Platter Salads
Posted by hpotterblog on August 21st, 2010in Garden Decor, Patti Bess, Recipes | No Comments
By Patti Bess, author of Vegetarian Barbecue
A festive platter salad from the late-summer garden.
Where’s your favorite platter?
It’s perfect for late summer entertaining when the markets are full of delicious, fresh produce and your garden is overflowing.
A platter salad easily turns the abundance of summer into a successful meal.
Ingredients for a platter salad
- Following the principle that foods in season generally taste good together, a platter salad is a collection of compatible vegetables cooked when necessary — but mostly not — and arranged on a large platter.
- Tossed with generous amounts of herbs and a mustardy vinaigrette, you can re-create these salads every season with whatever you have available.
- Choices for late summer are several varieties of potatoes (pre-cooked), radishes, cucumbers, red and yellow tomatoes, string beans or garbanzos, and chunks of grilled squash or eggplant.
- Other nice additions might include capers, anchovies or various olives.
- Showering the salad with herbs produces a layering of flavors — parsley, dill, marjoram, basil or chives — whatever combination appeals. As one friend said at a recent dinner, “Every bite tastes different.”
Platter salads are a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach and are easy to put together for two people
For guests, they make a beautiful presentation by tossing in the vinaigrette at the table. If you’re already using the grill for meat, roasted peppers or a few grilled zucchini are tasty additions.
Serve with crusty bread and a great glass of wine. It’s summer’s finest hour.
Platter Salad
One pound small potatoes — red, Yukon Gold or purple
One-half pound green beans
A few radishes, cut in half
Two lemon cucumbers cut into bite-size pieces
Two handfuls of cherry tomatoes
Red or green peppers, raw or roasted and cut into squares
Two to three small zucchini, grilled and cut into easy-to-fork strips
One-quarter cup finely chopped marjoram (or basil) and parsley
Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing
Three tablespoons red wine vinegar
Two tablespoons lemon juice
Two teaspoons Dijon-type mustard
One to two cloves garlic
One-quarter teaspoon salt
Freshly grated pepper
One-third cup extra-virgin olive oil
Wash the potatoes and then place them in a small saucepan; cover with water and three-quarters teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; simmer until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. Set aside to cool and cut into bite-size pieces.
Wash green beans and cut off both ends. Add to a pan of simmering water for three to four minutes then dip in cold water (or serve raw).
For the dressing, add all the ingredients to a food processor. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while machine runs.
Arrange the cooked and raw vegetables on the platter in a beautiful display of colors and textures.
Sprinkle herb mixture over all.
Drizzle with vinaigrette at the table and enjoy!
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