The salad, upended
WHEN a friend invited us to dinner recently, he apologized, by saying it would be only grilled salmon or Italian sausages and “a big salad.” With his wife out of town, he said, he was wrangling two young kids and an ailing father-in-law and needed to keep things simple.
My first thought was: And you’re making salad? Washing and drying all that lettuce?
Within 10 minutes of walking into his kitchen, my consort and I each had a wineglass and a knife and were slicing up red cabbage and sweet onion and too much broccoli and de-stringing sugar snap peas, while his daughter peeled and grated carrots and he shucked corn and scraped the kernels into a big bowl. A salad spinner never even hit the counter. And what we produced was a revelation. It was essentially raw vegetables in vinaigrette, but it made me wonder why I have been so literal-minded in thinking of salad as a green thing.
A leafless salad is a whole other experience. A great big toss of raw vegetables -- some whole, some chopped -- provides even more satisfying crunch and good, clean flavor than a bowl of dressed greens, but it outperforms lettuce because you get such a pure sense of ingesting health along with flavor and texture. It’s also easy, and didn’t someone say this is the season for that?
After that dinner I started obsessing on other ways salad could be redefined. There really is no reason that a concept owing its origins to salt (the Latin root of the word is sal) has to be dependent on greens. Just consider how insidiously salad has been evolving over the last decade as ethnic interpretations have gone mainstream.
While Americans were all happily dressing mesclun, some great new ideas were migrating from Asia and Europe.
Thai beef salad is a classic example. The only “leaves” in it are fresh cilantro, but the combination of seared steak, scallions, minced mint, chiles and peanuts in a lime dressing with fish sauce and tamari tastes light, lively and refreshing.
The concept works even better with Southwestern ingredients, with toasted pumpkin seeds substituting for the peanuts, and chipotle chiles stepping up for the bird chiles. Fresh oregano rather than mint also steers the flavor profile toward Mexico, and lots of avocado added to the pan juices round out the richness so that no oil is needed in the vinaigrette.
But the heart of the salad is the meat, matched so well to the herb. Skirt steak has a juicy tenderness that works especially brilliantly against the cilantro. I found that even people who think cilantro tastes like Zest will eat this happily.
Squid is even riper for salad treatment with nominal leaves. A new restaurant called Ditch Plains in Manhattan serves a spicy calamari salad that is much more inventive and complex than the menu description indicates. The proportions are roughly three-fourths squid, one-fourth lettuce, in this case Romaine and radicchio, cut into shreds. The rest is just a hyper-chile dressing and a smattering of toasted sesame seeds.
The squid is batter-fried, so the lettuce wilts against it, and the whole assemblage is much more addictive than even fried calamari with a dipping sauce.
The key ingredient is a chile paste called sambal oelek, which is a good balance of heat and flavor. (Huy Fong Foods in Rosemead produces a good one that is widely available.) The other essential is light frying of the squid dusted in flour.
Updating tradition
SOME more traditional salads sans lettuce are out there waiting to be updated too. Salade nicoise, the Provencal cliche with tuna, potatoes, green beans, olives, tomatoes and eggs, can be served without a leaf under it. But it can be taken a step further by eliminating the canned tuna that characterizes it and showcasing the ingredient that is usually considered only a garnish: anchovies.
White anchovies are starting to turn up everywhere as a main ingredient in salads, and they give a whole new flavor and personality to a Nicoise. The taste is more sweet than fishy, and the saltiness is not so aggressive.
Beef, calamari and anchovies may be more surprising stand-ins for lettuce in an exceptional salad, but it is our friend’s one-bowl sensation that I will be knocking off repeatedly from now on. He used a bagful of vegetables from the summer-all-year produce aisles at Whole Foods, but seasonal is the way to go.
Right now, the first local corn is coming into farmers markets and there are radishes, cucumbers, peppers, sugar snaps and grape tomatoes to be added to the broccoli florets, cabbage and onion he used as a foundation. As the season goes on and the markets get more bounteous, anything raw can be tossed in: sliced zucchini, just-picked green beans, green onions, kohlrabi, fennel, whatever.
The dressing can be a basic blend of mustard, balsamic vinegar and good olive oil, but a little garlic and basil round out the flavor.
You could also toss in grated cheddar or Monterey Jack, or crumbled blue cheese; you could add pine nuts or toasted almonds; you could even use, as our friend did, sun-dried cranberries. Or those kumquats now in season.
Make it ahead like coleslaw or put it together at the last minute. Either way will be proof that the road to a good salad does not have to pass through the lettuce patch. It can lead to a whole new definition.
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Leafless salad
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6 as a first course or side dish
Note: Other raw vegetables can be substituted for any listed here. Corn is coming into season; when available, add the raw kernels cut from two ears of corn.
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 cup small, tender sugar snap peas, strings removed and ends trimmed
8 grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
4 radishes, cut in half and then into thin slices
8 small broccoli florets
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1/2 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Combine the carrot, sugar snaps, tomatoes, radishes, broccoli, bell pepper, cucumber, cabbage and onion in a salad bowl; toss until well mixed.
2. Whisk the mustard and vinegar together in a small bowl, then whisk in the olive oil. Add the garlic and basil.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until coated. Season well with salt and pepper.
Each of 6 servings: 88 calories; 1 gram protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 77 mg. sodium.
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Steak salad
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped (or to taste)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound skirt steak, at room temperature
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 large bunch green onions, green part only, chopped
2 just-ripe Hass avocados, thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1. Combine the lime juice, chipotle, garlic, oregano and cumin in a bowl and mix to blend. Set aside.
2. Heat a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over high heat until it is smoking. Cut the steak into pieces large enough to fit into the skillet in one layer. Season each well on both sides with salt and pepper. Lay the pieces into the pan and cook until rare, 2 to 4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the meat. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.
3. Cut the meat across the grain into thin slices. Transfer to a bowl with the juices. Add the lime juice mixture and toss to mix. Season with more salt and pepper if you like.
4. Just before serving, add the cilantro, green onions and avocado and toss to mix. Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and serve.
Each serving: 456 calories; 30 grams protein; 18 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams fiber; 31 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 50 mg. cholesterol; 103 mg. sodium.
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White anchovy salad
Total time: About 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Note: White anchovies can be found at Nicole’s in South Pasadena and at Santa Monica Seafood, select Whole Foods Market, and gourmet shops.
1 tablespoon coarse mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons large capers
2 tablespoons chopped chives
8 small fingerling, Yukon gold or Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1/4 pound French green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup pitted Nicoise olives
Salt and pepper to taste
2 piquillo or roasted red peppers, drained and julienned
4 hard-cooked eggs, shelled and cut lengthwise into quarters
8 grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
16 white anchovies, drained (add more if you like)
1. Combine the mustard and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in the olive oil until smooth, then the mayonnaise. Stir in the capers and chives and set aside.
2. Combine the potatoes and salt in a medium pot and add cold water to cover. Bring it to a boil and cook until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon to a colander to drain.
3. Add the green beans to the water and cook until just tender, about 2 to 4 minutes. Drain well.
4. While the potatoes are still warm, cut them lengthwise into quarters. In a bowl, combine the potatoes with the olives. Add half the dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange in the center of a platter.
5. Toss the green beans with more of the dressing in the same bowl. Add the peppers, season with salt and pepper and toss to mix. Arrange along one side of the potatoes.
6. Arrange the eggs and tomatoes on either side of the other vegetables. Drape the anchovies decoratively over the potatoes and beans and serve with the remaining dressing on the side.
Each serving: 378 calories; 14 grams protein; 19 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 26 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 226 mg. cholesterol; 2,139 mg. sodium.
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Spicy calamari salad
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (includes soaking time)
Servings: 6 to 8
Note: This is adapted from chef-owner Marc Murphy at Ditch Plains in New York City. Samal oelek is ground chile paste that can be found in Asian markets and well-stocked supermarkets.
2 pounds squid with tentacles, cleaned and cut into 3/4 -inch-thick rings
1 cup milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup soybean or peanut oil
3 cups canola oil, for deep frying
Flour for dredging
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 head romaine, julienned
1/3 head radicchio, julienned
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1. Combine the calamari and milk in a bowl and let soak for 1 hour.
2. To make the vinaigrette, combine the brown sugar, sambal, fish sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and soybean oil in a bowl and whisk until blended. Set aside.
3. Heat the canola oil in a wok or deep-fryer to 350 degrees.
4. Drain the calamari completely. Spread the flour into a large shallow dish and, working in batches, dredge the calamari in it. Transfer to a sieve and shake off the excess flour. Add the calamari in batches to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Immediately season with salt and pepper.
5. While the calamari is still hot, combine it with the romaine, radicchio and the sesame seeds in a salad bowl. Add half the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Add more vinaigrette as needed and serve.
Each of 8 servings: 479 calories; 21 grams protein; 28 grams carbo- hydrates; 2 grams fiber; 32 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 265 mg. cholesterol; 677 mg. sodium.