Salad - A Love Story

Poor salad.  It gets such a bad rap.  Long thought of as "chick food," mass media and advertising perpetuate the myth that salads are never eaten because they're tasty and satisfying, but because the eater is demonstrating his or her weight control efforts and trying to be "good" that day. 

I'm head over heels in love with salad, but I keep our relationship on the down low.  I rarely order salads in restaurants for the totally lame reason that I'm very thin and don't want to be judged and thought of as *that* girl - you know, the fat-free dressing on the side, ice water with lemon, cut off a pinkie before taking a bite of a bacon cheeseburger, "do I look fat?" type...I digress.  I know that I shouldn't let other people's nosy judgments affect my meal choices, but I do.  So I make my salads at home, and I make them taste awesome! 

My favorite salad recipe is loaded with greens ranging from mild and buttery to hearty and bitter, and it features flavor-packed anchovies, ripe tomatoes, hard-cooked egg, crunchy omega-3 loaded toasted flax seeds, distinctive seasonings like pink peppercorns and lavender flowers, all topped off with peppery olive oil and a squeeze of tart lemon juice.  I don't use a salad bowl; I eat from a Corelle 2-quart serving bowl.  I like to eat my industrial-sized salads with homemade garlic bread, charcuterie, and wine.  Put it this way - I can turn "rabbit food" into gluttony.  I know that people who belong to the Church of Our Savior Calorie Counting will probably shake their heads and immediately write me off as a lunatic when they see that I'm serving a salad alongside slices of fatty pork sausage and a carb dish that uses 1/2 cup of butter, but guess what?  Some people eat salad not because they have an irrational phobia of calories, but simply because - GASP - it tastes good! 

The key to a meal this simple is to use the best possible products you can buy.  Don't use bottled salad dressing - all that's needed to dress a salad is a good extra-virgin olive oil and a lemon.  Don't buy a salami or summer sausage that's loaded with more chemicals than meat (I like Creminelli Salami Tartufo, a spicy pork sausage dotted with bits of black truffle).  Why anyone buys that nitrate-loaded mall kiosk shit is beyond me - once you find a good brand and a seasoning style that you like, you'll never eat that salted & petrified dog food again.  And please don't desecrate my garlic bread recipe by using something that's been on a truck or a shelf for five days; buy a baguette from a local bakery that bakes its goodies on the premises.  As for butter, it is worth it to seek out European-style butters, which have a higher butterfat percentage than American brands.  And for Pete's sake, banish from your brain the thought that eating salad is a merely a means to an end. 


My All-Time Favorite Dinner Salad

2 cups oak leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chicory or dandelion greens, torn into bite-sized pieces
handful baby arugula
3 anchovy fillets, minced
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped
1 T. finely minced onion
1 T. capers, rinsed
a few black olives, sliced
3 cherry tomatoes, quartered
generous splash olive oil
salt & pepper
pinch pink peppercorns
sprinkle of Herbes de Provence
sprinkle of lavender flowers*
sprinkle of toasted flax seeds
sprinkle of toasted pignoli
squeeze of fresh lemon

In a large salad bowl, combine the lettuce, chicory or dandelion, arugula, anchovy, egg, onion, capers, olives, and tomatoes.  Splash the olive oil directly into the bowl, then add the salt, pepper, pink peppercorns, Herbes de Provence, toasted flax seeds, and toasted pignoli.  Toss well until all the lettuce leaves are coated with oil.  Squeeze in the fresh lemon juice, toss again, and serve with garlic bread, sliced salami, and a crisp white wine, such as Pinot Grigio.

Garlic Bread

1/2 cup European-style butter, softened to room temperature
2 cloves garlic, pressed or sliced paper-thin
1 T. peppery olive oil
1 small baguette, sliced on the diagonal

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic and olive oil.  In the meantime, heat your broiler and toast the baguette slices for 1-2 minutes on each side, until they are golden but not burnt. 

Spread each toasted baguette slice with the garlic/butter/oil mixture, then place in the broiler with the oven door open for another 15-20 seconds or so, or until the butter mix has completely melted and seeped into the bread.  Serve on a plate with 1/4" thick slices of salami. 

* Make sure you are using lavender flowers intended for consumption rather than potpourri - non-edible flowers are often loaded with chemicals and preservatives

Eating vs. Refueling, Putting Food On Your Family, Salad and Cocktail Recipes

Time certainly flies when you’re having fun!  I spent this weekend in Portsmouth, NH visiting my mom, and – as always – we spent a majority of the time shopping for food, cooking food, and eating food, with a quick trip to the gym, a visit to the flower gardens at Strawberry Banke, and a few movies and I Love Lucy reruns thrown into the mix.  Compare sprawling out on my mom’s couch in my pajamas, eating a bowl of homemade cream of mushroom soup, and drinking a glass of wine at 3:00 in the afternoon to today’s eating experience – shoving a few Fig Newtons in my mouth between sips of mediocre pre-ground coffee and pesky phone calls, taking in small spoonfuls of Au Bon Pain soup and keeping my fingers crossed that nobody speaks to me while I’m on my lunch break, and hoping I have time to microwave a package of Top Ramen to snack on this afternoon.  There’s eating, and there’s refueling via introducing edible substances to one’s digestive tract.  I much prefer eating.

Remember when George W. remarked, "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family?"  Although eloquence escaped him, he didn't reference putting food on the table or in the refrigerator.  There is a connection between food and family, and the thought that food and family are separate entities is completely foreign to me.  The way I was raised, where there’s food, there’s family, and where there’s family, there’s food.  I know that this isn’t necessarily common anymore, especially among non-Italian families.  I have to wonder if eating together as a family makes a difference in how one approaches food.  Did sharing meals with my mom throughout my childhood cause me to view food as a social tool and not a function of survival?  I don’t dare to explain it; I just sit back and feel thankful that something necessary for my survival happens to be my life’s greatest joy.

So what did my mom and I eat this weekend? Cream of mushroom soup made with homemade chicken stock, bacon-topped stuffed peppers, real mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, pancakes, breakfast sausage, fruit salad, maple nut ice cream, fried green tomatoes, egg salad sandwich rolls, beef tenderloin tips, sautéed broccoli rabe, creamy polenta, mixed green salads, and a fun new whiskey drink – the Gaelic Bellini.

Here are the recipes for two of the above-referenced dishes:

Individual Mixed Green Salads

2 cups shredded green leaf lettuce
1 cup chopped dandelion greens
1 t. finely minced red onion
1 T. grated parmigiano-reggiano
Splash olive oil
Splash wine vinegar *
A few drops chile oil, or a pinch of crushed red chile flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss until well-mixed.

*  Red and white wine vinegar are generally interchangeable. To spruce them up, try adding combinations of herbs and spices. Some of my favorites are: rosemary and de Arbol chiles in red wine vinegar; lavender, crushed fennel seeds, and basil in white wine vinegar; tarragon, crushed green or black peppercorns, and a splash of dry vermouth in white wine vinegar. To make these, simply add 1-2 T. of your selected seasonings to a 12oz. bottle of wine vinegar, shake well every day for about a week, at which time they are ready for use.  I like to combine them in pretty, decorative bottles that would make Martha Stewart proud!



Gaelic Bellini

1 oz. Irish whiskey (I prefer Jameson)
3 oz. peach nectar
3 oz. ginger ale

Combine in a highball glass, stir, and serve.