Valentino Salad is a perfect starter for a romantic dinner, it’s a light earthy salad with roasted beets, strawberries, roquefort, sunflower seeds and arugula topped with an aged balsamic vinegar.
If there is something I like about blogging recipes is to choose a name for my recipes. This one was a no brainer… just a quick look at it and it’s clearly a romantic looking salad and Valentine’s day is coming so Valentin0 Salad seemed appropriate. Since we are all having different eating habits and different partners… I’ve done 2 plating designs for this salad, one really light and modern with the beets being cut into squares and a minimalist presentation with just a few arugula leaves. I’ve used a balsamic cream to decorate the plate. The other version (see below) is a more everyday life salad, maybe a tad less esthetic but filled with arugula and a bigger portion with lots of aged balsamic vinegar. Also, I’ve added small pearled onions marinated in balsamic vinegar, those taste fantastic, almost like caramels. It’s a product you’ll find only in Italian delicacy shop and of course it’s optional. Both salad styles have the same ingredients, the plating is just a question of preference because in the end they both taste equally dreamy!
Romantic Roquefort
If you ask me “which cheese screams romance?” I’ll answer “roquefort” right away. Roquefort is in my opinion one of the sexiest cheese out there, I can not put exactly the finger on it though as to why… Maybe it’s because it’s a bold sharp flavored cheese just like passion is… or maybe it’s in its texture: creamy and soft or maybe the legend about how the cheese got discovered. A young shepherd boy eating his lunch in a cave in the South of France when suddenly he saw a young lady and just pursued her (not the creepy way hopefully…) and a few weeks later he came back and his cheese became blue from the special flora of the cave resulting into “Roquefort”.
The art of Salad
I’ve done a post about the “art of making a salad” which is my own golden rules to an exquisite salad. I do have a “thing” for salads. As I was grew up, I would always be the one who makes the salad up until today, I go back home whether it’s at my parent’s or sister’s place, I’m always the one in charge of the salad. I like my “salad maker” title and it’s probably because I love them and it shows, but I also do believe salads are underrated… By definition a salad is a mix of ingredients, and to make sense of a “mix of ingredients” it isn’t always so simple. For this particular salad every single element is complementing the next; for example; beets are so earthy they need an acidic and salty element to counterbalance it so the balsamic vinegar and the salty roquefort is perfect for it. Roquefort as a sharp tang that can overwhelm but with the sweetness of the strawberry no worries here… arugula is bringing this light spicy touch and crunch to the dish… I could go on and on… sorry I’m a weirdo about salads… But in the end it’s all about having a general harmony which is what makes a salad stands out!
Valentino Salad
Makes 2 portions | Preparation: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pre roasted beetroot
- arugula
- strawberries
- roquefort cheese
- sunflower seeds
- aged balsamic vinegar or cream
- a tad of olive oil
- *optional pearled onions in balsamic
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Simply cut the beet in a square (modern way) and cut 3mm thick slices with the mandoline (keep the sides for later use)
- Add to the bottom of the plate the slices of beetroots
- Add the strawberries, arugula, sunflower seeds, *pearled onions and roquefort
- Drizzle with olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Let the romantic dinner begin. Enjoy!
The other elements of this salad are a cured duck breast / duck prosciutto , walnuts, goat cheese and a spicy touch of red onion. In the center, I’ve added some juicy tomato and finish it up with a one of a kind balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil. I believe the flavours were spot on, although I do not usually add a protein (meat) to my salads, although in this case the duck prosciutto really helped to lift the sometimes too soft/sweet taste of the persimmons and also the goat cheese helped contrasting the persimmon.
ad mix of your choice
The 4 elements salad, as the title say; is a general rule to my salads; the dressing and it’s conception have the 4 elements, which is in my opinion makes the ultimate salads. The rule for the salad itself is; a nutty touch, a juicy touch, a colorful touch and, the last but not the least, a salty creamy smooth touch. In this case more precisely the color element is the crunchy yellow pepper, then the usual tomatoes for the juicy part , some walnuts to get those proteins and crunch factor, and a delicious herb crusted goat cheese for the creamy and salty end.
The dressing is also a “4 elements rule”, which are oil, vinegar, sweetener and emulsifier (mustard). With the “4 elements rule” you’ll never fail a salad dressing again. Often those supermarkets premade salad dressing aren’t an healthy choice, packed with sodium, too fatty or filled with stabilizers and additives of all kinds, which are related to Crohn disease and Colitis. Fat is necessary to absorb the nutrients from the veggies in the salad, some oils are healthier than others, of course, monounsaturated oils like extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil are the best options. Especially, olive oil is filled with heart protective attributes, and I believe the secret to longevity.
When you plan a nice light asian meal, this is a perfect appetizer to it. A salad with crunchy bean sprouts, basil, red onions, and a nice honey sesame dressing. As I said in a few post already, salads are just so fun to create. They tell the story of the meal to come, often I use some of my main meal ingredients to add to my salads, just to make a continuity. My husband and I, often, eat a salad as a starter, then a main meal, which is smaller since are filled with veggies already.
Salads and restaurant is a subject in which I’m a bit confused about…where I from… Canada, often you’ll see a minimum of at least 1 green salad in the appetizers. Here, in Spain, they don’t offer small version salad to start a meal, it’s only a big plate of salad which cost like a main meal. I think the formula to offer a small salad starter should be on every menu on earth. I love to start a meal with a fresh bite of vitamins. Then the more serious stuff can come; whether it’s meat, rice…
This salad will make you want to forget all those other salads before this one. A simple combination that makes fireworks. Like in the Ratatouille movie, when the rat melt cheese on the mushroom with the help of a lightning bolt… Some ingredients are just much better coupled and this is a good example. A melted goat cheese on figs pieces, walnuts, cherry tomatoes with a honey dressing and an extra balsamic cream top make it extra special.
Where I live, close by the Pyrenees mountain chain, they do some great goat cheeses! Although we don’t get to see them eating cheese in many dishes, they prefer the cheese by itself, as a Tapa or mostly to start a meal, contrary to finish a meal like in France. They do such a varieties of cow, sheep and goat cheeses and often make a mix of all those to make a single cheese.
Ingredients
Beetroot and apricot salad topped with fresh goat cheese and pistachios. The earthy beetroot is the perfect companion to the perfumed and sweet apricot, the goat cheese bring the salt element to the dish and the pistachios the crunch. In other word… a perfectly balanced and delicious salad.
My mom showed me that recipe, the original was with raspberries and beets and I remembered at first being skeptical with the whole mix of goat cheese, beets, raspberries… But once you try it, you’ll make this salad for the rest of your life, guaranteed!
Ingredients
of savory it needs, without saying… it’s way healthier than bacon…
80ml extra virgin olive oil
love salads that contains it all! A touch of fruit, nut and cheese is my top favorite combination for salads. But when you watch your calories, then you opt for a cheese free salad or if there is an avocado in it which is already fat then you cut on the oil and cheese… Anyways this one is a kind of classic salad, with a touch of all those magic ingredients (fruit, cheese and nut). I could have add an apple slice on a piece of bread, topped with the cheddar and toast it, then serve it on top as a cracker. It would have been a whole new salad although all the same ingredients. I love salads! They are fun to play with, perfect therapy for creative souls.
Then I’ve met my husband, a guy from Munich. Also, where they do another spectacular coleslaw,”krautsalad”, they call it. Over There, they have a few variations, for example, sometimes they add few caraway seeds in it or a little chives and bacon bits. I didn’t really knew caraway seeds until I’ve tasted this “krautsalad” from Bavaria. It’s delicious. It gives the salad another dimension, such a small seed can make a huge difference. Although, totally optional, I highly recommend to add some caraway seeds to your coleslaw, you’ll see you’ll slay that party! Everyone will ask you for the secret ingredient.
1/2 a big green cole cut into fine 2mm slices
ermen from the Middle age, in the northern part of Europe. They used to salt the salmon, they freshly caught, and then ditch them in the sand, by the sea, to ferment. Nowadays, we simply brine the salmon.
e fridge for 48 hours, with pressure on it, like a pickle jar, and switch side after the first 24 hours.