As February rolls around and Punxsutawney Phil predicts
mild months
ahead, cravings for spring and summer produce sneak up on us. But before
jumping into warm weather salads - a celebration of a ripe vegetable or
two and a few delicate greens adorned with just a splash of olive oil
and lemon juice - savor the lingering vestiges of winter.
Though
winter salads take a little extra planning and some imagination to coax
out the flavors of hardier greens and root vegetables, their complexity
might leave you longing for them as the first few buds push their way
through the melting snow and the farmers markets reopen.
While
there's no rule that salad must contain greens, most do. Case in point,
Shakespeare's Cleopatra inextricably linked salads with the color green,
reflecting on her youthful "... salad days, / When I was green in
judgment, cold in blood."
Winter leaves tend to be more bitter
and thicker than their summer counterparts. On first blush, this
probably doesn't sound like much of an endorsement. But winter salads
were made for dressing, which, etymologically speaking, may indicate
that they are closer to the origins of salad than their summer brethren.
The word salad is derived from the Latin sal (salt) and refers to the
salty pickling brine that dressed Roman greens. Peppery arugula,
radicchio (purple, but still in the greens category) and mustard greens
can stand up to a more assertive dressing with extra acid, and a little
sugar can tame the piquant spice.
Give anything that you're used
to seeing cooked - kale, collards, cabbage - a little extra time to
soak up the dressing in order to soften and wilt the greens. If you want
to keep things basic, squeeze a lemon over the greens, and then let a
fried egg do the work, its creamy yolk coating the leaves.
Winter
vegetables are transformed by roasting, which brings out their natural
sweetness. Crank the oven above 200°C (400°F) and throw in the
vegetables, doused in the holy roasting trinity of olive oil, salt, and
pepper and spread out on foil-covered cookie sheets.
The trees -
stalks of broccoli and cauliflower - take fifteen to twenty minutes.
Most roots - chopped carrots, parsnips, squash, and potatoes - should
roast for thirty to forty-five minutes. And tightly-wrapped parcels of
beets need up to ninety minutes, depending on their size, until a sharp
knife or toothpick can pierce the flesh easily. Don't be daunted by the
extra preparation time; instead, uncork some wine and pop in a movie
while you roast loads of vegetables at the same time. Then keep them in
the refrigerator for three to four days, grabbing one or two for salad
or to mix with pasta or to serve just as they are alongside a steak.
Cold
weather salads benefit from contrast. Bright colors excite the eye and
prepare the palate: think fuchsia beets and golden squash atop dark
green leaves. Add unexpected texture from beans, lentils, or chewy
grains such as wild rice, farro, or barley. Check out
Cook’s
Illustrated's recently published “
beyond rice” guide for helpful hints
on preparing grains that you may be less familiar with.
For a
burst of juice, top with pieces of apple or pear, sections of
grapefruit, or pomegranate seeds. Shave or crumble some cheese, such as
Parmesan or feta, for added richness. And then, what truly elevates any
salad is something crunchy: Toast some nuts or seeds in the oven (a
toaster oven works great here too) or in a pan. And that stale bread?
Chop it into cubes or grind it into coarse crumbs, season, and brown in
the oven.
Before you know it, you'll be greeted by those first
fiddleheads ferns and morels in the US, white asparagus and artichokes
in northern and southern Europe. But for the next few weeks, follow this
basic formula for winter salads and don't let the best of the season
pass you by.
Bitter greens with pink grapefruit and sumac This salad is adapted from a
Yotam Ottolenghi recipe published earlier this year in
The Guardian. You’ll probably have leftover dressing that you can store in the refrigerator.
Serves four- 1/3 stale baguette or 3 slices of stale bread
- 5 T olive oil, divided
- 1 T sumac, divided
- ¾ C grapefruit juice (I used juice from a carton)
- 2 T sugar
- 1 t harissa
- 1 lemon for 2 T juice
- 3 pink or red grapefruits
- 1 shallot
-
4 large handfuls of bitter greens (here I used a mix of tender mizuna
and arugula; kale, endive, radicchio would also work well)
- salt
Toast.
Cut the stale bread into bite-sized cubes (approximately 1 cup). Toss
with 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of sumac, and a pinch of salt and
grind of pepper to taste. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and
toast in a 150°C (300°F) oven until golden, about 10 minutes.
Simmer.
Mix the grapefruit juice, sugar, and harissa in a small saucepan and
bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens and
you have about 4 tablespoons-worth of juice left; this could take up to
20 minutes. Set aside to cool down, then whisk in the remaining four
tablespoons of oil, lemon juice, remaining two teaspoons of sumac and a
quarter-teaspoon of salt. Dip a leaf into the dressing and adjust the
seasoning.
Peel. Peel the
grapefruits and separate each segment like you would with an orange.
Separate the flesh from the membranes and break into a few pieces.
Cut. Slice the shallot into very thin rounds. Roughly chop the greens into bite-sized pieces
Assemble.
In a large bowl, mix the grapefruit segments, shallot, and greens. Pour
over ¼ cup of dressing and toss gently. Add more dressing to taste.
Sprinkle with croutons and serve right before serving.
Kale and barley salad with beetsThis recipe is based on a
salad recently featured in
Bon Appétit.
It would be great with feta, as the original indicates. I typically
make a large batch of barley (or other grains) and freeze the leftovers,
one cup per bag, and then pull out what I need for a quick dinner.
Serves 4- 2 medium beets
- 5 T olive oil, divided
- 3/4 C uncooked barley
- 2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 t light brown sugar
- 1 orange for zest
- 1 shallot
- 1 big bunch of Tuscan kale (also called lacinato or dinosaur kale) or 5 oz (4 big handfuls) baby kale
- salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F.)
Roast. Wash
and dry the beets, place on a large square of aluminum foil, and
drizzle with oil. Wrap up the beets really well and roast for 45 minutes
to 1 hour 15 minutes. The beets are done when a sharp knife can easily
pierce through to the center without hitting much resistance. Take them
out of the oven, making sure that they foil is still tightly covering
the beets. Let them cool covered before handling them. When they are
cool, use a peeler, a paring knife, or your fingers to peel off the
skin. I like to wear disposable gloves so that my fingers don’t get
stained pink. Cut the beets into 1/2-inch cubes.
Simmer.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil (at least 3 cups). Salt the
boiling water and then add the barley. Stir once and then reduce the
heat to a medium simmer (there should be a few bubbles every second, but
you don’t want a full on violently roll). Cook for 45 minutes to an
hour. The barley is ready when it is al dente – just barely tender. If
the barley feels like it has a little hard grain inside, it’s not quite
ready yet. (If your barley comes with different directions, it’s
probably best to follow them.)
Dry. Drain the barley and spread it onto a cookie sheet to dry out and cool.
Shake.
In a glass jar, shake together the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil,
vinegar, sugar, and orange zest (put aside a pinch or two of zest to
sprinkle on the assembled salad). Very thinly slice shallots into rings,
and add them to the jar and keep shaking. Dip a kale leaf into the
dressing and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Wilt.
If you’re using Tuscan kale, separate leaves from ribs and cut the
leaves into bite-sized pieces. If you’re using the baby kale, rough chop
the leaves, also into bite-sized-pieces. Add half the dressing
(including some of the shallots), and massage it into the kale. Let sit
for three hours until the leaves start to wilt and become tender.
Assemble. Gently
toss the wilted kale with the barley and another tablespoon of
dressing, or to taste. Top with beets and the reserved orange zest.
Arugula salad with pear, goat cheese, pomegranate, and walnutsServes 4- 1/3 C walnuts
- 6 T olive oil
- 1 T pomegranate molasses
- 1 T lemon juice
- 2 t brown sugar
- 3-4 large handfuls of arugula
- 10 sprigs of parsley
- 1 scallion
- 1 pear (I used Bosc)
- ½ pomegranate for ½ C seeds
- 2 T goat cheese
- salt and pepper
Toast. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet and toast in a 200°C (300°F) oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes.
Shake.
Put olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, and sugar in a jar
and shake to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dip an arugula leaf into
the dressing and adjust the seasoning.
Cut.
Rough chop the arugula into bite-sized pieces. Mince the parsley. Slice
the scallion on a bias. Cut the pear into ½-inch cubes.
Tap. To
remove the seeds from the pomegranate, slice the fruit in half, hold a
piece cut side down over a large bowl, and hit the outside skin with a
wooden spoon. Most of the seeds will fall out and you can gently pry out
any remaining ones. Juice will splatter, so don’t wear white.
Assemble.
Mix together the arugula and parsley and arrange on a large plate.
Scatter the scallion, pear, pomegranate seeds, and walnuts over the
greens. Crumble the goat cheese. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of
dressing. The dressing is intense, so drizzle sparingly.
Gayle Squires publishes recipes and photographs on the blog, Kosher Camembert. Her cooking and baking is inspired by international travel .