Puerto Rican Vinaigrette

I have no idea if this recipe authentically represents the popular salad dressings of Puerto Rico (though who am I to disagree with Fannie), but to whomever can rightly claim this dressing I say: bravo!

Very tasty twist to your classic French vinaigrette and an excellent way to bedazzle a simple green salad.

Puerto Rico Dressing 
from The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook 

Mix in a bottle or a jar with a cover

• 1/2 cup olive or salad oil
• 1 Tbls mild vinegar
• 1 Tbls lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 2 Tbls chopped olives
• 1 Tbls tomato catsup

Cover. when ready to serve, remove the garlic and shake hard to blend. Makes 1/2 cup.

Other than substituting ketchup for the catsup (hah!) I made it according to recipe and then tossed with a green salad. It was debuted at a potluck and we watched it fly out of the bowl--a hit!

Dressing number 5 toward 24.

Carrot & Parsley Salad

Once upon a time I made this before. This weekend I made it again. So there you have it. 

Yes, it counts.

Carrot and Parsley Salad
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

• 3 1/2 cups grated carrots

• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

• 1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

• 3 Tbls fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/2 tsp salt 

• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine the carrots, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a serving bowl and toss well. 

Variations

• Add 1 Tbls of chopped fresh mint
• Add 1 Tbls of chopped fresh chives
• Add 1 tsp of ground cumin

We enjoyed it the first time and we enjoyed it again. Nice way to use extra parsley for those times you buy an enormous bunch of parsley but have no idea why you did it. Crazy person.

Sesame Cucumber Side Salad

What to serve as accompanyment to the Cold Noodles of my previous post? Ms. Atlas' menu provided a simple yet strikingly unusual (and tasty) cucumber salad.

     Sesame Cucumber Salad
          from Vegetarian Express by Nava Atlas & Lillian Kayte

• 1 long English seedless cucumber, unpeeled
• 2 Tbls oil [I used grapeseed oil]
• 2 1/2 Tbls rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1-2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 Tbls toasted sesame seeds

1. Slice the cucumber very thinly.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, soy sauce & honey. Stir to mix thoroughly, then stir in the ginger. Pour the oil and vinegar mix over the cucumber slices and toss well. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds. 

Russian Salad

I was able to try out a new cookbook today:

Susan R. Friedland's Shabbat Shalom: Recipes and Menus for the Sabbath.

I actually bought this cookbook for my father last spring. And I suppose I still mean to send it to him, though I seem to have forgotten to pack it up and ship it to him prior to either Father's Day or his birthday. (Am I really that cookbook obsessed that I can't let one out of my grasp? Not even one purchased as a gift for someone? Hmmm...) Well, it'll make it out to him eventually. And in the meantime, I can make a recipe or two and let him know how they turn out. It'll be all part of his gift. I'm helping him decide which recipes are good.

Today I was dealing with a serious beet overstock situation. I was making a triple batch of borscht and needed a side dish. Happily, this salad was a snappy side for my soup and used-up even more beets.

Russian Salad

1 lb beets

2 lbs potatoes

1 cup cubed carrot

1 cup shelled peas, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp white-wine vinegar

2 Tbls olive oil

1 cup minced scallion

2 medium cucumbers,  seeded and cubed

2 hard-boiled eggs

2 Tbls capers [I omitted these. Didn't have any.]

1/4 cup minced dill

My short-hand version of her directions:

First cook the beets (steam them in a covered dish in the oven until tender--about 50-90 mins). And you boil the potatoes until tender. Both beets & potatoes should then be cooled and then eventually skinned and cut into same-sized pieces.

Boil the carrot in salted water for 15 mins and add the peas for the last 15 seconds. Drain.

Mix the mayo, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and scallion together to make the dressing.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with the hard-boiled eggs and capers [if you have them] and dill.

Purple food is the best!

Very tasty. I'm not usually one to single the praises of cold potato anything, but adding the cucumber, peas, and beets to the potatoes gave this salad a sophistication far beyond anything its plain potato salad cousin can muster. I do believe I'll make this again.