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by Deborah Dove
With summer heating things up in Texas, the last place most of us want to be is heating anything up in the kitchen. Add in that most of us are looking for lighter fare (goodbye for now to hearty hot casseroles) as well as something simple and quick to prepare so that we can get outside and enjoy the cooler evenings and you’ve got the perfect reason to make a meal out of a salad.
To qualify as an entrée, a salad must be filling and satisfying. To that end, most main dish salads contain a significant amount of protein, whether it’s chicken, steak or beans. Paired with bread, rolls or crackers, you’ve got a meal.
In addition to ease and con-venience, the health benefits of eating a salad as your main course are huge. One cup of leafy green vegetables or salad vegetables (mushrooms, cucumbers, tomato, etc.) is equal to one serving of vegetables, so when your main dish is a salad, you’re getting at least half of the recom-mended five to nine daily servings of vegetables.
Most salads start with a bed of lettuce, and personal preference as well as the flavor of the salad dictates what type of lettuce to choose for your salad. Iceberg is the least nutritious and mildest flavored lettuce, making it popular with kids and ideal for salads with strong flavors.
Green and red leaf lettuce are richer in nutrients (40% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A per one and a half cups) but still fairly mild in flavor, making it the lettuce of choice in my house, since it is versatile, healthy and everyone will eat it.
Iron- and calcium-rich spinach has a hearty mild flavor that pairs well with sweeter flavors such as candied nuts, fruit or fruit-infused vinaigrettes.
Romaine has large, crisp leaves and a slightly sharp flavor that is perfect for Caesar salad, while mixed greens or mesclun, a blend of baby lettuces, endive, radicchio and frisée, are considered more gourmet.
Regardless of which type of lettuce you favor, following are some recipes to get you started.
California Pizza Kitchen Chopped Salad with Herbed Vinaigrette
Herb-Mustard Vinaigrette
1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
2 tsp. minced fresh shallot
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1-1/3 c. pure, mild-flavored olive oil
3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
Salad
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cleaned trimmed and chopped into 1/8 inch-wide strips
1/2 head romaine lettuce, cleaned trimmed and chopped into 1/8 inch-wide strips
12 large leaves basil, chopped into 1/16-inch-wide strips
1 c. salami, cut into thin strips
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c. garbanzo beans
4 c. ripe tomatoes, diced
3 c. (1 lb.) turkey breast, diced
2 Tbs. chopped scallions
To make the dressing:
Process all ingredients except oil and Parmesan using a hand-held, propeller-blade type mixer (or use a whisk in a small bowl). Slowly blend in oil.
When all oil has been incorporated, stir in Parmesan. Set mixture aside in the refrigerator.
To make the salad:
Toss first the 6 ingredients and dressing together in a large mixing bowl. Transfer the salad to chilled salad plates. Surround each serving with a ring of diced tomatoes and top with diced turkey breast. Garnish with chopped scallions.
Deborah Dove is a freelance writer from Allen. |
