Salad Recipes

Recipe for Classic Vinaigrette

Usually the Accidental Locavore makes a vinaigrette using lemon juice and olive oil, but every now and then you need to revert to a classic  French vinaigrette.

• 1 small shallot or garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/4  cup good red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (smooth or coarse or a mix)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence (optional)

Put everything in a jar and shake it up, otherwise, add everything to a small bowl or measuring cup and beat it with a fork until well combined. It will start to thicken as it becomes emulsified. Pour over salad greens, toss to mix well, serve and enjoy!

 

Accidental Locavore Recipe for Cranberry Beans From Two Continents

The Accidental Locavore had a bunch of fresh cranberry beans, but feel free to use dried. If using dried, soak overnight in water to cover by 1″. The next day, put beans and soaking water in a large pot and cook as below. Your cooking time will probably be longer. No matter whether you’re using fresh or dried beans, you never want to salt them until you’ve soaked and cooked them or they’ll get tough.

Here are two cold (room temperature better)versions of salads using cranberry beans..

For both of them, shell the cranberry beans.

Cranberry Beans Italian Style

• 1 large crushed garlic clove
• 3 fresh sage leaves
• 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• ¼-1/2 cup good olive oil (depending on how many beans)
• Salt & pepper
• 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar (optional, but it perks up the beans)

Cook the beans with the crushed garlic and the 3 whole sage leaves, in a medium large pot of water, covering the beans by about an inch (do not salt the water!). Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the beans. Put the beans in a serving bowl, toss with the olive oil, chopped sage, vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Enjoy! Rosemary would work well here instead of the sage, and I can’t help thinking a little diced bacon might be interesting.

Cranberry Beans Middle Eastern Style (a riff on ful medames)

• 1-2 crushed garlic cloves
• ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
• ¼-1/2 cup good olive oil (depending on how many beans)
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
• Salt & pepper

Cook the beans with 1 clove of the crushed garlic in a medium large pot of water, covering the beans by about an inch (do not salt the water!). Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the beans, and reserve the bean liquid. Put the beans in a serving bowl, mash slightly with a fork, add some of the bean liquid (it should be almost soupy), toss with the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Which is your favorite?

Accidental Locavore: Recipe for French Potato Salad With Bacon

The Accidental Locavore loves to make this easy French potato salad with bacon and red onion. This feed about 4 and is easily doubled or triple if you’re feeding a crowd. Added bonus? Great to take on a picnic, no mayo or eggs to worry about.

• 1 pound small potatoes
• 3 strips bacon, cut into 1/2” strips (lardons)
• 1 small red onion, minced
• ½ cup olive oil (depending on how fatty your bacon is, you may not need this much oil)
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 shallot, minced
• Salt & pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan, cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. I like a lot of surface area for the potatoes, so I usually cut them in halves or quarters. Drain and put in bowl.  Add the onion to the bowl.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a small frying pan cook the bacon over medium heat, until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Pour the bacon fat into a small bowl. Add the shallots, thyme, vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard and mix until well blended. Taste and add the olive oil as needed, blending to emulsify the dressing. Pour the dressing over the warm potatoes and the onions. Toss to mix. Refrigerate until cool, serve and enjoy.

Accidental Locavore Recipe for Potato Salad With Pepperoni

Since the Accidental Locavore had so many beautiful fingerling potatoes, it was time for another potato salad. This one is adapted from the NY Times to feed 4 as a side dish. I left the garlic in with my potatoes, but you can take it out if you want. This is a pretty quick and easy recipe for a nicely spicy potato salad.  It’s also a good picnic potato salad as there’s nothing to worry about spoiling (except your appetite!).

• 1 pound small potatoes
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6-8 sprigs thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• Salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 fresh sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon oregano (fresh or dried)
• 4 ounces pepperoni, finely chopped
• 4 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Ground black pepper.

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add potatoes, garlic, thyme, peppercorns and 2 tablespoons of salt, then boil until potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes depending on size.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add sage and oregano and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the pepperoni, lower heat to medium-low, and render fat from the meat for about 2 minutes. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. When the potatoes are done, drain them, discard thyme and peppercorns, and lightly crush potatoes with the back of a fork. Keep warm in a bowl, covered with a kitchen towel.

4. Add the vinegar to the skillet and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour mixture over warm potatoes, toss and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve and enjoy.

 

Accidental Locavore: Recipe for Spicy Cherry Tomato Salad

This is a great, easy salad and a good way to use a bunch of cherry tomatoes. Use as much or as little cayenne as you like. If you like cilantro, you can substitute it for the parsley, or do half and half. Serves 4.

• 24 cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (use the good stuff here)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
• Salt to taste

In a medium bowl, add the tomatoes, chile and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, mustard, cayenne pepper, mustard, olive oil and salt together. Pour over the tomatoes and toss to combine.

The Accidental Locavore Recipe: Arugula Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette

The Accidental Locavore thinks arugula is a great local salad green either on its own, or with other greens. I like it tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette and some freshly shaved Parmesan. This also works on a grilled pizza bianco with some prosciutto. Because it’s so simple, this is a good excuse to use all the fancy olive oil, sea salt etc, that you’ve been hoarding. Easy and delicious. Here’s the locavore’s  vinaigrette recipe:

• 1 bunch of arugula, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
• ¼ cup olive oil (use the good stuff here where it will make a difference)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• About ¼ cup shaved Parmesan (use a vegetable peeler on a block of Parmesan, you can use grated if that’s all you have)

Put the arugula in a bowl big enough to hold it with room to toss. Sprinkle the olive oil over the greens, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and Parmesan. Toss gently until all the leaves are well coated. Serve and enjoy.

Recipes: French Potato Salad, Party Colored Coleslaw

Last week, theAccidental Locavore was using up the last of the latest farmbasket and anticipating company so I whipped up a batch of potato salad and coleslaw. I’m not a big fan of mayo and egg based potato salad so my fat delivery system comes via bacon. Here’s my version of a French potato salad:

• Wash and cut into small chunks about a dozen small potatoes. I used small corollas, but new potatoes work fine too.
• Cook in salted water to cover, until fork tender.
• While the potatoes are cooking, slowly cook about 4-5 slices of thick bacon, sliced into 1/2″ matchsticks until browned and the fat is rendered.
• Drain the potatoes and put in a large bowl.
• Add 1 red onion chopped and about a tablespoon of fresh thyme (leaves stripped from the stems). You can also use fresh tarragon.
• Remove the bacon from the pan and add to the potatoes.
• Pour the bacon fat into a small heatproof bowl. Add red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and about 1-2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Mix well and pour over the potatoes. Toss until the dressing is absorbed.
• You may need to add a little olive oildepending on how much fat the bacon has rendered. I like my salad dressing to be a little more acid than oily so I usually do about a 50-50 oil to acid ratio, but it’s up to you to adjust to taste.

For the party colored coleslaw, shred in a food processor with the shredding disk:

• 1 small head purple cabbage
• 1 each red,orange, and yellow peppers
• 1-2 carrots (peeled)

Put in a mixing bowl. Add 1 onion finely chopped (I used a red one, keeping with the party colors)

Mix in:

• About a cup of mayonnaise (I used my own)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup juice from a container of dill pickles (if you have it)
• Salt and pepper

Adjust to taste, serve and enjoy.

Recipe: Tabouli (Couscous Salad)

Tabouli is one of theAccidental Locavore’s favorite summer salads. You need to be patient and wait for really good ripe tomatoes, trust me! It’s easy to make, I chop everything myself, but you could easily use a food processor.

• Rinse 1 cup of couscous in a good sized bowl
• Add 1/4 cup of water and let stand for about 30 minutes until it’s light and fluffy (by the time you’re done with everything else it’s usually fine)
• Chop into a small dice 1-2 ripe tomatoes (I used one big guy)
• Chop into a small dice 1 small onion (I used a beautiful red one from the farm down the road)
• Chop a big handful of parsley (I used flat leaf from the garden)
• Chop a big handful of mint (also from my garden)
• Add all the chopped ingredients to the couscous
• Mix in the juice of 1-2 lemons (depending on size), about 1/2 cup good olive oil
• Add 1 TSP each salt, pepper, and allspice
• Taste and adjust to your liking. I personally like a lot of mint, allspice, and lemon. Other people like a lot more parsley, and some add a little cinnamon.

You can serve at room temperature, or chilled. Toasted pita is a good accompaniment, but trust me, steak tartare, corn and a glass of rose, work well too!

Recipe: Kohl Slaw or What I’ve Learned About Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is an alien vegetable. It looks like it came from another planet, and very few people know what to do with it (like me), but like anything else, if you network it enough, you get ideas…

From one of my Twitter queries, I found a quick and easy recipe for kohlrabi slaw. It’s really good and tastes like a cross between celery remoulade and coleslaw. It’s got a bit of a spicy bite to it, that cabbage doesn’t have. With one piece of kohlrabi, I made enough for about four people.

• Peel the kohlrabi (this is the hardest part) and cut into chunks.
• Run it though the shredder disc of your food processor, or julienne on a mandolin.
• Toss with lemon juice (I used the juice of 1 1/2 lemons), olive oil (the good stuff), salt, pepper, and capers.
• I might add some julienned radishes for color and taste.
• Carrots could work too, for a more traditional coleslaw approach.
• I did add some of the garlic comfit puree but think it tasted fresher without it. Dijon mustard might work better.

So are you going to give this alien veg a try? Let me know what you think.

Accidental Locavore Recipe: Salad Nicoise

Finally local and fresh, or a lot more local and a lot fresher than it’s been. Here’s an incredible salad the Accidental Locavore made, mostly sourced from the Union Square Greenmarket. Not sure how many points I’d get from the French for authenticity, but it’s the joie de vivre that they’d appreciate. Salad Nicoise is all about riffing on the basic, with whatever looks good at the market. I had a couple of nice tuna steaks, so I was off to a good if non-traditional start.

• Boiling the eggs, the potatoes, steaming and shocking* your green beans ahead of time is a good idea. That way everything has a chance to cool down. In the summer, if it’s really hot out I do all the boiling stuff early in the morning, let it cool and refrigerate. Then all you’re left with is a construction challenge.

• I use these really big square black plates, cover them with a bed of mesclun from Migliorelli Farm up in Dutchess County. Then the hard boiled eggs (local from Quattro’s), quartered the long way. A handful of potatoes. This time I used some lovely fingerlings, and brilliant baby purple potatoes(check them out in the photo), from the Greenmarket. When tomatoes are in season, I mix up small ones of different color, but this time I just halved some grape tomatoes, mostly so they don’t squirt when you try to eat them. Another handful of capers, some Nicoise olives, artichoke hearts, beautiful French radishes, and of course, haricots verts (the skinny cousin of a green bean). Fresh herbs like basil, tarragon are great if you have them, and some scallions or chopped red onion are good too.  For my husband, sliced beets, and a few anchovies.
• Since I was working with fresh tuna, I simply seared it quickly, and sliced it over the salad. If I use canned tuna, I use either the Spanish or Italian tuna in olive oil. Do not try this with canned tuna in water. You will hate yourself for it.

• For the dressing I put the juice of half a lemon in a jar with some red wine vinegar, olive oil (good quality), a small garlic clove minced fine, or put through a press, salt, pepper, and a big spoonful of Dijon mustard. If you should have any dried Herbs de Provence, crush a large pinch of them and add to the jar. Put the top on the jar and shake until all is combined and it begins to thicken slightly. Pour over the salad and enjoy! A bottle of rose, and chunks of baguette and you’re set, bon appetit!

*To shock beans (or any other veggie) and stop them from cooking; prepare a bowl with ice and water. When they’re done cooking dump them in the ice water. I use a colander filled with ice and spray cold water over them from the faucet.

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