Salads are Easy

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SUMMERTIME AND THE SALADS ARE EASY!

          With the recent heat wave we’ve endured, Edmontonians are chowing down on light, fresh, cool salads like never before. It’s an annual right of summer. After all who wants to be weighed down with a heavy noon hour lunch when it’s sweltering outside. And while many of us are thinking more towards a healthier lifestyle, a refreshing light salad has become more than just an appetizer, it’s now an accepted entrée.

          The name Salad comes from the Latin word “herba salta” or “salted herbs”, so called because such greens were usually seasoned with dressings containing lots of salt. Today a sauce for a salad is usually based on a vinaigrette, mayonnaise or other emulsified product. The salad dressing is to fresh garden greens, what icing is to a cake. Some would argue that the greens, be they lettuce, spinach or leaves from vegetables are the most important part of a salad, while others contend it’s the dressing that makes it.

          Salad dressings have a long and colorful history dating back to ancient times. The Chinese have been using Soy Sauce for 5,000 years. The Babylonians used oil and vinegar for their greens 2,000 years ago. Mayonnaise is said to have first appeared at a Nobleman’s table in France over 200 years ago. King Henry VIII’s favorite salad was a tossed mixture of new potatoes, boiled and diced, sardines, and herb dressing. Mary Queen of Scots preferred boiled celery root, diced and tossed with lettuce, creamy mustard dressing, truffles, chervil and hard boiled egg slices.

          In 1912 a chap by the name of Richard Hellmann, who owned a deli in New York, began to sell his blue ribbon mayonnaise in wooden containers. It became so popular with a huge customer demand, a year later he began to market it in glass jars.

          Today the modern chef has elevated what was a simple salad and dressing to lofty heights utilizing several different greens topped off with incredible, fragrant dressings, often infused with wild, exotic flavors. Little did Caesar Cardini, who invented one of the most, if not “THE” most popular salad, “The Caesar” back in Tijuana Mexico in 1924, ever imagine that this delightful, crunchy appetizer, would become a very popular main dish, topped with chicken, shrimp or beef, in the new millenium.

          Chef’s Tamara and Lyle Beaugard of the Blue Iguana(11304-104 Ave) feel the possibilities are limitless, when it comes to creating a salad.

The old classics like Waldorf or Green Goddess salads with their heavy  mayonnaise-based dressings have long but faded from our memories.

Light, delicate and crisp are the key words today for our modern salads.

          “People are more health conscious than ever before,” says Tamara, and they are ready to broaden their horizons. We have three main salads on the menu, but also offer salads as specials. And because it is seen as an entrée, we have to be inventive and constantly changing.”

          She says that for the uninitiated, they are trying to create salad dishes that aren’t “boring”, but inspire.

          In days past, Romaine or Chef’s mix in a bag were the way to go. You can still buy them, but with a great variety of wonderful, succulent fresh greens on the market, or available to grow in your own garden, salads need not be boring by any stretch of the imagination.

Mesclun salads can be comprised of two or three types of leaf lettuces

or can include a wide array of salad greens and herbs such as basil, mint and parsley. According to Alberta’s First Lady of Green, Her Honor, Lt.-Govenor, Lois Hole, you can add Chervil, Spinach, Chicory, Endive, Arugula, Cress, Mustard Greens and edible flowers such as Pansy’s, Nasturtiums, or Chive Blossoms to your salad bowl. Now take a look at your bowl full of head lettuce you were going to call a salad. Looks very bland and boring doesn’t it. That’s the fun with today’s salads. Mix, match and experiment.

          “People know that delicate greens, don’t want to be married with a heavy creamy dressing. They know a light vinaigrette makes it,” adds Chef Tamara. That’s why there’s been such an explosion of new dressings in the marketplace over the past five or so years.

          But as popular as these salads might be, the chef is not about to rest on her laurels.

          “We are changing our salads constantly. We are constantly evolving. We also try to utilize seasonal fruits as our garnish”, she adds. And in the summer time that’s the perfect touch.

The Blue Iguana’s Hearts of Romaine Salad with Chipotle-Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette and Parmesan Crisps:

Four Romaine Hearts

Two hundred and fifty ml. of  Lime juice

Three-quarters tbs. canned chipotle pepper pureed

One tbs. roasted garlic

One tbs. Dijon mustard

One tbs. Balsamic vinegar

One tsp. Worchestershire sauce

One tsp. fresh garlic minced

One hundred and twenty five ml. olive oil

Two tbs. red wine vinegar

One tbs. tabasco sauce

One C grated parmesan Cheese

Salt and pepper to taste.

Croutons to  garnish

1.      Wash and cut romaine into bite sized pieces. (Or leave whole if you wish) Set aside.

2.      Combine all of the other ingredients except oil and one half cup of parmesan in a blender.

3.      Puree and then add olive oil in a slow steady stream to emulsify as you continue to puree. Add salt and pepper to taste remembering that the cheese will later add saltiness.

4.      Divide the remaining cheese into four three-inch round piles on a non-stick baking pan or silplat-lined pan. Broil until cheese bubbles-it doesn’t take long, remove and cool and you now have parmesan crisps.

5.      Toss greens with dressing, garnish with parmesan crisps and croutons and serve.

(Serves 4)

MIXED BABY GREENS WITH POMEGRANITE-ANCHO CHILI VINAIGRETTE, SEASONAL MELON AND GOATS CHEESE:

(This delighful exotic salad from Tamara and Lyle works well as an Entrée for a nice light lunch or dinner)

Eight C mixed baby greens

Two hundred ml.  Pomegranite-champagne vinegar(available at the Italian Center on 95^th st.)

One hundred ml. Olive oil

One tsp. ancho chili pureed(you have to take dry ancho chili, reconstitute it in hot water until soft, seed and puree)

One tsp. Dijon mustard

One half tsp. worchestershire sauce

One tbs. balsamic vinegar

Fifty ml. Lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Half a cup of goats cheese

One medium melon of your choice, peeled and seeded cut into sixteen equal portions.

1.      Combine pomegranite vinegar, ancho chili, dijon mustard, worschestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and lime juice in the blender.

2.      Puree and add olive oil in a slow steady stream to emulsify.

3.      Salt and pepper to taste.

4.      Refrigerate dressing for at least one-hour before serving.

5.      To plate-up, arrange four slices of melon on each palte. Toss greens with dressing-reserving four tbs.

6.      Pile two cups of greens on each plate of melon. Crumble one ounce of goat’s cheese on each salad and drizzle with the reserved salad dressing.

(SERVES:4)

APPLE JUICE VINAIGRETTE:

(It’s simple, refreshing and will keep for months in a tightly sealed jar in the frig.)

Four tbs. olive oil

Two tbs cider vinegar

One-half C apple juice

One quarter teaspoon salt

One-Half teaspoon of garlic

1.      Put all ingredients into a jar.

2.      Seal tightly

3.      Shake vigorously.

4.      Put in refrigerator

5.      Shake again before using on salad.

(SERVINGS:4)

GARLIC SALAD DRESSING:

One tsp. salt

One tsp. dry mustard

One-Half tsp. sugar

One-quarter tsp. lemon juice

One-quarter tsp. pepper

Four tbs. white wine vinegar

Three-quarter C light oil

Two tbs. olive oil

Dash of worchestershire sauce

Three cloves of fresh garlic- diced

One egg (optional)

1.      Place all ingredients in a mason jar and shake well.

2.      Serve over mixed greens.