Older Bolder Life

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salads

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad

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Despite astrological fall having arrived early the morning of the 23rd, it’s been hot as blazes around our neighborhood for yet another week. It’s been in the mid to high 70s at sunrise during my first workout at the park and pushing the high 90s (or hotter, dammit) every afternoon.

The roasting temperatures have us still reaching almost every day for our favorite salad recipes, and at the risk of engendering a few snickers and scoffs, I’ve even been pulling this Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad out of the files lately, given how good the late summer tomatoes and pickling cucumbers are especially. (Snicker away, but good cottage cheese with a grind of fresh pepper, a healthy pinch of good salt, and a splash of a very good olive oil is mighty fine snack any time…).

This is one you can have on the table in about 30 minutes, and that includes some resting time for the sliced vegetables, and we’ve really come to appreciate the burst of acidity and the layers of flavor the vinegar brings mixed into the cottage cheese with the radishes and into the very simple vinaigrette dressing for the vegetable topping or “salad”.

Have some small-ish zucchini or yellow squash you want to throw in? By all means do it. Sub in any vinegar you wish, and my lovely wife even likes this with a handful of chopped green salad olives and julienned salami mixed in as well.

1 pound mixed small tomatoes, halved or quartered
3-4 small Kirby cucumbers, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
4-5 green or spring onions, trimmed, whites and green separated, sliced thinly
1 and 1/2 + 1 tsp good kosher salt
1 medium bunch radishes (any kind), halved, thinly sliced or julienned

16-ounce container of full fat cottage cheese (at least 4% milk fat)
3-4 tbsp white wine, champagne, or rice vinegar, divided
2-3 tbsp good EVOO or avocado oil

Optional
2-4 tbsp chopped salad olives (or olive of choice)
1-2 ounces of thinly sliced salami

Combine the prepped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and sliced onion whites in a small bowl; sprinkle with 1 and 1/2 tsp of the salt, a few grinds of fresh pepper, and throw in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

Prep the radishes, then stir into the cottage cheese along with 1-2 tbsp of the vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill if not using immediately.

When ready to serve, drain any accumulated liquid from the salted vegetable mixture, and stir in 2 tbsp of oil and 2 additional tbsp of your vinegar of choice. Stir in the olives and chopped salami if using.

Spread the cottage cheese over a large platter or individual servings over plates, then spoon the vegetable mixture over in a thin layer, drizzle with more really good EVOO if you wish, and garnish with the sliced onion greens.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Thai-Inspired Larb Salad

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Now the calendar has finally made the turn to early fall, one of our favorite warm salads will soon be back in the rotation, a Thai-Inspired Larb Salad.

I wrote about this one over a year ago on the fly fishing blog Chi Wulff –

…We actually ended up reaching out to chef buddy Libby in Austin to see if she had a favorite version of larb; she tends to work very hard to reproduce classic dishes of great cuisines around the world, and for whatever reason, our palates are fairly closely aligned. Like her, we tend to lean toward making things a bit more spicy (meaning more peppers here), and love the interplay of the lemongrass, cilantro, and mint in this one.

This has become one of our favorites over the spring and early summer season; it’s great spooned into lettuce leaves and eaten “taco style” as we say down here in the South, or served over a bed of finely shredded Napa cabbage…

Fresh lime juice (it doesn’t take all that long to juice 5 or 6 limes) makes a huge different here, and even though it sounds like a lot, use at least 1/4 cup of a good fish sauce. Traditionally made using ground pork (consider grinding your own pork shoulder for this one), we’ve enjoyed this recipe with ground chicken and turkey as well, or a combination.

Though traditionally eaten while still warm from cooking, on the hot fall days remaining – at least here in “The South”, this dish is delicious cold from the fridge too.

2 pounds ground pork, chicken, or turkey (or combination)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup (generous) sliced green onions, white and trimmed green parts
1 cup shallots, thinly sliced
2-4 tbsp minced lemongrass
1-2 tbsp thinly sliced serranos, Thai chiles, or jalapeños
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

Sauce
2/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cup fish sauce
1-2 tbsp chili paste or chili garlic paste
Optional: 1 tbsp honey or your favorite sugar equivalent

Lettuce leaves, your favorite cauliflower rice, or shredded Napa cabbage for serving

Combine the four sauce ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.

Into a large skillet over medium heat goes the meat; break it up as it begins to brown, ladling off any fat and water that comes off. When the meat is roughly halfway cooked, add the chicken stock, and continue to sauté until the meat is just cooked through, another 5-6 minutes.

Now add the green onions, shallots, lemongrass, and chiles, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has for the most part evaporated.

Remove from the heat, add the sauce, cilantro, and mint, stirring to combine well.

Serve over shredded Napa cabbage or in lettuce leaves “taco style” and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Grilled Sweet Potato, Onion, and Chile Salad

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Since late May I’ve been personally pushing my fitness levels fairly hard; starting my fitness and health recovery journey a little over two years ago I never imagined I’d be sprinting and dialing in some pretty danged specific training to compete next spring in Masters track and field events. (I’ve been telling people lately that back then I was a 412 pound weakling; thankfully that’s now very nearly 200 pounds and lightyears of fitness ago…)

Having been in nutritional ketosis for more or less the past 16 months (probably 95% of the time or better) I have noted that my performance did begin to lag on my leanest carb intake days, prompting some experimentation with carb cycling and adjusting my carb targets on my hardest work days.

One of the ways we’ve done that is incorporate sweet potatoes into the rotation a bit more often. Back in our pre-primal/pre-paleo days we had several grilled potato salads we enjoyed, so that set me to playing with several recipes featuring grilled sweet potatoes.

This Grilled Sweet Potato, Onion, and Chile Salad is one that we keep coming back to again and again; we love the Asian-inspired flavor profile in the dressing, the sweetness of the grilled onions, and the herbal tones from the basil added to finish it off. This salad (or side dish if you prefer) is even damned pretty on the platter or plate too.

You can serve it warm just as it’s finished, at room temp, or chilled – my wife prefers it chilled, but it’s good any way you dish it up.

Approx. 2 pounds sweet potatoes, sliced cross-wise into 3/4-inch thick discs
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup EVOO or avocado oil
1 large or 2 smaller red onion(s)
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 cups basil leaves, torn if large
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Dressing
2/3 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)
3 red Fresno or jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced
3 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
1-3 tbsp good fish sauce
1 tbsp honey (optional)

Cover the sliced sweet potatoes with water in a large sauce pan; add the salt and stir to combine. Bring to a healthy simmer, reduce heat to medium and simmer gently until the potato slices are just tender (use a fork or paring knife to check) – this will take 9-10 minutes pending how thick your slices are. Remove from the water and drain.

While the potatoes are cooling, whisk together the sauce ingredients, adjust for salt, and set aside (you’ll want to whisk again before pouring over the grilled potatoes).

Fire the grill (you only need a medium heat fire here).

Grate the garlic into a large bowl, stir in the 1/4 cup oil, and add the onions which you’ve cut into wedges (6-8 per onion) through the root end (keeps the wedges together on the grill). Toss the cooled potato slices and the onion wedges in the bowl, add a sprinkle of salt.

Now grill the onions and potato slices until well-marked, crispy, and a little charred (10-15 minutes pending your fire). Return to the large bowl (wipe out any excess oil in the bowl first), chopping into bite sized pieces first, toss with the dressing, then gently toss in the basil leaves and sesame seeds, adjusting for added salt one final time.

Can serve warm off the grill, room temp, or chilled – this one’s good any way you take it.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Cashews and Ricotta Salata

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It’s not zucchini week here on the Older Bolder Life, but I have to admit we’ve been enjoying the bounty of fresh zucchini coming in now in North Texas several days a week.

We’re still crunching through the latest batch of Quick Zucchini Dills I shared on Monday, and my lovely wife has been pestering me to grill up another recipe of this Grilled Summer Squash, Feta, and Pepper Salad from a few weeks back.

Here’s another fresh zucchini dish perfect for that handful of young, very tender, smaller zucchini you picked up at the farmer’s market and weren’t quite sure what do with – a Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Cashews and Ricotta Salata.

Of course don’t shave in that delicious cheese if you’re intolerant or hard-core, never venture off the trail Paleo, but you’ll be missing something here.

This happens to be another one of those recipes graced by a simple, tasty, and fresh vinaigrette-type dressing, and we think the red pepper flakes are essential to balancing out all the wonderful flavors here.

The mint is an almost surprising, and danged refreshing, flavor in the mix, as are the cashews (I’m sure other nuts will play, you’ll just need to experiment a bit.). And by the way, if you’re not familiar with ricotta salata, the saltier, aged, firmer-after-pressing version of fresh ricotta, you’re in for a treat…

3 small zucchini (roughly 1.5 pounds), trimmed, thinly sliced (see below)
1 cup mint leaves, torn
1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews
5-6 ounces ricotta salata, shaved into very thin slices

Dressing
1/4 cup EVOO or avocado oil
2-3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp good Dijon mustard
1 tsp (or more) crushed red pepper flakes
Pinch of good salt

First whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside.

Now thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise into wide, long ribbons; it’s a piece of cake with a vegetable peeler or a mandoline.

Place in a large bowl and coat with roughly 3/4 of the dressing, tossing gently so the ribbons don’t break. Now add the mint, cashews, and shavings of the ricotta salata you’ve shaved off with your vegetable peeler again. Again gently toss to combine, then drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Serve immediately, and enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Monday: Quick Cucumber Mint Salad

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Now that summer has arrived, or is at least knocking on the door for most of us, we start digging through the digital recipe box for cool, crisp, and interesting salads to accompany the grilled proteins that the summer season demands.

A friend served this Quick Cucumber Mint Salad to us a few weeks back, and my wife and I both pestered her for the recipe before the night was out. This one really is a quick prep; you’re mainly slicing and spicing, with an hour or so of resting the salted cucumbers and onions along the way.

The fresh mint adds a wonderful burst of flavor (and interest), and we like this one just as much without the honey or maple syrup – try it both ways…

3 English cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp kosher salt, more to taste
1 bunch (small) fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
2-3 tbsp avocado or extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tsp. Honey or maple syrup, optional

Combine the sliced cucumbers and red onion in a medium bowl; sprinkle with 2 tsp of salt, stir to mix well, cover and throw in the fridge for an hour.

Remove from the fridge and drain in a colander, pushing down gently on the mixture to express as much water as possible.

Place in a clean bowl, add the mint leaves, and drizzle with the vinegar and oil of choice; add the pepper, honey or maple syrup if using, and salt to taste, Stir gently and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Monday: Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

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Growing up in the generation I did, salad dressings were something you bought at the grocery off the shelf featuring the half dozen or so Kraft flavors that dominated the selections back in the day. As many of the commercially prepared, mass-marketed dressings today, in those days these ubiquitous dressings were built around franken oils and overly-processed, far from fresh ingredients.

To be honest, I can’t ever remember anyone making their own salad dressing at home, unless it was the homemade Catalina version based on a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, canola oil, vinegar, and a handful of sugar (gaaaack).

Even nearly three decades ago when we were starting our own family, making salad dressing at home wasn’t really on our radar, though as a young family we did enjoy the salads at an (in)famous Italian chain restaurant.

Back several years ago I was helping a friend prepare for a large birthday party event, at which the guest of honor had apparently insisted that the menu include a “salad just like at Olive Garden”. My friend was a fairly experienced and crafty home cook, and my task was to help her develop a dressing that would duplicate the flavors requested using healthier and fresh ingredients.

A bit of research and a day of trial and error yielded this recipe, which we’ve continued to reach for to this day. When we first compiled this recipe, we typically added a teaspoon or two of honey to the recipe, though as our tastes have evolved over the past couple of years, we don’t anymore, preferring to enjoy the herbal goodness of the fresh spices instead.

And for those who want their dressing a little creamier, just add your healthy mayo a tablespoon at a time until you have it just right.

5 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp avocado or olive oil mayonnaise
1 medium garlic clove, finely grated
Oregano: 1 tbsp + 1 tsp chopped fresh OR 1 and ½ tsp dried
Parsley: 1 tbsp + 1 tsp chopped fresh OR 1 and ½ tsp dried
Thyme: 1 tsp chopped fresh OR ¼ tsp dried
1 tsp onion powder
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

½ cup avocado or extra virgin olive oil

Optional
1-2 tsp of sweetener of choice, see note

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a small bowl or lidded jar, stir or shake to combine. Now whisk in (or pour into shaker jar) the oil of choice until well emulsified; adjust spices, salt, and pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Primal Green Bean Nicoise Salad with Tuna and Crispy Sweet Potatoes

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Like many of you, we’re always on the search for new and interesting salads, slaws, and other ways to enjoy lots of colorful, healthy, and tasty vegetables.

Here’s a nifty primal / paleo spin on a classic, what we’re now calling our Primal Green Bean Nicoise Salad with Tuna and Crispy Sweet Potatoes. The sweet potatoes are subbed in for the baby russets or red potatoes in the classic version, and you’ll use eggs from pastured chickens, healthy oil in the dressing, add a burst of lemon, fresh dill, and radishes (use several varieties for interest, taste, and color). It’s also a piece of cake to crumble some wild caught canned tuna onto this one to up the protein component and add some wonderful flavor to the dish, though you don’t absolutely have to have it.

Three quick thoughts on this recipe: One, consider prepping and cooking the sweet potatoes, eggs, and green beans ahead of time; then chill and hold (separately) in the fridge until ready to put the salad together. This recipe at first glance seems a bit complicated, but in reality, it’s really not at all, and by following the sequence I’ve laid it, it flows very well. Doing a little cooking ahead will just shorten your assembly time later in the day.

Two, the dressing is outrageously good, consider making a double recipe and holding for other salads this week. And three, the crispy capers (pictured below) sounded a little fussy to me at first, though they’re incredibly simple to prepare, and really add a nifty taste and texture element to this one.

My lovely wife enjoyed this one so much, she’s insisting it become a standard in our summer rotation…

1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1-inch thick slices
4-5 pastured eggs
1 and 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and washed

For the dressing
1 medium shallot, trimmed, and minced
3 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp + 1 tsp good Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
2 tsp fresh lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1/4 tsp good salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or avocado oil)

To finish the salad
1-2 bunches breakfast (or other) radishes, trimmed, larger ones quartered
1/2 cup or more Nicoise or Kalamata olives, pitted, halved if large
1/4 cup capers, drained, crisped in pan (see below)
1-2 cans wild caught tuna, drained, crumbled
1 tbsp (or more) fresh dill, chopped

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; prep the sweet potato and greens beans while waiting.

Parboil the sweet potato slices for 10-12 minutes until a fork penetrates easily; remove from the water, drain, and cut into medium dice when cool enough to handle. Sauté in butter, avocado, or olive oil until edges are crispy and browned, then set aside to cool (when cool hold in fridge).

When the sweet potato comes out, drop the eggs into the boiling water and boil for eight minutes for perfectly jammy yolks (or longer to suit you); when done, drop into an ice-water bath, then peel when cool.

When the eggs come out, bring the water back to a full boil, then cook the green beans 2-4 minutes until bright green and crisp-tender; remove immediately to an ice-water bath, chill for 5-7 minutes, drain, and pat dry.

If you haven’t during the cooking sequence above, whisk the dressing ingredients together, save for the olive oil, which is poured slowly in a steady stream while whisking away. Set aside in the fridge.

If using the crispy capers, and you should, pat the capers dry, then sauté in 2 tbsp of the oil of your choice over moderate heat until they being pop and get brown and crispy. Set aside.

To assemble the salad, begin by drizzling roughly 1/3 of the dressing over the green beans in a large bowl, toss to coat, then arrange on a large platter. Repeat with the potato pieces and then the radishes, using 1 tbsp of dressing for each in the same bowl you tossed the green beans in, and arranging each artfully on the platter.

Quarter the eggs; place the eggs and the olives on the green bean bed, then place the tuna as well . Now drizzle the salad with the remaining dressing, top with the crispy capers, and finally the remaining fresh dill.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: The Texas Mini-Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Sour Cream Dressing

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I’ve shared in many a recipe post here on the Older Bolder Life about growing up in the South; the South has a wonderful food culture and history and boasts some of the hottest and most innovative food scenes in the country (Houston, NOLA, Atlanta, and Charleston to name a few).

Much of what I remember eating during my childhood and early adulthood was truly simple yet delicious Texan and Southern fare, like great low-and-slow BBQ, fresh-off-the-boat Gulf seafood, mouth-watering Tex-Mex, and even iconic sides like the Texas Wedge Salad.

Nostalgia-invoking powers aside, there’s nothing very fancy about a classic Texas-style wedge salad – it’s a literal wedge of cold, crisp iceberg lettuce, classically drenched in some version of Ranch dressing, with crumbled bacon, fresh-cracked pepper, and if you were dining in a place that was really uptown, maybe even some blue cheese crumbles too.

We still serve up a wedge salad now and again around our camp, but now do this Texas Mini-Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Sour Cream Dressing, topped with bacon, avocado pieces, toasted pepitas or pecans, and some of that “uptown” crumbled blue cheese. You can see from the image that this one perhaps isn’t the “prettiest” salad you’ll serve this week, but it very well might be the tastiest.

Cutting a head of crispy iceberg lettuce into 8 wedges instead of 4 makes this salad easier to manage on the plate and lets more of the tangy, lemony buttermilk sour cream dressing coat everything. By the time you trim a head of lettuce down and remove the wilted outer leaves, you’ll probably want to count on a head of lettuce serving two hungry diners.

A recipe of Buttermilk Sour Cream Dressing
4-8 pieces of thick-sliced bacon, fried crisp, drained and crumbled

2 tight, medium heads of iceberg lettuce, root-end trimmed, wilted leaves removed
2 medium, firm avocados, cut in wedges
1 bunch fresh chives, but into 3/4” pieces
Good salt and fresh-cracked coarse pepper

Optional
Roughly 1/2 cup of toasted pepitas or pecans
Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup or so of good crumbled blue cheese
Lemon quarters for squeezing

Prep the dressing (hold in the fridge); fry the bacon, crumble, and set aside.

Prep the lettuce, cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into 1/8-head wedges. Cut each mini-wedge crosswise into 2 to 3 inch pieces, and plate artfully. Drop a few tomatoes in if using.

Work a few avocado wedges among the lettuce on each place, drizzle with dressing, then top with the toasted nuts, chives, and blue cheese if using. Spritz with a lemon quarter and go to it.

Enjoy.