WHAT’S NOT to LOVE about LENTIL, LEMON & TUNA SALAD?

WHAT’S NOT to LOVE about LENTIL, LEMON & TUNA SALAD?

by | Jun 1, 2012 | LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Salads, Seafood & Fish

Lentil, Lemon, & Tuna Salad with a Garnish Bonus of Tomato & Pepper Salad. It’s French Friday with Dorie X Two.

 

My repertoire of salad recipes, those I mix together often, totals three:  Tossed, Caprese and Marshall Field’s Wedge. I’m not particularly proud of this and don’t usually admit to it. So glad I’m among friends.

This year I’d already decided to turn over a new lettuce leaf (Just had to do that.)and make this my Summer of Salads. Each week I am going to create a delicious and nutritious melange, using ingredients outside my comfort zone. By the end of August I will have added fourteen salads to my repertoire of three bringing me to a more respectable seventeen. Blast Off!!!

That’s why I was especially pleased to kick off my Salad Summer with this week’s FFWD choice, Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad. To be honest, I made two salads this week because I also made Dorie’s Tomato and Pepper Salad. Little credit, please. She suggested we use this as a garnish for flavor and color. A good idea.

Mise en Place. All my ingredients are set out on my table.

The Snob of the Legume Family, Green Lentils from LePuy A.O.P.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The salad gives birth as lentils du Puy (from the Auvergne region of France) which I found at my local Whole Foods. After putting the lentils in a strainer and rinsing them under cold water, I brought them to a boil and let simmer for forty minutes. The lentils cooked quite happily in a chicken broth filled with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, clove and bay leaf. At the last moment, I even sweetened the pot with a tablespoon of Cognac. After draining the liquid and removing the softened vegetables (my choice), I added a minced shallot and salt/pepper.

The veggies and herbs are ready to be added to the chicken broth.

After the lentils were cooked, I drained the liquid off and removed the mushy vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was simple to add a tasty dressing of mustard, tapenade, red wine vinegar and Lemon Blush olive oil to the warm lentils. Instead of using a preserved lemon (which I didn’t have), I substituted lemon zest, capers and scallions. Once everything was blended, I used a fork to flake drained tuna over the salad.  Salt. Pepper. Toss. Done.

While the salad was chilling, I put together halved grape tomatoes, diced raw red pepper as well as roasted red pepper with some olive oil and a dash of cumin. I think it was a colorful garnish, perfect for the rather dowdy-looking lentils. What this dish lacks in color, it makes up in flavor. It is delicious and can be served on a bed of greens or plain, chilled or at room temperature. LLT can be a starter course, a luncheon dish or spread over crackers for nibbles with cocktails. Versatile. Delicious.

If this Lentil, Lemon and Tuna Salad appeals to you, go here. The Tomato and Pepper Salad, a colorful garnish or accompaniment, is great to have in your arsenal for its many uses.  To see what others mixed together this week, stop by our FFWD Site.

CRAB & GRAPEFRUIT TOGETHER??? – FRENCH FRIDAY with DORIE

CRAB & GRAPEFRUIT TOGETHER??? – FRENCH FRIDAY with DORIE

by | Mar 30, 2012 | Fruits, LIGHTS ON BRIGHT NO BRAKES, Salads, Seafood & Fish, Snacks

Spring had sprung but the picnic’s indoors. Crab & Grapefruit Salad with mini-muffins.

Quick, no thinking, come up with five different food pairings:

  1. fried chicken and mashed potatoes&gravy;
  2. hamburger and french fries;
  3. apple pie and vanilla ice cream;
  4. corned beef and cabbage;
  5. pork chops and applesauce.

Now, try to throw grapefruit and lump crabmeat into the mix.  Yes, that would be a stretch.

Stretching is what Dorie Greenspan and these French Fridays cooking adventures are about. This week she raised the bar again and asked us to prepare a Crab & Grapefruit Salad (p.134). She even provided a full-page photograph (p.135). Love it when she does that. Whether it was her creative recipe combo, the inspiration of the picture or my being back in the familiar surroundings of my own kitchen, this was one delicious salad.

Shortly after returning from California this week, Colorado friends called to say they were in town, suggesting a Thursday lunch date. I explained I was on Dorie duty that day and invited them here without elaborating on the menu. Early Thursday morning, I got to work.

Red Bell Peppers, Cucumbers & Scallions, Lump Crabmeat, and Grapefruit, ready to be tossed together.

Early springtime mint, fresh from my herb garden, provides the top hats for my salad servings.

 

With Dorie, it’s always imperative to read through the entire recipe well in advance before beginning the preparation. Case in point. After the grapefruit is sectioned and removed to a paper towel, the fruit must be dried. For hours. Six, for me.

Other ingredients including a seedless cucumber, red bell pepper and scallions, simply need a dice or slice. Use your fingers to toss everything together with the crab before adding small amounts of olive oil and grapefruit juice. Salt and pepper, to taste. Lemon juice and minced fresh mint give this salad extra punch.

The fun of this salad is in its presentation. I tried four different glasses (clockwise: Martini Glass; Parfait Dish; Antique Etched Water Glass; and Brandy Snifter) each with its own “look”. I still don’t have a favorite.

Each glass container shows off beautifully.

To complement the salad, I passed mini-bran muffins. Another strange food pairing, perhaps, but it worked well against the richness of the main dish. My guests enjoyed the lunch. I enjoyed my guests. This story, therefore, has a happy ending.

To see what other French Fridays’ cooks did with this salad, go to http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/. Although Dorie’s recipe for this salad is available on line, we suggest you buy her book, Around My French Table. The cost of her book is less than the cost of the pound of lump crabmeat I used in this salad.