Quickie: Salmon Niçoise Salad

Oh, delicious! I slow roasted the salmon using Bill Granger's method--steep a handful of cherry tomatoes and a couple bruised garlic cloves in a generous splash or two of olive oil. Warm up the whole thing in a 350-degree oven until it smells delicious and the tomatoes have split.

Lower heat to 250-degrees, remove the tomatoes and garlic, and lavish a couple of salmon fillets in the scented oil. Add a hefty sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper and roast until cooked to your desire--20 to 30 minutes usually. It's hard to overcook the salmon with this method and it flakes apart beautifully for salads.

I made mine with the usual suspects for a Niçoise, as well as my most favorite Perfect Vinaigrette (http://theunemployedcook.blogspot.com/2006/01/perfect-vinaigrette.html)--I opted for raw tomatoes but the slow roasted tomatoes are very nice as well. Summer in a bowl, I tell you.

Roasted Beet Salad

I think that beets get a bad rap in this country, or maybe in general. So many people find them unpleasant, for whatever reason, but I think their distaste is directed most of the time towards beets of the pickled, canned variety. The canning and pickling gives beets a unique tangy metallic quality which I can understand not being matched to everyone's palate.


That said, I really like beets. I love them best roasted until caramelized, and then eaten in a simple salad of arugula, goats cheese, olive oil, and basalmic vinegar. Fresh beets, shucked of their dirty skins and slow roasted in olive oil and coarse salt; are completely different animals than their pickled cousins.


I would ideally have this salad with either a soft goats cheese or a mellow bleu cheese, but I didn't have either, and those two cheeses are one of the very few things Chris is picky about. Turned out he's picky about beets, too, but that's beside the point. The feta works nicely, though, with a sharp saltiness that plays off of the beets sweet earthy flavors and tangles nicely with the juicy tangerine.


My roasting technique borrows from a few people. Ina Garten recommends peeling the beets before roasting them, but she also recommends slicing them up and roasting them in a roasting pan, which I didn't do. Martha Stewart recommends roasting the beets whole wrapped in aluminum foil lined with parchment paper.

Roasted Beet Salad
serves 2-3

for the roasted beets:

1 bunch red or yellow beets (about 3 medium)
coarse sea salt
freshly ground pepper
olive oil
apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Trim the beets of their root and greens. Peel them completely, using a standard vegetable peeler. Place a layer of parchment paper on top of a sheet of aluminum foil, place beets in the middle. Drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and splash a little bit of vinegar.


Wrap foil into a parcel shape, then roast in the middle of the oven for 1 hour, or until beets are tender enough to be easily peirced with a knife. Reserve juices for dressing. Let cool.

for the salad:

apple cider vinegar
olive oil
tangerine juice, reserved from segmenting
reserved beet roasting juices
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
dijon mustard
1 head bibb lettuce, torn into small pieces
3 roasted beets, sliced in wedges
1 tangerine, sliced into segments
feta cheese crumbles

In a jar or small bowl, shake or whisk together the roasting juices, vinegar, olive oil, tangerine juice, mustard, and seasonings until desired salad dressing flavor and consistency is reached. Divide lettuce among salad plates, top with beets, tangerine segments, and feta, and drizzle with the gorgeous ruby red dressing. Enjoy!

Sliced Pear and Caramelized Pecan Salad

Crunchy, spicy-sweet pecans; crisp, cool pears; smooth, nutty Gruyere--are you drooling yet? This is a simple little salad (once you make the nuts, which are a snap), and it tastes and looks like something you would pay $10 for in a restaurant. Wonderful with a really good steak--enjoy!


Sliced Pear and Caramelized Pecan Salad
serves 4

for the pecans:

.5 cup pecan pieces
2 Tbsp sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch cayenne pepper
generous pinch sea salt
splash water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a small cookie sheet with aluminum foil.


Mix everything but the pecans in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until combined and becoming liquidy. Add pecans, stir for 1-2 minutes until well coated. Spread out on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (tossing once or twice), until golden. Let cool completely before using (that way they will have a crunchy coating).


for the salad:
one pear (nearly any variety, I used bosc)
one small head radicchio
one small head bibb lettuce
caramelized pecans
Perfect Vinaigrette
hunk of Gruyere


Wash and dry lettuces, tear into medium-sized pieces. Slice your pear into thin slivers, arrange with the lettuces. Drizzle with vinaigrette, sprinkle with pecans, and top with a pretty shaving or two of Gruyere. Of course, if you prefer you can grate the Gruyere, but I'm a sucker for presentation and this just looks so lovely. Doesn't it?

Picnic Salad

I am sure that by this weekend it will snow and kill all of the daffodils, but right this very second it really does feel like spring is making an appearance. And so, I'm continuing what has become a theme for the week: Culinary Spring Break.


I think I first had a version of this salad eating dinner with the family of a college boyfriends, I scooped up big forkfuls and loved the combination. I assumed that this was a brilliant creation of my boyfriend's mother, until a few months later when I was served something very similar at a cookout thrown by friends. It was that moment when I realized that while this was a unique combination, it wasn't rocket science, and so I created my own broccoli salad, dubbing it "Picnic" salad because it is a great salad for cookouts and picnics, although it should stay cold because of the mayonnaise in it. It's really, really good with fried chicken.

Picnic Salad
serves 4

3 cups broccoli but into small florets
.5 cup dried cranberries (raisins, currants, and cherries work, too)
.5 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
5 slices bacon cooked, then crumbled
3 Tbsp finely chopped onion
.5 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
pinch freshly ground pepper


Steam the broccoli florets until they are bright green and just beginning to soften, but still very crisp. Run under cold water and let cool and dry completely in a colander.


In a serving bowl combine the steamed broccoli, cranberries, sunflower seeds, bacon, and onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, and pepper. Pour over the broccoli mixture and gently combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use. If I am not serving this right away, I sometimes like to wait and add the bacon later, so it stays crisp. Enjoy!

Salmon Mango Salad

Sorry for the brief absence, I've been cooking but I seemed to have been struck with a little writer's block. Oh, and laziness. Whoops?


Anyway, back on track, last night I made one of my favorite summertime staples, Salmon Mango Salad. It is light, crisp, and the mangos are wonderful right now, so you can pretend that it isn't 30 degrees outside.

Salmon Mango Salad
serves 2

2 medium salmon fillets, skin removed
1 lime
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin coins
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
olive oil
honey
salad greens
chili-lime pistachio nuts*, coarsely chopped
1 mango, diced

*I have found these at the grocery store and at Target, but if you can't put your hands on a bag, regular pistachios are fine.


Slice two wedges out of the lime, set aside. Squeeze the juice from the rest of the lime into a small bowl. Add a few splashes of olive oil, a dollop of honey, the ginger and garlic, and salt and pepper to taste; whisk until blended. Marinate the salmon fillets in the lime mixture for 1-2 hours.


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat in an oven-proof skillet until just about to smoke, carefully place salmon in hot pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, developing a nice crusty sear. Flip salmon and place in oven for 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillets and desired degree of doneness.

While the salmon cooks, heat the marinade in the microwave for about a minute and place washed and dried salad greens in bowls. Top with diced mango. Mix heated marinade with a bit more olive oil and the juice from the reserved lime wedges. Whisk well to combine, then taste and adjust the spices--this is your salad dressing, you're looking for bold, tangy flavors here.


Place hot salmon on top of greens and garnish with crushed pistachios and honey lime vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Warm Mushroom Salad

This one is straight from Ina Garten, the Julia to my Julie, and yes I am petitioning her to adopt me, or at least take me under her wing. I would miss my family a lot if she were to make me her own, but I would be oh-so-well-fed.


Anyway, I liked this salad, but had a few minor issues. One, I found it to be a bit salty, I think because of the prosciutto. Two, it would be lovely, I think, for lunch on its own, because it is so flavorful that it will certainly compete with anything you serve alongside. This is my own fault, though, I got a little excited about trying it and didn't want to wait for lunch.

Warm Mushroom Salad
with Ina Garten's inspiration
serves 2

.5 pound cremini (Baby Bella) mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
.5 tsp sea salt
.25 tsp freshly ground pepper
two handfuls baby spinach
one handful watercress
4 slices prosciutto
1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
a few oven dried tomatoes, drained and julienned

In a large skillet, melt the butter and half the olive oil until foamy. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper and saute over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and saute for another 2-3 minutes.


Meanwhile, arrange lettuces on two lunch plates and divide prosciutto among them. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the vinegar and remaining olive oil to the hot pan. Spoon the mushrooms and pan sauce on top of the lettuces and prosciutto, sprinkle tomatoes over. If desired, shave some parmesan and sprinkle some flat leaf parsley over the top, and serve while mushrooms are still warm.

It's a pretty salad, but there is a lot going on. I plan to try it again the next time I have someone over for lunch--what do you say, Mom?

Roasted Chicken Bread Salad

I've been hearing about San Francisco's Zuni Cafe Tuscan Bread Salad for months now, and the recipe never fails to tempt me with its complex combination of flavors and textures. So while the salad I put together today did not follow the Zuni example, exactly, I do have to give them credit for inspiring me.


My mother was coming for lunch today and I wanted to make something that would knock her socks off, but would also make use of some leftovers I had on hand. Once I surveyed the roasted chicken, Perfect Vinaigrette, and crusty french loaf before me I knew that it was bread salad time, indeed.

Roasted Chicken Bread Salad
serves 3-4

4-5 cups of cubed French bread (stale is good)
olive oil
red wine vinegar
handful of dried cherries
1 large clove of garlic, slivered
3-4 scallions (shallots would be good, too), sliced
leftoverRoasted Lemon Chicken
small head Bibb lettuce, torn into pieces
two handfuls baby spinach
handful fresh parsley
Perfect Vinaigrette


Start by slicing the crust off of the loaf of bread, and then cubing it. Toss the bread in some olive oil and then broil until deep golden brown on all sides. I really toasted the bread pretty thoroughly--it was important to me to maintain some of the "crunch" texture even after it soaks up some vinaigrette. Once it is out of the oven, toss it back into the olive oil-slicked bowl and add the dried cherries and a few splashes of the vinegar. Toss well and set aside.


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the leftover chicken into a small roasting dish (adding whatever pan juices you have--some of the fat skimmed from your stock would work, too), and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Heat for about 15 minutes.

While the chicken is reheating, drizzle the bread generously with the vinaigrette. Toss well. In a small saute pan, heat the garlic and scallions in a little olive oil over medium low heat. You want them to soften, but not brown. Add to the bread mixture.


Place greens in serving dishes. Top with bread mixture, then a few slices of the roasted chicken. Drizzle a Tbsp of the chicken pan juices over the salad and serve immediately. Enjoy!