Romaine and Artichoke Cobb Salad

This Romaine and Artichoke Cobb Salad is full of bold ingredients with assertive flavors and subtle textures: buttery avocados, rich bacon, sweet tomatoes, fresh floral cilantro, tender artichokes, crisp romaine and tart funky blue cheese vinaigrette. Ingredients that usually play a staring roll work together here to create a bold but balanced salad modeled after the original. A classic Cobb salad features chopped ingredients including bacon, avocado, blue cheese and tomato, and is traditionally made with iceberg lettuce and hard boiled eggs. I swapped in romaine and braised artichokes, and added some fresh cilantro (fresh herbs are amazing on any salad). While my substitutions were simple and easy to imagine, this concept could easily translate to a whole slew of recipes following a few basic principles: chopped ingredients, soft textures, and bold flavors. Try adding or combining poached chicken, tuna, or other chopped meats, corn, mushrooms, lightly steamed veggies like green beans, broccoli, etc, olives, beans, cheese, boiled or roasted potatoes, carrots or beets, and on and on. As a rule of thumb soft and savory ingredients work the best; you don't want any of your ingredients to be sweeter then the tomatoes or crunchier then the lettuce. As you can see this kind of salad is a great way to pack in the flavor and, I have to say, makes it really really easy to eat your vegetables. I few things I would keep in mind: the bacon is necessary, or I should say something must play the roll, and those are mighty big shoes to fill. If your trying to make this dish vegetarian I would try either olives or marinated, pan fried and crumbled tempeh. It is also important that the lettuce is crisp. One of the secrets to this recipe is a roll reversal. Lettuce is usually one of the softest components in a salad, in this case it's crunchy, juicy texture asserts itself, giving the dish the necessary body not supplied by its more glamorous players. This main dish salad is light but loaded; the good stuff in every bight; enlightened with tomatoes, artichokes, crunchy romaine, bracing chili blue cheese vinaigrette, and fresh floral cilantro and more than adequately enriched with avocado and two thick slices of bacon per salad, bacon in every bite, who doesn't like that.


the recipe:

1/4 - 1/3 head romaine lettuce
1/2 - 1 medium tomato
1/4 - 1/3 avocado
2 - 3 baby artichokes
2 thick slices bacon
1-3 tbsp chopped cilantro

vinaigrette:
4 - 5 tbsp blue cheese
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small clove garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
fresh chili, minced, to taste
salt, to taste

Note: You will probably have extra vinaigrette for an additional salad (or not, I don't judge). Also, I've given a range of amounts for many of the ingredients because this recipe is for a single salad; so make it the way you like it, and enjoy!

Add an inch of generously salted water, a squeeze of lemon juice, a grind of pepper, and a tablespoon of olive oil to a saucepan. Clean and trim baby artichokes (see Saveur's how-to slide show), and add to lemon water. Cover and simmer approximately 20 minutes, checking often to prevent over cooking. Drain and cool. Separate, rinse and cut ribs of romaine into half inch slices, dry thoroughly. Fry slices of bacon, drain on paper towels and crumble or chop into small even pieces. Chop avocados and tomatoes and braised artichokes into small even size pieces. Mince and smash garlic with a pinch of salt and combine with lemon juice, red wine vinegar, sugar, chili, and salt. Crumble in large chunks of blue cheese; whisk vigorously and slowly drizzle in olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Lightly dress chopped romaine with a few tablespoons of vinaigrette and mound on plate. Arrange remaining ingredients over top or along side and top with chopped cilantro and additional blue cheese vinaigrette. Serves 1.

Curry Chicken Salad

This is, with out a doubt, the best chicken salad I've ever made. (It's also the only time I recall making something with saffron that tasted like saffron, and tasted good!) Its subtle, but full flavored. The first flavor you get is chicken, then just enough curry to know its there, followed by nutty almond, cut occasionally by a burst of sweet raisin, with on unexpected finish of saffron. These starring ingredients wouldn't work without the foundation of complex vegetal flavor: the peppers adding sweetness, the onion: bite, and the celery: freshness. I was pleasantly surprised by the great texture of this salad. The veggies happily play a supporting roll, unnoticeable except to give some structure.

I think some of the keys to its nuanced flavor are, first: the curry powder. While no universal recipe exists, there are two obviously different categories: British/Indian and Jamaican styles. I say style, because Curry Powder is a western invention. In India they generally use fresh ground aromatics and spices for their sauces. Curry powder was brought to the UK and then to the Caribbean, where it was further altered to suit local tastes and ingredients (most notably allspice). In the past I had used a Jamaican style curry powder, (which I do use in my Curry Tuna Salad). This time I used an Indian variety, (Maharajah Curry Powder from Penzy Spices), that had one unique addition: saffron, which turned out to go beautifully with the second star of this dish and my favorite element in the salad; roasted almonds. The combo was a huge success. The floral nature of Indian curry powder and saffron was perfectly balanced by the rich, toasted, nutty flavor. (A similar effect could be achieved by adding a couple of threads of saffron to your favorite Indian curry powder blend.)

I know most people don't own saffron, but haven't you always wanted a reason to buy some?


the recipe:

1 1/2 cups shredded poached chicken
2 tbsp. onion, minced
1 sm. stalk celery, sliced
1/3 orange or red bell pepper, small diced
2 tbsp. raisins
2 tbsp. roasted almonds, chopped
1/2-2/3 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tsp. Indian curry powder
2-3 threads saffron
fresh ground black pepper
salt

In small bowl, add saffron to curry powder and crush thoroughly with the back of a spoon, (or crush with mortar and pestle.) In Larger bowl, Mix chicken, onion, celery, pepper, raisins, and mayonnaise (you may need more or less mayonnaise depending on the moistness of your chicken). Season with salt and pepper, and gradually add your curry powder blend until you can clearly identify your chicken salad as curry, but no more. Let rest for ten minutes or more for flavors to marry. Stir in almonds, taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve on soft dense wheat bread with green leaf lettuce. Makes two sandwiches.

Sicilian Orange Salad

As the end of citrus season approaches, (fall through spring) I thought, I better make my favorite citrus dish: a savory orange salad. I think I first saw this salad on Lidia's Italy on PBS(love that show, love PBS). I did a little Googling and found out this is a traditional Sicilian dish: Nzalata D'Aranci Pattuali, usually made with a local, slightly tart variety of orange, or blood oranges.



















This salad is a really good example of the importance of balance in cooking. There are only a handful of ingredients, and a pretty unexpected combo, but the effect is both refined and accessible. I know a lot of people will look at the pile of onions on top and think "no way", but I promise the flavor of the onions is completely mellowed and balanced by the oranges. The sweet tart juice from the fruit combines on the plate with extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper, creating, in essence, a simple vinaigrette.

I used regular Spanish onions here, but red onions taste the same, and look stunning with regular orange-oranges. I would be curious to try sweet Walla Walla or Maui onions, though I worry they would be overpowered by the citrus. I also put in a few lemon and lime slices, which isn't for everybody. I like the extreme tartness. But I wouldn't put them in if your serving this to friends or family and are unsure of there preferences. I think the only citrus fruit I haven't tried in this salad is grapefruit, which would probably be good. One of my favorite renditions was with Meyer lemon (a sweet mellow lemon), awesome!




















the recipe:

3 oranges
1/2 onion
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
salt

Using a sharp knife remove the peel and pith from oranges. Slice oranges and onions crosswise into approx. quarter inch. slices. (If oranges are on the dry side reserve half of one orange and squeeze juice over top. If you are unhappy with the flavor of your oranges, a little sugar usually helps) Arrange orange slices on a serving platter and top with onion slices. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, and grind over top a generous amount of black pepper. Sprinkle directly on onions a pinch or two of salt.



















We actually unknowingly bought these beautiful pink oranges. They look just like any other orange on the outside, and taste like a regular orange, but have a slightly grapefruity smell, and light salmon color.