Splash of Sherri

A New York Girl in a Midwest Kitchen

Category: Salads & Salad Dressings

midwest salad

Posted on by Sherri
midwest salad

Show of hands… who loves salad? See me waving over here – two hands up? Few things make me happier than a large bowl filled with a kaleidoscope of fresh colorful vegetables like this amazing Midwest salad. Why do I call it a Midwest salad? For one thing, I live in Ohio, so CORN! You’ll have to keep reading to find out the other reason. I like when there is something unexpected like corn, almonds, dates or goat cheese added in. Nothing like the element of surprise in a meal! This salad has them all and is bursting with a variety of tastes and textures and dressed in a heavenly dressing.

It is a little tangy from the crumbles of goat cheese, juicy from the tomatoes, has sweetness from dates, creamy from the avocado, crunchy from the almonds, and crispness from the fresh corn. I like to cut everything bite size so you get a little bit of everything in every bite. Topped off with a perfect vinaigrette and there’s nothing better. I wish I could take credit for coming up with it but I can’t. It’s another Northstar Café creation, the same place as my beet and black bean burger. They serve amazing salads and this one is our family favorite. It’s the type of salad you dream about.

midwest salad take 2

One fun note about this salad… at each of their locations they name it something different according to the town or locale they are in which is pretty cute. There’s the Beechwood, the Townsfair, the Village, the Uptown, and the Liberty salad – I told you – cute. At my house we call it the Midwest aptly named for our location and an homage to where the salad originated.

I don’t think you can ever have enough of what I call toppings on this salad so I’ve amped it up a bit. I’ve taken liberty and added Persian cucumbers, my new favorite salad addition. I also made homemade croutons from ciabatta bread which when tossed in the vinaigrette = perfection! The restaurant uses a mix of greens with kale and some cabbage; I prefer a spring mix with some romaine and radicchio added – get creative here an make it your own.

full picture salad

Use whatever types of lettuce you like it’s really the toppings and dressing that make this salad sing. It serves two as a main dish as is or with the addition of a protein like salmon, cubed grilled tofu or chicken (omit cheese if adding chicken if you keep kosher). It also makes a great starter for 4. FYI, I know this is a really big salad – it’s just the way we like them. Am I right? Enjoy!

ingredients
7 cups any combination of lettuces: spring mix, romaine, radicchio, endive
1 cup cherry or teardrop tomatoes cut in half (or ¼’s if on the large side)
1 medium avocado cut in ½” cubes
2 Persian cucumbers diced
¾ to 1 cup fresh steamed corn* cut from the cob (you can also use canned/or frozen in a pinch)
½ cup goat cheese
4 large Medjool dates cut into ¼” pieces
1/3 cup lightly salted almonds very roughly chopped
1 cup homemade croutons (recipe follows)
optional added proteins: grilled salmon, tofu, diced cooked chicken (if kosher omit cheese if adding chicken)

café vinaigrette
¼ cup champagne, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I like Maille brand)
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
pinch salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

directions for vinaigrette
Add all ingredients into a mason jar and shake vigorously. Alternatively you can put all ingredients in a blender. Set aside until ready to use.

directions for salad
Add greens to the bowl and using kitchen shears (or sharp knife on cutting board) cut the lettuce into bite size pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order written. Toss lightly and dress with vinaigrette.

directions for croutons
Preheat toaster oven or conventional oven to 350 degrees.
I like to use ciabatta bread but you can use any bread of choice like a hearty French bread or focaccia. Cut the bread into 1” cubes. Place on a cookie sheet. brush (or spray) with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a freshly ground pepper. Place in the oven and bake until lightly toasted, about 6 to 8 minutes tossing ½ way through the baking time. You can also quickly toast them in a frying pan.

directions for corn
I prefer steaming the corn, it maintains the vitamins. To steam: put 1 to 2 inches of water in the bottom of a pot. Put steamer basket in and bring water to a boil. Place corn in the basket and cover the pot. Steam for about 6 minutes depending on the size of the corn and how many you have in the pot. If you don’t have a steamer, you can take a deep pot add 1 inch of water in the bottom, break the corn in half and place cut side down in the pot so it’s standing up. Cover and steam.

midwest salad with serving spoons

mini mozzarella caprese salad

Posted on by Sherri

When it comes to summer salads, I live fast and loose – especially when I don’t have a lot of time or ingredients. That’s when I throw something so utterly simple like this mini mozzarella caprese salad with tiny tomatoes and I think you’ll laugh at me if I post it so I often don’t. It’s a salad where I just throw things into a bowl and hope for the best.

Then I put it on the table and my husband says WOW what a great looking salad and asks if I’m going to put it on my website. That’s the game changer and dinner is delayed. The salad is swept off the table and onto my photo board ready for its close up.

This is one of the easiest and most impressive salads to put together so of course I have to share it with you. Five simple ingredients: my favorite sweet and juicy teardrop tomatoes, soft and creamy mini mozzarella balls (also called bocconcini), the addition of fresh crisp romaine, a sprinkle of pine nuts and a drizzle of sweet and tangy balsamic glaze. It’s what I like to call a 1-2-3 kind of salad because it takes about that long to assemble and has just about that many ingredients which I usually have on hand.

If you’ve never had balsamic glaze (also called a reduction) it’s a must. It’s sweet, tangy and great to have on hand to drizzle on everything from pizza and vegetables to salads, pasta, sandwiches, meats, cheese, fish, and even fruit. It just wakes things up and adds that extra something to take your dish over the top. You might become obsessed with it! You can make your own very easily (recipe at the end), but I always have a few different flavors on hand like classic, raspberry, and fig.

It serves two as a main, or four as a side dish that pairs perfectly with eggplant parmesan and pasta dishes. Some fun ways to shake it up a bit is by swapping in arugula instead of romaine, adding orzo, olives, artichokes, roasted red peppers, and sundried tomatoes for a whole new salad. The possibilities are endless – Enjoy!

ingredients
Two heads of romaine lettuce sliced into shreds (about 3 to 4 cups)
1 pint of teardrop tomatoes cut in half (or more if you like)
1 – 8 ounce container of mini mozzarella balls or mozzarella pearls
2 to 4 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)
raspberry or fig balsamic glaze
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
recipe for the balsamic glaze follows below

directions for salad
Wash romaine lettuce very well and dry very well. Cut into small shreds and place in a large bowl. Drain mozzarella leave whole or cut in half and add to the top of the salad. Wash and dry tomatoes, cut in half and add to the salad. Drizzle salad with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic glaze.

I prefer to serve the salad at room temperature so the cheese is soft and the tomatoes are sweet and juicy.

balsamic glaze recipe
2 cups balsamic yields ½ cup glaze
½ tablespoon maple syrup (optional)

directions for balsamic glaze
Pour vinegar and maple syrup into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium and simmer stirring occasionally for about 20 to 25 minutes. You’ll see after about 15 minutes the vinegar will look like it’s starting to thicken.

Cook until it’s reduced by about ½, coats the back of a spoon and looks like warm honey. The glaze will thicken a little more as it cools. It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 1 month (if it lasts that long!). I suggest storing it in a glass jar or a squeeze bottle.

Variations: you can use any fruit flavored balsamic or white balsamic. Some variations: add 1 tablespoon honey, date syrup or brown sugar

israeli salad with couscous

Posted on by Sherri
israeli salad with couscous

You know how sometimes when you combine two already great foods together they create something wonderful? That’s what happened when I combined Israeli salad with Israeli couscous. It was a marriage of two already pretty terrific foods and when combined they brought out the best in each other. Just like a real marriage – amiright?

First the salad
According to Adeena Sussman who wrote the cookbook Sababa, Israeli salad is the most simple and most Israeli of salads. These words could not be more true. When I was in Israel a couple of years ago I ate plenty of Israeli salad. It was on the hotel breakfast buffet every morning, at the falafel stands, hummus eateries, and many of the restaurants I went to. The freshness of the ingredients and the brightness in flavor make it quintessentially Israeli. The base is simple: fresh juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s like a garden in your bowl!

My recipe is adapted from one I learned in a cooking class given by Timor Dill. He is living here in Columbus temporarily with his wife Merav who is our Shlicha* (an emissary from Israel) and their children. He’s an amazing chef and taught an Israeli street food cooking class at Local Matters. I had just come back from Israel a couple of months prior and was so excited for the class. Timor shared his recipe for Israeli salad, and I have been making it ever since. I put my own splash on it by using sweet teardrop tomatoes and I use a sweet red pepper instead of green.  

now for the couscous
The addition of the pearl couscous was a happy accident. As things like this go, I happen to have both in the fridge and added them together. From there I have created endless versions adding one or more of the following: feta cheese, chickpeas, olives, tuna, grilled chicken, a drizzle of tahini sauce, pistachios, or diced rainbow carrots. It can be served as a hearty main dish over arugula, it’s perfect for vegetarians, and with the addition of canned tuna you’ll have a main dish pescatarians will love!

The secret is to toast the couscous in a little bit of olive oil which brings out the nuttiness. Once combined, the couscous absorbs the deliciousness of the dressing, the chew of the couscous with the crunch and sweetness of the vegetables is perfection. Mixed together with the Israeli salad it’s a perfect match.

I know I just shared a soup recipe with couscous but it’s Israeli Independence Day and in addition to the shawarma and falafel we are having for dinner, we are including the most Israeli salad with the addition of Israeli couscous. This is how we are celebrating – happy 72nd and Enjoy!

ingredients for Israeli salad
1 pint sweet teardrop tomatoes cut in half (about 2 cups)
1 English cucumber seeded and diced to ¼ inch dice (about 1 ½ to 2 cups)
1 red pepper cut into ¼ inch dice
1 to 2 scallions sliced fine (optional)
juice of ½ lemon (or more to taste)
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

directions for the vegetables
Add all the vegetables to a large bowl. Toss in the parsley, green onion, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix gently. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Ingredients for the couscous
1 cup Israeli couscous
1 ¼ cups boiling water (or box recommendations)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt optional

In a small pot bring the water to a boil. In a medium size pot heat the olive oil on medium heat, add the couscous and mix it around a little bit and allow it to toast for 3 to 5 minutes. The water and the couscous take about the same time. Add the boiling water carefully to the couscous, lower the heat to low, cover and allow to cook according to directions on the package. It usually takes about 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too dry. Stir and set aside to cool.

Once cool it’s time to make the magic happen! Bring the two together in a large bowl and mix gently serve and enjoy!

*A Shlicha is an emissary from Israel. While here she facilitates connections to Israel with Israeli programing, Israeli experiences, and is dedicated to the Jewish people, our heritage and to Israel. To learn more click here.

chopped salad

Posted on by Sherri

More than ever I need this beautiful chopped salad in my life. The weather in Ohio has been pretty gloomy the past couple of weeks. Even now, it’s raining as I type this, which sadly isn’t all that unusual. Don’t get me wrong, the sun has made an appearance, but like the rest of us, it seems to be social distancing – which it does often in Ohio!

It’s comforting to me at times of uncertainty and stress to cook and bake. That coupled with the grey and rainy days has me in the kitchen a lot. To take a break from making yet another banana bread, and make my life a little more colorful and definitely healthier, I made a big beautiful chopped salad. A really big salad, a layered chopped salad to help keep me on track and bring a smile to my face. A salad with big flavors that’s loaded with antioxidants, filled with vitamins and minerals, not to mention beautiful color and a variety of textures. The best part, you probably have many of these ingredients in your pantry and in the fridge. If you don’t, you can use what you have.

I like to think of this big beautiful chopped salad as “THE big salad” the one Elaine ordered from Tom’s diner. You know the one I mean right? The one from Seinfeld. I always loved that episode and like Elaine, you probably know by now how much I love a big salad! Remember the rainbow salad with citrus dressing of my dreams? This is a very different salad, but a rainbow nevertheless and everyone should eat the rainbow!

Is it a Jewish salad? No, not in the sense that my bubbie (jewish grandmother) made it, but I have adapted it from Susie Fishbein’s cookbook Kosher by Design. While this is pretty close to Susie’s original I changed it up using the things I like and had on hand, omitting those I don’t. I also used my favorite dressing. I don’t like cabbage so no purple in my salad. I’m not an iceberg fan so in goes the romaine. I love teardrop tomatoes so I used those but you can use whatever you like. No chickpeas, substitute another bean – no red pepper, use a jar of roasted. Just be mindful of your color combinations as you layer the ingredients into the bowl. Speaking of bowls, it looks really pretty in a trifle bowl or other straight glass bowl like I have used, but a regular glass bowl will work just fine.

I hope this salad brings a lot of color and joy to your table. It’s something you’ll want to share with family and friends – hopefully very soon. Until then, you can make 1/2 of it, or better yet, make the whole thing so you’ll have leftovers for lunch the next day, or two, or three! With everyone working from home, this is a nice thing to have in the fridge. Enjoy!

salad ingredients (makes 8 to 10 servings but can easily be cut in half)
1 head Romaine lettuce shredded
1 – 16 ounce bag petite frozen peas defrosted
1 English cucumber seeds removed and diced
1 – 15 ounce can chickpeas (or other bean)
1 – 15 ounce can of corn (I used no salt added)
2 large carrots shredded* (2 cups)
2 cups teardrop tomatoes
1 red pepper diced
1 bunch scallions
3 to 4 sliced radishes
optional but highly recommended: fried onions or toasted sunflower seeds
dressing
½ cup ketchup (I like Heinz)
1/3 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise (you could sub the light mayo)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or honey)
1 teaspoon no salt seasoning

directions
First make the dressing. Mix together the mayo, ketchup, cider vinegar, maple syrup and seasonings. Place in a container and put into the fridge.

For the salad you can use a trifle bowl, or any other glass bowl so you can see the layers. Prep all of your ingredients first. Defrost the peas, Open the can of corn and drain in a strainer. Do the same with the chickpeas.

On the bottom of your glass bowl pour the peas in an even layer. Next add a layer of the romaine. Then add a layer of the cucumber, followed by the chickpeas, corn, then carrots, the tomatoes, the red peppers and top with the sliced radishes and sprinkle with 3 of the scallions. Reserve the rest to put on the side.

Serve toasted sunflower seeds, fried onions, and the reserved sliced scallions on the side.

*I prefer to hand grate the carrots but you could definitely use a bag of shredded carrots.

My Version of Sadelle’s Salmon Salad

Posted on by Sherri

Sadelle’s is a restaurant in SoHo (NYC) and serves the perfect sized bagel (not the tremendous inflated ones) and delicious appetizing (smoked fish, sturgeon and salads). Recently I posted a photograph on Instagram of me sitting behind a tower of deliciousness from Sadelle’s. If you saw it, you probably didn’t even notice me! The tower is always a show stopper and when it’s delivered to your table – heads turn! I’m re-posting it here below so you can see for yourself.

Continue reading “My Version of Sadelle’s Salmon Salad”
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