In the last CSA box, we had spicy garden lettuce (they plant it with mustard seed! And it sprouts pre-spiced!) mixed salad greens, pea shoots (or sprouts) and spinach. Also kale, but I'm still working on integrating that into our diet.Anyway, Ross made two amazing dinner salads with this bounty over the weekend: BLT salad and Steak and Potatos salad. But you can mix and match to your hearts content, tossing in everything and the kitchen sink.
The base: Mixed greens. Ours were VERY mixed! Also grape tomatoes and slivered red peppers - basically any veg you might like to add to a salad.BLT salad: Saute 1/4 to 1/2 pound bacon with onion rounds until bacon is crispy and onion is soft. Dice cheese of your choice - we use cheddar, since we always have a block of it around. Toss into the greens and add dressing - I put on Creamy Caesar because my kids would eat a 2x4 plank of wood if it had Creamy Caesar on it. Eat while the bacon is still hot!
Steak and potato salad. Ross bought steak tips from the store and marinated them fro an hour in the frig. Then he broiled them until they were medium-well done. Meanwhile, he boiled a package of gnocchi we had stuffed in the back of the freezer and hadn't known what to do with, since it was way too small a helping to feed five.
We tossed the steak tips and gnocchi with the greens and I added my homemade honey mustard dressing: one egg, 1 T spicy mustard, 1T honey and 1 t oil, beaten together. (I actually made more than that, but those are the proportions.) Eat it while the steak is still hot. It was great! Who would have thought to put gnocchi on a salad? My husband, that's who.
Summer and salad go together so well and Ross has put together a couple of really yummy-sounding, unique recipes! Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite summer salads is a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Mixed greens with strawberries and blueberries and a simple balsamic dressing is another favorite summer treat.
I love a good salad and these sound delish!
ReplyDeleteA favorite of ours is one tossed with a few sliced strawberries and walnuts on top and dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette.
Love those recipes Julia--and especially the gnocci addition! I'm still lusting after your neighbors...
ReplyDeleteGnocchi on a salad! You married a fantastic man!
ReplyDeleteI know! Gnocchi! Who woulda thunk?
ReplyDeleteI love salads with fruits and berries mixed with savory tastes like sharp cheese and acidic dressing, but Ross doesn't like to mix fruit with anything but cereal. So if I make chicken curry (with apples) or chicken salad (with grapes) I reserve a non-fruited portion for him.
It's a quirk, but I have a No soggy bread can touch my lips thing, so we have a pact of mutual forbearance.
Creamy Caesar is the trick in your house. I've contended for years that my husband and his brother would eat almost anything if it includes mushrooms!
ReplyDeleteAs to kale--there are a lot a varieties. I like to combine it with fresh corn kernels (along with any other handy vegetables I feel like), whether in a soup or a side dish. The sweetness of the corn is a nice foil for the kale.
Love the idea of the gnocchi being the potato part of your potato salad. Very clever.
Yo, Ross! This is the kind of cooking I love to do -- inventory the fridge and assemble. What I miss most from our CSA is the greens. And the unexpecteds. BTW peapod stems (stir fried with garlic...) are a delicacy that you can find in most good Chinese restaurants ... often not on the menu and it's pricey but delicious.
ReplyDeleteSO YUMMY! Thank you..and cove visit! xoxo
ReplyDeleteGive me a big salad with great stuff—I'm thinking your gnocchi sounds good—and dressing and that's all I need. What could be better?
ReplyDeleteMy latest favorite is steak and blue cheese salad.
Sorry I wasn't timely posting, Julia. This was fun.