RECIPE: Kale and Orzo Pilaf

This is a great little dish to make with any sturdy green, think collards, kale, chard or even spinach or romaine.

It is a great side to anything and you can always add other vegetables as well. Think asparagus, peas, mushrooms or anything you would like to saute and can keep its shape. Use it as a side, or add leftover roast chicken, roast pork or even salmon and have it for lunch the next day. It is equally good at room temperature.

Ingredients:

- Bunch of kale, or other leafy greens

- ¼ cup orzo, I recommend Rummo as the brand which is very tasty

- 1 tbs olive oil or butter

- 2 tsp “better than bullion” chicken stock, or 1-2 bullion cubes. (you can also use normal chicken stock about 2-3 cups.  OPTIONAL: (1 tsp “better than bouillon” mushroom stock)

- Any other vegetables you would like to add

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- Salt and pepper to taste

- ½ lemon (optional)

Equipment needed

- A deep non-stick skillet such as a cast iron or normal non-stick

Start by chopping the greens in i inch thick pieces. Add the greens to the pan and add 1-2 cups water or stock, if using cubes use ¾ of what you are going to use. Put the heat to medium high. Add garlic powder, some salt and pepper

Cook until greens uncovered for about 15-20 minutes.  There should still be some stock in the pan. Add another 1.5  cups stock and add the orzo.

Put the heat to medium low and cook until the orzo is cooked, add more stock or water if needed (i.e. the orzo is not cooked and there is no more water).

Add whatever other vegetables you want to add at the end.

TIP: The 6 Biggest Salad Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them

Salads are supposed to be light, bright, and full of life—but too often, they hit the table flat, limp, and soggy, with all the good stuff sunk at the bottom of the bowl. There are a number of reasons this happens, and now that spring is upon us, we want our readers to enjoy the crunchiest, most satisfying salads ever. So we asked assistant food editor Claire Saffitz and test kitchen contributor Alfia Muzio to identify the most common mistakes people make when tossing up a salad. (And, honestly, this writer learned a thing or two about salad-making.) Here's their awesome advice, below:

1. Go with What You Know

There's a whole world of greens outside of arugula, mesclun, kale, and romaine. Browse your farmers' market or grocery aisle to find seasonal leafy greens for your salad base, like mâche, dandelion greens, microgreens, baby kale, chicory, and escarole. You'll be amazed how much flavor and texture they'll add. And, dear God, please stay away from iceberg (unless you're making a wedge).

2. Just Wash n' Toss

A soggy salad is a sad sight—so dry those greens! We're big proponents of the salad spinner—one of the few single-purpose kitchen items that are absolutely worth it—but if you don't have one, try this trick: Line a plastic shopping bag with paper towels, throw in your greens, and knot the bag. Then take the bag by the handle and give it a couple good, hard spins in the air. Your greens should come out (mostly) dry. You may proceed.

3. All Greens Need Is Dressing

Nope! Once they're in the bowl, you need to give your greens some undergarments before they get dressed. After you've dried them, season your naked greens with salt and pepper. (This is, incidentally, Bobby Flay's approach, too.) Think of it as another opportunity for flavor—then you won't have to over-season your dressing to compensate. Speaking of seasoning your dressing: Mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil alone do not a dressing make. Like every layer of your salad, it's important to season your dressing to taste.

4. Any Dressing Will Work

There's a lot to consider when it comes to dressing your greens. First, and most important, you need to ask yourself: Did I match my greens to my dressing? Delicate arugula won't hold up to bold, creamy Caesar dressing. Kale overpowers a light balsamic vinaigrette. Like wines, match the bold with the bold, and the light with the light. Second, try to strike the perfect balance of dressing and salad. Overdressing your salad makes it a soggy mess, while underdressing will leave something to be desired. Add dressing little by little—tasting as you go—to make sure you get the perfect amount.

5. Where Are Those Salad Tongs?

The best tool you can use for mixing salad is: Your hands. Bear with us, here: A salad should be light and airy—even if it's made with hearty greens and a creamy dressing—and handled with a gentle touch. Using your hands to toss allows air to get into your mix and incorporates your ingredients in a more distributed way. Here's our preferred way: Drizzle your dressing along the walls of your bowl, then lightly toss your greens until the dressing is evenly distributed. No bruised or crushed leaves here!

6. Toss It All Together!

Sometimes, it's best to leave some ingredients out until the last minute. We like adding in some of the heavy ingredients for the toss—like nuts, seeds, tomatoes, peas, and other bulky add-ins that sink to the bottom—then topping the salad with the rest post-toss. Your guests will get to see everything that's in the salad, and it's easier to get a little bit of everything when there's stuff on top. Also, toss your greens in dressing before adding herbs: their delicate flavor will shine through much more when they're the outermost layer.

TIP: How to Dress Any Salad Green

Anyone can make a decent salad, but it takes some skill and know-how to create a masterpiece in green. It's important, first, to brush up on the basics: Are you sufficiently drying your greens? Are your toppers crushing the delicate leaves? Once you've finished your refresher course, though, there's one big, often-overlooked piece of advice you've got to remember: You've got to pair the right dressing with the right greens.

Think this isn't a big deal? Think again. Just imagine tender spring mix leaves doused with creamy-crumbly blue cheese. They'd be smothered beyond recognition! And what about arugula with a peppercorn-heavy vinaigrette? Your salad would be tragically spicy. This is important stuff, so we called in the pros: Senior food editor Dawn Perry and assistant food editor Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit test kitchen gave us the rundown on what dressing is a perfect match for just about every salad your heart could desire.

Arugula

Peppery arugula leaves are best when tempered with a little sweetness—try adding honey or maple to your vinaigrette. And keep in mind that arugula wilts quickly and aggressively, so avoid heavy dressings (skip the cream and Dijon mustard), and use a light hand when tossing everything together. Your best bet for a dressing? Simple salt, pepper, vinegar or lemon juice, and olive oil with just a touch of honey.

Tender Head Lettuce (bibb, red leaf, green leaf, little gem, etc.)

Similar to arugula in texture and tenderness, tender head lettuces also requires a featherlight touch. Unlike arugula, though, the leaves aren't bitter, and don't need any additional sweetness. Just salt, pepper, vinegar/lemon, and olive oil are sufficient.

Endive

Endive's intensely bitter, and it's also hefty, with thick leaves. If there was ever an opportunity to embrace sweetness and fat in a dressing, this is it: Endive can seriously hold its own against a creamy blue cheese dressing.

Frisée

Also bitter, but much rougher and frillier than endive, this chicory is screaming for both fat and salt. A warm bacon vinaigrette is the classic choice—and one we particularly like. Emulsifying your dressing with an egg yolk (or just breaking a poached egg on top of the greens) wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, either.

Grains (farro, wheat berries, barley, etc.)

Grain salads need a good dressing just as much as your favorite garden salad. These chewy, filling dishes can stand up to creamier dressings that make good use of buttermilk, tahini, or mild, soft cheese. "Basically, anything goes here except ranch," says Perry. The aggressive, peppery flavor of ranch will mask the unique flavor of the grains. Be liberal with your use of herbs, and dress the grains just after cooking, while they're still warm—the dressing will be absorbed and incorporated better.

Iceberg

Iceberg has great crunch but not a ton of flavor, so it's up to your dressing to make things sing. We say yes to the classic blue cheese-and-bacon wedge salad, but would definitely not be mad if you whip up an ugly-but-crazy-tasty caramelized-onion dressing. To make a caramelized-onion dressing, think dip (sour cream, a little mayonnaise, some lemon for acidity, caramelized onions with fresh scallion or chive), and thin it with water until it's pourable. Ranch is A-OK, too, and in fact, the only time we advocate not using a creamy dressing with iceberg is when it's chopped up finely and dressed Italian pizza joint-style, with plenty of oregano and peperoncini.

Kale

Kale's hefty. It's important to slice it thinly so you don't suffer from jaw fatigue before the salad's half-eaten. Incorporating a good amount of acid to your dressing—think plenty of lemon juice—will further break down the cellular structure of the leaves, making them easier to eat and digest. Don't drown the greens, though; nobody likes a soggy salad. Here's more on how to make the perfect kale salad.

Radicchio

This chicory is bitter, like endive, but a little more tender. It can handle a dressing with Dijon or an egg yolk, but fares best without a heavy dumping of cream or mayonnaise. Don't forget the sweetener.

Romaine

"The world is your oyster with Romaine," says Perry. It's crunchy like iceberg, so creamy dressings are a go, but it also fares nicely with a simple vinaigrette. Feel free to experiment.

Spinach

Be wary of the wilt with spinach salads—these leaves succumb to very acidic and creamy dressings quickly. Sturdy, mature leaves can handle a little creaminess or heat (again, we're fans of that warm bacon dressing), but baby spinach needs no more than olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

Spring/Summer Mix

These tender leaves are pillow-soft. Keep things simple with the most basic vinaigrette possible, letting the sweetness of the lettuce shine through.

Swiss Chard

Chard is thin but tough. To help tenderize the leaves, tear them into bite-size pieces and dress them with something sweet and acidic, like this tomato vinaigrette. Its flavor runs toward earthy (especially the stems), so think light and bright when dressing.

Watercress

Watercress looks delicate but its flavor is bossy—peppery and fresh, with some bite. Embrace fat, sweetness, and a medium-level creaminess (hello, buttermilk).

RECIPE: Classic Wedge Salad

Ingredients

Iceberg Lettuce, cut into wedges of desired size and additional mixed greens if desired

1-2 large Cucumbers, cut in quarters and sliced

1 medium Red Onion, diced

1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, cut in halves and quarters

4-6 strips of Bacon, diced and rendered in a pan, optional

Crumbled Blue Cheese

Olive Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Method

1.      Combine blue cheese, olive oil, the juice of one lemon and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix with a whisk until combined and creamy dressing begins to form.

2.      Rinse and chop vegetables according to the directions above.

3.      Arrange iceberg wedges on top of mixed greens (if using) and scatter cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes and bacon on top.

4.      Dress with blue cheese dressing.

RECIPE: CSA Summer Salad

Greens of your choosing. A mix of leaf lettuce and arugula or mixed greens works well.

2 golden beets

1 cucumber

1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin

1 ear of corn, cut from the cob and sautéed in pan with butter or olive oil

Goat or feta cheese (optional)

Seeds or nuts of your choosing (optional)

Salt and Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon or Red Wine Vinegar

Cut kernels from 1 ear of boiled corn, sautée in pan, preferably cast iron, with butter or olive oil until beginning to brown. Set aside to cool.

If using nuts or seeds, roast in a pan on low heat until fragrant and beginning to brown. Set aside to cool.

Rinse and dry greens and cut to desired size.

Rinse beets, cut into quarters and thinly slice.

Cut cucumber into quarters and thinly slice.

Mix greens, beets, cucumbers and red onion. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and acid to taste. Add corn, nuts and goat cheese and mix gently until combined.

Green Juice

Green juice

1 medium bunch of dark green vegetables – Kale, Chard, Collards, Leaf Lettuce or combination

6-8 ribs of Celery

2 large Cucumbers

½ bulb of Fennel

1-2 Green Apples, depending on preference of sweetness

½ bunch Italian Parsley

1 inch piece of Ginger, skin on scrubbed

1 small lemon, skin peeled with as much pith left on as possible

1 lime, skin peeled with as much pith left on as possible

1.      Fill sink, rinse vegetables thoroughly and soak until ready to juice.

2.      Roll parsley into dark green vegetables and juice first, followed by celery and fennel. If you do not have any more room in juicer at this point, pour into container and remove pulp from juicer. Set pulp aside.

3.      Juice cucumbers, apples, lemon, lime and ginger. Pour into container to combine.

Alternate:

Use tops of vegetables such as carrots, beats, and radishes. Note that these greens may make the juice very bitter, however, this can often be balanced out with more apple or lemon juice.

Add ½ bunch of mint when juicing the parsley. Remove tough stems.

Substitute or combine apples with pineapple or peeled kiwis for a tangier version.

NOTE:

Makes approximately 6-8 cups of green juice. The vitamins and chlorophyll in green juice begins to degrade only 15 minutes after it is juiced, unless you have a cold-press juicer. I find it hard to juice every day, however, so I have found that freezing it in mason jars immediately is a good way to store green juice for a few days. However, even in the freezer, green juice will not last for more than about a week before degrading in quality.

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CAESAR SALAD DRESSING-toss with fresh CSA lettuces!

CAESAR SALAD DRESSING


6 anchovy Fillets packed in oil, drained

1 small garlic clove

Kosher salt

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more

3⁄4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Freshly ground black pepper

Chop together anchovy, garlic, and pinch of salt. Use the side of a knife blade to

mash into a paste, then scrape into a medium bowl. Whisk in egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. lemon

juice, and mustard. Adding drop by drop to start, gradually whisk in olive oil, then

vegetable oil; whisk until dressing is thick and glossy. Whisk in Parmesan. Season with salt,

pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. Toss with crisp lettuce leaves, croutons and more cheese!

RECIPE: Pear Salad

Difficulty Level: EASY

Vinaigrette:

•1 large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
•1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
•2 tablespoons sherry or apple cider vinegar
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•1/4 teaspoon black pepepr
•1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

•4 cups arugula, lightly packed (or other lettuces)
•4 cups romaine, torn into bite-sized pieces (or other lettuces)
•2 ripe pears, cored and cut into 1/2" cubes
•1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
•3 ounces fresh goat cheese or feta, crumbled (or other CSA cheese)
•1/4 cup pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped

1. In a small bowl combine the shallot, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk until the salt is dissolved.

2. Whisk in the olive oil and let vinaigrette stand at room temperature until salad is assembled.

3. Combine the arugula, romaine, pears and half of the pomegranate seeds in a large bowl.

4. Crumble half of the goat cheese over the ingredients in the bowl (this works best if the cheese is very cold).

5. Whisk the vinaigrette until uniform and add all but 2 tablespoons of it to the bowl.

6. Gently toss the salad with your hands or salad tongs, coating the ingredients well with the vinaigrette. If the salad seems dry, add the vinaigrette in small increments until it is dressed to your liking.

7. Crumble the remaining cheese over the salad and sprinkle the remaining pomegranate seeds and the pistachios over the top. Serve immediately.

RECIPE: Vegan Detox Salad (with Variations!)

Difficulty Level: EASY

Ingredients:

1 raw beet, scrubbed, peeled, and grated

1 bunch radishes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 small bunch spinach, washed and torn into bite size pieces
1 bunch kale, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
1/2 bunch of cilantro, washed (leaves only. save the stems for flavoring stews or soups)
small handful of grape tomatoes
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 Tbs dulse flakes
1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
salt to taste
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cajun spice mix (optional)

Directions:
Throw everything into a big salad or mixing bowl - you need enough room to toss everything really well - and toss thoroughly (I find tongs work best).

If you like things a bit spicy, feel free to add the cajun spice mix just before tossing.

This salad can take a lot of variation and is a great way to use up veggies.  Some additions/substitutions I like: mixed greens, romaine lettuce, sprouts, dill, sun-dried tomatoes.

If in the mood for a non-vegan salad, this recipe makes a great base for various proteins such as crumbled cheese, chicken, tuna, shrimp, or salmon.

RECIPE: Easy, Delicious End-of-Summer Salad

A tasty idea for what to do with all those tomatoes and fruit...

 

Lettuce

Peaches or nectarines cut up into slices

Tomatoes cut up into slices

Feta or ricotta cheese

Oil and vinegar                 

 

Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl.  Add oil and vinegar (I like Champagne vinegar).  Enjoy!

 

 

RECIPE: Lettuce and Peas (or Lima Beans)

Difficulty Level: Easy Peas-y!

This Provencal dish is a great way to use up sad heads of lettuce.  Traditionally, it calls for baby lima beans, but frozen lima beans or frozen or fresh peas or edamame made excellent substitutes.

Ingredients:
2 large heads of lettuce, shredded

approx 20 oz. lima beans, edamame, or peas, either frozen or fresh, at room temperature
1 cup water
4 scallions, chopped
1 Tbs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
salt

1. In a large pot, place 1 cup of water and thawed beans or peas.

2. Bring to a boil and add all the lettuce, chopped scallions, thyme, and a pinch of salt.

3. Lower heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, while stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes.  All the lettuce will wilt and sort of melt into the peas.

4. Serve!

RECIPE: Romaine Lettuce Tip and Caesar Salad Recipe

Tip: The best way I have found to wash lettuce is to separate each leaf, run it under cold water, tear it into pieces, dry it in a salad spinner, and store it in a towel until ready to use. 
 

Caesar salad recipe

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Note: contains raw egg

3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
1/2 pound crusty country bread, sliced and broken into 1 to 2-inch cubes
6 to 10 anchovy fillets (or 1 tsp Worcestershire)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 large egg
1 lemon
2 heads Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and cut into 2-inch lengths
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

1. To make the croutons, slice two of the garlic cloves and put them in a large bowl with the 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss in the bread and coat with the oil. Place the bread on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven, and stir from time to time, until the bread is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Return the croutons to the bowl and throw away the garlic slices.

2.  To make the salad, finely mince the remaining garlic clove with the anchovy fillets. Put these in the bottom of a large salad bowl with the dry mustard and mash with a fork. Mix in the 1/4 cup olive oil. Break the egg into the center of the mixture. Squeeze the lemon juice directly onto the uncooked egg. Mix together the lemon juice and egg with a fork before incorporating the other ingredients. 

3. Put the lettuce on top of the dressing and toss with salad servers until the lettuce is coated with the dressing. Add the Parmesan and lots of freshly ground black pepper and toss again. Add the croutons and toss a third time. Add additional lemon juice if desired, salt, and pepper to taste. 

 

Submitted by Sarah Marder