Salad as a Meal – Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season is the latest offering from prolific award-winning cookbook author and expat, Patricia Wells. A true cookbook collector would need an entire shelf just for her cookbooks and she needs a shelf for all of her awards.
Most of her books have been about the food in France: The Paris Cookbook, Patricia Wells At Home in Provence, Simply French; The Provence Cookbook, The Food Lover’s Guide to France, Bistro Cooking, and L’Atelier of Joel Robuchon.
Just this past week, Gourmet Live, posted the 50 Women Game-Changers in the world of food,Patrica Wells ranked 11th in this compendium. Along with her ever so popular cookbooks, Patricia has her own cooking school in Paris and Provence.
Salad As A Meal – Healthy Main-Dish Salad for Every Season
(select recipes below are courtesy of Ms Wells and check out the video )
The key word here is healthy, guiding you to eating fresh produce paired with seafood, beef or poultry. Add cheeses, oils, vinegars, nuts and seeds to the recipes and you have a great flavors and textures to your meal. Wells directs you on how building your pantry with nuts, olives, preserves and oils making putting together an entrée salad quick and tantalizing.
The table of contents is broken down into appetizers and sides; soup sides; eggs, cheese, beans, grains and pasta; classics, with friends; fish and shellfish; poultry; meat; bread; pantry; dressings and sauces; Patricia’s pantry, equipment: items for a dream kitchen; and internet food sources.
The recipes are simple, not complex and Ms. Wells shares her personal stories and suggestions. A number of the recipes even list equipment needs, which is always an added plus.
The cantaloupe, tomato, goat cheese, cucumber and onion salad recipe might just be scheduled for dinner tonight since we found a delicious, sweet cantaloupe at the market. Already chosen with a paper clip for quick reference for preparation are the halibut salad with avocado tomatillo salsa and scallop carpaccio with lime and vanilla dressing and Asian greens. The fig and hazelnut bread is tempting as so many others of Ms. Wells recipes. For those who love to really go to the basics you have a recipe for pickling your own cornichons and figs.
Recipes from Salad As A Meal are courtesy of Ms. Wells and her publisher.
Raoul’s Shrimp Salad©
Think of this as a modern shrimp cocktail, enlivened by a touch of fresh chives or cilantro.
Protein- rich and a snap to prepare, this recipe comes from Raoul Reichrath, chef and own er
of one of our favorite haunts in Provence, his Michelin- starred Le Grand Pré, in Roaix.
4 SERVINGS - EQUIPMENT: 4 CHILLED LARGE DINNER PLATES.
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Several drops Tabasco sauce
Fine sea salt
1 to 2 red bell peppers, trimmed, seeds removed, cut into 1/4- inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 celery ribs, cut into crosswise slices (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 pounds (25 to 30) cooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup minced fresh chives or cilantro
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce,
Tabasco, and salt. Taste for seasoning. Add the red peppers and celery. Stir to blend.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let the flavors develop.
2. Toss the shrimp with just enough sauce to lightly and evenly coat the ingredients.
Add the chives and toss to blend. Taste for seasoning. Mound the shrimp salad on
plates, and serve.
WINE SUGGESTION: Raoul’s wife, Flora, is the hostess and sommelier at Le Grand Pré.
She introduced us to one of our favorite local white wines— Domaine Chaume- Arnaud’s La
Cadène Vinsobres Blanc, an atypical blend of 50% Viognier and 50% Marsanne. This white
wine has the vivacity and complexity to stand up to the pungent flavors in this dish.
My Cobb Salad: Iceberg, Tomato, Avocado, Bacon, and Blue Cheese©
Robert H. Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, is said to have
invented this salad in the 1930s as a late- night snack for himself. No wonder it has
remained an American classic. With the crunch of the iceberg and onions, the soft richness
of the avocado, the saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the tomato, and the bite of the
blue cheese, this salad has it all! And it is beautiful to boot.
4 SERVINGS
2 1/2 ounces smoked bacon, rind removed, cut into matchsticks (3/4 cup)
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped (4 cups)
2 ripe heirloom tomatoes, cored, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and cubed
4 ounces chilled blue cheese (preferably Roquefort), crumbled (1 cup)
4 small spring onions or scallions, white part only, trimmed, peeled, and cut into thin rounds
Yogurt and Lemon Dressing (page 331)
Coarse, freshly ground black pepper
1. In a large, dry skillet, brown the bacon over moderate heat until crisp and golden,
about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to several layers of paper
towels to absorb the fat. Blot the top of the bacon with several layers of paper towels
to absorb any additional fat. Set aside.
2. In a large, shallow bowl, combine the bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and
spring onions. Toss with just enough dressing to lightly and evenly coat the
ingredients. Season generously with pepper, and serve.
WINE SUGGESTION: This is a special salad, one that seems to hit the spot with all my
guests, so let’s open a nice, special bottle of smoky- style Alsatian Riesling from the house
of Léon Beyer, Trimbach, or Hugel. Neither you nor your guests will be disappointed.
For further information on Patricia Wells – www.patriciawells.com
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