A Salad for Every Taste and Every Sort of Meal

Tired of the same old lettuce with the same old dressing, or the same old fruit cut up in a bowl? Try these simple combos to break the boredom.

Any of the following salads can be made in any amount you like. And all of them are relatively quick and easy, and yet deliver a great deal of flavor for the work involved and the cost.

Dried figs, walnuts and cheese: Perfect in salads - Wiki Commons

Fruit-based Side Salads

Pears Lauraire

So simple, a child can do it. Use canned pear halves packed in juice, or poach your own in water or apple juice in a skillet until they are soft when a fork is inserted. Figure one pear half per person.

Ingredients

• Creme fraiche
• Bleu cheese (or gorgonzola or St. Agur or other soft bleu cheese)
• Canned pear halves or home-poached fresh pears, halved
• Boston or butter lettuce leaves

Method

1. Wash two or three lettuce leaves per serving, dry and place on individual serving plates.
2. Place one pear half, hollow side up, on the lettuce.
3. Mix about 1 TBSP creme fraiche with 2 TBSP crumbled bleu cheese.
4. Put the mixture in the hollow, allowing it to drop down the sides of the pear onto the lettuce.
5. Serve.

NOTE: Particularly good with pork roasts and chops.

Pears with Garlic-Ricotta Dressing

Serves four.

Ingredients

• Two large ripe pears
• 1 c. ricotta
• 1 clove garlic
• Heavy cream
• Salt
• Romaine lettuce
• Toasted, sliced almonds
• Nutmeg

Method

1. Wash and peel pears and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out core.
2. Mash the garlic and put into mixing bowl with 1/2 tsp salt and about 2 TBSP heavy cream. Mix well.
3. Wash and dry the top, tender parts of two Romaine leaves per serving and place on serving plates.
4. Place one pear half, hollow side up, on each plate.
5. Spoon ricotta mixture over the pears.
6. Sprinkle a TBSP almonds over all, and add a small grating of nutmeg, if desired.

NOTE: This goes well with Italian meat dishes, and makes a good accompaniment to a pasta dishes with tomato-based, rather than cream-based, sauces.

Apple Slaw

This is a variation on a traditional Jewish Passover food. It works well as a luncheon salad or side salad when fruit is called for. The amounts given below will serve two.

Ingredients

• 2 large yellow Delicious apples, grated
• 3 TBSP golden raisins
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. chopped pecans
• 2-3 TBPS sugar
• 2-3 TBSP cream sherry
• 2 TBSP heavy cream
• Cinnamon

Method

1. Put all ingredients except cinnamon in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Dust very lightly with cinnamon if desired.
3. Chill well and serve each portion on a leaf of tender lettuce.

Green Salad with Figs and Cheese

Simple and elegant, and just sweet enough to accompany tuna steaks or other substantial fish dishes, as well as virtually any roasted meat.

Ingredients

• Romaine lettuce
• Dried figs
• Pecans or walnuts, according to preference
• Mild blue-veined cheese
• Grapeseed oil or mild olive oil
• Raspberry-infused vinegar
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Wash lettuce and tear very fine, about one good handful, torn, per serving
2. Chop one dried fig for each serving
3. Chop nuts, about 1/4 c. per serving
4. Crumble 2-3 TBPS cheese per serving
5. Mix oil and vinegar in a ratio of 3 parts oil to one part vinegar. Using 1 TBSP vinegar and 3 TBSP oil should dress two or three salads.
6. Place lettuce in a salad bowl and add the figs, nuts, and cheese. Pour on the dressing, plus a very light sprinkling of sea salt and a grind of black pepper.
7. Toss, plate and serve.

Hot Potato Salad

This dish can be a side dish, especially for barbecues. Or it can be a meal in itself.

Ingredients

• Waxy potatoes
• Whole and chopped walnuts
• Scallions
• Mild olive oil or safflower oil
• Lemon juice
• Asian sesame oil
• Hard-cooked eggs (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and cook them in their skins until done. Use about two medium potatoes per person to use as a main dish, two small or one medium per person as a side dish.
2. Chop 1/4 c. of walnuts per person, being careful not to chop too well, but leaving a few whole.
3. Chop one scallion per serving, green and white parts.
4. Make a dressing of 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive or safflower oil, plus a few drops of Asian sesame oil. Whisk. (For each serving, you will need a few tablespoons of dressing as the potatoes soak it up.)
5. Put just-cooked potatoes into a ceramic mixing bowl and cut roughly in the bowl.
6. Sprinkle over the nuts and scallions.
7. Add the dressing and salt and pepper to taste and toss well. If using as a main dish, add to the top one hard-cooked egg, sliced.