Older Bolder Life

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salad

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 2 December: Broccoli Caesar

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Back in late August I shared about how much we love a great Caesar salad around our house, though we struggled for years to find a dressing recipe we truly loved and could make at home without an advanced food degree or pestering our friend Chef Libby to work her magic.

Though not a new concept, we’ve been making this Broccoli Caesar as often as a traditional Caesar of late; the cruciferous crunch is delicious, especially when topped with this Homemade Caesar Dressing with Avocado Oil Mayo you’ve prepped in your own kitchen.

The shaved Parmesan is always a great touch – that nutty, salty Parmesan flavor is essential in our book, and the toasted walnuts will make you forget there’s not a crouton in sight…

One recipe Homemade Caesar Dressing with Avocado Oil Mayo

2 medium to large heads of broccoli
1/4 head Napa cabbage (more to taste)
Good salt to taste

Shaved Parmesan
Fresh lemon zest
Freshly ground (coarse) or cracked black pepper

Optional: Toasted Walnuts

Trim any rough, darkened ends from the broccoli stems, and remove the florets as close to the dark green flower buds as you can, then trim or break into bite-sized segments, placing in a large bowl. Now slice the stems into thin rounds, starting with narrow stalks that held the florets.

When trimmed down to the main stems, peel the tougher outer layers off, exposing the more tender inner cores, then slice crosswise into narrow discs and add to the florets.

Slice thinly/shred the cabbage (add more if you like) and stir into the broccoli pieces.

Now pour the dressing over, salt to taste, stir to coat, and let rest in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

When ready to serve, stir once more, topped with shaved Parmesan, the lemon zest, and the pepper. Add toasted walnuts if desired.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 25 November: Thai-Inspired Celery Salad

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Here’s a nifty salad to get you back on track if you’ve wandered a bit during the holiday break – a Thai-Inspired Celery Salad.

Celery doesn’t necessarily get a lot of love in many kitchens beyond nut butter and pimento cheese-stuffed celery sticks (if you grew up in the South, you know what I’m talking about with the pimento cheese…).

We’re long time celery fans around our camp; for instance, I can’t imagine serving a chicken or tuna salad without celery included, celery leaves work wonders in flavoring soups and other dishes, and a crispy, crunchy stalk or two, sliced thinly, winds up in most of the salads we serve as well.

Finally, celery packs a host of health benefits in its long, green stalks, including a very low soluble carb burden, and meaningful amounts of vitamin K, folate, vitamins C, B6, and A, as well manganese, calcium, riboflavin, and manganese. Celery packs a host of phytonutrients too; perhaps we’ll spend a bit of time at some point digging a bit deeper into those, though in the context of today’s recipe, we like celery because it tastes great in this salad too…

Update: I came back and updated this recipe on the 25 of February, after making a few changes along the way since last November – another dressing option and 1/2 of a large sliced and peeled cucumber…

The final winning point for this recipe – ten minutes or less prep time even with average “knife skills”.

8-9 celery stalks, with leaves, thinly sliced on a diagonal
2 small or 1/2 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced
7-8 trimmed green onions, thinly sliced
1-2 red chiles (think a Fresno here), stemmed, thinly sliced
1 and 1/2 cups fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

Dressing #1
4-5 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1-3 tsp red chile pepper flakes
Good salt and pepper to taste

Dressing #2
4 tbsp avocado or EV olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp good fish sauce
Good salt and pepper to taste

Optional
1/3 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts (or nut of your choice)
1-2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside.

Combine the prepped celery, green onions, chiles, and cilantro; toss to combine evenly. Whisk the dressing one final time, pour over the salad, and toss to coat well. Sprinkle with the peanuts (if using) and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 26 August: Homemade Caesar Dressing with Avocado Oil Mayo

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As the summer heat drags on here in Northeast Texas, we find ourselves reaching more and more often for a cool salad topped with a tasty and chilled grilled protein.

My wife and I love a good Caesar, and have played around for years looking for a Homemade Caesar Dressing that tasted like a great Caesar should and yet didn’t require an advanced food science degree to pull off.

Thanks to several friends, including Chef Libby in Austin, we’ve settled on this amalgam of several good recipes, which is build around a cup of a healthy and tasty avocado oil (or good olive oil) mayo made right in our / your own kitchen.

If smashing anchovies and garlic into a paste with the back of a spoon doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, track down the very reasonable substitute anchovy paste, though we agree with the many traveling this road before us that the real thing packs a bit more funky, umami punch, and just tastes better.

Most recently we’ve been topping Caesars with either a Cajun-spiced grilled chicken or shrimp, though Judy’s salmon, grilled and chilled, is tough to beat too.

2-3 small garlic cloves, minced
1-2 small anchovies
1 cup freshly made avocado oil mayo
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp good Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp good salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

This one is a piece of cake to pull together.

Mash the minced garlic and anchovies into a smooth paste in a small mixing bowl; whisk in the next 6 ingredients until smooth and creamy. Stir in the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I’ll sometimes add a bit more) and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Stir into that masterpiece of a Caesar salad you’ve built and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 20 June: ME’s Cauliflower Salad

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I’m not sure where it was that we first enjoyed this simple but delicious raw cauliflower “salad”, though you could just as easily call it a slaw.

Cauliflower is such a versatile workhorse in the kitchen and has been popping up everywhere in all sorts of forms these days; we happen to think it’s under-appreciated “just as it is” raw, as in serving it on your hummus tray, as crudite with your favorite dips or dressings, or in salads such as this.

This is one of those recipes to throw together, adding ingredients “until it looks right”, adjusting for your palate as you go, and you can use whatever olives and cheese float your boat. Try it and I’ll bet it ends up in your summer rotation over the next few months.

1 large head cauliflower florets, trimmed (the tender, small stems are good too)
1/2 to 1 cup good olives (pimento stuffed), chopped roughly
2-3 ounces cheese of your choice, great with a medium or sharp cheddar, or MJ
Approx. 1/2 cup homemade avocado or olive oil mayo (may need more)
1-2 tbsp olive brine
Optional: Jar of chopped pimentos, drained and chopped
Optional: 1-2 tbsp of fresh, coarse-ground black pepper

This one is a piece of cake to pull together – the most time consuming task is cutting up the cauliflower head; be sure to wash the florets well, then let them drain for several minutes before combining with the rest of the ingredients.

The beauty of this recipe, as with just about all salads and slaws, is that you can easily adjust the final amounts of the key ingredients to suit your (family’s) tastes. We never measure the ingredients for this one, and just add olives, cheese, and homemade avocado oil mayo until “it looks right”. (Try it as written to get an idea what it should look and taste like the first time around.)

Hold in the fridge until ready to serve, best made within 2-3 hours of serving.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday 6 June: Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad

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Inspired by a salad (or a slaw if you’re so inclined) that we had at the now defunct Smoke restaurant in Plano, Texas over a year ago, this Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad showed up on a delicious grilled fish taco plate they had on special that evening.

After a bit of research, and poking and prodding our chef friends (thanks Libby!), we tweaked this recipe around the edges a bit and settled on this version. For the prep time and effort required, this salad pays huge dividends, and is a great one to serve friends or family as it’s not something you see everyday.

Root around at your favorite grocery and find the best looking cherry tomatoes you can; they play very with the cantaloupe and the other asian-inspired players in this one. Consider upping the heat with a sliced serrano or jalapeno too.

1 large cantaloupe, halved, seeded, prepped as below
1 and 1/2 cups of the freshest cherry tomatoes you can find
6-7 green onions, trimmed, then thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 fresh red fresno chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced (poblano good too)
1/3 cup (or more) fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp good fish sauce
1 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp (or more) fresh lime zest (optional)
1/3 cup (give or take) of roasted, salted peanuts, crushed, optional

Slice 3/4s of the cantaloupe into thin slices; grate the remainder on a the large holes of a box grater. Toss both into a medium bowl.

Now halve the cherry tomatoes, slice the onions and chiles, and prep the cilantro; add all to the cantaloupe.

Add the lime juice, fish sauce and EVOO; mix well and chill for a few minutes if not eating immediately, you don’t want to hold this one for too long.

Garnish with the lime zest, cilantro, and optional crushed roasted peanuts and go to it.

Enjoy.