Liven up your salad!
Natural Health
July 2007
Karen Kelly
Summertime is the ideal season for perfecting your salad making skills: it's too hot to fire up the oven, eating raw food feels cooler and more comfortable than cooked food, and a rainbow of fresh produce is bursting from farm stands and green grocers. In fact, Richard Ruben, Institute of Culinary Education teacher and author of The Farmer's Market Cookbook call summer the “ooh-la-la season for salad making.” Even better, expert salad making requires no special equipment. The two most useful items are a salad spinner for rinsing and drying greens quickly, and a blender, “for putting together dressings fast,” says Ruben.
Let the season be your guide when considering new ingredients and unique combinations. Rubens motto, “if it grows together it goes together,” means that whatever is available fresh at the market is going to taste pretty good together. “Let the vegetables and fruits seduce you – whatever calls out to you, take them home and say thank you. Then put them together.” If you follow these four simple rules a salad that's nutritious, unique, and palate pleasing will always result:
Lettuce and Other Leaves
Most salads start with a canvas of lettuce and other greens. There are so many to choose from, which can stand on their own or mixed together to create a cacophony of shades and textures. Here is a greens-at-a-glance chart. Produce for Better Health Foundation's Pivonka says that all greens, vegetables and fruits are good sources of vitamin A and C, potassium, fiber, and phytochemicals. She cautions against getting too hung up on which nutrients are found in what specific greens. “They're all good for you, low in calories, have volume that makes you feel full, and when you eat them they are displacing something else that might not be as good for you.”
Greens don't require a lot of preparation – another reason why they are easy to use. Robert Gravani, Ph.D, professor of food science at Cornell University r ecommends buying greens and other produce that is not bruised no damaged. For lettuce that means no black or brown spots, or wilting.
“Lettuce is often packed in the field so as soon as you get home remove it from cling wrap or packaging, remove the outer leaves, and keep it in the refrigerator below 40 degrees (in a crisper if you have one),” advises Gravani. Water deteriorates lettuce, so keep it dry and wash and dry just before using, he says. “Wash lettuce and all produce under running water before cooking, eating, or cutting. Pre-washed greens are probably fine to use as is, but as an extra precaution there is no harm is washing them too.” (for more tips on produce safety and prep, Gravani recommends visiting www.fda.org)
Here's a chart that helps you sort out the greens scene:
Iceberg
Form: Grows in a tight, round head of pale green leaves
Use: Its mild flavor, pleasing crispy texture adds crunch, and its price offers an affordable way to stretch more expensive greens. A wedge on its own makes a sturdy stage for yogurt-based or creamy dressings.
Romaine
Form: Grows in a long head with coarse leaves that range from light at the center to dark outer leaves
Use: Mild flavor and big crunch stand up to salads that include cheese, beans, and raw veggies. A single large leaf can be used as a “wrap” for all sorts of combos, from veggies, rice and beans, to chicken, walnut and apple salads.
Butterhead (Boston or Bibb)
Form: Soft loose heads with small sweet inner “hearts” and progressively larger, darker leaves on the outside.
Use: Mix with other greens, or serve torn into small pieces with light vinaigrette.
Loose-leaf lettuce ( Red leaf and oak leaf)
Form: have dark red or green, large, leaves that are often ruffled at the edges
Use: Since these mild greens don't have crunch, they make a soft, frilly addition, and in the case of red leaf lettuce, colorful contrast, to a mixed salad.
Form: Bite sized mix of new lettuces and herb leaves.
Use: Great on their own with a light dressing, they also offer textural contrast when mixed with crunchier greens, like romaine or iceberg.
Spinach
Form: Mature spinach leaves are dark green and can be tough but baby spinach is tender and sweet. It also does not have the metallic taste that raw mature spinach sometimes leaves in your mouth.
Use: On its own spinach is a classic salad when combined with garlic vinaigrette, chopped egg and a few bacon bits. Try mixing it with bitter greens like endive or radicchio for a colorful and peppery salad.
Cabbage
Form: Napa grows in a long, tight head; red and green cabbage grow in tight round heads, and bok choy grows in long, loose heads with soft dark leaves that have pale crunchy stalks that are slightly bitter and can be removed, according to your preference.
Use: When shredded finely (called a chiffonade) are these cabbages are refreshing base for coleslaw, and Asian style salads.
Bitter greens ( Belgian endive, radicchio, and frisee)
Form: Endive grows in a long, narrow tight head; radicchio grows in small, tight round heads, and frisee grows in a loose, frilly heads.
Use: These greens complement sweeter, milder lettuces. Their sturdy texture add crunch to soft leaf salads and they stand up to warm ingredients, like grilled vegetables or warm dressings, because they resist wilting.
Peppery greens (Watercress, arugula, and dandelion)
Form:
Use: These summertime staples pair nicely with sweet ingredients like fruit and fruit-based vinegars, and fresh cheeses, such as goat and feta.
Fresh herbs
Form: Varied
Use: “Basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, chives, and mint -- think of them as greens,” says Ruben, “it takes no extra time to add them to salad and they give it so much aromatic punch.” Most fresh herbs should be kept wrapped in a paper towel in the fridge, and as dry as possible. Ruben recommends keeping basil in a glass with its ends in water.
Flowers
Form: Varied
Use: If you see food-quality (grown without pesticides) nasturtium, rose petals, apple blossoms, violets, chive and garlic and squash blossoms at the market, give them a try. Their rainbow of colors, perfumed flavor and silky texture adds an element of surprise to your creation.
In the Mix
A mélange of lettuces dressed with freshly made vinaigrette is an elegant way to start a meal – but salad becomes the main event with the addition of other ingredients. Here are a few salad bowl tips to keep in mind:
* Cut veggies carefully: A big chunk of carrot can be somewhat distracting in a salad, whereas one that has been sliced into long ribbons with a peeler is easier to eat. Biting into a large piece of raw broccoli, cauliflower, or pole beans can be unpleasant – when cut into dime-size cubes dense veggies create a better “mouth feel.” If you do want to keep pieces larger than, say, a quarter, Ruben recommends blanching and then shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking. “They retain their unique texture and bright color is maintained, but they lose the woody quality.”
* Fruit is a great foil for savory salads: Summer berries, pitted cherries, sliced apricots and peaches add a sweet tartness to greens, especially bitter varieties. Consider how flavors go together in other forms of cooking, like baking – those combination work when applied to salads. For example, lemon and blueberries is a natural combo in muffins – therefore a salad of baby greens with fresh blueberries, goat cheese and lemon vinaigrette is delicious. Cherries and almonds are a classic cookie due DUO, so it stands to reason that romaine and arugula tossed with pitted cherries and slivered almonds, and dressed with cherry juice and almond oil is a surprising but satisfying blend. What about combing the juicy texture of a fresh fruit with the chewy quality of its dried version? “Dried fruits extend chewing time and give you a comforting feeling,” says Ruben. For example, a spinach and endive salad with dried and fresh apricots, blue cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil would make a perfect accompaniment to a grilled turkey burger.
* Cooked produce add depth of flavor: Ruben says grilled or roasted fruits and vegetables, warm or cool, create interest when combined with cool, crisp greens. For example, he suggests, “grilled asparagus tossed with red onion, pine nuts, and a light Dijon dressing.” Simple and chic on a bed of baby greens or frisee.
* Nuts, cheese, beans, fish, poultry, or meat make a salad hearty fare. Keep the dish in nutritional- and calorie- check via moderation – just a quarter cup of chopped nuts or a cup of beans is enough for four to six servings of salad. Three to four ounces of poultry, fish or meat is ample for one. Likewise, one ounce of cheese is plenty per person, although Pivonka says you need less of strongly flavored cheese, such as the blue cheese or smoked cheeses – in that case she says half an ounce goes a long way.
All Dressed Up
Dressing adds another layer of flavor to salad, of course, but its main purpose is to bring the combination of disparate, solid ingredients together into a unified dish. In terms of technique, Ruben advocates making homemade dressing by, “tossing some fruit juice and a splash of vinegar or lemon and a bit of oil into a blender to have something fresh and tasty in seconds.”
Dressing should coat salads lightly, not drown or crush it. One more thing” “Go easy on the cream- and cheese-based dressing,” cautions Pivonka. Replace cream and mayo with low or non-fat yogurt, and count on using just a tablespoon or a tablespoon and a half of dressing per person, no matter what you make it with. “You also use less dressing when you dress the entire salad and then serve it, as opposed to letting everyone serve themselves and top their individual portions,” she says. “Free pouring” leads to over indulgence. Keep these dressing tips in mind:
* Vinaigrettes: The key to vinaigrette is three-pronged. Pureed fruits and veggies also make a nice base for creamy but still low fat dressings. Ruben says pulped carrots blended with tomatoes, tahini, lemon juice, and water is perfect for chicken salads.
* Creamy: Avocados and non-fat yogurt replace oil when mixed with fruit or vegetable juice or vinegar.
* Tossing and coating: Food science expert Robert Gravani cautions against using your hands to mix salads, tools coat the ingredients just as well if you turn them a few times with either tongs or two large wooden spoons made for the purpose. If you must use your hands, which Gravani does not really see a reason for, he says, “ Wash your hands with soap and water under hot running water for 20 seconds, and then put on a put of food service gloves.” In general, however, Gravani says that no ready to eat food that you plan to serve to other people should be prepared with bare hands. “always use a barrier like a tool or gloves since most food born illnesses comes from the hands and cross contamination. ”
So get chopping – just have fun and be adventurous when building your bowl, Ruben urges. “If you work in a natural rhythm, with what the season offers, you're bound to come up with something beautiful.”