Lentils and chickpeas are a match made in heaven, at least in my book. I was picturing this lentil and chickpea salad with a spicy dressing and pickled onions–a riff on a recipe I’d made last fall for Christopher’s birthday–and was inspired by the tahini dressing I found in [this version from Smitten Kitchen. I love this served beside a butter lettuce salad tossed with Go-To Vinaigrette and topped with crumbled goat cheese!
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I used to make this Greek salad at the “Souvlaki Stand” on the island of Corfu. To this day, it remains my favorite summer salad. It’s classic. It’s simple. It can be a meal or a side. It’s the epitome of summer vegetables in their simple glory.
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I can’t tell you how much I love this salad. Butter lettuce has a delicate, sweet crunch to it, and its crevices catch the nubbins in the vinaigrette perfectly. It’s crazy simple, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to Frittatas, Soft Scrambled Eggs, Simplest Roast Chicken, Crispy Curry Quinoa Cakes … you name it.
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It’s amazing what you can pull together when you’ve spent time creating tasty basics. Slow-cooked duck legs with fall-off-the-bone meat can live in the freezer until you’re ready for them, and lentils come together in a flash and can keep nearly all week. The result? One nourishing entree in the form of a fresh frisee salad.
2 Revelationary Duck Confit legs
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 heads frisée, torn
1/4 cup Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette
2 cups All-Purpose French Lentils
Place duck legs in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat and crisp on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Remove to a cutting board, pull meat from bone and shred. Add onion to pan and sauté for 5 minutes, until golden brown.
In the meantime, toss the frisée with the vinaigrette and mound into 4 bowls. Scatter evenly with lentils, onions and duck, and serve.
Serves 4
One of Richard’s all-time favorite lunchtime treats is an old-school Cobb salad–a feast of salad greens, chopped chicken, hard-cooked eggs, tomatoes, avocado, bacon and whatever other fixings the chef decides to add. When it’s done carelessly, the Cobb salad is a sloppy tossed-together mess. When it’s done well, it’s served as a composed salad with each ingredient artfully arranged on a platter or in a large bowl. It’s as much a treat for the eye as for the palate. It’s also a classic entree salad.
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The Cobb is an excellent example of the virtues of a composed salad, since it’s all about improvising with what you have on hand to create something greater than the sum of its parts. It was invented in the 1930s by Bob Cobb (awesome name!), owner of the long-gone landmark Hollywood restaurant The Brown Derby, when he raided the restaurant’s kitchen late one night in search of leftovers for a snack.
The elements of a composed salad can be as involved as Cobb’s concoction or as simple as a caprese salad. (With its tomatoes beautifully arrayed on a platter, topped with mozzarella and basil, and drizzled with olive oil, the caprese counts as a composed salad; a wintertime version of this might be thinly sliced orange topped with shaved fennel.) It’s only limited by your imagination–and what’s in the fridge. It’s the perfect opportunity to mix and match recipe elements to create something entirely different. Some building blocks to consider include:
Greens. Composed salads don’t have to include greens, but they often do, as a bed for the rest of the ingredients. Experiment with different types of greens, such as frisee, peppery arugula or mizuna, crunchy Napa cabbage, tender Bibb lettuce, or bitter, crunchy endive.
Dressing. Choose a dressing that underscores the overall flavor profile of your salad. Lia’s super-easy Go-To Vinaigrette can be pulled in any direction, depending on the type of oil or vinegar you use. For instance, give it an Asian flair with rice vinegar and ginger instead the white wine vinegar and shallots.
Other veggies. A composed salad is a great opportunity to raid the crisper. One of our favorites is roasted beets, which you can add warm or cold.
Protein. To make your salad entree-worthy, add a substantial protein, such as shrimp, smoked fish or shredded poultry. Hard-cooked eggs are another option.
Fruit. Embellish with seasonal fruit. For example, add shaved apple or sliced persimmon, or dress it up with sections of citrus. Sprinkle on some pomegranate seeds for color and tart flavor.
Grains and legumes. Lia’s Frisee Salad with Lentils and Duck Confit, below, is an ideal example of how legumes–lentils, in this case–fit into a composed salad. Grains like quinoa, bulgur and even rice would work, as well.
Other garnishes. Crown your creation with a sprinkling of crumbled bacon or cheese, toasted nuts or minced herbs.
Whew! What it’s been quite a week of cooking and eating! By the time Sunday night rolls around, you’ll appreciate our nourishing Asian-flavored soup-and-salad menu.
To start:
A touch of white miso paste adds heft to the dressing for our Fennel, Red Onion and Blood Orange Salad with Miso-Orange Vinaigrette. Blood oranges are just starting to come into season here in California. If you can’t find them yet, substitute regular oranges. It’ll be just as delicious!
Main event:
From the dashi base to the bok choy and udon noodles, everything about Lia’s Simple Udon Soup will make you sigh, “Ahhhh.” Even better, it comes together in about 20 minutes, and you can add the last of that leftover Thanksgiving turkey to the pot.
Sweet treat:
This supper is all about keepin’ it light, so you don’t want anything too heavy for dessert. Earlier in the afternoon, pop a batch of our Blood Orange Granita in the freezer. Here, too, you can sub regular oranges or even tangerine juice if you can’t find blood oranges.
This wheat berry salad always wows those new to whole grains. The smokiness of the grilled tomatoes, creaminess of the eggplant and haunting complexity of the spice paste create quite a sensation. Soft wheat berries have a toothsome starchy quality that works well in this recipe.
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This salad, which I learned from Mama Kourtesi in Greece, is the essence of “whole eating.” She boils both beets and their greens and tosses it all in a simple dressing of oil and vinegar for a surprisingly tasty, super-versatile salad or side dish.
1-1/2 pounds baby beets with greens attached
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Trim the leaves from the beets a half-inch from the base of the stem. Wash, dry and chop the leaves.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add beet roots, lower heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, and cook for 20-35 minutes (depending on size), until the tip of a sharp knife can penetrate to the beet’s center without resistance. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beets to a bowl and let cool until manageable. Peel and cut into 1/2-inch wedges.
Bring water back up to a boil and add beet greens. Boil for 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stems are tender. Drain well.
Mix together beets and greens in a large salad bowl ,and toss with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 4
A mandolin makes easy work of this salad. Use the flat blade to slice the fennel and onion as thinly as possible, and the julienne blade to cut the apples; or slice the apple and then cut lengthwise into long planks. I like to use Point Reyes Blue Cheese, which is a farmstead cheese made locally in Marin County.
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 pound bitter greens, such as escarole, cleaned and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 fennel bulbs, sliced as thinly as possible
1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium Granny Smith apples, halved, cored and cut into matchsticks (or cut into slices 1/8-inch thick and then cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch planks)
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Shake together oil, vinegar, honey, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper in a tight-sealing jar.
Toss together greens, fennel, onion and apples. Drizzle dressing over top and toss well. Divide mixture among 4 plates. Scatter pine nuts and blue cheese over top.
Serves 4
The seeds for this piece were planted when, on a trying evening, I recruited my daughter to help me make a “special” salad and pouts and whines (from both of us) turned to laughter and pensive smiles. Here’s a poem inspired by the spirit of that night . . .
‘Twas a night before Christmas and all through the day, visions of pomegranates and persimmons had played.
I thought to myself, “What a lovely salad this would be,” and was pretty darned sure my husband would agree.
When what to my weary knees should appear, but a wailing toddler in full princess gear.
“My shoes don’t fit, my nose it runs, and I don’t like the look of this one!”
Up to her stool I whisked her, inspired. I gathered my fruits. “Will you help me?” I inquired.
I filled a bowl with water and placed it before her. Then ripped open a pomegranate and gave her a quarter.
“You see?” I teased out the garnet seeds. “They’re beautiful,” I said, and my daughter agreed.
She splashed joyfully and, with surprising speed, managed to get out every last little seed.
By this time, both of our spirits were soaring and suddenly this salad was anything but boring.
A handful of pecans onto parchment I spread, and taught Noemi to crush them without hitting her head.
She patted and shaped each cheese disc just right, while I dressed the greens and the persimmons did slice.
We assembled the salad and then took our places, and I noticed with joy smiles on everyone’s faces.
Our plates were full, our hearts were light. A delicious meal for all, and for all a good night.
