hélène’s all-white salad {ffwd}
This week’s challenge for French Fridays with Dorie is color-coordinated with the outside world where I am: hélène’s all-white salad.
Notice that the 1-foot mark on my snow gauge is covered…
I made a single serving for myself because Howard wasn’t around. I was dreading the salad because I don’t care for raw mushrooms, but I try to keep an open mind. The mushrooms keep company with apple, celery, and cabbage, along with a lemony mayonnaise dressing and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. The salad reminds me of a cross between Waldorf salad and coleslaw.
Even though I like both Waldorf salad and coleslaw, I didn’t care for Hélène’s salad. I definitely didn’t like the raw mushrooms, and the salad was too lemony. I’m not sure whether it was the dressing itself or the lemon juice the apples and mushrooms were tossed with. Also, the dressing was super thick, not at all pourable. I ate half of what I made and tossed the rest of the salad.
I did like the Baked Winter Squash Pasta (from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food) that rounded out the meal.
If you’re interested, you can find the salad recipe on Serious Eats here. Of course, you can always find it, in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
To see whether the other Doristas enjoyed the salad, you can check their links here.
Wishing a Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your honey!
Posted on 14 February 2014, in French Fridays with Dorie and tagged French Fridays with Dorie, mushrooms, salad. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
Aw sorry you didn’t like this one but hey, if we’ve learned anything in the past 3 years it’s that you can’t love everything, right?
Well, it’s good to re-test our dislikes every once in a while, to see if they still hold. There have ben more than a few which I doubted at the outset, which I ended up loving in the end. And how would we ever find those if we didn’t wander outside of our comfort zones. So kudos to you for trying it. So what if you didn’t like it. Now you know that you still don’t like raw mushrooms. We all have someting on our list. Better luck for both your recipe and your weather, next week.
Hi. Lots of snow. Wilma did fly back this afternoon. Very surprised plane went. Happy valentine,s day. Love xxxxx
Sent from my iPad
So much snow! I expected to dislike this salad, but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I’m glad you didn’t make much of it since it turned out to be a bust for you.
Betsy, we have heard much about the terrible snowstorms in North America – hope you will all stay safe and warm. We were not vowed by this winter salad either but a few additions or substitutions would probably make for a somewhat more flavorful salad – i kept thinking about shaved Pecorino Romano.
Hopefully the weather will be better and there will be less snowy soon!
Betsy, sorry you didn’t care for the salad, but I know you will love next week’s crepes.
I have been practicing on these to get them right. I can’t wait for Lent to start so I can give up sweets. Between all the snow and the cold weather, all I do is eat. Have a great weekend.
Wow! That is a lot of snow – wish I could send you our warmer temperatures. The pasta sounds really terrific, will have to look that recipe up.
Happy Valentine’s & President’s Day weekend!
Not a fan either. I made it a couple of years ago and disliked it and felt no compunction to try again this time. That is kind of a rare impulse for me and a comment in and of itself I suppose. So this week I’m Team Betsy.
I’m sorry your didn’t like it Betsy. I didn’t toss the apples and shrooms with lemon but I did squeeze a bit over the entire salad. I loved the dressing and liked the salad. I think it would be better with everything shredded or cut into very small bites. The best flavors came through when I had a bit of everything together. Sorry for your snow! We are 58 today and I’m loving it!
Sorry it was such a bust for you. It seems a lot of folks are not big on raw mushrooms. Crepes next week…
The mushrooms were a problem for me too.
Sooo much snow – can it be over yet, please????
Stay warm
The truth is I was a bit scared of the rawness of the mushrooms but in the end it all worked out and the flavours and textures worked very good for me. I am sorry you didn’t like it but hey, next week is pancakes woohoo!!!
Oh Betsy- I had 100% the same reaction and for the same reasons. Recall mushrooms are on my “do not call” list. Ugh. I thought the cabbage would be tastier since it looked so darn light and dainty compared to the regular varieties. I kept thinking as everything got coated in the bowl with lemon juice that this would be pretty tart and it was. And don’t get me started on the snow fall (though I loved your photo). We got 4 more inches this morning. Bring on the crepes….and Spring !!
Your review was spot on. I’m not a huge fan of raw mushrooms and even thought of sauteing them. Howard thought this sounded good? These hubbies of ours keep surprising us!
My husband compared it to a Waldorf salad too (except he likes Waldorfs much better). I just felt like this salad didn’t come together. I usually love anything with mushrooms (even raw mushrooms), but this just didn’t work. Hoping for better results this week!
Sorry you didn’t like this one. It helps that it is summer here and ideal salad weather.
I won’t eat mushrooms (raw or otherwise) and left them off completely, but I wasn’t a fan of this salad either, and I also really like Waldorf and cole slaw. Oh well. I’m excited for the crepes! How’s the snow up there? Ours is finally starting to melt.
I enjoyed this salad…I ate mine for lunch with some goat cheese on top. It went well with the sunny day and warmer weather. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it so much if there was snow on the ground and it was cold out! I love Waldorf salad…and I’m not a big fan of raw mushrooms, either! Wishing you some spring like weather, Betsy!
I made that Baked Winter Squash Pasta once. I should make it again – my husband loves squash! This salad definitely was not a keeper for me either.