I was beginning to feel that my everyday salads were boring and unoriginal, and then I read the following quote from Deborah Madison in her cookbook Local Flavors. She reminded me that green leafy salads aren't meant for all seasons and that I should really dig in now.
"A key sign that it's spring isn't only that greens are available but that they have an irrepressible quality. They practically glow...This green glory will fade as the season progresses into labored production when hot days and nights keep plants churning and growing overtime. But for now, everything leafy is at its very best. This, in fact, is one of the prime times for big green salads, now and the fall. Come midsummer, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers will better fit that role."
Here you can see the transformation of a salad. The first photograph shows a quick and easy side salad that contains mixed greens, strips of green onions, thinly sliced radishes, a few slices of laughing cow cheese and *citrus vinaigrette.
For the second salad I just added a few more ingredients: seared chicken tenderloin, cranberries and pepitas- it was still a quick meal to prepare.
Here's how I prepared chicken tenderloins:
- marinated the chicken in a little lime juice, minced jalapeno, minced garlic, and olive oil for about 10 minutes.
- wiped off the marinade, added salt and pepper
- seared the tenderloins on a cast iron skillet over medium/ medium high heat (doesn't take much heat to cook on cast iron)- this only takes a few minutes.
*I did not use that particular citrus vinaigrette recipe, I just threw a similar vinaigrette together on a whim.
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