By Rosemary Parkinson, Freelance Writer 
Salad days are here again. One of these hearty trios: Red Potato Salad (top right); Jah Jah Rasta Salad (centre); and Chicken Avocado with Mango salad in the foreground - is sure to catch your fancy. - Photo By Rosemary Parkinson
DURING THESE warm and sticky days the idea of having to sweat over a hot stove is sufficient to put most of us in a bad mood.
Salads are of course the perfect answer but everyone knows they can get monotonous. So we've taken salads up a notch. In this week's Food we have exciting, vibrant, light but meaty salads with a substantial bite that put hot meals to shame.
We asked Chef Norma Shirley of Norma's On The Terrace, a master of healthy salads, to prepare her three favourites. We also turned to Kabab House in Kingston, for their
specialities, then I came up with a few I know you will find different.
While you're at it, add a little decadence -- soothing cool wines, the drink of the gods. We show you the wines that best match the mood of each salad. Wine connoisseur and importer Brian Nembhard of Kloran Ltd. in Linstead, St. Catherine, (importers of fine wines) shared his knowledge with us as to wines that are best served with each recipe.
Enjoy!
Norma's Chicken Avocado
With Mango Salad
3 deboned chicken breast, seasoned
with salt and pepper
2 medium mangoes, peeled and julienned.
1 large pear (avocado), pitted,
peeled and sliced
1 large red onion, sliced thinly
Lettuce leaves such as Red Leaf, Arugula,
Leafy green etc. torn into pieces.
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
Cilantro, fresh
METHOD
1. Sauté chicken breasts on both sides in a little butter. Remove and slice thinly. Return to the skillet and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook.
2. Put aside and allow to cool. In a serving plate arrange the lettuce topped with chicken and mango, then avocado and onion slices. Sprinkle with vinaigrette and add feta cheese with cilantro.
Serves 4-6.
VINAIGRETTE
1/3 - 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic mashed
until a paste is formed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup extra virgin olive oil or corn oil
METHOD
Whisk the first four ingredients together in a bowl. Add the oil in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly until finished and creamy. Or add all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously until thoroughly mixed.
Suggested wines
Champagne Montaudon Brut - French
This Brut is the "par excellence" Champagne, cool, refreshing, with plenty of flavour and exquisite nutlike aroma and can be served at any occasion. Dry.
Paul Louis Brut Sparkling Wine - French
Dry medium bodied almond flavoured
Jah Jah Rasta Salad
2 large cucumbers, peeled,
seeded and julienned
1 each yellow and red bell
pepper, seeded and sliced
thinly in julienne strips
1-12 oz. mixed greens (lettuce)
6 plumy tomatoes, seeded
and julienned
1 lb. string beans, split in two,
blanched and dunked into cold
ice water to stop the cooking
process.
1 large or 2 medium red
onions, julienned thinly
3 cho-cho peeled, cored and
sliced thinly
Segments of 2 large oranges
and 2 grapefruits, peeled and
deseeded
12 pegs of jackfruit, julienned
(optional)
METHOD
Place all ingredients into a large salad bowl. Mix thoroughly until all vegetables are distributed evenly. Add your favourite salad dressing and top with shavings of parmesan cheese (or any other particularly loved cheese).
Serves 4-6.
Suggested wine
Bel Air Chardonnay - French
Medium bodied fruity white wine, straw yellow in colour.
Red Mini Potato Salad
2 lbs. mini red potatoes,
washed
4 slices bacon
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup chopped celery
8 sun-dried tomatoes diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped chives or
escallion
Vinaigrette as above recipe
(1/2 cup)
METHOD
Boil potatoes until tender, not overcooked. Place in a bowl while still warm. Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels. Crumble bacon and add to potatoes. Add vinaigrette and all other ingredients to the potatoes whilst still warm. This potato salad is served warm with grilled chicken or any other meat of your choice but can be eaten at room temperature with slivers of seasoned, boiled then chilled chicken or fish marinated in a little of the vinaigrette with finely chopped chives and parsley.
6-8 servings.
Suggested wines
Chateau Tour Baladoz 1998 - French
Well balanced and beautifully tasting with complex bouquet and coffee and anise aromas with flavours of blackcurrant and caramel. Dry red.
Dulong Carayon-La-Rose 2000 - French
Rose with fine bouquet full of fruity vivacity and richness with a slight
Raspberry flavour. Blush.
- Above recipes By Norma Shirley, Norma's On The Terrace, Devon House, Kingston
Kabab House Tabouli
Tabouli (pronounced tab-BOO-lee) is a festive salad from Syria & Lebanon and should be served with Arabian whole-wheat breads or pita breads
3 bundles of parsley -
chopped fine
2 tsps. bulgur wheat
5 tsps. boiling water
1 tsp. chopped fresh mint
3 ripe medium-sized
tomatoes, chopped
1/2 finely chopped onion
3 tbsps. freshly squeezed
lemon juice
2 tbsps. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Lettuce for garnish
METHOD
In a bowl place bulgur and boiling water and cover with a plate. Let sit for 20 minutes. Mix strained bulgur with mint, tomatoes, and onion. Mix olive oil and lime juice. Toss bulgur mixture with olive oil mixture. Serve cold on a bed of lettuce. Garnish with lime and tomato slices.
Serves 4.
Suggested wines
Puligny-Montrachet - French
This white wine possesses a whole range of very distinguished and distinctive aromas of almond paste, fern, exotic fruits, amber and white flowers. Dry.
Trinity Oaks Chardonnay - Californian
Fresh, white with bright aroma of apple blossom and lemon-drop fruit. Medium.
Fattoush
The ingredient Sumak is available from Kabab House or can be substituted with lemon salt.
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded
and cut in small squares
2 tomatoes, cut into small
squares
1 sweet pepper, deseeded and
cut into squares
1 small onion, chopped
1 bundle of parsley, finely
chopped
2 tbsps. lime juice
2 tbsps. olive oil
1 tbsp. Sumak
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Fried Pita Bread cut into
small triangles
1/4 red cabbage
chopped into slivers
Lettuce
METHOD
Mix all ingredients and toss. Serve on a bed of lettuce with whole-wheat Arabian bread (available at Kabab House) or pita breads.
Serves 4.
Suggested wines
Pinot Grigio - Italian
Moon yellow colour, very fruity and fresh, dry and harmonious with finish of golden apples. Medium.
- Recipes courtesy of Kabab House, Trafalgar Road, Kingston
