Thursday, August 5, 2010

Salad tonight, please.

Mixed berry salad photo from Martha Stewart.com.

One thing I miss most about southern California is the array of salad choices we have. You could literally go out to lunch and dinner, three weeks in a row and order a different salad every time. So Cal chefs just have that salad thing down right. I have one favorite I would like to share, as berry season nears its peak, and it’s the Mixed Berry Salad from the Nordstrom Cafe. There is nothing more pleasurable than a day of hiking (aka shopping) through South Coast Plaza and end in the Nordstrom Cafe with a Mixed Berry Salad and a cinnamon ice tea. It’s the small pleasures in life.

I am a big fan of "improvising" the recipe to adapt it to your needs. I have learned the hard way, living abroad, that it can be quite time consuming searching for the "exact" ingredient. So, test the recipe and to your liking, make it your own. It is always nice to have a new little "special" salad before dinner or as a whole meal in itself.

If you are wondering what inspired me? Please take a look at the lovely new salad spinners from the Guzzini Latina Collection pictured below. I think the salad spinners are so cool. They have see-through-colored tops with a cool shapely bottom, in red, green, yellow and transparent. In my thoughts....if you buy a salad spinner, you will have it for years. So, you might as well buy a nice one, that inspires you to be healthy. :)

On the bottom picture, are the Guzzini salad bowls from their Vintage Collection. They come in four different sizes ranging from 30cm down to 7cm in a range of colors. Su Casa currently only carries them in yellow, purple, red and green, but is open to special requests. A little tid bit about the bowls, they are from the same model Guzzini made in the 1950's. It is a timeless classic.

Here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy the salad as much as I do. If you get stuck on any of the ingredient list items, Google Translate does wonders. Or the measurements, try this Conversion Chart.

Let me know what you think.

MIXED BERRY SALAD:


1 cup Blackberry walnut vinaigrette
10 cups Baby mixed greens
10 oz Grilled chicken
3/4 cup candied walnuts
9 Large strawberries quartered
1/3 cup Feta cheese
24 Raspberries
12 Blackberries


BLACKBERRY WALNUT VINAIGRETTE:


6 ounces Champagne vinaigrette
1/4 cup Blackberries
2 tablespoons Toasted walnuts
1 tablespoons Brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


PREPARATION


Pour champagne vinaigrette into blender and add blackberries, walnuts, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Blend on medium speed until well combined. Place the dressing in the bottom of a mixing bowl. Add balance of ingredients, except berries, and toss to coat. Last add berries and gently toss to distribute. Serve with a few candied walnuts and/or extra berries for garnish.


Guzzini Salad Spinners from the Latina Collection come in two sizes 28 and 22cm..

Guzzini Vintage Salad Bowls come in four sizes 30, 25, 20 and 12cm.


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