Spring has arrived (though perhaps only technically given the recent cold snap), opening the season for lots of cookouts, potlucks, and dinner parties. One thing I figure everyone likes to make in some fashion or another for these occasions is salads, so if you’ve got any interesting recipes, feel free to share them here. If you don’t have a recipe per say, but rather a list of ingredients that pair well with each other, feel free to share that as well, and I can just ad lib something together. Healthier options would be better I suppose, but I’m not going to set a very good example with this first one, so pay no attention. Vinaigrette or syrup-bound salads do have advantages in the heat, if nothing else.
This particular concoction is admittedly not my own, but rather one known in a local café as “when grapes get the blues” which I reverse engineered after sampling one afternoon. Theirs is great when you get it fresh (and probably better for you as it’s organic), but always seems to be a little dry (which I will touch on later) if you don’t stop in for lunch during the noon rush. I actually like my version a little better anyway.
The ingredients, in very approximate quantities:
12 oz (dry) farfalle
1 bunch green onion
7 oz blue cheese
1 1/3 lbs red grapes
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbs white sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
[small amount of milk, see notes]
The method:
While the water is heating to a boil and the pasta is cooking, rinse the grapes and pick out any seniors; you only want the crunchy ones in a salad like this I would think. Wash, dry, and trim the green onions, then slice everything (both green and white parts) thinly. Combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar, pepper, and blue cheese (which you have broken up into coarse chunks). When the pasta has cooled slightly, combine with the wet ingredients and the grapes. Mix thoroughly to coat. All done.
Notes:
Yes, another mayonnaise-laden pasta salad; oh my #@$%!, I’m white trash and I’m going to die of a heart attack. Well I think it tastes good, so there. If there’s anything you don’t want to skimp on here, it’s the blue cheese. You really need something that has a bit of a kick, or it doesn’t turn out quite right. I don’t recommend buying something terribly nuanced as the subtleties will surely be lost, but get something good (the cheese should probably account for the better part of the cost of this dish). Anyway, you’re only buying 7-10oz at most for a batch this size. If it were a toss up between moisture and pungency, I would take the latter as the dressing will offset the former somewhat. Maytag or Roquefort would do well in my opinion.
The only other real issue with this particular version is the consistency (as with many salads I think). When you first assemble it, it should look something roughly like this:
You can eat it right then if you insist, but I really do think it’s better if you let it sit for a while. After an hour or so, I can almost guarantee you that, like most salads of this sort, the pasta will have absorbed a good bit of the dressing. The approximate ratios listed above are for a salad that will be a “wet” creamy initially and a “sticky” creamy within about an hour (more so if you let it rest longer). If you like it like this (I kind of do personally), then leave it; if you want it creamier, add a splash or two of milk (or whatever) before serving and give it a stir. Yes, you could probably figure the milk into the ingredients list somehow, but it works better doing it like this, at least for me. I suppose I rinse the pasta in cold water sometimes if I’m impatient and so extra water gets in, which could thin things out a little as well. If you tinker with the ratio of ingredients, that will obviously affect the overall consistency, and given that there’s a fair amount of fat contained within, refrigeration will affect the consistency as well. Then of course there’s the fact that you may not want to eat it all in one sitting, and so while it may be perfect on Tuesday at 700pm, it will be too dry on Wednesday at lunch time. It just works better for me if you tweak it before you serve it.
That said, if you do have any grandma-ish tricks for keeping things like this creamier in a room temperature or slightly chilled environment (that doesn’t involve massive quantities of mayonnaise), I would certainly like to hear them.
This particular concoction is admittedly not my own, but rather one known in a local café as “when grapes get the blues” which I reverse engineered after sampling one afternoon. Theirs is great when you get it fresh (and probably better for you as it’s organic), but always seems to be a little dry (which I will touch on later) if you don’t stop in for lunch during the noon rush. I actually like my version a little better anyway.
The ingredients, in very approximate quantities:
12 oz (dry) farfalle
1 bunch green onion
7 oz blue cheese
1 1/3 lbs red grapes
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbs white sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
[small amount of milk, see notes]
The method:
While the water is heating to a boil and the pasta is cooking, rinse the grapes and pick out any seniors; you only want the crunchy ones in a salad like this I would think. Wash, dry, and trim the green onions, then slice everything (both green and white parts) thinly. Combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar, pepper, and blue cheese (which you have broken up into coarse chunks). When the pasta has cooled slightly, combine with the wet ingredients and the grapes. Mix thoroughly to coat. All done.
Notes:
Yes, another mayonnaise-laden pasta salad; oh my #@$%!, I’m white trash and I’m going to die of a heart attack. Well I think it tastes good, so there. If there’s anything you don’t want to skimp on here, it’s the blue cheese. You really need something that has a bit of a kick, or it doesn’t turn out quite right. I don’t recommend buying something terribly nuanced as the subtleties will surely be lost, but get something good (the cheese should probably account for the better part of the cost of this dish). Anyway, you’re only buying 7-10oz at most for a batch this size. If it were a toss up between moisture and pungency, I would take the latter as the dressing will offset the former somewhat. Maytag or Roquefort would do well in my opinion.
The only other real issue with this particular version is the consistency (as with many salads I think). When you first assemble it, it should look something roughly like this:
You can eat it right then if you insist, but I really do think it’s better if you let it sit for a while. After an hour or so, I can almost guarantee you that, like most salads of this sort, the pasta will have absorbed a good bit of the dressing. The approximate ratios listed above are for a salad that will be a “wet” creamy initially and a “sticky” creamy within about an hour (more so if you let it rest longer). If you like it like this (I kind of do personally), then leave it; if you want it creamier, add a splash or two of milk (or whatever) before serving and give it a stir. Yes, you could probably figure the milk into the ingredients list somehow, but it works better doing it like this, at least for me. I suppose I rinse the pasta in cold water sometimes if I’m impatient and so extra water gets in, which could thin things out a little as well. If you tinker with the ratio of ingredients, that will obviously affect the overall consistency, and given that there’s a fair amount of fat contained within, refrigeration will affect the consistency as well. Then of course there’s the fact that you may not want to eat it all in one sitting, and so while it may be perfect on Tuesday at 700pm, it will be too dry on Wednesday at lunch time. It just works better for me if you tweak it before you serve it.
That said, if you do have any grandma-ish tricks for keeping things like this creamier in a room temperature or slightly chilled environment (that doesn’t involve massive quantities of mayonnaise), I would certainly like to hear them.
