JAMES’ LEMON SALAD DRESSING

We had a simple salad of arugula, shaved parmesan and grilled flank steak and James made this dressing to go with it. He made it up 20 years ago after watching some Louisiana cooking show and forgot about it until today. Ingredient amounts are APPROXIMATE.


Zest and juice of one lemon
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustart
1 tablespoon anchovy paste
¼ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together first three ingredients in a medium bowl. Slowly stream in oil, whisking to emulsify. Add salt pepper and more of other ingredients to taste. Toss with strong salad green of choice, like arugula.

CILANTRO-LIME SALAD DRESSING

I served this over arugula and toasted sliced almonds (get the raw ones with skins on and just put in the toaster oven or in a skillet) and it was fantastic. From RECIPES FROM AMERICA’S SMALL FARMS. It has kept well in the frig for a week; you just have to take it out, allow to come to room temp and shake to use.

¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
½ cup olive oil

Put the first six ingredients in a jar and shake to combine (or a bowl and whisk). Add olive oil and shake to combine (or whisk in).

TSATZIKI

Something about all the cucumbers around has made me want to make this Greek stuff. Cool and refreshing – TSATZIKI is great as a sauce in a pita sandwich or as a dip with pita chips or raw veggies, or as a sauce over chicken or lamb. I combined several recipes, none of which are probably traditionally Greek, but it came out pretty yummy and I’ve used it all week.

2 medium cucumbers, shredded (you don’t have to peel it, but not all the peel gets used, which is fine)
salt
1 pint (lb.s) plain Greek yogurt (this is key for the consistency – otherwise you have to do this whole thing with draining the yogurt through cheesecloth)
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 splash olive oil
1 – 4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 – 2 teaspoons minced mint leaves
pepper

Place the shredded cucumber in a sieve, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Allow to drain for a while (cover with a cloth).
Mix together the rest of the ingredients, cover, and refrigerate for about an hour.
Squeeze as much liquid out of the cucumber as you can, add to the yogurt mix and refrigerate until serving. This makes a pretty chunky dip/sauce. If you want it to be smoother, use an immersion blender to puree a bit more. Lasts in the frig for about a week.

BASIC VINIAGRETTE

Tried this from “Recipes from America’s Small Farms”, which has a lot of “Basic” recipes that give you a structure from which to improvise. As store bought salad dressings are really rather highly processed, I usually just throw on some oil and vinegar – but I liked this method of soaking the garlic in the vinegar and then removing it. I made it in my 2 cup liquid measuring cup and then poured it into a leftover jar for storage.

Add a halved and crushed clove or two of garlic to 1/3 cup vinegar and let sit for 1 – 24 hours. Remove the garlic, add fresh or dried herbs of choice and then slowly whisk in 2/3 cup olive oil.

ROASTED BEET SALAD

This is a recipe cobbled together from Martha Stewarts’ "What to Have for Dinner" and from my bible of sorts, "Vegetables Every Day" by Jack Bishop. I have served it to many who “didn’t like beets” and they loved it. Healthy AND yummy.

1 lb. beets (small are nice)
½ teaspoon good grainy mustard
2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar (this is essential if pricey – Whole Foods has it)
pinch of sugar
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 large bunch arugula or the beet greens (if they’re nice) or swiss chard
feta or goat cheese, crumbled
toasted walnuts or pecans


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets, remove root end if it is long and cut off greens leaving a 2 inch “handle”. Reserve greens (see HOW TO COOK GREENS if you want to use them for the salad.) Place 2 -3 beets in an aluminum foil pouch, sealed tightly. Create as many pouches as necessary to cook all the beets, trying to keep like sized beets together. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 – 60 minutes, until a tester proves the beets to be tender (you can poke right through the foil.)

Remove from oven and open pouches to let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, keeping them in the pouch to contain the juicy mess, use paper towels to scrape the skins off of the beets, holding onto you’re the greens handle. Slice into bite size rounds or half moons and set aside.

For vinaigrette, whisk together mustard, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the beets in the viniagrette, serve on a bed of arugula or cooked greens (see HOW TO COOK GREENS!) with crumbled cheese and toasted nuts sprinkled on top.

SPINACH SALAD WITH ORANGES AND ALMONDS

This is from Bon Appetit. Cutting and de-pithing the oranges is a bit of work, but worth it. I think Navels are the easiest. If you want to be adventurous, look for greens at the market to add to or replace the baby spinach, like baby tatsoi or chard or even purslane (which is some kind of weed but tasty and apparently exceptionally good for you). Others who have made this recipe have loved the dressing in and of itself – on other salads, that is, not by itself.

Dressing:
3 green onions, minced (I have an aversion to these so I sub shallots)
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon orange zest

4 oranges
about 1 lb. baby spinach or other greens
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted (you can get these with skins on at TJ’s which are better for you than blanched almonds with no skins)

Mix the onions/shallots in small bowl with the vinegar and let sit while you prepare the oranges.

Cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over medium bowl, cut between membranes to release segments.

Whisk remaining dressing ingredients into onions and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Dressing and oranges can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill. Rewhisk dressing before using.)

Combine spinach, half of almonds, and all orange segments in large bowl with enough dressing to coat. Divide among 6 plates. Sprinkle with almonds.

Makes 6 servings.