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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!
ffwd: lime and honey beet salad
I can’t believe it’s already Friday again. This month is passing by at lightning speed. And other than Dorie recipes, I haven’t cooked anything interesting this month.
I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned it before, but beets are one of my favorite vegetables. I didn’t discover this until I was out of my parents’ house and cooking on my own, but once I had tasted their sweet earthy goodness, I was hooked.
My favorite way to eat beets is as beet salad, and my favorite recipe for them includes walnuts and lots of mustardy vinaigrette. Here’s that recipe. However, I’m always open to new ideas. This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is Lime and Honey Beet Salad, so I was happy to try something different.
I prefer beets roasted to steamed, so that’s how I cooked them. After an hour in the oven, the skin usually slips right off, making a non-fuss preparation. Cookbooks always caution about the possibility of stained fingers when peeling the beets this way, but I’ve never had it happen.
The beets are cut into wedges and tossed with a refreshing vinaigrette spiked with lime zest and lime juice along with honey (not my own yet). Some chopped fresh herbs add some color. I used chives and thyme from my backyard herb garden.
The recipe made less than I thought. I used one bunch of beets but didn’t weigh it, so it must have been less than a pound. Two of us finished this off as a side in one meal.
I really liked Dorie’s beet salad. It had zing from the lime and an extra dose of sweetness from the honey (beets are so sweet on their own). I don’t think this version will displace my usual mustardy version as my go-to recipe, but it merits a place in the summer rotation.
I also tried the Grated Carrot Salad from AMFT this week. I was desperate for a fast vegetable side dish, and carrots seemed to be the only vegetable in the refrigerator. I didn’t have the two salads at the same meal, but they would have paired nicely. The carrot salad was delicious.
If you’d like the recipes for either of these salads, we don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. You won’t be sorry.
To read about other lime and honey beet salads made this week, check out the other bloggers’ links at French Fridays with Dorie.
A Plateful of Happiness 