Salad Epiphany! Raw/naked is so good!

[Scargod]

I made a salad for lunch today. Fortunately I have a nice garden and I have lots of varieties of lettuce in abundance. I picked some, along with cilantro and made a simple salad: grilled chicken breast, toasted cashews, lettuce lightly dressed with toasted sesame seed oil and rice vinegar. I added fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste. Nothing else.
I/we though it was fantastic. Yesterday it was more elaborate with steak, Stilton cheese, Cholula hot sauce, arugula, chives and lettuces.
The tastes of the less was more! We talked about how things can get over-dressed and over-seasoned and how elaborate dishes can be fun, while the virtually individual flavors can be excellent.
Anyone else think this way? Anyone else want a light, raw and simple meal once in a while?

[Scargod]

Today SO did salad since I was working hard laying travertine tiles in the den.
Steak, boiled red potatoes, chives, almond slivers, raw chopped garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, aged Monterrey jack and lettuce, of course.

[chef chicklet]

SO glad i saw this thread today. I was thinking how nice a fresh green salad with a bit of lemon juice would be. I have red oak leaf lettuce, a beautiful head, fresh fresh spinach that I had washed myself yesterday. I am now trying to figure out what dressing and what to add. I had thought about red wine vineagar and olive oil, red onion, and mandarin oranges.

[Gio]

I'm one who believes that virtually any vegetable, meat or fish can be combined to make a perfect salad. While I have quite a collection of various vinegars in the pantry, and although I often use fresh lemon juice as the acidic component, I'm also fond of a simple red wine or sherry vinaigrette mixed directly into the salad bowl. I love fresh from the garden salads and have been eating them all my life. In fact, I'd rather eat a simple tossed salad than anything else.

[lexpatti]

I could and often eat salads every day (even twice a day) and I too love a simple lemon juice, oil and herbs. sometimes changing it up by adding a lil honey. Today is just lettuce, tomato and kidney beans (and lil parm cheese). Last night was lettuce tomato, celery, kidney beans and lil shredded motz. I have a diff dressing.

My fav. summer salad is the panzanella: tomato, red onion, celery, bread chunks, parsley and parm flakes - dressed with lemon juice and oil and placed on top of huge portobello mush. that was grilled. (salad stuffed mushroom)

[Tom P]

Few things are better than a crunchy, healthy, tasty raw salad. Below is my recipe, give it a try!

RAW VEGETABLE SALAD

This might seem strange to some, but give it a try. Besides being extremely healthy, the salad is very satisfying; it is delicious and it has a terrific, hearty crunch … obviously! It is also versatile in that you can mix and match your favorite vegetables in it, and also use it as a base for other recipes (a couple to follow).

The list below is just a basis from which to work, though it is what I make most of the time. Just be sure to use the freshest, best vegetables available. This is a recipe that calls for top notch produce, given you will be eating them raw.

3 green zuchinni, ends trimmed
5 carrots, ends trimmed
2 ears fresh corn
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 carton fresh cherry or small plum tomatoes, halved
1 fresh avocado, diced
Fresh basil
Goat or feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
Homemade Vinaigrette (or just O&V with a little garlic and lemon and thyme)
Salt and pepper

- Slice each zucchini down the middle, lengthwise, then slice each half into three sections, lengthwise. Put all six slices side by side and slice horizontally into small pieces. Do Not Peel.
- Repeat with remaining zucchini and the carrots. (Also, do not peel the carrots. The skin is some of the healthiest part of each vegetable.) Place diced vegetables in a large bowl.
- Hold corn vertically and slide a knife down each side, removing the fresh kernels. Add to bowl.
- Dice the peppers. Add to the bowl, along with the chopped red onion.
- Add tomatoes, avocado and basil leaves, torn into small pieces with your hands.
- Add cheese, if desired and toss it all with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat.
- Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Note: this will stay in the fridge for a few days. If you are going to eat off it for a few days (it doubles easily), add the avocado and fresh basil each time you make it rather than at the beginning. They both will be at their best if cut/torn each time you eat the salad.

[Scargod]

Great. I know I said raw, still, when I'm grilling I often put veggies on for a few minutes to pick up the smoky flavor and then they go into salads, just like meats and fowl.
I don't have one of those holy grail things for arugula. I don't know if I will try grilling lettuces.

[cimui]

That sounds beautiful, Scargod. There's nothing like very, very fresh vegetables straight from the garden to your plate. I think the last time I had such fresh lettuce was when I actually worked on an organic farm and picked it for dinner, myself, some 8-9 years ago. You're a very lucky man. =)

[Caralien]

I have a friend (in his 80's now) who decided to stop using anything but salt, pepper, garlic, and, for chicken soup only, dill. He grew tired of flavours being covered up by too many herbs and spices, or blends, to the point where you couldn't tell what things actually taste like naked.

Personally, I've been experimenting with more herbs and spices, but trying to limit it to 1-2 per dish (salt, pepper, and olive oil don't necessarily count). During the winter, I toss dried herbs into the cleaned greens (the minimal water left after spinning helps to hydrate the herbs and the flavour isn't lost in the dressing; in a similar vein, rubbing the wooden bowl with a halved garlic clove does wonder as long as one isn't over-zealous).

Summer is great for fresh produce, particularly from one's own garden or a good farmer's market. During the summer, things are so good unadorned!

(I've even found myself guilty of eating 100% raw foods for days at a time, vegan too, when it's so hot and the produce is so fresh!)

[c oliver]

From reading CH I find that there are those who wants LOTS of ingredients and others - I'm one - who will generally go for the less is better. There are always notable exceptions in both directions. And, yes, all the fresh summer produce is like a holiday, isn't it?

[Caralien]

After what seemed like an endless winter with potatoes and squash (which I love, but tired of by January), the Farmer's Markets are full again with FOOD (I do regret not picking up the 3.5-4" deep cast iron fry pan, however). We've had a lot of asparagus over the past 2 months, but it appears that their bounty is over, or nearly so. Tomatoes have started arriving, as have incredible leafy greens. I purchased my first watermelon of the season.

It really is like a holiday being able to rediscover the flavours of summer!

[c oliver]

Dinner tonight included local asparagus and arugula. So lovely.

[enbell]

My greens are almost always naked except for some salt and pepper. I also like fennel a an addition, and agree completely with you on cilantro. A little dill goes a long way here as well. I tried Braggs Liquid Aminos once and love a little drizzle of that as well. I completely concur Scargod -- less is more.

[Scargod]

Great idea with the dill, but I don't have much of that yet. My son left a bottle of the aminos acid. I put some of that on the chicken adobo tonight.

[c oliver]

MMRuth posted this suggestion months ago and I adore it. It's nothing but arugula (now I get it from my farmers' market and it's quite mild), olive oil, lemon juice, s&p and shave Parmesan. I've had this two or three times a week since the arugula *came in*.

[cimui]

Oh fantastic, c_oliver. Have you ever tried grilling the arugula, first, and then cutting it into salad? Heaven. :)

[c oliver]

How do you do that? Do you have one of the hole-y grill things that sits on top of the grill? That sounds really good.

[cimui]

Crap, did I say arugula and *read* arugula? That must've been my evil, distracted twin typing. I meant romaine! Arugula would be too delicate to grill, even with that hole-y thing.

My evil twin got confused because after grilling, she often dresses the chopped, grilled romaine with olive oil, lemon juice, s&p and shaved Parmesan....

[c oliver]

Just turned 62 and my evil twin is all-too-often present :) Glad I don't have to try to grill arugula --- but wouldn't it taste good if one could?

[cimui]

Oh, wow, you're a strapping young lassie! Happy bday to both you and the evil twin!!

[cassoulady]

grilled radicchio is wonderful as well

[cimui]

mmm, that does sound good. grilled leaf veggies are definitely a new thing for me -- discovered only because i kept buying all this wonderful lettuce on sale and freaking out when i realized i couldn't eat it all fast enough before it went bad. i'm liking this method a lot. thanks for the tip!!

[chef chicklet]

Hey that's my salad! :) nah I confess, I love it with avocado. They are just so crazy good right now and with the creaminess of the avocado with the lemon juice, I hardly need any olive oil.

I'd sure love to plant arugula and not have to stand guard over it at night, it would be a slug fest. So far the the egg shells have held them back from the basil.

[salsailsa]

I have been tossing in fresh basil leaves with my greens and it is so tasty!

[Scargod]

Yes! And, it is so easy (especially if you have a garden and herbs), to throw in mint, tarragon, thyme and many other leafy things to flavor a salad. Arugula is so strong flavored and I have Lovage, the celery on steroids. Young pea leaves or almost anything that you are thinning, if it's edible...

[thegirlwholovestoeat]

If I have nice, fresh, flavorful greens I almost only use olive oil and lemon - otherwise you cant taste the fresh greens. The only time I find a more complex dressing to be necessary is when the salad leaves are romaine or iceberg.

[weezycom]

Growing up, salad dressing was always 1 salad spoon of olive oil, 1 salad spoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, S&P, always done directly on the salad. I say "salad spoon" because we had a big wooden salad bowl and big wooden fork & spoon for the salad. I suppose if I were to measure it now, it would be about a tablespoon to 1.5 tablespoons. Very simple. very fresh, very tasty. The salad itself was mixed lettuces, tomatoes and cukes. If we had company, a little green bell pepper and grated carrot for more color.
That bowl, BTW, is so goregous now, from over 50 years of olive oil and fresh lemon juice being tossed in it. Everyone in the family hopes they're the lucky inheritor of it.

[Scargod]

Funny we have a similar bowl. Fairly old now; it is hand carved with big wooden tongs.
I forgot I put a cucumber in today's salad! SO usually uses lemon, while I go for vinegars. Sometimes I use raspberry or other flavored vinegars.
I also like raw (or blanched and cooled), veggies like cauliflower, asparagus and broccoli. I'm going to have sugar snaps any day!
Today's salad was just silly simple and oh so good.