More on Salad
Yesterday I wrote on a salad I’d made with arugula, shallot dressing, strawberries, toasted almonds and honeyed goat cheese. (My spidey sense said that hazelnuts would have been better than almonds, but the latter were what I had on hand.) Balance of flavor, texture, and amount of dressing is key to a successful salad. I worked with a woman who shared her favorite combination one day as we waited in line at the salad bar: spinach, grape tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, asparagus, kalamata olives, garlic croutons, and shaved parmesan in a Caesar dressing. Here are a few more combinations I recommend.
Granny Smith apples, gouda cheese, and almonds
Fuji or Braeburn apples, Roquefort or goat cheese and walnuts
D’anjou pears, Roquefort cheese and pecans
Pomegranate seeds, Roquefort cheese (no nuts necessary; the seeds have crunch)
Mandarin orange segments, slivered almonds and raspberry dressing over butter lettuce (no cheese with mandarin oranges)
Segmented oranges, buffalo mozzarella, almonds and balsamic dressing over spinach
Peaches or nectarines, pea-sized dabs of mascarpone, pecans or almonds
Roquefort is my favorite blue to use. I pop it in the freezer while I assemble the other ingredients, then use the vegetable peeler to shave thin slices over each salad.
One of the most common ways to ruin a good salad is to overdress it. It is best to dress the salad just before serving, pouring on a little at a time, then fluffing or tossing with your hands for the best distribution. Add more in small amounts only as necessary. Most of the items I mentioned–fruit, cheese and nuts–should be added to indidual servings once the greens are dressed.
April 22nd, 2005 at 9:40 am
Hmm, I’ll have to try some of these combinations. One salad my mom and I make is fresh pears — we get them near Christmas — and add bleu cheese and a light oil and vinegar dressing. I suppose you could add some sort of nut as well, but I can’t eat them.
April 22nd, 2005 at 3:02 pm
If you can’t eat nuts, try for something else that is crunchy, like fried shallots or leeks, cubed roasted potato (also a good sub for croutons) or croutons made of rosemary bread.