GREENS AND MORE
"When they said I got the main course salad book, I said, 'Thank you, Lord,' because that's the way I like to eat," said Binns. "To me, it's the greatest title in the whole series."
Binns reveres salads of all styles, especially those that classify as meal-on-a-plate salads. Such main course salads are perfect for any time of year, but even more so in this transitional period between cold and warm weather.
"Spring is really starting to make itself known now," said Binns. "This is the time when you want salad that is fresh and crisp, but you need something a little hearty in it as well."
Binns' favorite salad in the book is Nicoise Salad with Salmon, a recipe she enjoys so much that she featured it on a recent appearance on "The Today Show" in New York City.
"It's so easy, it can go together in just 20 minutes," Binns said.
Quick is good this time of year, she said. After all, who wants to toil in the kitchen when fresh air, warm sun and spring blossoms beckon? Hurried cooks can even use rotisserie chicken to speed things up even more.
Sprinkled throughout the "Food Made Fast" cookbooks are helpful "Cook's Tips" that offer shortcuts without sacrificing quality.
Binns' tip for the salmon salad recipe concerns the best way to slice goat cheese or mozzarella. It's much easier when the cheese is very cold, Binns recommends, and it slices even cleaner when cut with a knife dipped in hot water and dried with a towel.
Salads shouldn't be an architectural feat, Binns suggests. The beauty of the "Food Made Fast" books is the arrangement of recipes into three categories: "15 Minutes Hands-On Time," "20 Minutes Start to Finish" and "30 Minutes Start to Finish."
"Williams-Sonoma for a long time didn't acknowledge the needs of a career person as much," Binns said. "They focused on people who had time to entertain graciously and with detail to attention. 'Food Made Fast' acknowledges a whole group of people who like to enter and eat well but don't have time."
In addition to the time limits, the publisher allowed authors to submit only recipes with 12 ingredients or fewer.
"They really held us to task," Binns said. "And as far as the time limits, they had to be able to be done by the man on the street in that time, not a professional cook like me."
The salad cookbook is the seventh Binns has written for Williams-Sonoma. Binns, 50, lives in the Hudson Valley and Los Angeles with her actor husband Casey Biggs, whose most famous role is Cardassian Damar on TV's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
NICOISE SALAD WITH SALMON
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
15 small boiling potatoes, quartered
1/2 pound slender green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 pound salmon fillet, cut crosswise into 4 equal slices
4 large or 6 small heads of Belgian endive, ends trimmed and cut lengthwise into slivers
4 hard-cooked eggs, quartered
8 to 12 anchovy fillets, soaked for 5 minutes in warm water and patted dry (optional)
1/4 cup Nicoise olives, pitted
Yields 4 servings.
In large bowl, whisk together shallot, vinegar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup oil until smooth.
Bring large saucepan of water to a boil. Add potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add green beans during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain vegetables, rinse under running cold water until no longer warm, and drain again. Add to vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly.
Preheat large frying pan over high heat. Brush both sides of salmon slices with 2 tablespoons of oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Place salmon in hot pan and sear without moving slices, about 2 minutes. Turn and sear again without moving for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, turning once, until firm to touch but still slightly pink inside, about 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Add endive to bowl with vegetables and toss to coat with vinaigrette. Arrange on plates. Place slice of salmon in center of each salad. Arrange eggs, anchovies (if using) and olives over and around salads, and serve.
- "Food Made Fast: Salads" by Brigit Binns (Williams-Sonoma, $17.95).
WARM SPINACH SALAD WITH SCALLOPS
3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 minced shallot
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound baby spinach
1 pound sea scallops, side muscles removed
Yields 4 servings.
In frying pan over medium heat, cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile in large bowl, stir together vinegar, shallot and a pinch of pepper. Add spinach and toss to coat with vinegar mixture. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to bowl of spinach, then drizzle 2 tablespoons of bacon fat over spinach and toss quickly to combine. Divide spinach mixture between individual plates. Reserve remaining fat in pan.
Return frying pan to medium-high heat and add scallops. Cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides but still slightly translucent in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Arrange on spinach and serve.
- "Food Made Fast: Seafood" by Jay Harlow (Williams-Sonoma, $17.95).
STEAK, ARUGULA AND PECORINO SALAD
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
10 ounces arugula, stems removed
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 pound grilled steak of choice
1/4-pound Pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese
Yields 4 servings.
In bowl, whisk together vinegar, shallot, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Gradually whisk in oil.
Thinly slice steak across grain.
In large bowl, combine arugula, tomatoes and steak. Add vinaigrette and toss well. Using vegetable peeler, shave curls of cheese over salad. Divide among large plates and serve.
- "Food Made Fast: Grilling" by Rick Rodgers (Williams-Sonoma, $17.95).
WARM GOAT CHEESE AND CHICKEN SALAD
1/2 cup fine dried bread crumbs or Japanese panko bread crumbs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 egg
1/2 pound fresh goat cheese, cut into 8 thick rounds (or use fresh mozzarella)
Lemon zest and juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
6 ounces mixed baby salad greens
3 cups cooked chicken, baked or rotisserie, shredded
2 tablespoons Canola oil
Yields 4 servings.
In shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
In another shallow bowl, lightly beat egg. Dip 1 flat surface of each cheese round into egg, letting excess egg drip back into bowl. Then dip in bread crumbs, patting crumbs in place. Repeat with other flat surface of each cheese round, leaving rims of round uncoated.
In large bowl, whisk together lemon zest and juice, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pinch of pepper. Gradually whisk in olive oil until smooth. Stir in tarragon.
Add mixed greens and chicken to dressing and toss to coat evenly. Arrange on plates.
In large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, warm canola oil until it shimmers. Working in batches if necessary, add goat cheese rounds and cook until just beginning to soften but not melt, about 45 seconds. Carefully turn rounds and cook for about 30 seconds longer. Transfer to plates and serve.
- "Food Made Fast: Salads" by Brigit Binns (Williams-Sonoma, $17.95).
- - -
Jennifer Mastroianni writes about food for the Canton (Ohio) Repository and can be reached by telephone at 330-580-8304 or by e-mail at jennifer.mastroianni@cantonrep.com
Comments (0)
Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Magazine
http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20070407203319531