SALAD DAYS OF SUMMER

 

                Salad Days of Summer

 

          Shakespeare may have used the expression of “salad days” to describe a time in a young person’s life without worry or responsibility, but for the home cook it opens a whole summer of food termed ‘Salad’.

          Records show Greeks and Romans sprinkling oil, vinegar and herbs over layers of greens in their diet. While quite natural in warmer climates, the rest of the world took some time to adapt such practices. Salads as a menu item did not really become popular until the start of the 20^th century, with women’s diets for a svelte figure and thus were labeled as foods for abstinence. Rather than the current view of being part of a healthy diet, salads were often labeled as a “nutritional frill”. 

          Much has changed since then and we now regard the first lettuce and arugula leaves in our garden as a treasure and the simple vinaigrette dressing has expanded to include such additions as miso or soy sauce and other dressings depend on a creamy base. Granted, the initial spring enthusiasm for greens wanes when you notice your nose starts twitching and you become concerned of the potential elongation of your ears to resemble a rabbit as you view another plate of such a lunch.  Fortunately, these days salads come with a variety of ingredients in many forms, even if many are served on a few leaves of green.

          Potato salad is probably the most common since it routinely is served on summer picnics. My two favorite cold potato salad recipes follow, the oil and vinegar recipe is better suited for picnics on very hot days, since cream salads can spoil easily in heat. For the 4^th of July holliday, you may wish to make either salad with a mix or red, blue and white potatoes.

                                   Bavarian potato salad with bacon

          Cook 3 slices of lean bacon, drain on paper towels and crumble. Prepare dressing by whisking together: 3 tblsp. red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper and 3 tblsp. olive oil.

Scrub 2 pounds red potatoes, quarter if large or leave whole if baby potatoes and cook in salted boiling water until firm tender 14-16 minutes. Test for doneness with a fork since you do not want them mushy. Drain potatoes, cut in bite size pieces and toss with the dressing in a large bowl.

Lightly toss the potatoes also with: 4 tblsp. finely chopped red onion, 3 tblsp. chopped parsley, 3 tblsp. chopped chives, ½ chopped dill pickle and the crumbled bacon. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Garnish with parsley.

                                                        Creamy rich potato salad

Beforehand, prepare 1 hardboiled egg (cook 12 minutes) and ½ cup blanched fresh or frozen peas (cook 3 minutes). Cool egg and peas.

Prepare dressing by whisking together: 4 tblsp. sour cream, 2 tblsp. buttermilk or yoghurt, ½ tsp. salt, 1/3 tsp. lemon-pepper, ½ tsp. dry mustard, ½ tsp. celery seed, 2 tblsp. chopped dill.

Cook white or yellow potatoes and process as for the recipe above. Toss the cooled potatoes with the dressing, 2 large scallions including green parts thinly sliced, 3 radishes halved and sliced, 1 chopped dill pickle, the cooked peas and the chopped hard-boiled egg. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving. Garnish with parsley and a radish.

                                                      Colorful cabbage salad

Hand shred white cabbage to make 4 cups and red cabbage to make 1 cup and toss together in a large bowl. Using a box grater on the coarsest setting, grate on top of the cabbage enough red onion to make 1 tblsp. 1 whole large carrot and 3 large radishes. Toss to mix. Prepare dressing in a small bowl: 4 tblsp. sour cream, 3 tblsp. white vinegar, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. dry mustard, 1 tsp. celery seed, ¼ tsp. pepper. Toss all together, refrigerate for 1-2 hours and serve.

Summer desserts tend to be watermelon and cookies. For an eye-catching simple dessert, you can’t beat this lemon cream pie with strawberries that takes advantage of premade materials.

                                            Lemon cream pie with strawberries.

Bake single 9 inch pre-made rolled pie crust (from the deli case) according to package directions and cool. Prepare instant lemon pudding with milk according to package directions and when thickened, pour into the pie crust. Refrigerate pie for at least an hour. For serving, slice fresh strawberries, arrange on top and decorate with chocolate kisses. Enjoy!

We shall explore more vegetable salads during the rest of the summer.

I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)