Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook (12 page)

This is a great salad to prepare the day of a nighttime cookout. In the Colorado mountains, when the calendar says it's spring
(primavera),
we usually can't cook out, because we're still struggling with snow and cold. By the time the Fourth of July rolls around, we're usually okay to grill outside (although it has snowed in Breckenridge in early July).

1.
In a large pot of boiling spring water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain it (but do not rinse it) and allow it to cool to room temperature, stirring gently from time to time to keep it from sticking.

2.
In a large serving bowl, mix the pasta with the tomatoes, daikon, scallions, and cilantro. Add enough vinaigrette to lightly dress (but not slather) every ingredient. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill. This salad is best served within 4 to 6 hours of being prepared.

Makes 4 servings

¼ cup best-quality red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

¾ to 1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a glass jar with a screw-top lid, combine the vinegar, mustard, ¾ teaspoon sugar, salt, and pepper. Put on the lid and shake vigorously. Remove the lid, add the oil, screw the lid back on, and shake vigorously again to make an emulsion. Taste, and if you wish, whisk in the extra ¼ teaspoon sugar. Keep refrigerated. If the dressing congeals while in the refrigerator, allow it to come to room temperature before shaking the jar again before using.

Who can say no to strawberries with avocado slices?

1.
Carefully separate the lettuce into leaves, wash, and pat or spin dry. Wrap it in a kitchen towel. Refrigerate until serving time.

2.
In a glass jar with a screw-top lid, combine the vinegar, mustard, shallots, sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Put on the lid and shake vigorously. Remove the lid, add the oil, screw the lid back on, and shake vigorously again until the mixture emulsifies. Taste and add the additional salt if desired. Set the vinaigrette aside.

3.
Just before serving time, peel, pit, and slice the avocados.

4.
To serve, divide the lettuce among 4 plates. Arrange the strawberries and avocado slices (each person gets ½ avocado's worth of slices) on top of the leaves. Shake or whisk the vinaigrette and ladle a few spoonfuls onto each salad. If desired, sprinkle a tiny amount of salt onto each salad, then follow with a few grinds of black pepper. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

When Jim and I were newlyweds, one of the first salads I made that wasn't iceberg lettuce dabbed with mayonnaise was Tomatoes Vinaigrette. We both loved it, although I learned the hard way not to mix it and allow it to marinate in a metal pan. If you are having company (or even if you aren't), prepare and serve this salad in a pretty glass or crystal bowl. The Camembert gives the dish a certain cachet, and if your kids will eat any cheese with a rind, you're in luck.

1.
Cut the stems and cores out of the tomatoes. Holding them, one at a time, over the sink, gently squeeze until most of the seeds come out. Place them on a cutting board and cut each tomato into fourths if they are small, or eighths if they are large. Place in a large glass bowl.

2.
Sprinkle the tomatoes with the chopped basil. Sprinkle the pressed garlic on top of the basil. Using a sharp serrated knife, trim most of the rind from the cheese. Slice it into 16 equal wedges, and place these on top of the garlic.

3.
In a glass screw-top jar with a lid, combine the vinegar, mustard, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Screw the lid onto the jar and shake well. Remove the lid, add the olive oil, screw the lid back on, and shake vigorously, or until the dressing is completely emulsified.

4.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and gently toss the salad. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the salad for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

5.
When you are ready to serve the salad, place it in a pretty bowl, sprinkle lightly with a bit more salt and a grating of black pepper. Garnish with the whole basil leaves.

Makes 8 servings

Clearly, there is no way you can make this dish vegetarian. But I've included it here becasue it is, after all, a salad, and it is good to make ahead as a main dish for a ladies' luncheon (or a gentlemen and ladies' luncheon!). It also works for a cold summer dinner. I developed this recipe because so many people order curried chicken salad in restaurants.

1.
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

2.
Place the chicken breasts on the baking sheet and rub oil onto the pieces. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

3.
Bake the chicken for 25 to 40 minutes, or until it is thoroughly cooked and a meat thermometer inserted in the chicken reads 160˚F. Check for doneness by slicing into one of the pieces, all the way to the bone. All the meat should have turned completely white, with no trace of pink.
Do not overcook the chicken
. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the chicken to cool completely.

4.
When the chicken is cool, remove the skin and bones and discard them. Tear the meat into bite-size pieces. Measure it; you should have 4 cups. Reserve any remainder for another use.

5.
In a large glass serving bowl, combine the chicken, oranges, pineapple, raisins, and red onion.

6.
In a food processor, combine the mayonnaise, curry powder, chutney, ¾ teaspoon salt, sour cream, and lime juice and process until almost completely smooth. You may have to turn the processor off and scrape down the sides one or two times with a spatula. This should not take more than 2 minutes. Taste and add more curry powder if desired.

7.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the serving bowl and stir gently but well, until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the salad for at least 24 hours.

8.
Serve with a large bowl of peanuts and another bowl of chutney, if desired, for people to use to garnish their own salads.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This recipe is living proof that two palates can be better than one. Once again, I developed this recipe after having something similar in a restaurant. Before tasting this particular one, I'd steered clear of caprese salads, because they usually consisted of wedges of tasteless tomato alternating with thick, chalky slices of equally tasteless mozzarella. Then a longtime friend, Carole Kornreich, and I had lunch in Denver. She ordered a dish similar to this and offered me a bite. I thought I'd gone to heaven.
Ciliegine
are manageable bites of mozzarella that are creamy rather than chalky. With organic tomatoes, they are luscious. My only problem was that the restaurant menu said the dressing was made with “extra-virgin olive oil.” No matter how hard I tried, I could not replicate the results at home. So Carole and I trekked back to the restaurant, where we both ordered the dish. This is when I discovered that those folks who write menus sometimes lie. Before we went inside, I insisted to Carole that the dressing on the restaurant's caprese was not olive oil and vinegar, as the menu claimed. Carole took a couple of tiny bites, and suggested that the restaurant might be using
basil oil.
Right away, I suspected she was correct. After lunch, I raced home and ordered basil-infused oil from Boyajian. When it came, I whisked together the dressing and realized we were home. So I want to give full credit to my fellow foodie for figuring this out. (Carole and I went to sixth and seventh grades together back in Chevy Chase, Maryland; we were in the same Girl Scout troop. I always maintained that she was the smartest kid in the entire Montgomery County School District. And guess what? I was right. She became an M.D. I was ecstatic when we rediscovered each other in Denver.)

In a medium glass bowl, combine the tomatoes,
ciliegine,
and basil. Place the dry greens in an attractive glass or crystal salad bowl. Set aside.

For the dressing:

1.
In a glass screw-top jar with a lid, combine the vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Screw the lid on tightly and shake to combine well. Take off the lid, pour in the basil oil, screw the lid back on tightly, and shake very well to combine.

2.
Place the tomato mixture on top of the greens. Shake the dressing again, and pour on ¼ to ½ cup dressing. Taste carefully. Depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes, you may need a bit more sugar. (Do not use too much dressing. Store the remainder, still in its covered jar, in the refrigerator.)

3.
Toss the salad and serve immediately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings