It’s pretty hard to think summer without thinking salads. Markets and home gardens offer up a treasure of locally grown produce. All summer long! So relax and enjoy the ease that comes from making salads stars in your kitchen.
Newish Potato Salad
When I was a kid, picnics and patio suppers often featured potato salad dressed in a tangy/sweet custard-like dressing. There was always a jar of that homemade dressing in the fridge, also ready for cabbage salads, and especially for devilled eggs. The salad world has evolved since then, and trending now are vinaigrette-dressed potato salads, like the one below. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.
1 lb (450 g) small new potatoes,
skin on and brushed clean, about 4 cups
1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced radishes
1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced cornichons or tiny dill pickles
1/3 cup (80 mL) snipped chives or thinly sliced green part of green onions
1/4 cup (60 mL) snipped fresh dill
1 tbsp (15 mL) drained capers
Handful of radish sprouts, optional
Dressing
1/4 cup (60 mL) white wine vinegar
1 tbsp (15 mL) grainy mustard
1/3 cup (80 mL) canola oil
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
Dressing:
In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, oil, salt and pepper; set aside.
In a saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes, covered, until they are just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain; cut in half. Transfer to a serving bowl or storage container. While the potatoes are still hot, drizzle with dressing and toss gently. Let cool, gently tossing the potatoes a few times.
Add the radishes, cornichons, chives, dill and capers; toss gently. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate covered, for an hour or two.) Before serving, stir and taste, adjusting seasonings if needed. Strew the radish sprouts, if using, overtop.
Makes 4 to 5 servings.
Tips: Cornichons are an unsweetened, zesty little pickle made from baby-finger-length cucumbers. You could substitute baby dill pickles, also diminutive and unsweetened.
Radishes are enjoying a renaissance, so check out long radishes in bright red, pink and purple shades. For the dazzling hot-pink watermelon radishes – because they tend to be bigger – scrub, quarter lengthwise, then slice crosswise as thinly as possible.
To make this side a light lunch, add 4 to 6 hard-cooked and quartered eggs to the cooked, dressed potatoes.
Creamy Burrata with Roasted Sunshine
Burrata is a soft ball-shaped fresh cheese, its outside a light skin of mozzarella holding in its luscious and creamy filling. Pair it with a fresh herb vinaigrette and a harvest of sunshine – roasted tomatoes and mini sweet peppers. Serve for a light lunch with crunchy toasts or as a dinner-time appetizer.
12 mini sweet peppers, a bright mix of red, yellow and orange
2 cups (500 mL) cherry or grape tomatoes
6 large cloves garlic, halved
¼ cup (60 mL) shredded basil
2 tbsp (30 mL) minced flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1/3 cup (80 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tbsp (15 mL) white balsamic or white wine vinegar
Half baguette
9 oz (250 g) container of burrata
24 basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Get out 2 rimmed baking sheets. Line 1 with parchment paper. Leave the second one unlined. Position oven racks above and below the centre of the oven. Heat oven to 400°F (200°C).
With mini sweet peppers, you have a choice: Trim off the stems and scoop out their seeds, or leave those tender little seeds inside the peppers and the stems in place. The curved stems add visual appeal, and we eat first with our eyes!
In a large bowl, gently mix the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup (60 mL) of the olive oil, and vinegar. Scrape out into a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Set this baking sheet aside for the moment while cutting 16 thin slices of the baguette: Brush both sides lightly with the remaining olive oil. Arrange slices on unlined baking sheet.
Put both baking sheets into the oven. Toast the bread slices until golden, about 10 to 15 minutes; let cool. Continue roasting the vegetables until the peppers are tender, maybe a little brown here and there, and the tomatoes are nicely wrinkled, about 25 minutes total. Let all cool to room temperature.
(Make-ahead: Cover lightly and keep for a few hours in the refrigerator.)
To serve, set out 4 shallow soup or pasta bowls, or salad plates. Carefully lift the burrata out of its container and set on a cutting board. Without pressing, gently cut the burrata into 4 quarters. Lift a quarter, skin down, into each bowl. Scoop any creamy filling back on the burrata. Spoon the tomato mixture, with any succulent juices, around each burrata quarter. Tuck basil leaves here and there; drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Divide up the toasts.
Makes 4 servings.
Tip: You could also use fresh vegetables. The photo above shows the vegetables unroasted. This is a fresh variation for this delicious salad.
White Bean and Tomato Salad with Tahini Dressing
This simple salad features a dressing that pairs tahini (sesame seed paste) with tart lemon juice and a little kick of garlic. It’s versatile, too – use it to dress roasted or grilled vegetables just as deliciously.
Half small red onion
4 ripe tomatoes, about 1 ½ lb (675 g)
6 cups (1.5 L) frisée, baby arugula or baby kale
1 cup (250 mL) cooked navy or cannellini beans
1 tsp (5 mL) sumac or fresh lemon juice
½ tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
Tahini Dressing
½ cup (125 mL) well-stirred tahini
¼ cup (60 mL) fresh lemon juice
Pinch each salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
6 tbsp (90 mL) ice-cold water, approximate
Set out a large shallow serving salad bowl.
Cut red onion into thin strips; soak in cold water while preparing the rest of the salad. Drain well. Cut the tomatoes into bite-size chunks.
Create a loose layer of frisée in the salad bowl. Arrange the beans, tomatoes and onion overtop. Sprinkle on the sumac, salt and pepper. Set aside for the moment.
Tahini Dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic. Whisk in the water, a little at a time, carrying on even as the mixture stiffens. Continue whisking in more water, a tablespoon at a time until the sauce is smooth and flowing. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.) Stir the dressing once more for good measure and drizzle over the salad and enjoy.
Makes 4 servings.
Wedge Salad’s Revival
A wedge salad was the star salad on a 1970s steak-house menu. And no wonder: a generous cut of crunchy iceberg lettuce with a creamy dressing. Here’s a simple version that captures the best of the salad.
2 heads Little Gem lettuce
1/4 cup (60 mL) pecans, chopped and toasted
1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced shallot or red onion
2 tbsp (30 mL) minced flat-leaf parsley
3/4 cup (180 mL) crumbled blue cheese Pepper
Dressing
2/3 cup (160 mL) sour cream
1/3 cup (80 mL) mayonnaise
1/4 cup (60 mL) well-shaken buttermilk
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
To serve, set out 4 shallow soup or pasta bowls, or salad plates.
Dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk and lemon juice. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.)
Cut the lettuces lengthwise in half, or quarters. Arrange 1 or 2 per shallow bowl. Spoon the dressing over the lettuce. Top with pecans, shallot, parsley and blue cheese. Grind pepper overtop.
Makes salad for 4.
Tip: If you can’t find Little Gem lettuce, cut wedges of iceberg lettuce, and spoon the dressing over top.
The Red Barn Bean Salad
This salad is a crowd-pleaser, a colourful addition to barbecue suppers, picnics and portable lunches to school or work. The recipe has its roots in Canadian Living magazine: For a big literacy fundraiser performance at the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson’s Point, Ont., the Canadian Living test-kitchen staff volunteered to cater the salad course, and developed what became one of the magazine’s most requested recipes.
1 can (19 oz/540 g) each chickpeas, red kidney beans and black beans, all drained and rinsed.
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) freshly cooked corn kernels.
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup (125 mL) diced red onion.
1/2 cup (125 mL) diced celery heart.
1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded fresh basil.
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup (125 mL) red wine vinegar
1/3 cup (80 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
1/2 tsp (2 mL) hot pepper sauce, optional
In a large bowl, stir together the chickpeas, red kidney and black beans, corn, red pepper, onion and celery.
Dressing: Whisk together the vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce, if using. Pour over the bean mixture and toss to coat. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.) Just before serving, stir in the basil and top with the fresh parsley.
Makes plenty of salad for 10.
Tip: When local corn is not in season, use frozen corn, or a 12 oz/341 mL can of corn kernels, drained.
