Fallen Souffle

I am in love with cold salads, especially in the dead heat of summer, even though summer doesn’t officially start until June 21st, with 100+ degree temperatures for 3 days straight, I’ll call that summer So I am beginning a Summer Salad Series to highlight some of my new and favorite salads. This encompasses green salads, pasta salads, potato and egg salads. I will try and post one weekly and feel free to include your favorites as well!

One of my co-workers made this salad and said she thought of me, aww, yes I like weird things and by looking at this recipe it certainly looks slightly weird. I would not have put these ingredients together but then again, that’s why Giada gets paid the big bucks I suppose.

This is a great alternative to a meat meal as the lentils provide a ton of protein as well as fiber. The grapes add a wonderful sweetness and are my favorite part of the salad. The dressing is quite simple but I didn’t think it needed anything extra, which surprised me. I think since I have begun eating cleaner I have refined my taste buds a bit and can appreciate simpler flavors. I specifically want my veg sister to try this as I think it would be better for her then the daily bag of popcorn she has been eating

I only made a half recipe (full recipe is posted below) to try this and it lasted about 3 days as my lunch. Quite filling but still light at the same time. I got the lentils from the bulk bin at Whole Foods, they were called French Lentils and were like $1.50 a pound, can’t beat that!

Italian Lentil Salad
Salad:
1 pound green lentils
2 scallions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup halved seedless green grapes (I used all green)
1 cup halved seedless red grapes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped skinned and toasted hazelnuts
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool for 5 minutes. Place lentils and remaining salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.

For the Vinaigrette:

Place the lemon juice in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly, until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well.

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I am absolutely obsessed with this salad, its a Pear, Gorgonzola, Walnut Salad. I think I first had it at one of my favorite restaurants, Margaux’s and every time I see it on the menu somewhere I have to get it. I have had many variations; a pear, honey goat cheese and candied walnuts from The Rockford, or with blue cheese and pecans, or with green apples. Regardless, the combination of soft cheese, crisp fruit and crunchy toasted nuts is the best in the world. I could literally eat this salad everyday, and actually have had it 3 times this week

It could not be easier; mixed greens, thinly sliced ripe pears, crumbled gorgonzola, toasted walnuts (don’t walk away from the walnuts while toasting, I burned a cup of good walnuts because I was too busy drinking wine!) then just drizzle some good extra virgin olive oil, squeeze the juice of one lemon (Meyers lemons are the best here!) and a sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Toss and enjoy. It’s heaven on a plate.

In addition to this salad, I am also loving sweet potatoes, especially baked sweet potato fries. I am still experimenting with the temperature of the oven and the length of bake time in order to get a perfect crisp fry. The one trick I learned it to use the non stick aluminum foil as these babies like to stick to the pan, even with a coating of olive oil. I cut a well scrubbed farmers market sweet potato into wedges, place in a bowl and drizzle regular olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, flipping half way to ensure even crispness. No condiment needed as I think these fries are perfect as is. (Though at Two Guys, they serve their with a cinnamon butter-OMG-it;s amazing!) Sweet potatoes are actually a better carb for you then white potatoes and I can usually get them for about .59 cents a pound at the farmers market. I tend to get the smaller ones as the larger ones take forever to bake whole! One sweet potato sliced into fries is usually enough for 2 people.

I also really like london broil. These go on sale quite often at my Harris Teeter, buy one get one free. I marinaded one in a packaged chipotle marinade with some added lime juice (yes I Sandra Lee’d a recipe-ugh don’t hate me) and grilled it while the other one was put in the freezer. There was so much leftover, I was able to make a french dip sandwich and will probably make quesadillas with the rest. It goes a long way and it is a really nice cut of beef. Don’t be freaked by the price, it’s so much better in my opinion for multi uses.

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