hungry poodle

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Harry S. Truman

This is why Harry Truman, a proud, self-proclaimed denizen of the American Midwest, became President of the United States. He was a plain-spoken man who said it like it was. (Oh, for politicians like him right now in Washington D.C.!!!)

Our unprecedented heat wave is unrelenting, so I’ve taken Harry’s advice and steered clear of the kitchen. My only cooking source has been the grill, and I’ve used that sparingly. Who wants to stand outside in 100 degree weather and tend to food on an open flame? Anyone? Anyone?

Not surprisingly, salads have become our main entree, accompanied by all things fresh, cold and uncomplicated.

After several nights of same old, same old, I had to reach up my sleeve for some new salad tricks to keep us from running straight to the nearest burger bistro. I know what you’re thinking: Greek salad isn’t exactly unique, but when I saw this recipe on www.eatingwell.com, there was something refreshing about the thought of cold tomatoes and cucumber mixed with chicken that drew me in.

I knew that I didn’t even have to grill the chicken if I didn’t want to–I could resort to store-bought. (However, when it comes to store-roasted poultry, I’ve drawn the line. It’s almost always overcooked, so in this case I took the heat of the grill.)

This salad gets an A+ for being thoroughly delightful. And here’s a bonus: it serves only two!  It was one of those dishes where, despite its simplicity, we kept saying, “Yum. This is so good!”

See how good it was? All gone!

Chopped Greek Salad with Chicken for Two

2 1/2 T. red-wine vinegar
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 t. chopped fresh dill, or oregano, or 1/2 t. dried
1/2 t. garlic powder (I used fresh garlic)
1/4 t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper

3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 1/4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 big tomato, chopped
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used seedless, which doesn’t need peeling)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup sliced black olives (I used Kalamata)
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Whisk vinegar, oil and herbs together in a large bowl. Add lettuce, chicken, tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and feta. Toss to coat.

Serves two.

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Chicken Caesar Salad has had a relatively speedy evolution: it first appeared on the menus of upscale restaurants and then quickly got demoted all the way down to the bottom of the fast food chain. You can now order one at the drive-thru, and what you get is this: limp romaine lettuce and salty processed chicken pieces bound together by fake-Caesar dressing and served in plastic. Do me a favor and don’t invite me to dinner that night.

In its most classic rendition, Chicken Caesar Salad can be downright delicious. Real Caesar dressing is a creamy combination of eggs, oil, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, Worcestershire Sauce and Parmesan cheese. The eggs and oil are what make it so creamy, and therein lies the challenge of lightening it up. How do you do creamy without fat?

Once again, the folks at Cooks Illustrated have come up with a solution. Their lower-fat Caesar dressing gets its creaminess from a combination of buttermilk and light mayonnaise. The buttermilk gives it a tang that completely tricks you into believing you’re eating something rich and fattening.

And yes, there are anchovies in the dressing. If you’ve ever had this salad in a restaurant you ate anchovies, so as my girlfriend Kaye’s mother Dottie says, “put on your big girl panties and get over it”.

I feel it necessary to issue a caveat here: while this is healthier than the original recipe, it is not a no-fat dressing. That is why it is so good. Better a moderate portion of this than a vat of the homogenized no-fat stuff. Life is only so long. Amen.

Dressing

1/4 cup buttermilk
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. light mayonnaise
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. Worcestershire Sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed (I bought anchovies in a tin and froze the extras in single portions wrapped in foil)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 T. olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Puree all ingredients except the Parmesan in a blender or food processor (I used a small processor) until smooth. Stir in the Parmesan. This makes about one cup of dressing. You’ll need 1/2 cup dressing to serve four, so refrigerate the rest. It makes a great dip for crudites.

Salad for Four

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each), cooked and cut into 1/2″ pieces (I grilled my chicken)
2 large romaine lettuce hearts, washed and torn into 1/2″ pieces
Croutons (see recipe below)

Toss the romaine in a large bowl with all but 1 T. of the 1/2 cup dressing and divide evenly between four plates. Add the chicken to the empty bowl and toss with the remaining 1 T. dressing. Evenly place the chicken atop the lettuce. Sprinkle with the croutons.

Croutons

4 cups French bread cubes, cut into 1/2″ pieces (include crusts)
Olive oil spray
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread cubes on a large baking sheet, generously spray with the olive oil spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through to promote even browning. Allow to cool before serving. These keep well in an airtight plastic bag.

Serves: 4

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Top this salad with grilled salmon, shrimp, chicken or steak

I recently had a summer salad for lunch at a restaurant, and it was so delicious I made notes of the ingredients on my iPhone. Here are the basics: salad greens, grilled corn, grape tomatoes, avocado, yellow raisins, almonds and feta cheese. You can then add any main course protein if you wish. I had grilled shrimp at the restaurant, but they also serve it with chicken.

The ingredients work together to make this really special, even though none of them is particularly stellar on its own. Champ said it was the grilled corn that stood out; I simply grilled it over direct heat, let it cool and then sliced the kernels off the cob.

Tonight we had the best salmon of the year–fresh wild sockeye salmon, expensive but worth it for the brief moment it’s available. Most of the year I avoid salmon because of its fishy taste, but wild salmon in season is a different matter.

I wanted the vinaigrette to be simple and light, yet I didn’t want to buy another light bottled salad dressing as I find most of them to have a gummy consistency. (A shelf in the door of my refrigerator is lined with a variety of light dressings that I tried really hard to like. One of these days I’m going to purge and reclaim that shelf for real ingredients!)

Cooks Illustrated’s “Best Light Recipe” cookbook suggests adding water to vinaigrette in place of some of the olive oil, and to my surprise it not only worked, it was delightful. So much better than store-bought.

Basic salad ingredients:

Salad greens of your choice–I like baby greens
Grape tomatoes, halved (when summer delivers real tomatoes, use them)
Grilled corn, cut off the cob
Avocado, chopped into bite-sized pieces
Yellow raisins
Marcona almonds (Costco’s Kirkland brand in a tin can)
Grilled fresh salmon, shrimp, chicken or steak
Feta cheese (optional; I didn’t have any but I’ll add it next time)

Light Balsamic Vinaigrette

6 T. water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. balsamic vinegar
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t. fresh oregano, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Shake all ingredients in a jar. This dressing can be refrigerated for up to a week.

1 T. serving: 35 calories

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