Studio Living and I Refuse to Make Boring Salads

I got out of the habit of eatings salads when I had braces years ago. The greens would get caught in my teeth, which was a bit embarrassing and made it a bit hard to eat.

I almost always have a deficiency of vegetables in my diet. One of the ways I get them if by putting things on a bed of spinach. Today, I went for a spinach salad with steak. I complicated things and expanded cooking time, by using the immersion circulator, but I"ll skip that part until almost everyone has their own way to sous vide. A lot of InstaPots have that attachment, for example..

Ingredients for one serving:

• 3 or 4 handfuls of raw spinach, washed, drained, dry, washed again. If it's adult spinach, tear it a bit. If you have a clamshell package, about half will do.
• 4 oz steak, cooked to your liking (you can serve it warm or cold)
• 3 large mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini, white ones work just fine)
• 5 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 2-3 Tablespoons of thinly sliced red onion or shallot
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon of your favorite vinegar. Balsamic doesn't work here, it will overwhelm the bacon. I used a white tarragon vinegar that needed to be used up
• 1 teaspoon mustard. I used dijon.
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt & pepper to taste

Cut/slice/chop your vegetables first. This will make assembly easier. Once that's done, set them aside and start cooking your bacon Move it to paper towels to drain. Reserve one Tablespoon of the bacon fat. Put the bacon and the fat in whatever container you use to make salad dressing (I recommend a glass jar  like one for pasta sauce or wide-mouthed tea bottle).

Cook the steak to your liking (I go for rare). Let rest while you make the dressing.

In your dressing vessel (say that five times fast), add the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar. If you're using a bowl, whisk thoroughly. If you're using a jar, cover the jar with its lid tightly and shake it for 30-60 seconds. Taste and adjust as needed.

Arrange spinach on a dinner plate. Slice your steak and put it on top of the spinach. You can serve deconstructed (egg, onion, and mushrooms set in little piles on top of the spinach) or add the other ingredients with layers. Or just scatter everything about. Give the dressing another whisk or shake, and pour on the salad. 

I don't make this often, but I really should. It's filling, it's tasty, there are lots of different textures, and it's full of produce. Win all around!

Variations on a Theme: Chipotle Chicken Salad

Hi everyone,

I hope you're coping okay with the stay-at-home and mask restrictions. I've noticed a lot of people these days have been keeping themselves busy in the kitchen. I completely applaud this for a couple reasons. 1) I love it when I can geek out with people who share my hobbies. 2) When the activity you're engaged in uses your senses in a big way, it's therapeutic. Cooking uses all of them.

Now that I see chicken breasts at the store on a regular basis, I've been cooking them a bit more. I make chicken salad because that way when I have the leftovers, I don't even have to worry about heating something up. Here we go

• 2 cooked and chilled chicken breasts (average chicken breast these days is 5-6 ounces), chopped.
• 2 green onions, chopped (I use the white and green parts; if you prefer just the green, use 3)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano (I will be adjusting this next time I make it)
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from a can, chopped, smooshed, or run through a processor) (look here for other things you can do with the rest of the can). 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Mayo to taste
• Ripe avocado (if you can find one) cut into chunks for topping

Makes 3 generous main-dish servings. 

I cook chicken breast sous vide these days because it's so easy, at 145 degrees F (62.78 C). However you cook your breasts, I recommend putting them in the fridge for at least a couple hours before you make the salad.

Combine the chicken, onions, oregano, and peppers in a bowl. Stir 3-5 times to spread the adobo sauce around. Use a fork and press down a lot. Now the rest is up to your taste. Me, I don't like tons of may, so I tend to use just enough to hold everything together. You might like a little more because the cooling ability of the mayo will balance the adobo. I might try part mayo part plain yogurt next time. Continue stirring and pressing until the mayo is blended. You're going to get a pinkish orange tint when you're done.

Add salt & pepper to taste, more oregano if you like.

For serving, I went with yet another attempt at arepas, which I still don't have down, also some butter lettuce on the side. I just dropped the salad on the arepa. You could also use warm corn tortillas or the bread of your choice, or even pita chips.

My avocados, alas, were underripe. One of these days I'll be able to ripen them at home properly. I know the best tricks, it's my judgement that's off.

If you try this, please let me know. I'd love some feedback. I was massively happy with it, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to tweak.

Cheers everyone. Stay safe.