Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Salad Days by Karyn Zoldan
The term -salad days- used to refer to when you could not afford to put the proverbial meat and potatoes on the table. When I grew up salad was a wedge of iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato (from the garden when we were lucky) and from the store when we were not. And homemade Thousand Island dressing consisting of equal parts of mayonnaise or that white stuff in a jar called “salad dressing” and catsup with a tablespoon of hot dog relish. Sounds gross. Looked gross. But actually wasn’t any worse than commercially made Thousand Island dressing.
Fortunately the face of greens changed and salads are no longer (or shouldn’t be) the boring endeavors of past.
When I make salad at home I’ll open up a bag of pre-washed baby salad greens. These are a luxury in disguise. At Trader Joe’s, a 5 oz bag of Asian greens costs $1.89. A whole pound at that price scale costs around $6; my math abilities are questionable. Then I add whatever is on hand like some cherry tomatoes, cubes of cheese, a handful of nuts, maybe a dice of cucumbers or chicken. If I have berries or grapes or pear slices, that goes in too. Store bought dressing from Trader Joe’s is added judiciously and then I dig in perhaps with a glass of wine if I feel like winding down with dinner.
So when I go out and order a salad, it had better be at least as good as what I can make on my own. I admit it that here in Tucson it’s not that easy to find substantially thoughtful and creative salads. Red Sky Café is my leading contender so get your fork ready:
The ideal salad should be a dynamic combination of all food groups commingling on the plate with salad dressing that isn’t an afterthought or worse--from a bottle. Order the grilled mesquite honey BBQ chicken salad and let the flavor Ferris wheel begin. The freshest of baby field greens (vegetables) are an apt audience for bite sized chunks of white (meat) slathered with smoky BBQ sauce, crisp apple and juicy orange slices (fruit), a generous sprinkling of Gorgonzola cheese (dairy) and spiced pecans (fats) drizzled with lusty Dijon mustard honey vinaigrette (fats). Then garnished with waffled purple potato chips (starch) vertically arranged so when the salad extraordinaire debuts at the table, you almost want to salute it. The only food group missing is chocolate.
Red Sky Café – 1661 N. Swan – 520-326-5454
Check out delicious copy2go
The term -salad days- used to refer to when you could not afford to put the proverbial meat and potatoes on the table. When I grew up salad was a wedge of iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato (from the garden when we were lucky) and from the store when we were not. And homemade Thousand Island dressing consisting of equal parts of mayonnaise or that white stuff in a jar called “salad dressing” and catsup with a tablespoon of hot dog relish. Sounds gross. Looked gross. But actually wasn’t any worse than commercially made Thousand Island dressing.
Fortunately the face of greens changed and salads are no longer (or shouldn’t be) the boring endeavors of past.
When I make salad at home I’ll open up a bag of pre-washed baby salad greens. These are a luxury in disguise. At Trader Joe’s, a 5 oz bag of Asian greens costs $1.89. A whole pound at that price scale costs around $6; my math abilities are questionable. Then I add whatever is on hand like some cherry tomatoes, cubes of cheese, a handful of nuts, maybe a dice of cucumbers or chicken. If I have berries or grapes or pear slices, that goes in too. Store bought dressing from Trader Joe’s is added judiciously and then I dig in perhaps with a glass of wine if I feel like winding down with dinner.
So when I go out and order a salad, it had better be at least as good as what I can make on my own. I admit it that here in Tucson it’s not that easy to find substantially thoughtful and creative salads. Red Sky Café is my leading contender so get your fork ready:
The ideal salad should be a dynamic combination of all food groups commingling on the plate with salad dressing that isn’t an afterthought or worse--from a bottle. Order the grilled mesquite honey BBQ chicken salad and let the flavor Ferris wheel begin. The freshest of baby field greens (vegetables) are an apt audience for bite sized chunks of white (meat) slathered with smoky BBQ sauce, crisp apple and juicy orange slices (fruit), a generous sprinkling of Gorgonzola cheese (dairy) and spiced pecans (fats) drizzled with lusty Dijon mustard honey vinaigrette (fats). Then garnished with waffled purple potato chips (starch) vertically arranged so when the salad extraordinaire debuts at the table, you almost want to salute it. The only food group missing is chocolate.
Red Sky Café – 1661 N. Swan – 520-326-5454
Check out delicious copy2go
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