{"id":1673,"date":"2006-04-10T19:35:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-10T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2006\/04\/10\/spring-sliced-and-straight-from-the-bowl"},"modified":"2015-09-24T03:54:08","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:54:08","slug":"spring-sliced-and-straight-from-the-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2006\/04\/spring-sliced-and-straight-from-the-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring, sliced and straight from the bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"
I try to keep things exciting for you. Really, I do. So far, in the lifespan of a single food blog, I\u2019ve baked savory flans<\/a> \u00e0 la Dr. Seuss<\/a> and<\/em> had night sweats<\/a>. I\u2019ve declared a national emergency in the name of Brussels sprouts<\/a>. I\u2019ve made\u2014and consumed\u2014an heirloom egg nog<\/a> containing five pints of \u00bd-and-\u00bd and four types of alcohol. Hell, I even went and got engaged<\/a>. It\u2019s a lot of work, frankly, and after so much excitement, sometimes a girl just wants to sit on the floor, shout Jeopardy!<\/em> answers at the television screen, and eat the same dinner, seven nights in a row, straight from the serving bowl<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Lucky for both of us, dear reader, said serving bowl contained a very special salad, the sort of thing that would be worthy of note whether or not I had eaten it every evening for the past week\u2014which I have, of course, and happily. In all truth, I\u2019ve been eating variations on this supper at least twice a week for the past two months. In a show of my sickness, I\u2019ve even forced it\u2014and an evening of America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/em>\u2014upon Shauna<\/a>, who gamely gave both her hearty endorsement. I also dragged this salad schema to New York, where I risked my life to cross the threshold of Fairway on a Saturday afternoon for a few heads of endive and a package of feta. I may be a creature of habit<\/a>, and an aggressive one at that, but I could do a lot worse, I think, than this spring slaw of sorts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sliced Spring Salad with Endive, Cilantro, Radishes, and Feta<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 medium Belgian endive, root end trimmed away, sliced crosswise into \u00bc-inch strips Optional additions or substitutions:<\/em> In a medium bowl, combine the endive, radicchio, radishes, and cilantro leaves. Toss with vinaigrette to taste. [I find that endive salads take a bit more dressing than plain green ones.] Add the avocado and feta. Serve straight from the bowl.<\/p>\n Yield: 1 serving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I try to keep things exciting for you. Really, I do. So far, in the lifespan of a single food blog, I\u2019ve baked savory flans \u00e0 la Dr. Seuss and had night sweats. I\u2019ve declared a national emergency in the name of Brussels sprouts. I\u2019ve made\u2014and consumed\u2014an heirloom egg nog containing five pints of \u00bd-and-\u00bd and four types of alcohol. Hell, I even went and got engaged. It\u2019s a lot of work, frankly, and after so much excitement, sometimes a girl just wants to sit on the floor, shout Jeopardy! answers at the television screen, and eat the same dinner, seven nights in a row, straight from the serving bowl. Lucky for both of us, dear reader, said serving bowl…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>
A cousin of the chopped salad, this sliced version is built on a four-point foundation: endive, cilantro, radishes, and feta<\/strong>. Though not initially an intuitive combination, together their sum is much greater than its parts, especially when a good, kicky vinaigrette is involved. The bitter earthiness of endive is subdued under a smear of soft, salty feta, and the watery crunch of a wafer-thin radish borrows brightness and character from whole cilantro leaves. Anything else is unnecessary, really, but I like to add radicchio for its color and bracing bite, and avocado for its creamy, mellow quality, which smoothes, softens, and unites the separate components into a delicious, seamless whole. Elegant and yet easy to eat while watching television<\/strong>, it makes for an entire meal, satisfying to both jaw and belly. I\u2019d take this mess of sliced stuff over a simple green salad any day\u2014or, really, actually, every day.<\/p>\n<\/a>This salad is a study in small variations: I rarely make it the same way twice, but it never strays far from its core ingredients. Aside from the endive, cilantro, radishes, and feta, the list of ingredients below is a rough sketch. I\u2019ve been known to substitute fennel for radicchio, and occasionally I add a few nuggets of Parmigiano Reggiano, some meaty flakes of smoked trout, or even just a few canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried. The key, in any case, is the quality of the ingredients. For salads like this one, I like a Hass<\/a> avocado that\u2019s on the firm side of ripe: not hard, but solid, with just a hint of give\u2014the potential<\/em> for softness, you could say. I buy my endive on the small-to-medium size\u2014no larger than 3 ounces each\u2014with no bruises, brown spots, or other blemishes, and I look for tight, compact heads of radicchio, each about the size of a large man\u2019s fist, with smooth, shiny leaves. I serve this salad on its own, as the center of the meal, with a hunk of crusty bread or a few roasted sweet potato \u201cfries\u201d on the side.<\/p>\n
\u00bc head radicchio, sliced as thinly as possible
2-3 red radishes, sliced into paper-thin rounds
A small handful of cilantro leaves, from about 6-8 sprigs
Red Wine-Mustard Vinaigrette<\/a>, to taste
\u00bc medium avocado, sliced into \u00bc-inch strips
1 walnut-size nub of French feta (or more), crumbled<\/p>\n
\u00bd medium fennel bulb, sliced as thinly as possible
A small handful of smoked trout, torn into bite-size pieces
A small handful of chickpeas
Parmigiano Reggiano, broken into small nubs<\/p>\n