Recipe(tried): Composed Dinner Salad

Hey all!!!

I know many of you have been wondering where I've been. These past few weeks have been Spring like and, I think the bug has bitten. As many of you know, my companion and I bought a brownstone house here in NYC last May. We are coming up on our first year, and a LOT has been accomplished. The concreted back yard and front yard, was broken and a very young garden has begun. (Not to mention the soon to be planted, seedlings of 3 types of tomatoes, 4 types of basil and numerous herbs in the basement under grow lights.) A large poorly planted, tree, with poisonous berries and an illness, has been completely removed. The house has been electrically upgraded, not to mention the plumbing. The living room tin ceilings, as well as the walls have finally been painted. Now on to the piece de la resistance the kitchen!!! Wall paper is being removed, painting has begun, the exposed ceiling has been primed and painted, and everything else is starting to fall into place. I am going to be taking language classes to improve my neglected French (after 20 years) and as always. Food will always take the front burner.

Last night we had a couple of friends over that we haven't seen in over a year. Hard to believe that you can live in the same city and not see each other in a complete year. But here in NYC that is a somewhat normal occurrence.

I wanted to have something simple so that our time spent together would be focused on getting caught up on what's been happening so I settled on a "Composed Salad".

We had late afternoon, early evening Bloody Mary's something I haven't made in years. I like mine really spicy, but am not able to have horseradish, so I usually add a jar of some spicy salsa , to my V8 juice, celery salt, Accent, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, A-1 bold, Pick-a-peppa sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder and finally freshly squeezed lemon juice. I like to serve these up with Zesty Clausen Dill pickles or pickled Pepperonici.

The main course salad consists of boneless, skinless breasts of chicken that I marinate for the day in a home made vinaigrette. I like lots of basalmic vinegar, parmesan cheese, cayenne, accent and oregano added to a standard vinaigrette. I put it all into a plastic zip-lock bag in the morning and just flip the bag every now and then when I'm in the kitchen. Then I grill the breast of chicken to be placed as the center piece of my composed salad. It all depends on my mood. With this salad you can grill the breasts of chicken before hand and then chill the breast to serve later. Or you can grill them at the last moment since everything else is basically done. Its nice to have a warm element in a composed salad. It just makes it a bit more interesting.

I take favorite salad greens. (I always love to include Arrugula---it has a peppery, almost smoky flavor) and place a large amount on the plates that I will be serving. And then around the edges of the plate I place Store bought marinated artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, grilled peppers, chopped up Feta cheese, rinsed off can Chick peas, steamed asparagus with a touch of oil and vinegar, sliced tomatoes macerated in a basalmic vinaigrette, salt and pepper, pitted Kalamata olives and Orzo pasta (small almost rice shaped) that I place olive oil, parsley and pepper. I place these all in a circle, sort of in mounds, like the numbers on a clock. Next comes the grilled breast of chicken that I like to slice on the bias, instead of straight up and down, and then I place it smack in the middle. You of course would serve it all with a favorite salad dressing. I usually make a double batch of dressing that I am going to marinate the breasts of chicken in, and then place half over the chicken and then the other half in a nice container to be served with the final salad.

Everyone loves a composed salad!!! Its healthy, visually interesting since you have so many little tastes of many different things, and most of all it's easy. You can serve this with a favorite wine and a delicious crusty bread. Its a great meal when its hot out and you don't want a lot of heat in the kitchen. Hope ya'll are doing well. Happy cooking!!!