salad – Stephfood CLONE

Lentil Salad w Fennel, Arugula, Orange

Salad season is here, and I’m back on the hunt for salads with substance. This lentil salad is full of good stuff.

One thing you may notice when looking at the recipe… my photos are missing the feta. Man, oh, man! Don’t forget the feta! Sure, the salad was great without it, but the feta adds a great tang and saltiness that makes it so much better. Initially, I was going to leave the feta “optional”. No longer.

You are not allowed to skip the feta.

Lentil Salad w Fennel – sadly, missing the feta

I love lentils, but they feel like such a winter food. Stews, soups, rich sauces – they’re mostly associated with winter comfort food. I wanted to show how easy it is to incorporate them into summer cooking. They are so incredibly good for you, and are really quick to cook up from dry.

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Arugula and Orange

Ingredients

2 cups dried lentils (green or brown)
4 cups arugula
⅔ cup olive oil
1 large orange
1 small garlic clove, peeled
salt and pepper, to taste
1 small fennel bulb, quartered
feta, crumbled, to serve

Preparation

Add dried lentils to a large pot of water. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and leave for 30 minutes. The lentils should be tender, but still intact.
Once cooked and drained well, put into a large bowl.
While the lentils are cooking, grill the fennel quarters just until they have some grill marks on them. Remove from the grill and set aside.
Zest the orange until you have 1 teaspoon. Set zest aside.
Half the orange, and juice one half. You should have about ¼ cup of orange juice. Add juice to reserved zest and set aside.
Carefully cut the orange segments out of the last half of the orange. Carefully peel off and discard the membrane covering the segments and pull the orange apart into smaller pieces. Add to the fennel and set aside.
Put half the arugula, olive oil, garlic, and the orange zest and juice into a food processor. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss with the lentils.
Fold in the rest of the arugula, grilled fennel and orange segments.
Crumble a bit of feta on top and serve.

Warm Chickpea Salad

Salad season is almost upon us… almost. This chickpea dish can be served warm or cold, depending on how co-operative the weather is being

This time around, we ate it warm.

I just got a new zester, so I’m a little obsessed with putting lemon zest in stuff. I love the blend of lemon zest, olive oil and chili flakes. Oh so good!

I’m also a sucker for nicely sautéed leeks – white AND green parts, thankyouverymuch! Sometimes I just cook up a bunch of them, and add them to every dish. It makes a really good condiment.

To prepare leeks:

cut off the root end, and the dried tops
half each leek across where the white meets the green
half the white part lengthwise, and do the same for the greens (by breaking them where they fold)
WASH LEEKS VERY VERY WELL – dirt gets into the layers of the leek, so put them under running water and wash in between the layers as best you can
drain well

They take a bit of prep, but are really worth it! I usually prep the whole bunch at once, and keep them in a ziplock bag in the fridge.

Warm Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes and Parsley

Ingredients

1 cup coarsely chopped parsley
zest and juice from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon (approximately 2 Tablespoons juice, 1 Tablespoon zest)
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (to taste)
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas (roughly 1 can)
1 leek, sliced into 1/4″ half rings
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Make the dressing by combining the parsley, lemon juice, half of the lemon zest, about 1/4 teaspoon of the minced garlic, chili flakes and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix, and set aside.
In a sauté pan, add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the leeks until softened.
Add the rest of the minced garlic, lemon zest and chili flakes and cook for another minute.
Add the chickpeas and cook through, stirring regularly to coat with the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Toss in the cherry tomatoes, remove from heat, and immediately toss with the dressing.

This dish is great served warm or cool!

Barley Rice Salad

I love barley. In the winter, I’m always making stews that overflow with barley. Until now, however, I haven’t found something to use it in during the summer months. Here, I’ve used it in a salad with some rice and veggies. Cross that one off my list of grains to try saladifying!

I’m not sure why I love barley so much. It doesn’t have a big flavour, and isn’t as versatile as rice or quinoa. I like the little chew it gives to a dish. I guess it’s as simple as that.

It seems like I’m trying to find a way to make salad out of every grain in my cupboard. Grain salads are great for me, because they make great leftovers to bring to work. I’m always thinking of what to bring for lunch the next day. I do my best to limit the number of days I have to buy lunch, so that’s really important for me.

I’ve kept the dressing very simple lately. I just restocked my apple cider vinegar, which is fantastic for salad dressing. It’s tart and acidic and has more flavour than white vinegar, so you don’t need to add many other ingredients. One reason I kept things simple – fresh basil. Our rooftop garden is overflowing with delicious basil, and I’m happy to highlight it in the salad. Nothing compares to fresh basil.

Cooking tip: cook the barley in advance and freeze in portions. Do this on a day that isn’t too hot, so you’re ready to go when you need it. I didn’t do this with the rice, because rice is quicker to cook up when you need it.

Barley Rice Salad meets the Garlic Scape Monster

Barley Rice Salad

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup brown or mixed rice, dry (I used a fun one from Bulk Barn called Black Pearl)
1 – 1.5 cups pearl barley, cooked
1 cup corn kernels, cooked (can use canned, frozen, grilled)
1 tablespoon finely chopped green garlic (or 1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic clove)
1/2 – 1 cup sliced fennel
10-12 cherry tomatoes, quartered (and drained, if using a waterier variety)
2 tablespoons basil, chiffonade or finely minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground yellow mustard seed
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
pinch of cayenne, or your favourite ground chile (optional)
1 cup chopped cucumber

Preparation:

Cook rice using your favourite method (stovetop, rice cooker, steamed, etc.). Remove from heat, transfer rice to a large nonreactive bowl, stir in barley and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, prepare and mix together the garlic, fennel, tomatoes and basil. Stir into rice and barley mix and put in the refrigerator.
In a small glass with a pour spout, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard powder, salt, pepper and cayenne until the mixture emulsifies (it will come together and thicken slightly). Pour dressing over salad, bit by bit, and gently toss until well coated. You may not need to use it all.
Top with chopped cucumber and serve.

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Tabbouleh (Bulgur Salad)

Another in a line of fresh summer salads, Tabbouleh is great if you have too much parsley on hand. I thought this would be a great way to stop the parsley from taking over the garden. Made up primarily of bulgur wheat, parsley and tomatoes, this Middle Eastern favourite provides a nice break from the usual green salad.

Like most salads, this one is pretty flexible. Do a quick Google search, and you’ll see some that look like they’re entirely made of parsley – mine is heavier on the bulgur. The main elements – bulgur, parsley, tomato and lemon juice – are the key constants. I usually buy a coarser bulgur, for making pilafs over the winter. Lucky for me, I had just enough fine bulgur stashed in the cupboard for this occasion.

I added some Aleppo and Maras pepper to give it a bit of kick. Aleppo is fruity, and not spicy, and the Maras is a little fruity and also a little spicy. So much fun!

One note about the tomatoes… You can use whatever you have on hand. This is a great way to use up bits of tomato left from making sandwiches. The one thing to pay attention to is the water content. If your tomatoes are watery, I recommend straining the liquid off before adding them to the salad. If you are using a drier tomato, like a Roma or a grape tomato, you probably don’t need to worry about it.

Tabbouleh (Bulgur Salad)

Tabbouleh (Middle Eastern Bulgur and Parsley Salad)

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 c dried fine bulgur
1 c packed finely minced parsley
1/4 c minced mint
A sprig of dill (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 – 1/3 c chopped tomato (Roma and grape tomatoes work well)
Juice from 1 med lemon
1/4 tsp Turkish Maras ground pepper (optional, could also use a pinch of cayenne)
1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper (optional)

Preparation:

Pour 2 cups of boiling water over bulgur, in a heat-safe bowl. Gently stir with a fork, then cover with a clean dish towel. Leave for 10 minutes. Most of the water will be absorbed, strain off any excess. Allow to cool.
Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Refrigerate for at least an hour. Can be served slightly chilled, or brought back to room temperature.

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Za’atar White Bean Salad

Time for another great summer salad!

This salad is inspired by the flavours of the middle east, using herb/spice blend Za’atar as the main seasoning. White navy beans offer a fantastic base, with a mild and almost creamy flavour that balances with the earthy thyme in the Za’atar.

Continue reading Za’atar White Bean Salad

Daring Aloo Gobi Salad

This month’s Daring Cooks’ challenge is “Healthy Potato Salads from Around the World!”, and the timing couldn’t be better!

This gave me a perfect opportunity to morph the classic Indian “Aloo Gobi” into a fresh potato salad! Instead of drowning the potatoes in mayonnaise, I’ve made a spicy and bright dressing with yogurt. If you like potato salad, and don’t shy away from fun spices, you will love this!

Continue reading Daring Aloo Gobi Salad

Cavena Nuda Salad with Tangy Mustard Dressing

Now that the ‘good weather’ is here, I’m on the hunt for new and fun salads. There are so many rice and grain options to try, and I thought I had found a fun new rice to try out at my bulk store. This rice looked bigger than most rice, and was labelled “Cavena Nuda – Rice of the Prairies”.

Sounded pretty good to me! Little did I know that this “rice” was not rice at all…

Continue reading Cavena Nuda Salad with Tangy Mustard Dressing

Kısır – Bulgur Salad : Turkish Food Log Pt. 4

I finally tried to make the bulgur salad I was obsessed with on my trip to Turkey.

This salad is the reason I bought the cookbook I bought. There were a few different cookbooks in the tourist shops, and I found that this one was the only one that had the bulgur salad in it.

One problem – I couldn’t find it in English.
Continue reading Kısır – Bulgur Salad : Turkish Food Log Pt. 4

“Godfather” Orzo Salad

This salad is inspired by a beverage called “The Godfather” (no, not the movie). The blend of smokey Scotch and fruity sweet Amaretto create a perfect balance. Of course this makes a perfect salad! A blend of Scotch, Canadian Maple Syrup, a little soy sauce and other fun things, the dressing combines the sweet and smokey to mimic the drink.

But it doesn’t end there! The other ingredients in the salad contribute to the sweet and smokey theme as well.

Like the last orzo salad I posted, this one features some grilled veggies – but the secret ingredient is apricot, whose sweetness is important to this dish. Sweet sweet apricots, covered in grill marks… heaven!

Perfectly grilling apricots.

This being my first time grilling apricots, I really had no idea how long to leave them on for. Of course, I screwed it up! I first grilled them butt-side down for a few minutes, then turned them over onto the cut side… and quickly realized I needed to pull them off immediately. Most of them were reduced to a soup – still delicious, but wouldn’t hold their shape. I ended up grilling a second batch of apricots – just 1-2 minutes, cut-side down. Perfect.

stuff

Grilled tomatoes and apricots. I think I may have overdone the apricots a little.

To round this out, I also grilled up some fresh zucchini and tomatoes I got from the farmer’s market, along with some portabello mushrooms. Hindsight being what it is, I would have scooped out the tomatoes a little and drained the excess liquid off of the other veggies before I cut them to put into the salad. My salad ended up a little bit wetter than I would have liked, but still so so good!

So have a Godfather – or have some Godfather Orzo salad!

Recipe after the jump!

Continue reading “Godfather” Orzo Salad

Caprese Salad – A Summer Classic

Caprese salad is one of those things I take for granted. I think of this the way some people think of an iceberg salad – simple, fresh and super quick to make. I almost didn’t want to post this, because I figure everyone already makes Caprese salad. This post is for the folks who have never tried this delicious salad, or had it at a restaurant once and thought it must be more complicated than it looks (it isn’t).

The basic recipe contains very few ingredients: tomatoes; bocconcini or buffalo mozzarella; fresh basil and is dressed with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and sometimes (but not always) balsamic vinegar. This is a perfect salad for the summer, and a great break from leafy greens.

Wee tomatoes growing in my balcony garden. So darn cute!

The star of the Caprese salad is the tomato. You really need to have the freshest, tastiest tomatoes that have no mealiness to them (so, really, beefsteak tomatoes are kind of out). I like to use Campari tomatoes (like the ones shown below), romas, cherry or grape tomatoes from the local farmers’ market… but my favourite new thing is to use tomatoes out of my own garden. This is the first time I’ve grown tomatoes, and I giggle every time I pick a tomato off of my plant. Nice.

There are many variations on this salad, but this follows the most basic set of steps. One really important thing to remember is that the slices of tomato should be a similar shape and size to that of the cheese. This can result in a salad made up of layered rows of ingredients, or a toss of chopped ingredients. It’s really up to you. I generally like the layered look. I really like the look of big slices of tomato layered with big slices of cheese — but that can be harder to eat, so I usually get the smaller balls of bocconcini to pair with cherry or grape tomatoes.

Campari tomatoes, still on the vine.

Recipe after the jump!

Continue reading Caprese Salad – A Summer Classic

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Arugula and Orange

Related posts:

Warm Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes and Parsley

Ingredients

Preparation

Related posts:

Barley Rice Salad

Tabbouleh (Middle Eastern Bulgur and Parsley Salad)