Salads: Take Two

Whoops! Sorry to get you all excited about Intro to Baking, but today was actually Salad Day Part Two, as well as Garnishing. I took way too many pictures and ate way too much, but the day was tasty. We made a variety of composed salads, which are salads that are not tossed together, but are instead layered or plated in sections. This definitely allowed the class to be a bit more creative with plating, and brought in a wider spectrum of ingredients. Most everything was delicious, and all were beautiful, but below are a couple of great recipes from today.

Watercress Salad with Oranges and Fennel: Yields 4-6 servings
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup walnut oil
1 bulb fennel, stalk removed and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 bunch watercress, stemmed
4 oranges, supremed (segmented with pith and membranes removed)
2 Tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
salt and pepper

1. In a small bowl, combine orange juice, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Whisk in olive oil. Toss fennel with half of the dressing.
2. On a large plate, arrange 2/3 of the fennel. Top with watercress. Arrange oranges around the plate and garnish with remaining fennel. Drizzle salad with remaining dressing and garnish with nuts and freshly cracked black pepper.


Beet, Watercress and Endive Salad: Yields 6 servings
2 lbs beets
2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
2 bunches watercress, stemmed
2 heads Belgian endive

1. Trim beets. Place beets in a medium pressure cooker and cover with water. Bring to full pressure, lower heat, and cook until tender (large-30 minutes, medium-20, small-15). Alternatively, they can be boiled until tender, about 1 hour.
2. Shock cooked beets in ice water until completely cool. Drain, peel, and cut into thin slices (or julienne into strips).
3. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar and mustard. Gradually whisk in oil. Toss dressing with beets and allow to marinate for 10-15 minutes.
4. Arrange watercress, endive and beets on the salad plate. Drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired.


As stated above, we also practiced garnishing today. We made a variety of edible decorations, such as tomato roses, radish flowers, apple wings, strawberry fans, and frissled leeks. Even though they were time-consuming and a bit impractical, they were beautiful. While not for everyday cooking, they still definitely have their place in the culinary world. If you are planning to host a dinner or cocktail party, edible garnishes inexpensively accentuate the plate and make it look much more put-together as well as higher-end.

Hope you enjoy the salads! As I will be eating leftovers tomorrow for sure, I will hopefully be posting some awesome dressing recipes that I enjoyed today. Be sure to check them out!