sel et sucre

Category: salads

  • Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad

    roasted vegetable quinoa salad

    This quinoa salad feels just perfect for summer so long as you can brave turning your oven on (although the vegetables can also be grilled). Not only does it take advantage of the overflowing summer vegetables, but it’s delicious served at room temperature or cold, so it makes for a refreshing side or meal on a steamy summer day. You can use whatever herbs you have around (either basil and mint, both so notoriously prolific, would work here, and I used a combination of thyme and oregano), and feel free to add a little goat cheese, feta, or parmesan, too. Easily adaptable and full of flavor, this is a versatile recipe that’s definitely worth having up your sleeve.

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  • Pickled Peach Salad

    pickled peach salad

    My whole life, words have been tangled up with colors and flavors. It took me a while to realize that this isn’t quite the norm – actually, it’s a mild case of synesthesia. Although this doesn’t have a big impact in the day to day, I suspect it’s partly responsible for both why I’m fascinated by language (my full-time job is in computational linguistics) and why I’m fascinated by food. My name (Claire), for instance, is like biting into a perfectly ripe peach – it’s a lovely blending of reds and oranges, and the feeling of pronouncing it is akin to breaking the fuzzy skin of a peach and reaching the sweet, juicy interior. So it’s not surprising that peaches are among my favorite fruits. And while I can easily eat them out of hand, I prefer, as always, to be a bit creative. Here, nearly ripe peaches are pickled and then served over salad greens (I used spicy arugula, another favorite of mine), topped with blue cheese, walnuts, and honey for the perfect combination of flavors and textures. It’s an unusual but visually stunning (and delicious!) preparation. A worthy dish for an ingredient I hold dear.

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  • Lemon Basil Chickpea Salad

    lemon basil chickpea salad

    In the past, I’ve often found myself diving enthusiastically into projects and then quickly abandoning them. But I’m trying my best to change that, and it’s amazing what I’ve been able to accomplish. In past years, for instance, I bought seeds and seedlings and got really excited about the possibility of having a great garden, but when it came down to it, I didn’t have the energy for all the upkeep. But this year, I’ve been taking really good care of my garden (with a lot of help from one of my roommates), and it’s really gratifying to see my plants steadily grow. I recently pruned my basil plant and suddenly found myself with a lot of fresh basil to use. I wanted to do something a little different from a traditional pesto and found myself loving this lemon basil chickpea salad. The herbaceous basil plays well with lemon juice, honey, and mustard in an exceedingly flavorful dressing (which, by the way, can be used on all kinds of different salads), and I really enjoyed it over a basic mix of chickpeas and sauteed greens. Great served at room temperature or cold for a little something refreshing on especially hot summer days (and a good option for bringing along to a picnic!). I can’t wait to find more creative uses for all the herbs (and vegetables) I’m growing in my garden this year.

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  • Thai Corn Salad

    thai corn salad

    As we move into summer, I just don’t have the patience to spend a long time next to a hot stove or hot oven to cook. And I certainly don’t feel like eating anything too heavy or rich. So this easy Thai corn salad is perfect for a light lunch or as a side to a lazy summer dinner. A dressing of fresh Thai basil and cilantro along with lime, honey, and ginger perfectly complements the sweet corn that will soon flood our markets and makes this a lot more exciting than your usual corn salad. And since the salad tastes great cold, at room temperature, or even a little warm (and there’s no dairy to spoil), this is the perfect dish to bring along to a picnic. It only takes about fifteen minutes to throw together (or maybe a little bit longer if you use cooked corn rather than raw – I recommend grilling if you’re going to cook the corn), so you’ll still have a lot of time to get out and enjoy yourself.

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  • Cucumber Sesame Salad

    cucumber sesame salad

    My life has been crazy lately, an absolute whirlwind of activity. All exciting events in various ways, but I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath. As a matter of fact, I am writing this from an airport terminal as I wait to board a flight to Istanbul (where I’ll be presenting at a conference – and getting ideas for new cooking projects, of course). It can be hard, amidst a flurry of events, to keep cooking, to eat well (both in terms of health and taste). So that’s why I’m posting a simple recipe today, one you can throw together in a matter of minutes. And one that’s quite tasty, to boot. This Asian-inspired cucumber salad can work as a quick lunch (especially if served over greens) or a side and would work amazingly at a picnic. Black sesame seeds add crunch, flavor, and great visual effect. Even when your life feels overwhelming, you should find a little time for this salad.

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  • Crab and Avocado Salad

    crab and avocado salad

    I’m constantly looking at new recipes. I keep a list of all the ones I hope to one day cook, and some recipes, I get to in a couple days or weeks. But some recipes linger on the list for months or even years. Recipes that I added even though they seemed complicated, recipes that I keep skipping over because they feel outside my skill range, some even that I’ve tried and failed in the past. My most satisfying cooking moments are always when I manage to successfully tackle one of those recipes (like my char siu bao). This crab and avocado salad has been sitting on my recipes list for three years. Serving a whole avocado, crusted with spices and stuffed with crab salad, seemed beyond my grasp, the technique of getting the crab inside the avocado too confusing, the variety of spices for crusting too extravagant. But recently, I found myself with crab and avocado in my grocery cart, and I knew I had to make this. It all fell together as I put my own twist on the recipe, adding in Asian flavors with soy sauce, sesame oil, and masago, using my own variety of seeds and spices, and just having fun making it. Afterwards, cutting into my creation, I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment. Another recipe conquered.

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  • Pomegranate Asparagus Quinoa Salad

    pomegranate asparagus quinoa salad

    Now that it’s spring, I’m weaning myself off of the soups and stews that kept me going all winter. This salad is a perfect match for the transition in seasons. In an homage to all the plants outdoors whose greenery is currently in full swing, this salad is full of green, with asparagus, spring greens, mint, and chives. Quinoa, toasted for maximum nutty flavor, keeps it filling while pomegranate molasses and fresh lime zest and juice add a little tartness and a little sweetness. I love food with a variety of textures, and this salad manages just that – chewy quinoa, crisp-tender asparagus, and crunchy walnuts. This can be served with the quinoa and asparagus still hot or with the whole salad at room temperature or even cold (great for those spring days when the temperature unexpectedly spikes to summer levels) which means it could just as easily be packed for a quick picnic as it could be served as a sophisticated appetizer at a dinner party. Versatile, tasty, and healthy, there’s not really much more I could want this time of year.

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  • Vietnamese Shrimp Salad

    vietnamese shrimp salad

    We’ve had an exceptionally mild winter in DC this year (which, as someone with a very low tolerance for cold, I’ve actually enjoyed). At the beginning of March, temperatures suddenly shot up in the sixties and seventies, and it’s been feeling like spring ever since. With trees bursting into bloom and tulips out in full force right outside my front door, I just can’t bring myself to keep eating the same hearty soups and stews I’ve been relying on all winter. So when the recipe for this Vietnamese shrimp salad found its way into my inbox, I immediately set about cooking it. Crisp carrot, cucumber, and daikon radish tossed with fresh herbs and a ginger-lime dressing, then topped with shrimp and peanuts makes for the perfect refreshing dish for spring. Most of the work here is with chopping the vegetables and herbs, and once that’s done, the salad comes together really quickly. This made for a great weekend lunch all by itself, but it could also work as an appetizer.

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  • Blood Orange and Candied Walnut Salad

    blood orange and candied walnut salad

    I was lucky enough to recently receive a nice bottle of grape must as a gift. Having never even heard of this ingredient, I set about doing some research on it (and, of course, taste testing). Grape must, as it turns out, is essentially freshly pressed grape juice before it’s made into wine. Thick and sweet with just a little tartness, the taste is more reminiscent of raisins than your grocery store grape juice. In some countries, grape must is cooked down to form a thick syrup (called saba, pekmez, dibs, or grape molasses), and in fact, I even recall having eaten this before when in Lebanon (as a dessert with a soft mild cheese and whole wheat bread). I’m excited to experiment with my grape must (and will probably be trying my hand at making a small batch of grape molasses to recreate the dessert I had in Lebanon), and this salad was an amazing starting point.

    I like my salads with a good amount of sweetness to them. So here, in addition to grape must, I’ve used blood oranges and candied walnuts to make this salad truly decadent. Having discovered that traditional balsamic vinegar (i.e. “aceto balsamico tradizionale”) is actually fermented and aged grape must, I opted to let the grape must take the place of balsamic. Goat cheese and mixed greens help to balance the dish. The result is fantastic, and I found myself craving more immediately after eating it (and couldn’t keep myself from making it again the next day and then again a few days later).

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  • Pea and Prosciutto Salad

    pea and prosciutto salad

    So I have this problem. If I get hungry and don’t rush to fill my stomach, I start to get grumpy. Very grumpy. Woe be unto those in the near vicinity grumpy. Unfortunately, I also often work late, and with my tendency to make cooking dinner a multiple hour affair, this means that I have far more grumpy evenings than I would like. Since I can only snack on mixed nuts (my usual remedy) for so long, one night I found myself tossing together this quick pea and prosciutto salad to get myself through cooking dinner. The combination of the peas’ crisp fresh flavor with the richness of the prosciutto turned out so delicious that I knew immediately I’d be making it again. I could see this dish being an extraordinary side to roast chicken or steak. Next time I make it, I’m thinking of drizzling some balsamic into the pan when adding the peas and prosciutto for an extra bit of tang.

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