Learning to Cook Lesson 9, Secrets to Salads and Sandwiches

With an Irish Catholic for a husband, it is a tradition to go green, eat green and invite the good luck into our home on St. Patrick's Day [an Irish tradition]. So it's fitting that in this lesson, Chef introduced me to the a bit of green in the "cold kitchen."
But first let me say that I didn't think about there being a "cold kitchen and a hot kitchen." But of course, that makes perfect sense. Learning about the "cold kitchen," I didn't realize how many types of bread there are, as well as the many spreads to slather on bread. I am happy to say that I created some of my own spreads for my honey's lunchbox sandwich along with assorted garnishes such as a romaine leaf and a nice slice of tomato. Chef outlined a few cold cuts. I use some of the ones mentioned, but I also make my own by roasting a boneless breast of turkey or a beef roast. 

I haven't put a green salad into my honey's lunchbox yet, but maybe today is the day. It is green day, after all. His "lunchbox" has ice blocks so the food stays cold, or the ice helps the food stay cold. That's a nice feature of the lunchbox he uses, and we got it free from Market Street. Nice.

Canon Salad

I learned about different salad greens and what I can do to garnish a plate full of greens to make a unique salad at home. Other than a clover leaf salad, there are a lot of wonderful Irish breads, entrees and beverages with a hint of green.

When making a green salad, I use my salad spinner to remove excess water that dilutes my dressing. The salad spinner dries the leaves quickly after I wash them. I also wash salad in clamshells (food that comes in ready-to-use plastic containers) that say "prewashed." No harm there.

I've made a couple of salad dressings myself, and now I feel as if I never need to buy bottled salad dressing.

I love to add nuts to a salad, especially pine nuts. I got a huge bag at Sam's Club for a decent price. I add pine nuts, almonds and walnuts to some salads I serve. Not all at the same time. Sunflower seeds are good. Croutons, of course, give a nice crunch to a salad. I chop up different cheeses to add to the top of my salads. Tomatoes. Cucumbers. Radishes.

Different fruits make a great salad. I added sliced orange pieces to my salad and it was yummy. My daughter brought a salad at Christmas and she mixed sliced strawberries with the greens and served it with a raspberry vinaigrette. It was delicious.
 

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Getting tips on sandwiches and salads opened up a bunch of ideas for my honey's lunchbox. This was an excellent cooking lesson about the cold kitchen.

Eat more greens today and everyday.

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