Cooked Spinach Salad--Meditearanian Style

This salad, coming from a Moroccan cuisine, is not a typical spinach salad because spinach used in it is not fresh but cooked. It is also better to use large spinach leaves for it, which have more texture and a richer taste rather than baby spinach leaves, which are often is used in salads because they are more tender and delicate in taste.

The only challenge involved in preparing this salad is that it calls for many green ingredients and spices. They combine into a wonderfully rich taste. For me, preserved lemons and saffron are the ingredients that contribute most to defining this salad's flavor and saffron also adds a characteristic yellowish color to it. I did not have a preserved lemon when I first prepared this salad and I felt that something was missing. When I made it for the second time I added it and it made a big difference, making the salad more tart and more exotic.

In winter, this salad can be served in room temperature, but in summer it should be served straight from the fridge, as cold as possible.



Cooked Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
2 lb spinach leaves(regular, not baby leaves),
4 tbsp olive oil,
1 bunch flt leave parsley, chopped,
1 bunch cilantro,
2 garlic cloves,
2 medium tomatoes (heirloom as best as they are not so juicy) blanched, peeled and chopped,
a pinch of saffron,
1 tsp ground cumin,
1 tsp paprika,
1 preserved lemon (skin only) cut into very small cubes,
1/3 cup red olives,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Blanch spinach in a large pot of boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes. Drain well, squeeze out the extra water, let it cool and chop it.



2. In a large frying pan heat the oil. Add to the pan parsley, cilantro, saffron, cumin, paprika, garlic and preserved lemon. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, until a green sauce forms.
3. Add to the green sauce chopped tomatoes and let it simmer again for another 5 minutes.



4. Add chopped spinach and cook briefly on a high heat, stirring constantly.
5. Finally fold in olives and turn off the heat. Cool the spinach completely.
6. Garnish with cilantro leaves and cherry tomatoes cut in halves.

Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Black Beans Salad

These days, even more than ever, I am into salads . Maybe because we had no winter this year, spring is already in full bloom and on hot days salads taste best. I always loved them. They are my favorite lunch--easy to assemble with no strict rules to follow and a welcome scope for experimenting. And on top of that the next day I still weight the same if not less.

Today, I prepared spinach, cherry tomatoes, and black beans salad. I often make it for weekend brunches when I have guests house. Everyone so far has enjoyed it very much, trying to guess what was so special about that salad beyond the basic ingredients that you could easily see. I think the secret of this salad is in its dressing which makes it taste unique. It is sweet and spicy and has a strong taste of onion and fresh coriander. It blends nicely with the taste of beans and fresh vegetables.

Because beans are rich in proteins, this salad can be the whole meal in itself or be served with bread and cold cuts.

Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Black Beans Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes,
15.5 oz can of black or red beans,
5-6 oz bag of baby spinach,
1 medium red onion,
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander,
1 garlic clove, chopped,
1 tbsp lemon juice,
1 tbsp white vinegar,
1 tsp brown sugar,
1 tbsp running honey,
1 tsp mustard,
3 tbsp olive oil,
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Open a can of beans and rinse them under the running cold water. Drain them on a colander and place it in a large bowl.
2. Cut cherry tomatoes in halves and add to the beans. Add baby spinach leaves and chopped onion.

3. To make a dressing, in a medium bowl mix together garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, honey, mustard, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and olive oil. Add chopped coriander and mix again.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix everything gently together.

Spinach and Gruyère Salad--In a Minute.

No simple food is too simple. I can say that based on my life experience and by how the simplest recipes tend to be the most popular. I like them too, especially after coming back from vacation when my refrigerator is still empty and many daily activities take precedence over cooking.

When I was shopping to restock my supplies, I saw this beautiful fresh spinach, and all of a sudden, a salad that my Italian friend made once sprung back to my mind. I remember that it was so easy that she brought all the ingredients to the picnic at Geneva Lake and put it together on the spot. The quality of the ingredients used--especially the cheese and the olive oil--was the only secret of this salad, as is often the case with such simple recipes, especially those coming from Italy.

I used aged Gruyère, tossed in very fresh and white mushrooms, and added the best extra virgin oil I had in my pantry. In no time my lunch was ready and after three weeks of eating tons of labor-intensive Polish food I enjoyed this easy green salad very much.

Spinach and Gruyère Salad

Ingredients:
1 bag of very fresh baby spinach,
6-8 fresh and hard white mushrooms, without stems,
1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese, preferably aged,
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
freshly ground pepper,
good quality coarse sea salt (I used French grey sea salt).

Preparation:
1. Place spinach in a large bowl.
2. Wash mushrooms, dry them in a towel, and slice then thinly. Toss them over spinach.
3. Using a vegetable peeler shred thin slices of Gruyere on top of the salad.
4. Season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with good bread and prosciutto or smoked salmon.

Afghan Spinach with Coriander--or the Other Way Around

Until last year I was seeing my Afghan friend every week. We got together on Fridays at the stables, where our sons had therapeutic horseback riding classes. But she recently moved out and she stopped coming to the stables because of the heavy traffic. I miss her very much. We used to have very interesting and passionate conversations about our lives, kids, fashion, and cuisine, while our sons enjoyed the horseback riding and our younger children were also having great time playing together. Sometimes, especially on the traditional Muslim holidays, she cooked one of her national dishes and I was getting a portion of it to try with a detailed instruction on how to serve it. This way I have become acquainted with Afghan cooking.

Afghan cuisine is similar to the traditional Polish cuisine in that they are both very seasonal, probably because of harsh winters and limited access to fresh vegetables. Among my favorite Afghan dishes are leek dumplings and orange rice with carrot, and I would like to post them one day. What I like about Afghan cuisine is the spices it uses, like coriander, mint, or turmeric.

Last week for the first time I cooked an Afghan spinach dish, based on the recipe I got from my friend. According to this recipe, spinach can be combined with meat (beef, veal, or lamb) or can be prepared as a vegetarian dish, and this is the way I made it. The ample use of coriander makes this dish truly special. I love coriander, and always add it generously when a recipe calls for it, but using two bunches of coriander makes me think that perhaps coriander, rather than spinach, is this dish's primary ingredient.

Coriander and spinach are nowadays available all year round, but somehow this recipe seems very autumnal to me. Both vegetables need to be cooked slowly in a generous amount of oil until they turn dark green, almost brown, like autumn leaves.

Afghan Spinach with Coriander

Ingredients:
2 bags spinach, chopped,
2 bunches fresh coriander, chopped,
3 bundles spring onion--green parts only, chopped,
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic,
1 chili pepper,
1 tsp dry ground coriander,
1 tsp turmeric,
1/4 cup canola oil,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a heavy duty pot heat oil and fry onion and garlic.
2. When onion becomes transparent add the dry ground coriander and turmeric. Mix well and cook for about 2-3 minutes together.
3. Add to the pot chopped spinach, mix with the spices, and cook until all the water evaporates and the spinach becomes soft.
4. Add to the spinach spring onion, fresh coriander, chili pepper, salt and pepper, and some extra oil, if spinach is too dry.
5. Simmer all the greens on a low heat for about 40 minutes. Serve with rice.

If you wish to put meat in that dish, it should be added to the mix of onion and dry spices. Cooking spinach with meat takes 1.5-2 hours, and it should be cooked on a very low heat.

Jicama and Cabbage Salad--the Best of Two Worlds

In the first week of October, my sister came to visit us for three days. Of course, I wanted to be a good host and cook something that she would enjoy. The problem is that, although we grew in the same home, we are very different, especially when it comes to the culinary taste. As a child, she was the biggest picky eater any mother could imagine and, unfortunately, she has stayed that way. If you can imagine a person cutting the fat out of a perfectly lean prosciutto, that would be her. Almost in every dish there would be something that she finds "suspicious".

After going through hundreds of dinner ideas, I got discouraged and decided to go with the flow. My refrigerator is always full, especially now when I write a food blog, and any accidental guest can find something attractive there. When on a sunny day I was shooting my herring salad on the deck she did not even look in that direction; she has never had a piece of fish or any sea food in her mouth. Later that day I made a salad, also to take pictures of it. Surprisingly, it instantly became a culinary highlight of her visit. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she ate almost the whole huge bowl by herself over these three days. This salad blends perfectly the familiar with the exotic: our old good cabbage and beets with jicama and avocado that come from a completely different world. Jicama is the least known ingredient, which tastes like a mix of a pear and a radish, but more subtle than any of the two.

I was intrigued by this recipe from the moment I saw it probably already ten years ago. Since my cabbage recipe has been on of my biggest hits so far, from Mauritius to Copenhagen, I think it is a good moment to share this salad with those who check this blog.

At first, it seems that this salad won't be easy to make because it includes too many ingredients, not to mention two dressings, but most of them are either in our kitchens already or can be easily found in every supermarket. I modified slightly the original recipe by making the avocado dressing more thick and spicy, which turns this salad into a wonderful lunch meal in itself.

Jicama Purple Salad
(Serves 4-6; adapted from "Mexico: The Beautiful Cookbook")

Ingredients:
1/2 jicama cut into thin sticks (about 1 cup),
1 lb red cabbage (about half of the medium-sized head) thinly sliced,
1 medium raw beet thinly sliced (if you have a julienne slicer it would work best)
1/2 medium onion tiny sliced,
1 bag (6-8 oz) baby spinach,
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds.

Oil dressing:
2 tsp soy sauce,
1/2 cup corn oil,
2 tbsp cider vinegar,
1 tsp dried vegetable bouillon,
1 tsp dried oregano,
1 tsp dried tarragon.

Avocado dressing:
2 avocados flesh,
2 garlic cloves minced,
2 tbsp lime juice,
1 cup sour cream,
1 tbsp chopped chives,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl mix cabbage, beet, spinach, onion, and jicama.
2. Prepare the oil dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a a small bowl.
3. To make the avocado dressing, puree avocado,lemon, and cream in a blender. Transfer to another bowl. Add chives and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the oil dressing over the vegetables and mix until all are covered with it. Add sesame seeds and mix again.
5. Serve on individual plates with a couple of spoons of the avocado dressing on top.

This salad can be eaten just with bread or to accompany roasted or grilled meats.