Swedish Salads: Tasty, Easy and Very Healthy

My namesake Grandmother - Ruth Valborg Isakson - immigrated from Sweden. And, I was raised with a whole big family of native-born Swedes in Salt Lake City. Names like: Ivar, Thorston (Uncle Tuss), Rudi, Esther Ingebor, Elizabeth Dagmar … Yup, the vinegared salads were a frequent thing at our own family smorgasbord. Along with the ever present huge rounds of Knackabrot crisp rye bread with loads of fresh butter from Aunt Esther and Uncle Tom’s dairy on 45th South.

Oh, smoked trout, too. Uncle Ivar had a fish camp at Strawberry Reservoir for probably 50 years. Homemade Lever Pastje, punctuated with black peppercorns, served with little cornichon pickles. Boiled eggs. Pickled beets were always on the table. With loads of strong black coffee. Good mormons all. LOL. The church was a means to get the hell out of old feudal Sweden.

There are times when I just can’t help myself, and have to really get crazy with the marinated salads, particularly in the Spring. Hence the following:

Betade Golden Beet Sallad med Watermelon Rädisa

5-6 small to medium ‘golden’/yellow beets

4-5 Watermelon Radishes or other type radish

Zest of half an orange, plus juice

Fresh dill weed and flowers if you can find it

Apple cider vinegar

Grapeseed or other mild oil

Agave nectar or honey

1/4 tsp Ground white pepper, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, Pinch sea salt, Pinch red pepper flakes

Boil the beets in water (heavy pot) until easily pierced by a sharp paring knife. Drain them and set into cold water to cool slightly. The skins will slip right off with light pressure. Once the beets are cleaned and rinsed, slice them into a bowl. Add the sliced watermelon radish, and the grated zest of half the orange. Add about two tablespoons of roughly chopped dill fronds. Reserve more for garnish.

Mix up your dressing with approximately equal parts vinegar, honey or agave nectar, juice of the orange, and oil. Whisk. Adjust the tartness to taste. Add the pepper, onion powder, sea salt and red pepper flakes. Whisk thoroughly, and taste to adjust the salt etc.

Pour over the beets and chill for at least one hour.

 

Saltgurka mangosallad

One large cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced lengthwise in half, sliced across

1 ‘Manila’ mango, in bite-sized cubes

1/3 of a red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup of cherry tomatoes

Fresh dill weed - mince up two or three fronds

1/4 tsp Ground white pepper, 1/8 tsp onion powder, Pinch sea salt, Pinch red pepper flakes

Zest of half an orange, plus the juice

Apple cider vinegar, agave nectar or honey, grapeseed or other mild oil (see above).

I leave some of the peel on the cucumber if they haven’t been waxed, for looks, taking about half of it off. When you seed the cucumber, just run a teaspoon down the center to scoop out the seeds.

See the Gold Beet recipe for the dressing. Chill for about one hour. I’ll probably serve this with some crumbled hard boiled egg on top.

Both of these salads are great the same day, and for a couple days following (if there is any left). Makes an excellent lunch box addition.

As, I said on the Facebook post, we’re having this with Rabbit Sausages that have been cooked in beer - with mustard, roasted sweet potatoes, and some sauteed swiss chard tonight.

Ooops. It’s St. Patrick’s Day. Oh, well.

A light vegan/flexatarian meal just right for summertime evenings

We find that these long summer days really do stretch long into the evenings, and our supper seems to find its way to the table about 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. when it’s so nice to sit in the front terrace - surrounded by grapevines and next to a koi pond/waterfall. This area is on the east side of the house, so is cooler by evening.

Mr. Maven told me that he wanted soup and salad for supper tonight and I was happy to oblige.

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One head of cabbage: cheap, healthy, tasty eats

My family loves cabbage … coleslaw mostly, in all it’s myriad forms. Tonight I made enough, I thought, of my green apple coleslaw to last a couple of days …. NOT. Natacha scarfed down whatever Mr. Maven and I didn’t eat. But the key here: cabbage is cheap. It’s a cruciferous veg that is very, very healthful. It’s versatile.

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Simple salad dressing fast: fresh and easy

I honestly have not bought a bottle or jar of salad dressing in at least the last ten years - really, really true. When I discovered how fast and easy it was to make wonderfully fresh salad dressing in just a couple of minutes, I never wanted any more of that calorie and artificial ingredient laden glop taking up room in my refrigerator again. My friend Joy, asked me the other day at lunch to blog about salad dressing.

Here’s a video that shows you just how simple it is.

I pare it down to an even simpler method. I make my salad dressing right in the big old wooden bowl that I use for salads at our house. The key is to balance the acid and oil, then add the kicker such as mustard, garlic, anchovies, fruits, onions, bacon, citrus, horseradish, olives, Worcester sauce or whatever.

Always have a brick of good parmesan, too. I also use nuts very often in dressing or salads. Using a blender, chuck in some hazelnuts or walnuts, using a walnut oil, honey and lemon juice.

Fresh lemons are usually an integral part of my fresh dressings since they not only add the acid component but also temper it with a sweetness. Sometimes, I’ll even grate the yellow zest into the dressing.

Basic technique: Take a nice lemon and roll it on the counter to loosen up the juices, then slice in half and squeeze the fresh lemon juice right into the bowl. Add an equal amount of a high quality oil ( olive, walnut, canola for example ) and honey. Whisk to combine.

Add some freshly ground pepper, sea salt, some herbs d’ Provence and you’re done. Add the salad greens and what ever else, toss and eat. Badda bing, badda boom.

We made this the other evening, adding crushed ripe strawberries, diced fresh mango, romaine, baby greens and red onion. Wow! It’s a keeper.

Sometimes I add other ingredients.

For a quick and easy Ceasar Dressing: Olive oil, mashed garlic cloves rubbed around the bowl, mayonnaise, a bit of anchovy paste ( or even better- tinned anchovies ) and freshly grated Parmesan.

Whisk and and your romaine and croutons. What could be simpler?

For a honey mustard it’s a no-brainer: olive or walnut oil, honey ( a wild or forest honey adds an exotic surprise ), dijon mustard and a bit of mayonnaise. Whisk.

Instead of spending money on bottles of prepared dressing - often loaded with ingredients you really don’t want or need - spend the money on good oils and vinegars. They go a very long way.

You might choose from balsamic vinegars, cabernet or champagne vinegars, port or sherry ( one of my favorites!)vinegars.

My favorite olive oil for salads is Spanish Nunez de Prado. It actually reminds me of a sunny day and freshly cut hay fields. It’s very green and fragrant.  http://www.colorsofspain.com/Oil/Prado.htm

Another thing I keep on hand in my spice cabinet are: onion powder, granulated garlic powder, herbs d’ provence, thyme, oregano, italian seasoning, lemon pepper, and Penzeys’Mural of Flavor herb seasoning. I also keep a tube of anchovy paste in the refrigerator for Caesar dressing and to add that umami quality ( see the post on umami or fifth flavor ).

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

Right now, Penzeys’ is offering a $9.00 gift card in every eight jar or larger gift box ordered before December 21st. Order a custom gift box to share with your family or friends and you keep the gift card for being such a thoughtful person. This makes a really neat gift, too!

maven

Super crunchy: wonton strips for salads and soups

This is just far too easy. Perking up a salad from boring to interesting isonly as far away as a bag of these very crunchy wonton strips. There is a flavor to suit any salad, and the nutritional data is spot on ( always a big deal with me)… low fat, zero trans fats, and low sodium.

They’re also very nice sprinkled on top of a bowl of soup, vegetables or eaten right straight from the bag as a snack - even once in awhile I need something REALLY crunchy tosatisfy.

At first, I thought I could only find these at Sav-Mart, but they’ve also shown up at Win-Co here in Reno. Go to their webpage and punch in your zip for stores nearest to you. They’re not bad on the price, and a bag goes quite a ways, so they’re economical, too.

http://www.freshgourmet.com/pages/where-to-buy/index.php