Chef's salad 1988 - recipes

Sunset, May, 1988

Chef's salad 1988

Salads have highlighted Sunset's food pages since our first recipes appeared in February 1929. The sketch above expresses a salad style of earlier days. Here, we feature a modern version with brilliantly colorful ingredients; it focuses on foods native to the Americas, particularly to southern regions.

As more people some to the West from Central and South America, some of these less familiar items are appearing regularly in supermarkets and ethnic markets.

Chief's Salad of the Americas

Optional New World ingredients follow the recipe, and more are on page 230.

2 large heads butter lettuce (about 3 lb. total), washed and crisped

2 pounds jicama

2 small firm-ripe avocados

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Hominy (following)

Roasted red peppers (following)

Nopalitos (following)

Blue potatoes (following)

Tomatillos (following)

Carnitas (following)

Squash (following)

Fried dried chilies (following)

1/2 cup cilantro (coriander) sprigs

Orange-lime vinaigrette (following)

Arrange large lettuce leaves on 4 dinner plates. Chop remaining lettuce; nest in leaves.

Rinse, peel, and shred jicama. Mound equal portions on lettuce. Cut avocados in half lengthwise; pit and peel. Brush with lemon juice and lay cut side down. Starting about 1/2 inch from narrow end, make 1/4-inch-wide lengthwise cuts through wide end of avocado halves. Fan out; brush with juice.

Arrange on each plate an avocado half and 1/4 of the hominy, peppers, nopalitos, potatoes, tomatillos, carnitas, and squash. Garnish with chilies and cilantro; add dressing. Makes 4 main-course servings.

Per serving: 899 cal.; 31 g protein; 81 g carbo.; 54 g fat; 82 mg chol.; 482 mg sodium.

Hominy. Drain 1 can (15 oz.) yellow or white hominy. (Or use corn, page 230.)

Roasted red peppers. Drain 1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red peppers; cut into 1/4-inch strips. (Or roast bell peopers, page 230.)

Nopalitos. Rinse 3/4 cup drained, canned nopalitos under running water to remove slipperiness; drain. (Or use fresh nopalitos, page 230.)

Blue potatoes. Scrub 4 medium-size (about 1 lb. total) blue, purple, or thinskinned potatoes and put in a 4- to 5-quart pan; add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to boiling on high heat. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender when pierced, about 20 minutes; drain. Let cool, peel, and cut into 1-inch chunks. If made ahead, cover and chill up to 1 day. (Or use yuca or malanga, page 230.)

Tomatillos. Husk and rinse 4 medium-size (about 1/4 lb.) tomatillos. Cut into thin slices. (Or use tomatoes, page 231.)

Carnitas. Cut 1 pound boneless pork shoulder or butt into 3/4-inch cubes. In an 8- or 9-inch-square pan, mix meat with 3 tablespoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground cumin, and chili powder. Cover and bake in a 350| oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake, stirring occasionally, until pork is well bronwed, about 1 hour longer. Serve hot; if made ahead, cool, cover, and chill up to 3 days. To reheat, cover and bake in a 350| oven until hot, about 10 minutes.

Squash. Wash and trim ends of 4 small (about 1 lb. total) yellow crookneck squash or zucchini. Cut squash in half lengthwise; brush with salad oil. Place cut side down in an 8- or 9-inch square pan. Bake in a 450| oven until tender when pierced, 10 to 20 minutes. Serve hot or cool. If made ahead, cover and chill up to 1 day.

Fried dried chilies. Rinse and dry 1 large dried California (Anaheim) chili. Break off stem, shake out seeds and discard them. Cut chili crosswise into thin strips. In an 8- to 10-inch frying pan over low heat, stir chili in 2 tablespoons salad oil until strips begin to curl, 2 to 3 minutes (watch closely to avoid burning). Drain. If made ahead, store airtight up to 1 week.

Orange-lime vinaigrette. Stir together 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup lime juice, 3 tablespoons minced fresh hot red chilies, and 3 tablespoons minced cilantro (coriander). If desired, also offer chipotle mayonnaise, page 231.

Photo: Kitchen Cabinet, January 1937

Photo: Make choices to create your own salad

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or tomatillos

Jicama and cilantro

Chilies-- dry, fresh, or canned

White or blue (purple) potatoes, malanga, or yuca

Cactus: fresh or canned nopalitos

Photo: Vivid native foods make a salad meal: potatoes (blue), tomatillos, red bell peppers, hominy, avocado, nopalitos, squash, chilies, jicama