Around My French Table (28 page)
Read Around My French Table Online
Authors: Dorie Greenspan
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
SERVING
I like to serve this salad
en verrines,
in small glasses, with a little mâche, arugula, or mixed herb salad (a blend of mint, parsley, and cilantro is nice) on top. Mix the greens with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. However, the salad can be served without accompaniment. If you'd like to be very à la mode, pair the salad with avocado; see Bonne Idée.
STORING
Enjoy this the instant you make it—it can't be held.
BONNE IDÉE
Crab, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad.
To add avocado to this salad, you can put a layer of guacamole (
[>]
) in the bottom of the glasses or on top of the crab; you can cube an avocado, toss it with salt, pepper, and a splash of grapefruit juice, and scatter it over the salad; or you can mix a small amount of finely diced avocado into the salad. Avocado turns dark and softens quickly, so add it at the last minute.
I
T TOOK A REAL EFFORT TO COMMIT
this salad to paper, since it's something that I make all the time but never with a recipe. I cook the couscous (the quick-cooking kind) in broth with some spices and then mix it with whatever bits and pieces of fruits and vegetables I've got in the house. It's never the same, always good, and always, because of the cinnamon and turmeric, raisins, nuts, and chickpeas, reminiscent of the traditional North African stew that inspired it.
Adding chicken to the salad makes the dish a complete meal. If you've got leftover chicken, cut the chicken into cubes and stir it into the salad when you stir in the vegetables; if not, the dish is worth cooking chicken for it specifically. See Bonne Idée for chicken that's marinated in olive oil and lemon juice, then grilled, indoors or out.
| 2 | cups chicken broth or vegetable broth |
| 2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed |
| 2 | garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and minced |
| Salt | |
| 1 | tablespoon ground ginger |
| 1 | teaspoon turmeric |
| ½ | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
| ¼ | teaspoon ground cumin |
| 1 | 10-ounce box quick-cooking couscous |
| ½ | cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) |
| 1 | small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into ½-inch cubes |
| 1 | red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ½-inch cubes |
| 1 | carrot, trimmed, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced |
| 1 | cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas |
| 1 | can (about 16 ounces) chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry |
| Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, or as needed | |
| ¼ | cup fresh lemon juice, or as needed |
| Freshly ground pepper | |
| ¾ | cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped |
| ½ | cup toasted chopped almonds (optional) |
Bring the broth, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and cumin to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk the broth just to make sure the spices have dissolved, then stir in the couscous and turn off the heat. Scatter the raisins over the couscous, cover the pan, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Fluff the couscous with a fork (if there are lumps, you may have to break them up with your fingers) and turn it into a large bowl. Stir in the vegetables, chickpeas, and lemon zest.
Put the lemon juice, another teaspoon of salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small jar, cover, and shake to blend; or use a small bowl and a whisk. Pour over the couscous and toss well. Taste for salt, and season with pepper; set aside to cool.
(The couscous can be lightly covered and left at room temperature for about 3 hours or covered tightly and refrigerated overnight;bring to room temperature before serving.)
At serving time, taste again for seasoning—it's almost certain you'll need more salt, and you might want more lemon juice, zest, and olive oil too—and stir in the cilantro and toasted almonds, if you're using them.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
SERVING
As is, the salad makes a great lunch or side dish to grilled fish. Add chicken (see Bonne Idée), and it's an any-time-of-day meal.
STORING
You can put the salad together up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Leftovers will hold overnight as well.
BONNE IDÉE
Lemon-Grilled Chicken Breasts.
You'll need 6 skinless, boneless chicken cutlets, each about 5 ounces, pounded to a thickness of about ⅓ inch. Pour 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice into a roasting pan or a large plastic bag. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Drop in the chicken breasts, turn them around so that they're coated with the marinade, and marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or for up to 3 hours in the refrigerator (bring them to room temperature before cooking). Prepare an outdoor grill, if you've got one, or heat a grill pan over high heat. Remove the cutlets from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Grill the chicken until it's opaque at the center, about 4 minutes on a side. Transfer the cutlets to a serving platter, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle them, if you'd like, with chopped fresh cilantro. Sometimes I serve the chicken with the couscous and lemon wedges on the side, and sometimes I slice the chicken into strips and put the pieces on top of the salad.
Walking the grain aisle in any French supermarket is like taking a quick whirl around the world. There's rice from just about every country that grows it; couscous for sure (it's a natural, given that the couscous countries of Algeria and Morocco were once French); tabouleh (also known as bulgur wheat); quinoa, a relatively new addition (it appeared in health food markets before it went mainstream); barley (which turns up in the cooking of Alsace); kasha; and a couple of things we don't see often in the United States: quick-cooking wheat berries and grain mixes that, like the wheat, can go from pantry to table in 10 minutes.
Of course, rice and couscous are the bestsellers, but what I find odd is that the other grains seem to appear more often in restaurant dishes than in home-cooked meals. Not true
chez moi,
where I love using the grains for salads as well as for side dishes.
Grain salads have at least one well-known French precedent, the rice salad, a time-treasured way to make good use of leftovers, but I'm on a mission to get the others into the salad bowl too. Depending on what you add to them, grain salads can be side dishes or mains and served warm, cool, or, best of all, outdoors—they're perfect picnic take-alongs.
W
HEN A FOOD-OBSESSED FRIEND OF MINE
was moving from New York to Paris for a couple of months, he wrote to ask if there were things he should bring with him. When I asked what he was thinking about, he wrote back just one word, "quinoa." I informed him it was one less thing he'd have to carry, since quinoa is very easy to get in France—in fact, the ancient, highly nutritious Andean grain is quite trendy. A little nutty and a little wheaty, quinoa can be served hot, but my favorite quinoa dish is this salad, in which the grain is tossed with dried fruits and nuts, finished with herbs and a ginger vinaigrette, and served over greens with tangy chilled yogurt.
BE PREPARED:
Start this an hour or so before serving so the flavors blend.
| 1½ | cups quinoa |
| Salt and freshly ground pepper | |
| 1⅓ | cups mixed moist, plump dried fruit, such as cranberries, golden raisins, dark raisins, and/or cut-up apricots |
| 1 | cup mixed seeds and nuts, such as sunflower and pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, and chopped almonds and/or walnuts |
| ¼ | cup chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, cilantro, or mint, or a combination |
| Juice of 1 lemon | |
| ½ | teaspoon ground ginger |
| 3 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
| 1 | tablespoon walnut or hazelnut oil (or another tablespoon of olive oil) |
| 4 | cups mixed salad greens, rinsed and dried (optional) |
| 1 | cup plain yogurt (it can be nonfat), for serving |
Rinse the quinoa under cold running water and drain it in a sieve. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan, salt the water, and stir in the quinoa. Lower the heat and let the quinoa cook gently for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the grains have expanded—when they're cooked, each little grain will have a thin ring around it. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it sit for 5 minutes. There may still be water in the bottom of the pan, so drain the quinoa in the sieve and cool it to room temperature.
Turn the quinoa into a serving bowl and season it to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in the dried fruits, nuts, and herbs.
Put the lemon juice, ginger, olive oil, nut oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a small jar and shake to blend; or whisk together in a small bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the quinoa and mix well with a large spoon or a rubber spatula. If you've got the time, cover the salad and let it stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. The salad really benefits from a rest so the flavors can blend.
When you're ready to serve, taste the salad to see if it needs more salt and pepper. Spoon over lightly seasoned greens, if using, and top with the yogurt.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
SERVING
If you're using salad greens, divide them among four individual bowls, season the greens with salt and pepper, spoon over the quinoa salad, and top each portion with a spoonful of yogurt. If you're not using the greens, simply serve the salad topped with the yogurt.
STORING
The salad is best made a few hours ahead of time and eaten the day it's made. However, leftovers, covered and refrigerated, are very good the next day.
M
AYBE ONE DAY WE'LL BE ABLE
to get the almost-instant wheat I can find in France, but in the meantime, there are wheat berries, which have a mild nutty flavor, a delightfully chewy texture, and the good manners not to ask anything more from the cook than time. All you have to do is put them in a pot of salted water, cook them until they're tender (set aside a good hour for this), and then use them warm, as a side dish, or cool, in this salad, which includes canned tuna and a cache of colorful vegetables. Topping the salad with tomatoes, avocado, and hard-boiled eggs makes it even more substantial and colorful.
| 1 | cup wheat berries |
| 1½ | teaspoons Dijon mustard |
| 1½ | tablespoons white wine vinegar |
| 4½ | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus about 1 teaspoon for tossing |
| Salt, preferably sea salt, and freshly ground pepper | |
| Pinch of red pepper flakes | |
| 2 | celery stalks, trimmed and chopped |
| 1 | small onion, chopped |
| 1 | red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced |
| 1 | medium red apple, cored and diced |
| 2 | 5- to 6-ounce cans chunk light tuna packed in oil, drained |
| 4 | cups mixed salad greens, rinsed and dried |
| 8 | cherry or grape tomatoes, halved |
| 1 | avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced |
| 2 | hard-boiled eggs, quartered |
You'll need to get the wheat berries cooked a few hours before assembling the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the berries, lower the heat so that the water simmers, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries are tender but not mushy, 1 to 1¼ hours. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and let cool to room temperature.
(The wheat berries can be cooked ahead, covered, and refrigerated for up to 24 hours;bring to room temperature before using.)