The Raw And The Cooked
Familiar ingredients, new format - that’s the essence of warm salads.
Like their cold counterparts, warm salads cover a broad spectrum, from appetizers to main courses.
They’re typically a mixture of meats, vegetables (cooked and raw) and such other ingredients as beans, grains and cheese. Some are made with greens, and some aren’t.
A warm salad with greens usually includes a bed of cold greens topped with cooked and raw vegetables - and/or cooked meat, poultry or seafood - and served with a room-temperature dressing.
A warm salad without greens typically uses as its main component one or more cooked ingredients, such as potatoes or beans, combined with other raw or cooked items and a dressing.
Warm salads require more work than dumping lettuce and tomato in a bowl and drowning them in dressing. But the payoff is that they taste better and are better for you.
What makes warm salads different is that the ingredients, rather than a dressing, flavor the salad.
For instance, a salad of greens, warm barbecued chicken and grilled corn has a smoky flavor (from the grill), the tang of barbecue sauce (spicy, sweet, mustardy) and sweetness from corn. A small amount of dressing or a splash of vinegar may be used just to moisten leaves and add subtle flavor.
Most warm salads also feature a lot of vegetables with a small amount of meat, which is always a good idea. And many times a warm salad as a side dish - such as warm potatoes mixed with raw vegetables and lowfat dressing - replaces a dish with more fat and calories, such as potatoes smothered in butter.
Understanding which ingredients combine best and how warm foods react with cold ones are keys to keeping warm salads fresh and punchy, not wilted and mushy.
As with all but the most classic cuisines, there are no rules for warm salads. But there are some basic principles:
Serve uncooked greens cold, not at room temperature. Serve cooked items warm, not hot.
Use sturdy greens such as romaine, radicchio, Belgian endive, frisee (curly endive), watercress or cabbages either alone or combined with baby greens. Warm ingredients on baby greens alone will wilt them.
Dressing should be room temperature. Light vinaigrettes with subtle seasonings that don’t drown out the flavors of seasoned ingredients are best. Avoid egg-based dressing or mayonnaise, as adding heat can pose a health risk.
Slice cooked items thinly. Thick meat, poultry and certain vegetables weigh down a salad.
Cook ingredients just until done. Overcooked ingredients tend to become mushy when combined with liquids in dressings or other vegetables.
Use cheese judiciously. Adding a warm ingredient to cheese may cause it to melt and make a gooey mass that will not toss with the rest of the salad.
Understand “tossing” vs. “composing.” Salad ingredients of similar weights can be tossed, or mixed together. But when some ingredients are substantially heavier than others, compose or arrange items on the plate without mixing them together.
Warm salads without greens, such as potato salad, generally can be tossed. For salads using greens, either arrange all the ingredients or toss all raw ingredients with dressing and arrange cooked items on top.
Serve warm salads immediately. Even with sturdy greens, salads that sit around too long will wilt. In most cases, however, cooked items can be prepared ahead of time and reheated slightly in a microwave just before assembling and serving.
Experiment. Warm salads can be as simple as pouring your favorite vinaigrette over cooked potatoes tossed with sliced raw onions, or as complex as you have time for.
The following warm salad recipes show the range of possibilities. Feel free to add, subtract or substitute liberally.
Southwest Salad Nicoise
Marinade:
1/2 cup lite seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup light olive oil
Salad:
1/2 - 3/4 pound tuna, trimmed
1 pound tiny new potatoes
1/2 pound string beans
2 Anaheim chilies
4 cups mixed greens
4 ounces marinated sun-dried tomatoes, drained and cut in half
1/2 cup ripe olives
4 scallions, chopped
Dressing:
1/2 cup lite seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup light olive oil
Combine all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk thoroughly. Marinate tuna 1 to 2 hours.
Prepare grill. Clean potatoes and steam or boil whole, about 20 minutes. Clean ends off string beans and start steaming just before cooking tuna.
Cook tuna on grill, basting often with marinade and turning periodically until cooked through. Dunk Anaheims in marinade and cook on grill, turning periodically, until just soft.
Meanwhile, make dressing by combining all ingredients in a jar. Shake vigorously and set aside.
To assemble salad, place 2 cups of greens on each of 2 dinner plates. Cut cooked string beans into 2-inch pieces and sprinkle half on top of each plate. Place half of potatoes around edge of each plate.
Cut peppers in half. Remove seeds and stems and slice in thin strips. Sprinkle on top of salad. Cut tuna across grain in thin strips. Divide evenly and place decoratively on each salad.
Top salads with evenly divided amounts of sun-dried tomatoes (they may be slightly heated in microwave), olives and scallions. Serve with dressing on side.
Yield: 2 servings.
Warm Caribbean Chicken and Black Bean Salad
Marinade:
1 cup Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing (or similar bottled dressing)
2 cups pink grapefruit juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
Several dashes Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Salad:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
1 plantain (or green banana)
Canola oil
1 15-ounce can black beans
Ground cumin
8 cups combined Romaine lettuce and arugula, broken into pieces
1 14-ounce can hearts of palm, drained
Chopped scallions
Freshly ground black pepper
Citrus Dressing:
1/2 cup pink grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 tablespoon minced chives
White pepper, to taste
Combine all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk together. Marinate chicken, covered and refrigerated, 2 to 4 hours.
Prepare dressing ahead of time by combining all ingredients in a jar and shaking vigorously. Refrigerate.
About 20 minutes before serving, prepare grill. Grill chicken, basting frequently, until cooked through. Chicken may be cooked ahead of time and reheated in microwave on plate covered with plastic wrap just before serving.
Peel plantain and cut in half lengthwise, then into bite-size pieces. Heat canola oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add plantain pieces and cook, turning periodically, until softened on inside and browned on outside, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. (If pieces get too cool, they may be reheated briefly in microwave.)
Heat black beans in saucepan over medium-low heat or in microwave. Mix with ground cumin, to taste, and set aside to cool slightly.
To assemble salad, mix greens in large bowl with beans, until evenly distributed. Place of mixture on each of 4 plates. Divide plantains evenly among plates. Cut each chicken breast into strips and place one breast decoratively on each plate.
Divide hearts of palms evenly among plates. Sprinkle with scallions and a few grindings of black pepper. Serve with dressing on side (only a small amount is necessary, since greens already have liquid from beans).
Yield: 4 servings.
Cajun Salad
Spice rub adapted from “New York Cookbook.”
Spice Rub:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in half
8 ounces pork loin chops
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage (in links)
16 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
10 ounces fresh or frozen whole okra
8 cups combined Romaine and frisee (curly endive), broken into pieces
3 medium carrots, shredded
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
Spicy Dressing:
1/2 cup herb vinegar
1 large shallot, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon gumbo file (available in grocery stores)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Mix spice rub ingredients together in bowl. Rub into all sides of chicken, pork, sausage and shrimp. Place pieces in baking dish and sprinkle any remaining spice rub on top. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
Prepare grill. Make dressing by combining all ingredients except oil in bowl. Whisk oil in gradually (may be done in processor) until dressing is thickened. Set aside. Grill spicerubbed items, starting thicker items first so all will finish simultaneously.
Steam fresh okra or cook frozen according to package directions. If pieces are large, cut in small slices, otherwise leave whole. Set aside in small bowl if finished before grilling and reheat slightly in microwave.
Mix greens and grated carrots in large bowl. Divide evenly among 4 plates. Divide okra evenly among plates, sprinkling on greens.
Slice chicken and pork thinly across grain. Cut sausage into -inch pieces. Divide chicken, pork and sausage evenly among plates, placing in groups around greens.
Place 4 shrimp on each plate. Scatter tomatoes on top. Drizzle on dressing. Serve with cornbread and pepper jelly.
Yield: 4 servings.