A Kitchen Sink Salad

Approximate quantities: 6 ounces baby spinach; 2 large heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped; 3 Kirby cucumber, sliced into thin disks; kernels of 1 ear of grilled corn; 1 grilled bell pepper, roughly chopped; 1 large sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 1-2” cubes, and tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, 1 medium watermelon radish sliced into thin crescents, 1 lb of ground turkey browned with scallions and red chili flakes, 1 cup of cooked rice, and 1 16-ounce can on black bean, drained drizzled with olive oil, lime juice, and hot sauce

My only note about assembling this is, I browned the ground turkey — actually my Mom did — just before we were going to eat, and then once it was cooked through, she added 1 cup of cold, cooked rice and the black beans to pan to warm them and bring the flavors together and then we tossed this mixture warm into the salad.

Serves 4 as a main.

Kale, Spinach, or Baby Broccoli Pesto

This is adapted ever so slightly from Chris Morocco’s recipe. I’ve eliminated pistachios because they aren’t nut that I keep on hand, although, with the broccoli, I used almonds, which worked very well, and I’ve added lemon, because what don’t I add lemon too. And then, I’ve ever so slightly tipped the vegetable to pasta ratio by using 8 ounces of pasta rather than twelve.

Ingredients

1 large bunch Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, or 6 ounces of baby spinach or a large bunch of spinach, tough stems trimmed off, or 8 ounces of baby broccoli
8 ounces pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
zest or juice of lemon — for the spinach pesto, which I made last week, I used the zest, for the kale, which I made last night, I used the juice of the same lemon, both worked equally well
1 garlic clove
1 ounce Parmesan, finely grated, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper

Blend olive oil, zest or juice of lemon, garlic, Parmesan together in a food processor or blender

Bring medium or large pot of salted water up to a boil and cook the kale, spinach, or broccoli until bright green and wilted, about 30 seconds and the scoop out with tongs and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet or large mixing bowl; keep water boiling and add pasta, cooking to the packaging specification

Allow kale, spinach, or broccoli to cool slightly and then wring out excess water with your hands — if you are using broccoli, vigorously shaking works better than wringing

Add kale, spinach, or broccoli and 1/4 cup of pasta water — scoop it out of the pot while the pasta is cooking — to the food processor or blender and purée until smooth

A quick note about this, if you are using a blender, you’ll end up with more of a paste like Chris, if you are using a food processor, you’ll end up with more of a very fine purée

Scrape the pesto into the bottom of a large bowl

Reserving 1/2 cup of water, drain the pasta and then transfer it to bowl with pesto; do this, I don’t want to say as quickly as possible, don’t rinse the pasta, don’t worry about shaking all of the excess water, you want to add the pasta while it’s still hot and 1 tablespoon of butter and toss adding pasta cooking liquid by the tablespoon if needed

Serve with additional Parmesan and fresh pepper

Serves about 4, or 2 if you are hungry and don’t feel like making much more

A Thanksgiving Leftover Salad

Approximate quantities: 12 ounces washed baby spinach; 2 cups roasted sweet potatoes; 2 cups garlic green beans, roughly chopped; 2 cups roast turkey breast, roughly chopped; 1 cup of croutons, or leftover stuffing, roughly chopped or crumbled by hand into small pieces; 2 tablespoons dried cranberries; 2 tablespoon marcona almonds, finely chopped; drizzled with mustard vinaigrette