Salads | widgeonwood

Farm Fresh Salads

Always Widgeonwood fresh...

Cantaloupe Cucumber Salad
Just chop up one of our sweet Athena cantaloupes, one or two of our cucumbers and one big Candy onion and put all in a big bowl. Then dress with a little balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, salt & cracked black pepper! So you want to be creative? Then use up some of that fancy/schmancy balsamic you got last year for Christmas, you know the Raspberry, Pear or Fig…Same drill, leave the salad sit for 30 minutes and serve at room temperature. When ingredients are just hours from the fields…not days always remember simple is best and brings out all the true FRESH FLAVOR!

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A Tex-Mex Twist Sort of Sweet Potato Salad
You will need 4 of our medium sized heirloom sweet potatoes…peeled and cut into ¾ inch rounds. Toss the potatoes with some olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Grill over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes on each side. When the taters are close to done grill a few ears of our fabulous sweet corn that has been husked and cleaned turning while grilling until the corn is slightly charred…5 minutes my best guestimate. When the taters and corn have cooled enough to handle…Cut the taters into bite size pieces and cut the corn off the cob…place all in a bowl. Then add a 15 ounce can drained and washed black beans. Chop up one of our sweet peppers…yellow or lilac, one red Italian bottle onion, chopped… 2 avocados pitted and chopped…possibly a jalapeno that has been seeded and minced (or not) and about ½ cup fresh minced cilantro (parsley if you don’t like the cilantro)…add it to the tater/corn bowl. Squeeze the juice of two fresh limes over all…and salt and pepper, to taste! Toss all that “goodness” together and time serving the salad for when those big rib-eye steaks are just off the grill!

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Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

You will need 6 small/medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried. Cut into bite size pieces and placed in a bowl. Drizzle the potatoes with EVOO and salt and pepper. Arrange onto an oiled rimmed baking sheet and oven roast at 400F for about 30 minutes turning occasionally. Remove from oven and leave sitting on the baking sheet. For the dressing: place ½ cup Widgeonwood Smoked Red Pepper Almond pesto in a small bowl, whisk in ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon orange zest & one teaspoon cumin. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and to the potatoes add 1/2 cup minced sweet red onion, 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint, 1/3 cup yellow raisins and as much chopped and seeded hot peppers as you like (one jalapeno seems perfect to me)! Toss all with the dressing and serve warm or at room temp. Can be made a day ahead but should be brought back to room temp before serving.

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Vietnamese Cucumber Shrimp Salad serves 4

You will need a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp., sauté the shrimp in 2 tablespoons olive oil…frisking about in the skillet until pink. Place the shrimp on a cutting board and chop into smaller pieces. Place in a bowl. To the bowl you will add one medium chopped sweet red onion. You will need 2 medium cucumbers…cut them lengthwise and remove the seeds and then cut them into matchsticks…about 1½ inches thick. Place the cucumber in the bowl with the shrimp and onion. Seed and chop finely one jalapeno pepper and add to the other veggies. Add about 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro or parsley. Dress with a tablespoon of fish sauce, 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice…taste and add some salt if needed. Serve at once!

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Nicoise' Chickpea Salad serves 4
One 15 ounce can garbanzo beans which are also called chickpeas or in the south of France garbansos and place in a large bowl. To the beans add ½ cup chopped fresh herbs…I like a combo of parsley and basil. You will need one large Widgeonwood tomato, chopped... I like mine peeled, too. Add the tomatoes to the beans. Add ½ cup chopped sweet bell pepper, ½ cup chopped cucumber, one medium chopped candy onion, ¼ cup chopped black olives and about 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese. For the dressing, make in a jar with a lid…juice of one small lemon, 3 tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 clove minced garlic , 3 tbs. Greek yogurt, 2 tbs. sugar and salt and pepper to taste! Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously! Dress the salad and chill about an hour before serving. Love this for lunch with some cottage cheese!

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Balsamic Peach Arugula Salad serves 4

You will need to cut 4 very ripe peaches into segments and place in a bowl. Dress the peaches with ½ cup good quality balsamic vinegar, ½ cup EVOO, sea salt and black pepper to taste and several good pinches of cayenne pepper. Let the peaches sit at room temperature for an hour before you need the salads. Place a good handful of arugula on four plates and top with the peaches! Voila! An amazing totally gourmet and FAST farmhouse salad!