Salad Recipes That Kick Ass!

Salad and Salt

Salad one of the greatest gifts to mankind, simple robust easy, and so good for you. The key to any good salad or any food for that matter is simplicity, and a little salt & pepper. "Flavor to taste" is the phrase. Remember you can add but you can't remove. This is the law of salt. Again "You can add but you can't remove."  It's so true. I've over salted food, salads, soups, meats. I've over salted food, washed it with water, diluted it with vegetable stock, cream, yogurt, what have you, flushed and repeat. Yet more often than not once over salted. It stays over salted.

 

 Try a test. Make two salads. One with no salt, one with a small pinch. Make sure they're exact in every other way. Find out for yourself which has more flavor & taste. Only a few hundred years ago wars were started because of salt. Its been very important to mankind. And its absolutely important to taste.

Simplicity is what a good salad craves. I never go wrong rubbing the inside of a wooden bowl with garlic, throw lettuce in, adding a pinch of salt, pouring olive oil over, a little vinegar, tossing with tongs, and Voilà! Great salad every time.

I usually purchase Sea Salt. Sur La Table has good Coarse Sea Salt no preservatives.  It's a lot, inexpensive, lasts for months, and has minerals. During the hot summer months a little salt is healthy if your sweating because of the heat.

If you have health issues, do as your doctor says. Even if its stay away for from salt! My heart goes out to you, but there are many spices and herbs which, can used as a substitute for salt. You might want to experiment. Get your Mortar and Pestle. Scavenge about the garden, or your local health-food store. Crush with the Pestle some dried parsley, savory, thyme, basil, chives, paprika, rosemary, onion powder, bay leaves, fennel, dill, sage, or ginger. Grind up different combinations of the herbs and see which works. Everybody has different taste buds which vary in reaction. What works for you might not work for someone else. Go have some fun in the kitchen. Become a mad scientist. And remember always taste your food as you create a dish. If every ingredient by its self tastes superb, the whole dish will likely as well.  And make sure, remember to taste as you create and a pinch salt to your salads!  

Juicing Ideas from Farmers Market

 Farmers Market & Juicing 

We all need more raw food every day, yes? 

I think so

Fresh strawberries blueberries at the farmers market in Avila Beach on the Central Coast of California. It doesn't get better than this. All locally grown fresh raw food with taste to match anything on this earth. Truly a gift. During our stay in the central coast of California we were able to go to a farmers market every day of week. From Pismo Beach to Morro Bay they have a market each day of the week. We had our juicer with us. We juiced fresh fruits and vegetables daily from one of the most fertile areas in our country which were usually picked that day. We were spoiled. But not as much as the folks who lived there years round. Its truly a special place.  Lots of leafy greens, kale, fennel, strawberries, blueberries, apples, carrots, celery, cucumbers, every day. And we had a two juicers to choose from,  Breville and a Champion juicer. I liked the Champion for the kale, parsley, and other greens. The Breville was good for the carrots , apples, celery. I was surprised how heated the Champion got some times.  Some of the softest Kale I've ever seen. I forgot the name of it. If someone knows please comment below. 

I have a Breville 850 and the Ikon. I love them both. We also made some banana ice cream with the Champion juicer. We bough a bag of banana's on sale for a crazy price $0.11 a pound. We removed the banana skin then placed the banana's in a ziplock bag and put them in the freezer overnight. The next day we ran the frozen bananas through the Champion. Out came ice cream. We also froze strawberries and blue berries. We added that to the bananas. It was SOOO GOOD! I love the champion. Its very versatile and stolid as a tank. We had a Jack LaLanne Juicer for the longest time but grew out of it. Its a great starter juicer for someone who's beginning. If I was to start again, I would start with the Breville. Its stronger and the pulp dryer than the Jack Lalanne Juicer.  It saves money in the long run by producing a better yield.

MIxed Greens Ideas, Radicchio, Arugula, Butter, Red leaf, Mesclum, Romaine, and Green Leaf Lettuce

Mix Greens

Mix your greens. It creates depth in a salad and keeps a green salad from being monotone, boring. Different lettuce's have differing flavors. Except iceberg lettuce, its very bland too me. 

Radicchio lettuce is one of my favorite leafy plants to place in a salad. It has a bitterness, which if too much is added, can be overwhelming. But just enough is perfect. I average about 5% Radicchio in some of my salads. Radicchio is not a lettuce, its related to the chicory plant. Its great grilled, with other vegetables, steak, or fish. It gives a dish some bite. When you look for Radicchio at your local store make sure its firm not limp. No soft spots, a good red & white color, and a tight ball which the leaves peal off. 

Arugula is another green with a lot of flavor. Its more peppery like black pepper. You can add more Arugula to a salad than Radicchio. Yet again, a salad which is 100% Arugula, is just as monotone as a salad which is 100% of any lettuce or leafy green. 

Butter Lettuce, Red leaf lettuce,  Mesclun, Romaine, Green Leaf Lettuce are all good bases for a mixed green salad. I usually make my salads 60% to 80% combination of these lettuce varieties. I consider the milder greens a base to my mixed green salads. It all depends on what's fresh at the market, in season,  or in the garden. I look for whats amazing, not just ok. 

We like living food, which carries life, love and other good feelings infused into the meal through the act of nurturing the essence of the ingredients. It can be done with care and nuance. Often after cleaning and washing lettuce, carrots, butter beans, what ever? I'll place the components in a bowl, add a pinch of salt slowly, a tablespoon of olive oil, a drop of vinegar, and mix and taste until the raw material reach a level of gastronomical ecstasy. If it is done correctly the ingredients on their own, should satisfy anyones palate. You are bringing out the natural flavors of great ingredients. 

Now I know we're ready to mix the remaining elements. If you tastes as you go, bringing the best out of everything, you'll never make a mess of things. I have a great deal of experience in the kitchen as a chef at fine establishments. Almost ever time I had something "go wrong" I forgot the basic rule, taste taste taste! Go watch a TV chef show, you'll see it played out again and again, by the best of them. They forget to taste what they're cooking. Never a good result. Now go into your kitchen and make something special!