Salad Spinnin Event & Round Up!

Salad Spinnin' ~ Each month I teach a few cooking classes and for this culinary adventure, we focused on light and healthy salads, perfect for the summer.

For my class, I had a variety of vinegars, oils, dried herbs/spices, fruit nectars and sweetners available. It was all about being creative and experimenting with what most folks have in their pantry. Here are the specific ingredients I had provided folks to play with:

Vinegars/Acids: Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, Red Wine vinegar, White Whine vinegar, Apple Cider vinegar, Balsamic vinegar, Rice vinegar, Lemon juice, White wine

Oils: Vegetable oil, Olive oils - from Greece & South Africa

Herbs/Spices: Citrus basil rub, Peppercorm garlic rub, Dill mix, Rosemary herb blend, Salt & Pepper

Fruit nectars: Pear, Mango, Strawberry, Peach

Sweetners: Honey, Maple syrup

To top our salads, I also had a buffet of ingredients including various veggies, cheeses, deli meats (pepperoni, salame, roasted turkey) nuts and fruit: And of course, we can't forget the greens! I had a few mixes of greens including baby spinach, mixed greens, frisee & radicchio mix, and green & red leaf lettuce:
The following salad recipes were received for this adventure so take a look! Thanks to everyone that submitted a recipe and those the attended my cooking classes. As for the Salad Cruet giveaway winner for this blog event, Jude of Apple Pie, Patis & Pate! Congratulations Jude and your prize will be mailed out tomorrow! Here is Jude's salad entry:

Japanese Vinegard Cucumber Salad
submitted by Jude of Apple Pie, Patis & Pate

Cucumbers, in paper-thin slicessalt, to taste
- Season the cucumber slices and knead lightly for a minute. Let stand in a bowl while preparing the sanbaizu.

Three Flavors Vinegar Dressing (Sanbaizu)
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup dashi
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
Notes - If you plan to cook Japanese dishes frequently, consider getting instant dashi at your local Asian grocery store. A teaspoon of this granulated bonito flake and kombu seasoning will be enough to make 3 to 4 cups of fully flavored stock in minutes. Instant dashi is also known as dashi-no-moto or hon-dashi.

Combine all the sanbaizu ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer while mixing. Once the sugar is dissolved, cool the dressing rapidly by pouring into a bowl set in a larger bowl filled with ice water.

To Serve:
Drain the cucumbers. Pour enough sanbaizu to moisten the cucumber slices. Gently squeeze and drain a second time to eliminate excess wateriness. Serve at room temperature and add more sanbaizu if desired.

Sprouted Green Gram Salad
submitted by Hetal of Isha's Kitchen

Sprouted Green gram 1 1/2 -2 cups
Tomato 1 large (finely chopped)
Capsicum 1 medium (finely chopped)
Onion 1 small,finely chopped (I did not add onions,but it tastes good)
Lime juice 1 tbsp
Cilantro/Coriander 3 tbsp (finely chopped)
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Salt to taste (optional)
(Note: You can vary the quantity of the ingredients according to your liking.Avoid salt if you can.)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl,except salt.
Salt is optional,if you want add salt when serving the salad.

Roasted Corn & Black Bean Salad w/Cilantro Lime Dressing
submitted by Mollie of Reading, 'Riting and Recipes

1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/3 cup)
2 Tbs olive oil + oil for drizzling
small handful of fresh cilantro, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
dash adobo seasoning
dash crushed red pepper
salt & pepper

Spread the corn kernels on a baking sheet and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Place in a 400 degree oven and roast until they just start to brown around the edges. Note: a toaster oven works great for this without heating up your kitchen on a summer night! Or you could grill corn on the cob as well.
When the corn is roasted, put in a small saute pan with the black beans. Heat over medium just until all are heated through.
Meanwhile, combine all of the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the warm corn and beans, stirring to coat.
Makes 3 servings, approx 2/3 cup each.

Grown Up Spinach Salad
submitted by Kate of Paved with Good Intentions

2 slices proscuitto
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp honey
salt and pepper
2 cups baby spinach
2 large white mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed, and sliced

1) Heat broiler. Spread prosciutto on cookie sheet and cook 3 minutes until crisp. Cut into pieces.
2) Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and honey. Season with salt and pepper.
3) Combine spinach and mushrooms and toss with dressing. Sprinkle with prosciutto.

Mango & Pomelo Salad
submitted by Esti of You Made It

1 small green mango, shredded thinly
2 segments of pomelo (or Chinese grapefruit, pummelo, pommelo, Lusho Fruit, shaddock, Balinese Citrus, or suha)
Some lettuce
3 tbsp roasted cashew nut, chopped roughly
2 shallots, sliced thinly
bird eye chilli (optional)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp water
pinch of salt

In a medium bowl mix together mango, pomelo and lettuceDilute Brown sugar in the water, add shallots, chilli and salt mix it evenlyAdd it to the salad, toss lightlySprinkle cashew nut on top, serve immediately.

Broad Beans, Bacon, Asparagus
& Spring Onions w/Herb Vinaigrette
submitted by Helen of Food Stories

900g broad beans (unpodded weight)
10 asparagus spears
4 rashers smoked bacon or pancetta
4 spring onions, finely shredded
A small handful each of 3 or 4 herbs of your choice. I used dill, parsley, mint and chives - roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 heaped teaspoon wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or other wine vinegar or lemon juice)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

- Pod the beans and trim the asparagus by bending each spear until it snaps and discarding the woody end (not the tips). Wash thoroughly.
- Simmer the asparagus and beans for 3-5 minutes, depending on size, until just tender (I cooked my asparagus and beans separately).
- Grill the bacon or pancetta until crisp and chop into bite size pieces.
- When the vegetables are ready, remove the tough outer skins from any larger broad beans and add to a serving bowl with the asparagus and bacon/pancetta.
- To make the vinaigrette, crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar with some sea salt. Add the mustard and some black pepper and stir in. Add the vinegar and then the oil, whisking to emulsify.
- Add the onions and herbs to the bowl, pour in the desired amount of vinaigrette (I used the lot) and stir to combine.
Serve immediately - although it is also delicious cold.