Summertime is high season for eating outdoors. Weekend plans are frequently filled with cookouts, backyard parties and picnics.
That often means taking a dish, usually a dessert or salad, to go with the host's main course. With salads, the lineup is often the same: potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, baked beans, bean salad.
We wanted modern takes on these classics, and this spring's crop of cookbooks offered plenty of inspiration.
In his new cookbook, Down South, New Orleans chef and restaurateur Donald Link spices up a carrot and raisin salad with homemade curry powder. Link also updates an apple and raisin slaw by adding ginger, jalapenos and seared bits of country ham or prosciutto for heat, crunch and saltiness.
Food writer and memoirist Kim Sunee cleverly pairs coconut milk, ginger and chiles with black-eyed peas for a fresh take on Hoppin' John. In A Mouthful of Stars, Sunee writes that she considers black-eyed peas to be "the catfish of the legume family -- musky and murky if not cooked properly." She discovered that the murkiness vanishes when the peas are cooked like an Indian-spiced lentil dish. The recipe was delicious at room temperature and without rice, which makes it a contender for taking to the outdoor feast.
Food blogger Lisa Fain updates Texas macaroni salad in her book, The Homesick Texan's Family Table. Fain explains that a Texas macaroni salad involves pasta, pickles, peas, peppers and a mayo dressing. But it wasn't to Fain's taste: "It's a little cloying with the sweet pickles and sweet mayonnaise."
Fain's version adds cabbage for crunch, lime juice and mustard for balance and chipotle peppers for heat.
"It's a little more modern taste, a little more to my taste," Fain said.
That's exactly what we're looking to provide for the next picnic.
KEEP IT COOL, KEEP IT SAFE
To safely transport cold food, place the chilled food in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs. Cold food needs to be kept at 40 degrees or below to prevent bacterial growth and kept in the cooler until serving time.
Once the salads are served, they should sit out no longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour if temperatures are above 90 degrees.
This dish can be served warm with rice but is equally wonderful at room temperature. Remember to soak the beans overnight or several hours before you plan to make the salad.
Coconut Black-Eyed Peas
1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
1 pound dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through, soaked overnight
5 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons hot curry powder OR garam masala
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 large orange
1/2 to 3/4 cup canned coconut milk, shaken
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Chopped red onion, chopped fresh jalapeno, lime wedges for garnish
Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat; add carrots, onion, ginger, garlic and apple. Stir and let cook about 3 minutes, being careful not to burn. Add black-eyed peas, water, curry powder, salt, cumin and black pepper; stir and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer about 40 minutes, until peas are almost tender. Stir occasionally, mashing some of the peas against the side of the pot for creaminess. Add more water as needed.
Zest one-quarter of the orange, adding the zest to the peas, then cut the orange in half and squeeze juice into the peas. Stir in the coconut milk. Simmer, covered, 7 to 10 minutes, until peas are tender. Taste peas and adjust the seasonings as needed. Pour peas into a large serving dish. Garnish with cilantro, red onion, jalapenos and lime wedges.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Recipe adapted from A Mouthful of Stars by Kim Sunee (Andrews McNeel)
This macaroni salad is for fans of coleslaw and egg salad with its addition of red cabbage and hard-cooked eggs.
Macaroni Salad
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces elbow macaroni
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and diced
1/2 cup grated carrot
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup diced sweet pickles
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, diced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Put cabbage in a strainer and then place strainer in a bowl. Toss cabbage with salt and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Cook macaroni according to the package instructions, drain, rinse and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Take cabbage from strainer and place in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, carrot, garlic, red onion, cilantro, pickles and macaroni.
Whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, mustard, chipotle chile and cumin. Spoon dressing over salad and stir until well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. (While it should be cold enough to eat immediately, it will be even better if refrigerated for at least 1 hour before serving.)
Makes 8 servings.
Recipe adapted from The Homesick Texan's Family's Table by Lisa Fain (Ten Speed Press)
Curried Carrot Raisin Salad
1/2 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons curry powder (see note)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups shredded carrots
2 cups raisins
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, thinly sliced
In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, curry powder, salt, cayenne and lemon juice. Fold in carrots, raisins and parsley. Refrigerate 1 to 4 hours to allow flavors to develop.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Note: To make curry powder toast 2 teaspoons cumin seeds in a small, dry skillet until browned and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl to cool completely. Combined cooled cumin seeds with 2 teaspoons cardamon seeds, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 4 teaspoons ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon mustard powder and a heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) and blend in a spice mill until finely ground. Makes about 1/4 cup. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Recipe adapted from Down South by Donald Link with Paula Disbrowe (Clarkson Potter)
Gingered Apple Slaw
4 apples, such as gala, Braeburn or golden delicious, cored and cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon ginger juice (see note)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 fresh jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and minced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
In a medium bowl, use a rubber spatula to combine sliced apples, mayonnaise, lemon juice, ginger juice, cilantro and jalapeno; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Note: Use a box grater or large-toothed Microplane to grate about 2 tablespoons ginger. Use your fingers to squeeze juice from grated pulp. If you prefer, you can use a garlic press to extract the pungent juice from a slice of fresh ginger. If you want to add crispy prosciutto to the salad, thinly slice the ham and fry it in a couple of tablespoons of oil until crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Break ham into small pieces over salad.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Recipe adapted from Down South by Donald Link with Paula Disbrowe (Clarkson Potter)
Food on 07/09/2014