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A St. Patrick's
Day Salad
BY DANA JACOBI
FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH |
If you think food that celebrates
St. Patrick’s Day means corned beef and cabbage with boiled
potatoes, it’s time to update your thinking about Irish
cooking.
You may still find plenty of
corned beef served with cabbage and potatoes, but you can also
enjoy food that is modern and innovative. Many Irish chefs are
updating traditional dishes to make them more healthful, such
as soda bread made with whole-wheat rather than refined flour,
and Colcannon – cooked potatoes and cabbage mashed together
– using little new potatoes, unpeeled, and steamed rather
than boiled cabbage.
Always known for its marvelously
fresh and high-quality ingredients, including shellfish and dairy
products such as butter and fine cheeses, Ireland now also boasts
enough fine chefs to generate reams of rave reviews. Some restaurants
have received the prestigious Michelin stars that denote excellence.
Some of the innovative dishes
of today’s Irish cooks stay close to Irish tradition and
remain simple. You don’t even need a recipe, for example,
to make steamed and lightly-buttered turnips sprinkled with fresh
mint, or serve salmon accompanied by sautéed scallions
and chopped apple, garnished with sorrel and parsley. Tasting
of spring, this dish offers lots of green, making it a suitable
dish for St. Patrick’s Day.
An accompaniment to that or
another entrée for St. Paddy’s Day might be the following
salad, which combines four green fruits and vegetables to represent
all of Ireland, and pink grapefruit to represent the Orangemen.
Topped with herbed croutons made from oatmeal bread, its dressing
calls for clover honey. The honey might not come from four-leaf
clovers, but hopefully, this dish will bring the luck of the
Irish along with good taste and nutrition.
Emerald
Salad - Makes 4 servings.
(6 cups salad)
- 1 slice oatmeal bread
- Canola oil spray
- 12 Boston lettuce leaves
- 12 pink grapefruit sections
(fresh, jarred, or canned)
- 12 thin avocado slices (1/2
medium avocado)
- 2 kiwi fruit, peeled and thinly
sliced
- 12 finely-sliced green bell
pepper rings
- 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
- 2 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1-2 Tbsp. honey, preferably
clover
- 1 Tbsp. minced fresh mint
leaves, or according to taste
- Salt and freshly-ground black
pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive
oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make croutons, coat one
side of the bread with cooking spray. Sprinkle on the oregano.
Bake on a rack in the center of the oven for 3 minutes, until
the bread is dry and almost hard in the center. Let it sit 2
minutes. With a serrated knife, cut the bread into 1/2-inch cubes
and set aside.
On each of four salad plates,
make a bed using 3 lettuce leaves. Place 3 grapefruit sections
and 3 avocado slices in the center. Arrange kiwi slices in an
overlapping ring around them. Place the 3 pepper rings over the
grapefruit and avocado.
For the dressing, whisk together
in a small bowl the grapefruit and lime juice, 1 tablespoon honey
and mint. Whisk in the oil. Season dressing to taste with salt
and pepper. Taste, and if too tart, add the remaining honey,
as desired.
To serve, drizzle dressing
over top of each salad. Sprinkle one-fourth of the warm croutons
over each and serve.
Per serving:
159 calories, 6 g.
total fat (less than 1 g. saturated fat), 28 g. carbohydrate,
3 g. protein, 4 g. dietary fiber, 42 mg. sodium.
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“Something Different” is written by Dana Jacobi, author
of 12 Best Foods Cookbook and contributor to AICR’s New
American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy
Life.