Tag: salad

Chicken Casear Salad

Adapted from April Bloomfields’s Caesar Salad recipe.

Ingredients

  • Roasted chicken, chopped (quantity to required amount) https://berenger.net/recettes/champagne-chicken/
  • 7 whole salt-packed anchovies, rinsed
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 ounce chunk of Parmesan, very finely grated
  • 2 heads romaine lettuce, washed and chilled
  • Croutons, use your favorite method

Directions

Put the anchovy fillets and garlic in a small food processor and pulse to a rough paste. Add the mustard and vinegar, crack the egg and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. With the processor on, gradually drizzle in the oil in a steady stream. Finally, add the Parmesan and blend until it’s all well combined. Scrape the dressing into a bowl, cover, then refrigerate to chill and thicken up. (It’ll keep for up to 3 days).
Pour in about 1/4 cup of the dressing mixing to get a little bit everywhere. Gradually add more dressing to taste, just until it’s all nicely coated.
Add the roasted chicken and croutons, tossing a few times to get a touch of the dressing.
Eat immediately.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cucumbers, thinly sliced
  • 1/3 medium shallot, thinly sliced and diced
  • kosher salt
  • 1 1/3 cups (32 ounces) plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1/3 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
  • 2/3 tablespoon champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 1/6 cup minced fresh dill
  • 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix the cucumbers, shallot and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt in a bowl. Pour into a sieve and suspend over a bowl. Wrap the bowl and colander with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to drain for at least 4 hours or overnight. Discard the liquid that collects in the bowl.

Pour the yogurt into a sieve lined with a paper towel and suspend over another bowl. Wrap the bowl and sieve in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Discard the liquid that collects in the second bowl.

When the cucumbers are ready, roll them up in paper towels or a kitchen towel and press the towel lightly to remove most of the liquid. Place the cucumbers and yogurt in a large bowl with the sour cream, vinegar, dill and pepper. Add any additional salt you want to taste. Toss well and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled.

Christine’s Greek Salad

This is one of our go-tos for a quick, easy and healthy meal. We like pairing this with small veal meatballs, but it can be served on its own as a main. Serves 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

  • 2 healthy stems of ripe, cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1/2 English cucumber, with skin, cut in 3cm pieces
  • 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
  • 100 g good quality crumbled Greek Feta cheese (I find many in the States to be a bit salty, so experiment)
  • 150 g olives, sliced in half or quartered (I prefer Spanish olives with anchovies, but can choose other varieties to keep vegetarian)
  • healthy handful of mint leaves, chopped roughly
  • 3 sprigs of thyme, picked
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons brine from olives
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Prepare ingredients, as instructed. Mix together and serve.

Gretchen’s Salad Dressing

I worked for the former President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the US in my first full-time job after college. It was a start-up private equity company and we worked out of his home (a former embassy) until our offices were constructed. Part of my “compensation” included meals prepared by his chef Gretchen who had been the chef to Pamela Harriman (former US Ambassador to France). I ate my meals with his household staff – Johnny the maid, who had worked for the Shah of Iran right before the fall of the Ayatollah, and Karl the gardener, who was a former footballler in Europe. Needless to say, there are so many fabulously salacious stories for which I was forever sworn to secrecy.

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Carrot & Ginger Dressing

Recipe from… Dare I say… Gwyneth Paltrow (but it is AMAZING!).

I discovered this recipe when Premila and I decided to go on a juicing, detox diet. This was by far my favorite recipe from our week of “cleansing”. It is so yummy. You won’t be able to to get enough of it.

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