Labor Day, celebrated on the first Monday in September, is dedicated to honoring the contributions of workers. On this holiday, many turn to their barbecues to fire up the main culinary event. This year I’ve decided to serve my family and friends an alfresco lunch showcasing salad entrees.
Each salad that I’m proposing relies on a protein to add welcome flavor and texture, either beef, fish, or a generous amount of bacon. As for my treasured barbecue, it will be called into action for grilling the steak and corn for one of the salads, and maybe some appetizers, such as spicy chicken wings or grilled quesadillas.
Enjoy the final days of summer.
Steak Salad with Herbs, Tomatoes, and Avocado
The recipe calls for a cut of steak that has delicious flavor, either a hanger steak or skirt steak. Although they are favorites, I recently opted for choice petite sirloin steak because it was on sale for a very tempting price; I grilled it and sliced it thinly. It was delicious. Whichever cut you choose, be sure to season it well with salt and pepper.
Yield: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 medium shallot, cut crosswise into thin slices, rings separated
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons, divided use
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional: Vegetable oil for brushing grate, see step 2
1 pound hanger steak or skirt steak
2 ears of corn, husked
2 cups (packed) baby arugula
2 cups (packed) fresh herb leaves, such as basil, cilantro, mint, or tarragon, see cook’s notes
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Garnish: 1 medium avocado, ripe but not squishy, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced
Optional: Seasoned salt, such as Spike
Cook’s notes: Use a combination of fresh herbs that you prefer. My favorite is one cup of cilantro and one cup of mint.
DIRECTIONS
1. For the dressing: In a small bowl, toss shallot with vinegar; set aside for 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Preheat grill to medium. Once the grill is hot, clean the grate with a wire brush or fold a sheet of paper towel into a 1 1/2-inch square, secure with tongs, and dip one side of the paper towel in vegetable oil, then use it to brush the grate. Season steak well with salt and pepper.
3. Brush corn with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Grill it, turning as it gets charred spots, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Grill steak to medium rare (for hanger steak, grill 5 to 7 minutes per side, about 2 minutes per side for skirt steak. Let the steak rest 5 to 8 minutes before slicing. Cut across the grain in thin slices. Cut corn kernels off the cobb.
5. In a large bowl, toss arugula, herbs, tomatoes, corn, and sliced steak with dressing. Taste and adjust salt and/or pepper if needed. Garnish with sliced avocado and if you like, sprinkle a little seasoned salt on the avocado.
Salade Lyonnaise
This delicious bacon-packed salad can be prepared using coddled eggs as Anne Mah (the author of “Mastering the Art of French Eating”) suggests, but I find it easier to poach the eggs (the important thing is that the yolks are runny). This is especially true if the eggs are super fresh, making the coddled eggs tricky to peel. I have a device that makes poaching eggs foolproof; it’s a small skillet with a rack on top that holds four nonstick cups with handles. I spray the cups with nonstick spray, pop an egg in each and cover the pan. In three minutes, the eggs poach over boiling water. Easy.
Yield: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salad:
2 heads frisee lettuce or 2 bunches dandelion leaves; see cook’s notes
1/4 pound thick-cut bacon (unsmoked is traditional, but cookbook author Ann Mah likes the tang of smoked bacon); see cook’s notes
4 slices baguette
2 garlic cloves, peeled, divided use
4 eggs, room temperature, see cook’s notes
Cook’s notes: I most often use romaine or butter lettuce for this salad. It isn’t traditional, but it is delicious. Sometimes my local supermarket carries dandelion greens, but not often. Less frequently they stock frisee, the curly endive with ragged edges.
As for the bacon, I often add an additional slice or two.
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare vinaigrette: In small, lidded jar, combine vinegar, mustard and oil; cover and shake to combine. Season to taste (but not too much, given the saltiness of the salad’s other ingredients). Taste with a piece of lettuce and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
2. Wash and dry lettuce; tear into manageable bite-sized pieces. If using dandelion leaves, remove the hard stems. Tear leaves into bite-sized pieces. Cut bacon into 1/4-inch wide matchsticks. Lightly toast bread and rub one side with one of the garlic cloves. Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes for croutons.
3. To prepare coddled eggs, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Lower eggs gently into the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes (add 30 seconds if your eggs are jumbo size). Drain them immediately and run cold water into the pan to stop the cooking and to cool the eggs so you can handle them. Gently crack and peel the eggs, taking care not to tear the white — the yolk should still be runny. Rinse the peeled eggs to wash away any bits of shell.
4. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it starts to crisp and most of the fat renders. Remove from pan, leaving fat in pan. With the flat side of a chef’s knife, lightly crush the remaining garlic clove. Add it to bacon fat in the pan; add bread cubes so that they are lightly coated on all sides and toasted. Set aside. Discard garlic.
5. In a large bowl, toss the lettuce and vinaigrette. Divide between 4 plates. Scatter croutons and bacon over each and place an egg on top of each.
Source: Adapted from “Mastering the Art of French Eating” by Ann Mah (Viking, $27.50)
Salade Nicoise
Back in late ’60s, not long after Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was published, I used her written instructions to master the preparation of Salade Nicoise. To this day I love to serve Salade Nicoise at warm-weather gatherings. Guests might be treated to an earful of Janis Joplin’s gutsy recording of Gershwin’s “Summertime.” And a citrus-y Sauvignon Blanc served in chilled glasses, along with hunky chunks of crusty bread.
Now, instead of canned tuna, I often substitute grilled ahi or salmon. My late mother-in-law Francoise Thomas called my updated versions Salade Nicoise Royale. Imagine that? My salad was deemed royal.
Yield: Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
Tarragon Vinaigrette, recipe follows
3 cups fresh green beans or haricots verts (slender green beans), trimmed
2 pounds baking potatoes, such as russets or Yukon golds
About 4 tablespoons dry white wine
1 head Boston-type lettuce or mixed baby greens
1 cup canned tuna, drained
4 ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
1/2 cup black olives, such as kalamata or Nicoise, drained
3 hard-cooked eggs, cold, peeled and quartered
Optional garnish: 6 to 12 anchovy fillets, drained
Garnish: 4 to 6 sprigs fresh tarragon; see cook’s notes
For serving: Rustic bread
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare vinaigrette (recipe to follow); set aside.
2. Cook green beans in large pot of rapidly boiling water until tender-crisp — about 4-6 minutes, depending on the diameter of the beans. To test doneness, remove one bean and run cold water over it. It should be tender but a little crunchy. When desired degree of doneness is reached, drain beans and refresh in cold water to bring out the deep green color (with the beans in a colander, I usually just throw on ice cubes and run lots of cold water on them). Drain and wrap in clean kitchen towel. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Scrub potatoes and drop them into large pot. Cover by 2 inches with cold water; add pinch of salt and bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to gentle boil and partially cover. Cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain. When cool enough to handle (but still warm), peel and cut into slices (I hold the potatoes with a clean potholder so I can peel when still very warm). Place slices in bowl. As you complete each potato, sprinkle with about a tablespoon of white wine. The potatoes will absorb the wine. When all potatoes are in the bowl, gently toss. Set aside for 5 minutes. Pour about 1/2 cup of vinaigrette over potatoes; gently toss. Cover and refrigerate.
4. Just before serving, toss green beans with about 1/2 cup vinaigrette. Line a large platter with lettuce. Arrange tuna, tomatoes, black olives, green beans, potatoes and hard-cooked eggs on top of lettuce. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over tuna, eggs and tomatoes. Garnish with anchovies, if desired. Garnish with sprigs of fresh tarragon, if desired. Serve additional vinaigrette on the side. Serve with crusty rustic bread.
Tarragon Vinaigrette
Yield: 3 cups (leftover dressing can be refrigerated and used within one week)
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons minced shallots
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
5 shakes hot pepper sauce, Frank’s RedHot preferred
Fresh black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons red-wine vinegar (or more to taste)
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon; see cook’s notes
Cook’s notes: For additional zip, add 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to the dressing. One last word of advice: Don’t use dried tarragon. The taste bears little resemblance to the fresh product. Dried tarragon, and for that matter many dried herbs, smells a little like dried hay.
DIRECTIONS
1. Combine shallots, dry mustard, pepper sauce, black pepper, salt, vinegar and lemon juice in a medium bowl; stir until well mixed.
2. Whisk in the oil in thin stream. Taste and add additional red-wine vinegar if desired. Stir in tarragon. Cover and refrigerate.