Little Gems and Cabbage with Pickled Turnips and Lemony-Tahini Dressing by Alison Roman

What takes a salad from good to excellent? I have the same theory about excellent salads as I do about excellent granola: it’s all about an X-factor. An unexpected element that stops you mid-chew to say, “oo what’s that?” 

This salad has two X-factors: 

1. Pickled Turnips. I admit to making pickled turnips for this salad, twice. The first time was in June. I thought I’d make this salad *at some point* this summer. And every time I thought about making it, I only had half of the veggies needed to complete the recipe on hand. By the time August rolled around, it was time to pack up our apartment to move to Chicago. When I cleaned out the fridge and unearthed my oft forgotten turnips, I realized I’d need to try this one again. (Note to self: don’t buy/prep ingredients for something if you don’t have a date on the calendar to make it.)

   The first time I pickled turnips, I made two mistakes. I pickled three of them, AND I chose to quarter them before pickling. That’s frankly too many turnips in too bulky of shapes. Last week, I bought only one medium-sized turnip and thinly sliced it before pickling. Why not slice it into its final form before pickling to make things easier? 

   Pickled turnips are kinda funky, and I don’t want them on everything I eat. But I do love their earthy, vinegary, pop of unexpected flavor in a salad like this. 

2. Lemony-Tahini Dressing. There’s nothing very new or extraordinarily innovative about this dressing; it’s just reliably good. Lemon juice, salt, tahini, olive oil, garlic and water. Tangy, nutty, and smooth. Everything you need to unify a verifiable mini garden of vegetables (little gems/romaine, cabbage, cucumbers, scallions, parsley, preserved lemon, and turnips).

My in-laws were over for dinner that night, and they finished off the entire plate of salad. I got as many compliments on it as I did Alison’s Low and Slow Rib Roast with Rosemary and Anchovy - which is saying something! 

Here marks another successful All-Out-Alison Meal: 

1. Little Gems and Cabbage with Pickled Turnips and Lemony Tahini Dressing

2. Leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes

3. Low and Slow Rib Roast with Rosemary and Anchovy 

4. Sheet Cake with Mascarpone and Coffee 

One of my favorite combinations to date. 

177 recipes cooked, 48 to go.

Little Gems with Garlicky Lemon and Pistachio by Alison Roman

I’m finding it hard to know what to write about this salad. It was good, but not great. There wasn’t anything special about it. If you’re like me, you already enjoy little gems or romaine (I’ve never seen little gems lettuce in the store), mixed with lemon juice, some kind of chopped nut, and herbs on a regular basis. This salad isn’t any different. Perhaps the only slightly new element from my normal salad routine are the finely chopped lemon bits, which are nice, but not necessary to make a good salad. This kind of light, acidic salad works weIl with a rich entree. I paired it with Alison’s Anchovy-Butter Chicken. While the chicken got some comments, nothing was said about the salad. Not because it’s a bad salad, but because it’s not anything new.  
117 recipe cooked, 108 to go.

Butcher’s Steak with Dried Chiles and Salted Peanuts by Alison Roman

I appreciate when a single recipe creates an entire meal. There are days when I don’t mind flipping between pages to follow three separate recipes to make three separate dishes simultaneously. But most days, I just want to look at one page and end up with everything I need to feed and satisfy the people at my table, which is usually just J and I. 

This recipe contains instructions for two key components: the salsa and the steak. But it also gives plenty of fabulous ideas for sides and fixings, including some helpful quick tips that I will be using for all kinds of future taco nights. 

The salsa. Generally speaking, I’m a salsa verde type of gal. I’m incapable of turning down tomatillos and lime. But this dried chile salsa is made from red chiles, New Meican and Guajillo chiles to be exact. (FYI, Whole Foods is rather reliable for their dried chile selections, if you have a hard time finding some.) First step is to remove the stems of the chiles and toast them with garlic and oil in a small pot. However, every time I’ve cooked with dried chiles, I find a layer of dried dirt hidden in some of the chile crevices. I have yet to see a recipe or a package instruction that says to wipe off said dirt, which sort of flummoxes me. But you’ve heard it from me, look out for the dirt and use a lightly dampened paper towel to clean the chiles before cooking with them. 

Once the chiles and garlic are toasty, the nuts get tossed into the pot for a quick coating in oil before all of the ingredients get transferred to a blender or food processor to be roughly pureed. Lately I’ve been having issues with raw peanuts and my stomach not getting along. So I’ve been sticking with almonds instead of peanuts. Yes, they’re different flavors, but they’re both still nutty! I think cashews could also have been a fine substitution here, but sadly, J can’t stand cashews. The pureed salsa can go into a bowl and be mixed with some apple cider vinegar and more oil, until it’s the consistency of a “spoonable sauce.” 

Dried chile salsa can be made ahead, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks! If there are just two of you eating this recipe, then you’re bound to have a lot leftover. We ended up doing a second taco night a few days later with some chicken instead of steak, and used all the leftover salsa, tortillas, and other fixings that didn’t get eaten. 

Now onto the steak. Alison says you can use any kind of butcher’s steak: hangar steak, strip steak, etc. I chose a strip steak, rubbed it with salt and pepper, and cooked it over high heat in a cast iron skillet. 

Alison provides instructions for two other elements in the taco smorgasbord. Red onions - slice them very thinly into rings and soak them ice water before serving. I don’t know why I had never heard this trick before, but it’s brilliant! By soaking them, the red onions lose their strong, sometimes overpowering bite. They still retain a lot of their flavor, but they didn’t take over the tacos. Secondly, watercress marinated in lime juice and salt and pepper. I could not find any watercress -- I searched three stores! So I used a head of chopped romaine instead, and honestly it was a wonderful choice. I also served up some leftover mexican brown rice and cilantro, in addition to the corn tortillas. 

This recipe was a crowd (of 2) pleaser. I see more taco nights like this in our future.

48 recipes cooked, 177 to go.

Vinegared Romaine with Sour Cream, Bacon, and Herbs by Alison Roman

I love salads. Give me a big bowl of greens with all the fixings, plenty of texture (there must be crunch!), tossed in a tangy, zippy dressing with extra on the side, and I will love you forever. Maybe not forever, but for that day at least. 

To me, a great salad has a lot going on, and the various parts must all work together and complement each other. Decadence is encouraged, and so is simplicity! As long as the salad has excellent fixings, textural variance, and each part contributes well to the whole, I will love it. 

With this criteria in mind, I’ll break down this excellent salad. 

All the fixings: The elements, rather, are as follows: ½ head of romaine per person, ½ shallot finely chopped and marinated in white wine vinegar with salt and pepper, sour cream with salt and pepper, crispy bacon, and herbs. First, the finely chopped shallots are placed in a small bowl with the white wine vinegar to marinate and slightly soften. Then the sour cream is distributed to each plate and swirled over the bottom. Each half of romaine is then spread over the sour cream. Next, cook the bacon. I chose a pre-cooked bacon from TJ’s that just requires some microwaving. I like this kind because it’s fast, it doesn’t smell up my kitchen, it’s very crispy, and the package lasts a little while in the fridge. The bacon, left in full strip form, is tucked in between the leaves, so as to peak out at you with a hint of decadence and a wink. The shallot-vinegar mixture is spooned over the salad and topped with lots of chopped herbs (think dill, parsley, chives, etc.). 

Textural variety: The milky sour cream provides a smooth counterpoint to the crunchy bacon, crisp romaine stem, and soft romaine leaves. Every bite has an equal opportunity to be both crunchy and soft. 

Complementary parts: This dish has several distinct flavor elements that balance one another perfectly: creaminess of the sour cream, salty/fatty pork flavors of the bacon, tangy/acidic bite of the shallots and vinegar, and the earthy depth of the herbs. 

I didn’t like my first Alison Roman salad, but this one turned things around. This one is also what Alison calls a “knife-and-fork salad”. Yes, exactly, you need to eat it with a knife and fork. Which personally I find to be a fun activity. I like cutting up my own lettuce and bacon and distributing each ingredient to form the perfect bite. Some might call this “playing with my food.” I call it “craft time.”

I’ve now eaten this salad many times. I love that I don’t need to chop the romaine or toss it before serving. The assembly is so simple, especially if you follow my bacon recommendation, and it’s full of pleasing flavors. I’ve made this for lunch, for guests, for a casual date night dinner, and for a midday snack. And I’ve gotten flexible with the ingredients. A couple of sliced cherry tomatoes. Shaved carrot. A different dressing. As long as the same elements of something salty/fatty, something creamy, and something tangy/acidic are at play, it’s bound to be a great salad. 

47 recipes cooked, 178 to go.