One of the most gratifying things for a home cook is to scrimmage a meal together out of leftovers. It’s enormously satisfying to ransack the fridge and use up what lies under plastic wrap or is lounging about in the vegetable drawer; it always provides a relaxed, unforced creativity. I certainly would never have thought of using horseradish as a dressing for a tomato salad if I hadn’t wanted to find a way to use up a horseradish root staring beseechingly at me every time I opened the fridge.
Directions
When it comes to beet salads, it’s hard to escape the ubiquitous combination of beets and goat cheese. The pairing works because the tangy, creamy, salty goat cheese is a great foil for the beets’ earthy sweetness. (Interestingly, beets’ sweetness is actually the result of a winter survival strategy. The sugars in beets act like antifreeze, keeping the fluid in their cells from freezing and forming destructive ice crystals.) But that doesn’t mean the combination hasn’t gotten a little tired. To reinvigorate the classic beet salad, we looked for ways to deal with the sweetness itself. By charring the cooked beets—essentially burning some of the sugar—we cut down on sweetness and add some complementary bitterness. We amplify that bitterness with crisp radicchio and toss it all with a dressing made from the beet cooking liquid. And to replace the goat cheese? A simple spread of feta and Greek yogurt adds plenty of creaminess. A final flourish of tart pomegranate seeds provides pops of bright acidity (while staying on message with the ruby color scheme), while fresh dill and tarragon round things out with some herbal notes.
What do you do when you have leftover chicken from khao mun gai or gai yang? You turn it into a dish befitting the situation. My mother did that best, letting very little go to waste. You could poach chicken just for this salad and it would be delicious, especially if you serve it slightly warm. What’s even better, the next time you make khao mun gai, poach extra chicken to make yum gai the next day. If you’re not starting with leftovers, poach raw chicken and tear it into strands. I like adding the skin — it provides richness and moisture, the way oil does in Western salads. Slice it into thin strands.
The more limited produce offerings of colder months encourage me to get creative with salads. In place of fresh greens, I’ll often use a base of radicchio, chicory, endive, or even thinly shaved root vegetables. I brighten up dressings with citrus zest, parsley, or flavored oils and vinegars, which offer a nice contrast to the earthiness of winter vegetables. Walnut and hazelnut oil are my favorites: they’re pricey but intensely flavorful, so a small amount goes a long way.
My mom would make a version of this classic salad all the time when I was growing up, often to accompany baked beans and “red snappy” hot dogs as a sneaky way to get in some fruits and veggies. I still love the combination of flavors, but now I like to up the ante with fennel and candied walnuts, which are sweet and salty in all the right ways.
This is a great pantry standby. Borlotti (cranberry) or flageolet beans can be used instead of cannellini (lima) beans and dried or fresh cherry tomatoes can replace semi-dried (sun-blushed). The onion –and even the anchovies – can be left out altogether. Use good-quality tuna, olives and oil.
This refreshing salad is a wonderful way to spruce up the humble carrot and was inspired by an afternoon I spent with Leila Rohbani, a yoga teacher from Tehran. I had a delightful time with her; drinking green tea from small stoneware cups and talking about our favorite recipes in the bright, airy rooms of her home, which doubles as her yoga studio—an oasis of calm in the hectic city, overlooking a garden filled with fig and Pomegranate trees. This makes a lovely addition to a mezze spread, or you could serve it with feta and bread for a more substantial meal.
Sometimes we feel like a substantial salad that is a meal in itself with all the elements of good food—plenty of greens, crunchy raw pepper, and loads of flavor. This is also a great way to use up leftover chicken or turkey. Serve with a tzatziki dressing and tomato salad. This is our friend Anne Hudson’s method of preparing the wonderful Greek yogurt and cucumber dip, which she learned to make the local way when living in Greece. You can also enjoy the tzatziki with bread or as a dip for vegetables. (Gluten-free if using quinoa or brown rice.)
This recipe is an ancient Persian take on the spinach salad from masterful writer Joan Nathan. Spinach is quickly blanched in boiling water, then pulsed in a food processor with cilantro, walnuts and garlic until roughly chopped. Toss with vinegar, salt and pepper and serve at room temperature alongside a chunk of whole grain bread and good butter and you have a delicious spring dinner.