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potato salad, basic and beyond
Makes 4 servings (possibly more, if you add a lot from the get creative list)
This is a very, very basic recipe. The salad tastes great in its pure form, and I’ve given you many ideas to spruce it up. The best potatoes for this are the waxy varieties (Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, small red “creamers”). A combination of colors is guaranteed to be beautiful. You can even use red, white, and blue potatoes for a Fourth of July picnic. Peeling is easiest after the potatoes are cooked. Even easier is not peeling, which adds flavor, color, and nutrients. This salad needs time to chill completely, so you might want to make it a day ahead.
Make this vegan by replacing the mayonnaise and yogurt with eggless vegan mayonnaise.
Salt for the cooking water
1½ pounds potatoes (about 2-inch diameter), scrubbed
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup plain yogurt
¼ teaspoon salt (possibly more)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (possibly more)
¼ cup finely minced red onion
1. Put a medium-sized pot of cold water over high heat, add a teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Place a colander in the sink. When the water boils, turn the heat down to low, add the potatoes, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until very tender (easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife—you don’t want the potatoes to be at all crunchy). Drain them in the colander, and then dry them by patting them with paper towels or a clean, dry dish towel.
2. While the potatoes are simmering, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, salt, and pepper in a medium-large bowl. Add the onion, and mix well.
3. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, you can peel and discard the skins (use your fingers or a sharp knife) or leave the skins on (especially if you want the red of red potatoes, since their insides are white). Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks, and transfer them to the bowl containing the other ingredients. Toss gently until everything is well combined, then cover the bowl tightly and chill until cold.
4. If the potatoes seem to have soaked up too much of the dressing while chilling, add a tablespoon more each of the mayonnaise and the yogurt. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed, and serve.
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GET CREATIVE (THIS IS THE “BEYOND” PART)
Add any of the following when tossing the potatoes and dressing together:
2 hard-boiled eggs (see Chapter 2: Salads), diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 scallion, minced
Half a small red bell pepper, minced
Half a small green bell pepper, minced
1 small carrot, coarsely grated
Minced bread-and-butter pickles, dill pickles, or pickle relish (about ¼ cup)
A few sliced or diced radishes
1 teaspoon mustard (yellow, Dijon, or your favorite kind)
A handful of toasted cashews, almonds, or sesame seeds
Crumbled bacon (see Chapter 8: Party Snacks)
Sprouts (any kind) for heaping on top
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mostly classic cole slaw
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Mostly” refers to the non-classic addition of yogurt, which has become standard in my repertoire. Cole slaw is always best if made at least a day ahead, packed into a container with a tight-fitting lid, and refrigerated until serving time. Given this melding time, the cabbage softens and packs down, and all the flavors bond and unify as a team. This will keep for up to a week in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. To save time, you can buy pre-shredded cole slaw mix in a bag.
Make this vegan by replacing the mayonnaise and yogurt with eggless vegan mayonnaise.
2 pounds cabbage (purple and/or green), shredded
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
½ cup very finely minced red onion
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup plain yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoons sweetener (white or brown sugar, pure maple syrup, or a light-colored honey)
1. Combine the cabbage, carrot, and onion in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, toss to combine, and set aside.
2. In a second, smaller bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, yogurt, and 1 tablespoon of the sweetener, and whisk until smooth. Pour this into the cabbage mixture, and toss to mix well. Taste to see if it’s sweet enough for you, and if not, add the other tablespoon of sweetener. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and refrigerate. (It will pack down quite a bit.) Serve cold.
GET CREATIVE
Add a pinch of celery seed (old-fashioned, and really nice here; buy a small jar just to use for cole slaw).
Add up to 2 cups chopped pineapple—either fresh or canned (packed in water or juice), drained.
Add up to ½ cup dried cranberries or ¼ cup minced fresh cranberries.
Slice a Bosc pear (the crunchy brown kind), drizzle it with a little lemon juice, and gently mix it in just before serving.
Top the slaw with up to 1 cup chopped roasted peanuts or toasted walnuts.
Substitute packaged broccoli slaw for some or all of the cabbage.
For a richer dressing, substitute sour cream for some of the mayonnaise or yogurt.
Garnish with lemon wedges for squeezing on at the table.
In addition to serving this as a side, try packing it into your favorite sandwich.
caesar salad with its own from-scratch dressing
Makes 2 to 3 large dinner-sized salads, or 4 to 6 smaller side salads
Too many restaurants serve mediocre Caesar salads, and that’s a shame. This homemade version, with just the right amount of scratch-made dressing lightly coating crisp romaine and croutons made from a real baguette, can go head to head with any restaurant or bottled-dressing Caesar.
This recipe calls for 1 pound of romaine lettuce. If you’re buying hearts of romaine (they come packaged, with the larger outer leaves already removed), buy a pound and use it all. But if you’re buying the entire head, try to get one that weighs slightly more than a pound, so you will have a pound left after removing any imperfect outer leaves.
Coarsely shredded Parmesan works better here than the fine, powdery stuff. If you’re making your own croutons, simply follow the recipe on Chapter 1: Soups, omitting the cheese (or replacing it with Parmesan). You can prepare the croutons a few hours (and up to a day) ahead and store them in a sealed plastic bag or a tightly lidded container.
You can make the dressing up to 3 days ahead of time, and store it in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. For best results, put the salad together just before serving.
caesar dressing
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon minced garlic (about half a small clove)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
salad
1 pound romaine lettuce (a large head or “hearts”)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Croutons (store-bought or homemade—see Chapter 1: Soups)
1. To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt, and Parmesan in a bowl (a small one if you are making the dressing ahead of time, or the salad bowl itself if you are making this just before serving). Whisk until thoroughly combined, then continue whisking as you drizzle in the olive oil. When all the olive oil is incorporated, stir in the mayonnaise until completely blended.
2. Separate the romaine leaves, and then wash them in very cold water and spin them very dry. (If you have purchased hearts of romaine in a sealed pack, you can skip the washing; ju
st cut off the stems and separate the leaves.)
3. Shortly before serving, transfer the entire batch of dressing to the salad bowl (a wide, shallow one works very well for this). Break or cut the romaine leaves into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the dressing in the bowl. Begin turning the leaves with salad servers or tongs, sprinkling in the Parmesan cheese as you turn. The leaves will begin to get coated with the dressing. When they are mostly coated, grind in a generous amount of black pepper, then continue turning until everything is nicely combined. Toss in the croutons at the very end, and serve.
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GET CREATIVE
You can add whole anchovies to the salad, or up to 1 tablespoon anchovy paste to the dressing. If using either, omit the salt.
Top each serving with strips or chunks of Pan-Grilled Boneless Chicken Breasts (Chapter 6: Chicken, Fish, and Meat) or chunks of Poached Salmon (Chapter 6: Chicken, Fish, and Meat). Both are great hot, warm, or cold.
Toss in some torn or coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, or sprinkle it on top.
For a fun change of pace, Parmesan Fricos (Chapter 1: Soups) can replace both the Parmesan in the salad and the croutons.
Top each serving with a still-warm, freshly poached egg.
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greek salad with oregano-laced vinaigrette
Makes 2 to 3 large dinner-sized salads, or 4 to 6 smaller side salads
The quintessential Greek salad: fresh greens tossed with Greek olives, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese, in a delicious vinaigrette. The salad greens can be a packaged salad mix or your favorite lettuces—on their own or combined with baby spinach leaves and some arugula. Spinach fans, try this with all baby spinach leaves. The dressing keeps for weeks in a tightly lidded jar in the refrigerator and is wonderful on any kind of cooked vegetables, especially broccoli and green beans.
oregano-laced vinaigrette
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon minced garlic (about half a small clove)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Heaping 1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
salad
1 pound salad greens, washed and thoroughly dried (or use three 5-ounce packages)
About 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 medium bell pepper (any color), diced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
About 12 Kalamata olives
Freshly ground black pepper
1. To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, garlic, mustard, oregano, and salt in a smallish bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then continue whisking as you drizzle in the olive oil. When all the olive oil is incorporated, set the dressing aside. (Or you can put all the ingredients in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid and just shake it emphatically.)
2. Combine the salad greens, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and ½ cup of the feta in a large bowl, and toss to mix well.
3. Just before serving, whisk the dressing—or shake it, if it’s in a jar—to recombine, and add about half of it to the salad. Toss to coat, and give it a taste. You might want to add the rest of the dressing right now, or bring it to the table (along with the pepper mill) for people to add more to their own portions. Top with the remaining ½ cup feta, the olives, and a few grinds of black pepper, and serve immediately.
GET CREATIVE
Use high-quality olive oil in the dressing.
Make the dressing with a fancier variety of wine vinegar (such as sherry vinegar or Spanish Moscatel vinegar).
Toss in a few tablespoons of chopped mint leaves.
Use a “designer” flavored mustard in the dressing.
Serve with toasted pita wedges.
Drape a few whole anchovies over the top of the assembled salad.
Top the assembled salad with some flaked canned tuna (especially good with tuna packed in olive oil).
Toss in a handful or two of canned black beans, white beans, or chickpeas (rinsed and drained).
Top with a scattering of chopped lightly toasted walnuts.
Make this vegan by omitting the feta cheese.
best pasta salad
Makes 4 servings (possibly more, if you add a lot from the get creative list)
Pasta salad is perfect party or picnic food, and it packs well for bag lunches, too. While the pasta cooks, put the other ingredients together, so they’re ready to dress the pasta as soon as it’s cooked and drained. The heat from the pasta will slightly cook the garlic and onion, and will partially melt the cheese, causing it to stick to the pasta (which adds a layer of texture beyond what you’d get if you just sprinkled cold cheese onto cold pasta). After the dressed pasta has cooled down, you add an assortment of diced vegetables, and possible other goodies, and then either serve it at room temperature or chill it (in a tightly covered container for up to 3 days) and serve it cold. So factor in cooling and possible chilling time when you make this dish.
Salt for the pasta water
¾ pound fusilli (corkscrew), small penne, or orecchiette (“little ears”) pasta
5 tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 medium clove)
¾ cup very finely minced red onion
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¾ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium bell pepper (any color), diced
Half a medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1. Put a large pot of cold water to boil over high heat, and add a tablespoon of salt. Place a large colander in the sink. When the water boils, add the pasta, keeping the heat high. Cook for the amount of time recommended on the package, tasting a piece of pasta toward the end of the suggested time to be sure it is not getting overcooked. When it is just tender enough to bite into comfortably but not yet mushy, dump the water-plus-pasta into the colander. Shake emphatically to drain.
2. While the pasta is cooking, combine the olive oil, garlic, onion, Parmesan, vinegar, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl (a wide, shallow one works well) and whisk to blend. As soon as the hot pasta is thoroughly drained, add it to the bowlful of dressing, stirring to coat all the pasta. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Add the bell pepper and cucumber, and mix gently but thoroughly. Serve at room temperature, or chill and serve cold.
GET CREATIVE
Use other pasta shapes (bowties, campanelle, shells) in place of some or all of the fusilli. Or try rainbow fusilli (a mix of white, red, and green; often sold in bulk bins) for extra color.
Make this with high-quality olive oil.
Whisk a teaspoon or two of mayonnaise into the olive oil mixture.
Just before serving, toss in a generous handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley and/or about 25 basil leaves, cut into strips.
When adding the bell pepper and cucumber, toss in any of the following:
Get Cooking Page 7