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Green Papaya Salad

4 Oct
I almost always order one of two items at Thai restaurants: Tom Yum Gai or Green Papaya Salad.  It wasn’t always that way though.  A  Molly Wizenberg article convinced me to try this salad sometime ago and I haven’t regretted the decision.   I feel compelled to pass the advice along. 

Don’t spurn this dish if you aren’t a fan of papaya.  Green papaya is an unripened papaya that doesn’t have much of a flavor at all.  It makes a wonderful canvas for the intense flavors of the dressing.
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Kale and Quinoa Salad

9 Aug
This will be my fourth salad post in a row, so I plan to mix it up next time.  Especially since this blog was supposed to be about baking…

Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto serves this salad (aka Super Salad) and I know more than a few people who have made this their go-to dish.  Personally, I am not a big fan of kale but this salad has somewhat converted me.

One of the things I dislike most about kale is the texture.  The Dinosaur Kale called for in this recipe is thick and has an embossed, bumpy texture…not very appetizing.  In my opinion, the trick to making Dinosaur Kale palatable is to beat the leaves into submission:  Remove the thick rib down the middle and then thinly slice the leaves into ribbons.  Alternatively, if you just can’t stand kale, substitute arugula, no chopping required.

Continue reading 

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

8 Aug

What should you do with leftover roasted mushrooms, avocado and spinach after making Spinach Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado and Mushroom?  Make Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.  Just fry up some bacon, use the drippings to make a simple dressing and add a tomato.  If you don’t want to make the vinaigrette, use Marie’s Spinach Salad Dressing (available in the refrigerated salad section of the grocery store).  It can be difficult to find this specific Marie’s dressing, so I’ve included my own version in case you can’t find it. Continue reading 

Avocado, Grapefruit and Roasted Mushroom Spinach Salad

5 Jul

I haven’t been eating very many salads lately because I have been somewhat tired of the salads I usually make, which generally consist of greens, fruit, cheese, nuts and a sweet dressing.  Luckily, dinner at Calafia Cafe got me out of my rut and inspired me to make three new salads. The first salad (featured below) is my take on the Noho Salad at Calafia and is very simple to make.  Although the combination of grapefruit, avocado and roasted mushroom might sound strange at first, it really delivers a nice balance of savory, tart and sweet. Continue reading 

Shaved Asparagus Salad

2 Jun
We went to Commonwealth in San Francisco for dinner a few Saturday nights ago and had a great meal.  The menu is comprised of a few different groupings of small plates and of the dishes I had, most impressive was the shaved asparagus.  I was amazed at how simple ingredients could come together so deliciously.  With asparagus being readily available this time of year, I decided to give it a spin at home.  The full description read as:

asparagus, crushed avocado, nasturtium, olive, chicory root, almond, meyer lemon

Now I do not know of a grocery store that regularly carries nasturtium or chicory root, and being Sunday I could not go to the Ferry Building Farmers Market to search for those ingredients.  One other ingredient I had to do without was dehydrated black olives, specks of which accompanied the dish.  As you can imagine, the little dried crumbs added a burst of salty flavor that is hard to imitate.   Nonetheless, I used a little creativity to re-create the dish at home.   Continue reading 
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