Fall Potato Salad with Smoked Trout and Green Beans

It’s definitely not too late to plan a picnic when the cool, crisp days of autumn arrive. In New England where I live the exquisite fall foliage  is reason enough to plan an outdoor meal.  You can also pair an autumn picnic with a special activity. Plan a hike or organize a biking excursion, then follow that with a delicious al fresco spread. And for football fans, what’s more appropriate than a scrumptious tailgate picnic.

A delectable potato salad studded with slivers of smoked trout and sliced green beans makes a colorful centerpiece for an open air menu. This trio of ingredients is tossed in a white wine Continue reading

Potato Salad with Chorizo and Chives

This potato salad is a new and delicious twist on tradition. Small red skin potatoes, boiled in their skins, then quartered, and chopped hard-boiled eggs form the base, and are accented by bits of chorizo, a smoked Spanish sausage available in many supermarkets. It is the chorizo with its subtle smokiness that makes this potato salad so distinctive. These three ingredients are tossed together in a mustard and shallot vinaigrette, then sprinkled with snipped chives. Continue reading

Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad

This versatile salad, which looks quite distinctive, but is simple to assemble, can be used as a starter or a side. You can vary the vegetables, but make certain that you coordinate the roasting times of your produce accordingly.For this version sliced carrots, white turnip wedges, and quartered baby Yukons are roasted for half an hour, while sugar snaps and green onions need only about 10 minutes. The vinaigrette dressing can be whisked together and the vegetables roasted several hours ahead so there’s no last minute prep. Continue reading

Savory Sweet Potato Flans with Arugula Salad

If you’re like me, you’ll probably include sweet potatoes as part of your Thanksgiving menu.  But, you don’t have to turn to those predictable preparations of baked sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, or serve them mashed and seasoned with spices. There are far more exciting ways to use this versatile tuber. Continue reading

BLT Summer Salad

For this simple salad, heirloom tomatoes (choose red, green, yellow, deep purple, whatever your markets and farm stands have on hand) are marinated in a vinaigrette dressing and arranged on a platter or on individual plates. Mixed greens tossed in more of the dressing are added next. Crumbled blue cheese and bits of bacon are sprinkled over the salad as final flourishes. Offer this salad as a first course for a summer supper or use it as a side dish for a backyard barbecue. Or, pair it with some crusty bread and a chilled soup for a light luncheon entree. This BLT variation is as good as the sandwiches and just as addictive.

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Romaine, Mint, and Ricotta Salad

Each time I have served this salad, guests have taken a bite, paused, and tried to figure out what was adding such a refreshing note. Some have guessed that it was mint, others have not, but all have loved this unusual addition. The contrasting textures–the crunch of the romaine leaves paired with the salty creaminess of ricotta– also add to the salad’s appeal. The tomatoes provide some visual pizzazz with their rich crimson hue. It’s great as a garnish to grilled lamb chops or chicken.
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