It's hard to believe that, by this time next week, spring will have arrived. At least that's what the calendar says, if not the thermometer, so it's time to lighten up your meals.
One of the best ways to do that is by shedding the heavy meals of winter and instead serving a main-dish salad for dinner at least once a week. Chock-full of vegetables and topped with chicken, lean steak or a filet of salmon, it's full of vitamins and protein, a win-win for dinner. A big salad will fill you up and lessen your calorie intake for the day, just as long as you leave off the cheese and croutons and don't drown your salad with dressing.
You can find main-dish salads on most every menu in town, but it wasn't always like that. And the forerunner of it all was the salad bar.
At a recent lunch with my friend Ann Ball, we were bemoaning the fact that salad bars are few and far between these days. In fact, we could only come up with one restaurant that still has a salad bar: Ruby Tuesday. You can still go in there and run smack dab into the massive display of lettuces and vessels holding every kind of topping. The restaurant has a corner on the salad market and has now introduced its revamped salad - er, garden - bar, adding even more toppings, bringing the total to 55.
Ruby Tuesday isn't convenient to all, though. And sometimes you just don't feel like going back out once you get home, even if it's just for a salad. That's when a main-dish salad made at home sounds appealing, and it's so easy to throw together for yourself or the entire family.
To make your own salad bar, sauté or grill some chicken tenders and set them out with a big bowl of mixed greens and lettuces, along with a choice of toppings, and dinner's done.
If you want to get a little fancier, plate the salads yourself. This is a delicious way to do it.
Nutty Chicken Brussels Sprouts Salad
3/4 pound Brussels sprouts
6 slices applewood-smoked bacon
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 pound chicken tenders, grilled or sauteed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
With food processor turned on, drop Brussels sprouts through the food chute fitted with the slicer attachment. Transfer sliced Brussels sprouts to a bowl.
Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon to pan; cook 5 minutes or until crisp, turning occasionally. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings in the pan; set bacon aside. Reduce heat to medium-low; add vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring well to combine. Add Brussels sprouts; cook 1 minute, stirring to coat. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Combine Brussels sprouts mixture and lettuce in large bowl; toss until well combined and divide among plates. Top with chicken tenders, and sprinkle evenly with bacon and pecans. Serve immediately.
Note: Double the amount of bacon drippings, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper if you want extra dressing to pass at the table.
A TOAST TO ST. PADDY'S DAY
With its bright-green color, this martini, courtesy of Seaspice, one of Miami's top restaurants, may not bring you the luck o' the Irish, but it just might make you kick up your heels. It calls for Silver Baron tequila, but any good tequila will do.
Persea Martini
1 spoonful avocado
3/4 teaspoon simple syrup
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 1/2 ounces Baron Silver tequila
Fresh black pepper
Add all ingredients in the order listed above into the shaker on the rocks. Shake vigorously until the avocado liquefies. Pour mix into a martini glass. Garnish with fresh black pepper. Makes one martini.
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.