Keep cool with a summer salad
There are certain days of summer when the act of lighting a burner or turning on the oven is virtually unthinkable.
The “dog days” - - named by the Romans for the “dog star,” Sirius, brightest in the summer constellation Canis Major (“Big Dog”) -- are made for sipping cooling beverages and sliding some ice cream down your gullet. A frozen dinner sounds enticing, as long as it is still frozen when served.
The reality, however, is that even though it’s hot outside, your insides may be rumbling. You can barely blink without breaking a sweat, but, unaccountably, you still find yourself hungry. A diet of Popsicles doesn’t quite cut it.
Leave it to a pair of Southerners -- well schooled in beating the heat -- to come up with a delicious, satisfying and gorgeous salad that you can serve on a hot day without losing your cool.
Elizabeth Sims and Brian Sonoskus have collaborated for a second time on a “Tupelo Honey Cafe” cookbook, from the eponymous North Carolina restaurant where Sonoskus serves as executive chef. In it, they offer a recipe for a salad that screams summer, combining as it does the flavors of peaches and blueberries.
True, it requires lighting a grill, but that keeps the extra heat outside. You can then repair to your porch, shaded picnic table or, if you are lucky, air-conditioned dining space, and enjoy.
Making this salad could lead to a number of experiments in the greens-meats-fruit line. Try grilled sliced steak on a bed of snappy greens (make sure to include some arugula) with a sprinkling of raspberries or sliced strawberries, toasted pecans and a Green Goddess or blue cheese dressing.
Or slice some grilled pork, put it on a bed of spinach with chunks of pineapple or mango and sprinkle with toasted, sliced almonds and a citrus vinaigrette.
And there’s always the restaurant-luncheon standby: Caesar salad with grilled chicken or shrimp.
For dessert, skip heavy ice creams or baked goods and go for cooling watermelon, sweet cherries or fruit ices.
Dog days? Chill out. You’ve got it made in the shade.
MIXED GREEN SALAD Yield: 4 servings For the marinade: 1 1/2 cups pineapple juice 2/3-cup olive oil 2/3-cup soy sauce 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger (from 4-inch piece of ginger) For the vinaigrette: 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons blueberry preserves 1/2-cup sherry vinegar 1/2-teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/3-cup canola oil For the salad: 4 (6- to 7-ounce) chicken breasts
4 large fresh peaches, pitted and halved 1-tablespoon canola oil 8 to 10 cups torn mixed greens, such as book Choy, Napa cabbage, Swiss chard and kale
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese 1/2 cup sunflower seeds Make the marinade: Whisk together all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. You’ll have about 2 cups, the recipe calls for 1. Save the extra for another use; cover and refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.
Make the vinaigrette: In a blender, blend the preserves, vinegar, salt and pepper on low speed until smooth, 10 to 15 seconds.
Scrape down the sides and increase the speed to medium while slowly pouring in the oil until it emulsifies.
You’ll have 1 3/4 cups, and need 1 cup for the recipe. Save the extra for another use; cover and refrigerate up to 1 week.
Six to eight hours before serving, put the chicken in a shallow glass pan and pour in about a cup of the marinade, turn chicken to coat. Cover and refrigerate, turning periodically. Remove from fridge and allow sitting at room temperature for about 20 minutes before cooking.
Preheat a grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat (you can also heat a stovetop grill pan).
Brush the peach slices with the canola oil and grill 3 to 4 minutes, until well marked on both sides. Remove and cut into 1-inch slices.
Discard the marinade and grill the chicken until done, about 6 to 8 minutes per side. Test one piece by slicing into it; juices should run clear and meat should show no traces of pink. Set aside, loosely covered with foil, for 5 minutes, then slice.
Mound the mixed greens on 4 serving plates and surround with the peach slices.
Top the greens with the goat cheese and sunflower seeds and arrange the sliced chicken on top. Drizzle each salad with 1/4-cup vinaigrette.
( Recipe from “Tupelo Honey Cafe: New Southern Flavors From the Blue Ridge Mountains,” by Elizabeth Sims with Brian Senesces; Andrews McNeil Publishing, LLC, 2014.)