Alternative BBQ salads
A friend of mine is planning ahead for her summer wedding barbecue, and wants some ideas for alternative salads to serve (i.e., no macaroni or potato salad, or cole slaw).
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7 Comments:
It's the summer, so what about slices of vine-ripened tomato. mozzarella, and basil drizzled with a little extra-firgin olive oil and sea salt?
Ed Levine at 4:04PM on 04/06/07
What Ed said - nothing better, especially with a mix of heirloom tomatoes in different colors. If you can get arugula flowers, they are beautiful scattered over a tomato salad.
Chris Schlesinger/Doc Willoughby offer a number of terrific cold salads in their BBQ books: among my favorites are an Asian-inflected dish of green beans dressed with soy and ginger, and a black bean salad with lots of lime juice.
Cathy at 4:34PM on 04/06/07
How about "swamp salad". Excellent in the summer!!
Here is the recipe
link http://www.raspberryworld.com/recipes/swamp.html
Swamp Salad
Serves 25 (you can cut back on this recipe for fewer)
Although I live in Connecticut now, I originally came from the deep south - Valdosta, Georgia to be specific. If you've ever driven to Florida on I-75, you passed through Valdosta right before you hit the Florida line. What we've got down there is spanish moss, azaleas, the best high school football in the USA, and swamps. This summertime salad recipe is direct from Ocean Pond, a great southern restaurant. (I also have the version that serves 200, if you're having a crowd . . . just write me email and I'll send it to you.)
Ingredients:
* 5 pounds tomatoes (fresh summer tomatoes only!), sliced or quartered to fit saltines
* 2 1/2 pounds sweet white onions (Vidalia), cut small
* 1 1/2 quarts hamburger dill chips, undrained
* 1 quart cider vinegar
* 1 pound brown sugar
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 pound box saltines
* 1 or 2 blocks cheddar cheese, cut in pieces
Method
1. Heat together cider vinegar and brown sugar to melt sugar. Cool.
2. Mix together tomatoes, onions, pickles, and vinegar/sugar mixture in a LARGE bowl. Add salt and pepper.
3. Allow salad to stand 30 minutes. Add ice cubes to keep crisp.
4. Serve with saltines and cheese squares.
goingsouth at 4:51PM on 04/06/07
When my family grills, we always make black bean/corn salad. For us, this includes the following: black beans, fresh corn (cut off the cob - it doesn't need to be cooked), red onion, red pepper and lots of fresh herbs from the garden (whatever you have or can get, but parsley, tarragon and mint are favourites). The dressing is made of a light oil, a mixture of white wine and sherry vinegars, salt, sugar and black pepper. It's simple and light, and it tastes like summer to me.
caley at 6:47PM on 04/06/07
A salad I've made that has gone over very well is one I learned from my sister's Greek mother-in-law: marinated artichoke hearts and hard-boiled eggs with lemon dressing. There's three ingredients.
1 quart jar marinated artichoke hears from Costco or other warehouse club
1 dozen hard boiled eggs
1 lemon
Empty artichoke hearts into a sieve suspended over a bowl so as to drain them and save the liquid.
Cut the hard-boiled eggs into quarters or eighths.
Gently mix eggs and artichokes together in large coverable bowl. Reserve a few of the egg quarters for decorating the top.
For the dressing, take a cup of the reserved liquid from the artichokes. Try to take all of the herbs. Use as much of the oil as desired. Juice the lemon and mix into the reserved artichoke liquid. Pour the dressing over the salad and then put the reserved eggs on top. Cover bowl and refrigerate until serving, at which point it can stay out for a while since there's no mayonnaise.
Adjust quantities as desired!
(why do I feel like this is semi-homemade, heh)
AdamH at 9:59PM on 04/06/07
When my son married, her family and I cooked for 200 at an outdoor wedding. One of the dishes was a lentil salad with a tarragon-laced vinaigrette, studded with bits of green onion and tomato. I'd also consider a chickpea salad with cumin, red onion and a few bits of cut-up orange (also probably some grated orange rind).
lemons at 10:57AM on 04/07/07
Every time I BBQ, I make Ina Garten's corn salad. It is very tasty, light and fresh. Just make sure to get great corn and don't overcook it.
link
5 ears corn, shucked
1/2 cup small-diced red onions (1 small onion)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone.
2. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.
3. Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil.
4. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.
mdp at 6:10PM on 04/07/07