ground Mustard Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Grilled Bartlett Pear Salad with Simple Autumn Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Harvest Tomato Panzanella Salad
with Basil and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Three Orchard Apple Salad with Simple Autumn Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Kale, Sausage, and Potato Salad
with Maple and Hickory-Smoked Bacon Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Fresh Cranberry and Red Anjou Pear Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette. . . . . . . 111
Curried Grilled Pork Medallion Salad with Curried Apricot Vinaigrette . . . . . . . 112
Dark Cacao-Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
with Dark Chocolate and Chili Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Brussels Sprout Petal Salad with Lemony Sage Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Autumn Cabbage and Grape Slaw with Simple Autumn Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . 119
Hardwood-Smoked Ham and Arugula Salad
with Maple and Hazelnut Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Autumn Waldorf Salad with Creamy Honey and Sweet Tarragon Dressing . . . . 121
Fresh Mozzarella and Shredded Kale Salad
with Basil and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
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Winter Salads
Merry Fruit Medley Salad
with Zesty Pomegranate Cinnamon Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Winter Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Simple Winter Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . 128
Arugula and Tangerine Salad with Tangerine Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Ruby Red and Avocado Green Holiday Salad
with Ginger Grapefruit Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Soiree Salad Sampler with a Variety of Vinaigrettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Roots and Fruits Midwinter Salad
with White Grapefruit and Coriander Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Oh, My Darling Clementine Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Dried Fig and Cara Cara Orange Salad with Cara Cara Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Winter Black Grape Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Irish Potato Cabbage Salad with Green Parsley and Mustard Vinaigrette . . . . . . 142
Winter Bitter Greens Salad with Sweet Apple and Cinnamon Vinaigrette . . . . . 143
Winter Chopped Super Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Tamari Tofu Cobb Salad with Simple Winter Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Winter Green Salad with Green Apple and Basil Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Chipotle Caesar Salad with Creamy Chipotle Caesar Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Garbanzo and Greens Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Citron-Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad
with Fresh Rosemary and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Pink Pummelo and Heart of Palm Salad with Honey Pepper Vinaigrette . . . . . . 155
Tarragon Chicken and Napa Cabbage Salad
with Creamy Tarragon Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
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Introduction
M
Y SALAD DAYS BEGAN when I was St. Paul, was owned by Brenda Langton, a
a teenager, working as a dishwasher beautiful, twenty-something visionary who
at Madden’s Pine Beach Lodge & was dedicated to spreading the good news
Resort in Brainerd, Minnesota, during the summer. about the importance of eating right by sharing
From a busy kitchen, in a restaurant in a part fl avorful whole-foods dishes with her customers.
of the resort called Lumber Town U.S.A., came Brenda combined fresh, raw foods and simple,
family-style Minnesota walleye and farmhouse- real ingredients to achieve amazing fl avor
baked chicken dinners with all the fi xings. combinations. Brenda was also one of the fi rst
I was busy, but during my breaks between local female chefs to create lasting and mutually
lunch and dinner I was able to assist the kitchen’s benefi cial relationships with the local farmers and
“salad girl” with her chores: preparing all the fresh fi sheries that supplied food to her restaurant.
vegetables for the relish trays, peeling and crinkle- Working with Brenda shaped my belief that
cutting the carrots, peeling potatoes for mashing, cooking and eating organic whole foods that are
and preparing greens for the salads and cabbage produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers,
for the homemade slaw. I found that I had a real artifi cial pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, growth
knack for fresh food preparation and I really loved hormones, feed additives, or genetically modifi ed
eating the raw, fresh vegetables that were being organisms not only makes us healthy and happy,
delivered directly from the local farms. Then, but it also keeps our planet healthy.
the happy day came when I was promoted from After art school, I became a freelance artist
dishwasher to “salad girl.” This was the beginning with a full-time job as a private chef in a
of a lifetime passion for preparing fresh, unique, household in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Our
and creative salads. son, Nick, was just a toddler, and my husband,
I learned every part of the food industry at Jim, was almost done with college when we
Madden’s—from dishwashing and food prep to decided to start a little weekend catering business
waitressing and bartending. With these skills in for extra money. My favorite part of planning the
my apron pocket, I was able to get catering menus was designing a recipe for
a job at any restaurant to an organic, seasonal salad. At
help put myself through times, I would design the
art school. It wasn’t whole menu around the
until the late 1970s, salad! My clients loved my
when I got a job at a hip organic salad dressings so
little vegetarian restaurant much that they started to special-
called Café Kardamena, that I order them to give to family and
understood the important link between eating friends as gifts throughout the year.
well and good health. Café Kardamena, In spring 2006, the owner of Kowalski’s
located in the historic Summit Hill area of Markets, a local grocery store chain, tasted
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my dressings and invited me to put them on the
refrigerated shelves of all eight of the company’s
stores. This meant that I needed to increase the
volume of my manufacturing capacity to meet
the demands of produce department orders,
obtain organic certifi cation for each fl avor, and
create a safe shelf life without impacting the
fresh fl avors of the dressings. I like a challenge,
and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for
me to make a dream come true, so with a lot of
support, love, and elbow grease from my family
and friends, I decided to take the leap of faith, and
that spring, Salad Girl Inc. was born. We began
to sell our unique salad dressings made with
all organic ingredients at the Mill City Farmers’
Market (founded by Brenda Langton, chef/owner
of Café Kardamena, Café Brenda, and Spoonriver
Restaurant), located next to the famous Guthrie
Theater on the banks of the Mississippi River in
Minneapolis.
Every week we worked in the evenings after
our day jobs to bottle about 100 bottles of Salad
Girl Organic Dressings, and each weekend we sold
them all at the market. Our maximum bottling
capacity was about 200 bottles, and we could
never make enough to satisfy demand. Soon we
outgrew the two commercial kitchens we had natural foods stores throughout the country. (Go to
rented and were blessed to fi nd a certifi ed organic www.saladgirl.com or http://thesaladgirlsblog.com
co-packing facility in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. for more information on where to fi nd Salad Girl
These folks were so kind to lend our little local Organic Dressings.)
company a helping hand, and because of their Throughout the book, you will fi nd that I have
help, we were able to make enough dressing to fi ll used artisan cheeses crafted in the United States
our fi rst big order for Kowalski’s in March 2007. and sustainable U.S. seafoods. The websites for
We put our fi rst four varieties of certifi ed these ingredients are listed in the Resources section
organic Fresh Dressings for Fresh Greens on the at the end of the book. I have also included a
refrigerated shelves of the eight stores by Easter. number of tips that focus on shopping for and
We started with our farmers’ market bestsellers: keeping fresh sustainable salad ingredients. I hope
Crisp Apple Maple, Curry and Fig, Pomegranate you fi nd these ideas for healthier eating and a
Pear, and Blueberry Basil. Now, three years later, healthier environment helpful.
Salad Girl Inc. creates and manufactures six fresh I am so happy to be able to share my recipes
garden-inspired fl avors of certifi ed organic salad with you. I hope that as you craft these seasonal,
dressings that can be found on the refrigerated artisan salads for your family and friends, you
shelves of the produce department in many Whole will feel the health, happiness, and joy I have
Foods Markets, specialty food markets, co-ops, and experienced by creating them!
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Greens 101
A SALAD IS ONLY AS GOOD as the ingredients CRESS: Cress is appreciated for its sharp fl avor
used to create it. Start by selecting greens that and attractive appearance for garnishes. Two
are packed with fl avor. Fresh, organic dark leafy major types of cresses include upland cress and
greens, such as the varieties described here, have watercress. Watercress, a popular member of
more nutritional value per forkful than lighter- the mustard family, has delicate, small, bright
colored varieties like iceberg. green leaves that provide a peppery, tangy fl avor.
It is a good source of potassium and iron. Upland
ARUGULA: Arugula, pronounced ah-ROO-guh-
cress is similar in appearance to its better-known
lah, is one of the fi rst greens of spring. It has a
cousin, watercress. It is a member of the mustard
very distinctive fl avor of spicy pepper with a hint
family and packs a sharp, peppery fl avor. Upland
of nut. Arugula is a good source of antioxidants,
cress is also known by several other names,
vitamins A and C, potassium, and calcium. The
including American cress, land cress, winter
leaves should be bright green and fresh looking.
cress, cassabully, and creasy salad, and it boasts a
Arugula is also called rocket, roquette, rugula, and
deeper pungency than watercress. Other varieties
ruccola (also called garden rocket, rocket salad, Italian
of cress include peppergrass (also called curly cress),
cress, Mediterranean rocket, wild rocket).
garden cress, and broadleaf cress.
BABY BEET GREENS: The leafy greens of
DANDELION GREENS: Dandelions are actually a
immature beets are edible, tasty, and very
member of the sunfl ower family. They will be the
nutritious (also known as baby beet tops, beet
tastiest in early spring before the fl owers emerge,
tops, beet).
so purchase or harvest the dandelion greens when
BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE: Succulent and sweet, the leaves are small and young.
butterhead lettuces have soft, pale green to
ENDIVE: Endive is available in three varieties.
yellow-green leaves that are small and round.
Belgian endive, interestingly, is grown in total
The best-known varieties of butterhead lettuces
darkness to prevent the leaves from greening.
include Bibb and Boston lettuce (also called
It is also know as French endive and has tightly
butter lettuce).
bundled, slightly bitter, white-cream leaves with
yellow-green tips. Curly endive has green, lacy
Baby Beet Greens
Arugula
Cress
Baby Bib
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