"Romantic"? Valentine's Day Salad?

[daisyHair]

I need ideas for a salad for our Valentine's Day dinner.


I have the rest of the menu finished..
Coq au Vin and Chocolate cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries.

I want a nice salad for a starter but I just can't think of a way to make it special. I used to cut beets into heart shapes but cant' think of anything else and of course beets are out!

Any ideas?

[Charski]

I think an endive salad with complement this nicely!

This is the original recipe:

Endive Salad
serves 5

Ingredients:
# 3 heads of Belgian endive, cut into chunks
# 1 thinly sliced tart apple
# 1 cup of large pieces of walnuts
# 1 cup of crumbled quality Blue cheese (This is one reason everyone who loves Bleu cheese, loves this salad. I use good quality cheese. You can purchase a good quality Blue cheese at most grocery stores as well as online.)
# 1/4 cup of olive oil
# 1/4 cup of white balsamic vinegar (Important: use white balsamic vinegar. The other will make a dark dressing.)
# Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
# Combine endive, apple, walnuts and cheese in a mixing bowl
# Combine oil and vinegar in another bowl and then pour over the salad mixture
# Add salt and pepper to taste and toss well
# Dish to salad plates or bowls and serve immediately


Now, if you don't want to use an apple, you could use a jicama which you sliced and marinated in some lemon juice for a bit; or some chayote squash, same thing, just toss it with some lemon juice and let it sit for a little while.

Endive is expensive but it's really good - you can often find it at Trader Joe's in their fresh produce department, 3 endives to a package and I think last time I got them they were either 2 or 3 colors, too. Quite pretty!

For two people, you could halve all the ingredients (except I'd probably still use all the endives! ) and save some calories by cutting back even more on the walnuts and bleu cheese - you don't need THAT much, IMHO!

[Brown]

Originally Posted by daisyHair

I need ideas for a salad for our Valentine's Day dinner.


I have the rest of the menu finished..
Coq au Vin and Chocolate cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries.

I want a nice salad for a starter but I just can't think of a way to make it special. I used to cut beets into heart shapes but cant' think of anything else and of course beets are out!

Any ideas?

Why are the beets out?

[Charski]

I think she means from a carby standpoint....

You know what else would be pretty, if you want to do the hearts theme, is to cut out the heart shapes from roasted red bell peppers and then something white, like jicama, or fresh Mozzarella, something like that, and then overlap them in a circle around each salad plate - put a little dressed greens in the middle. PURTY!

[sistertzu]

That endive salad would be perfect!

[sligh]

Well strawberries always seem sort of romantic. Here's a great spinach salad with strawberries.

oops - I see you're already doing strawberries for dessert. Might be too many strawberries, but here is the recipe anyway.

Strawberry Spinach Salad


Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sugar or granular splenda
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onions
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Salad:
1 pound spinach leaves, whole
1 pint strawberries, sliced

Mix ingredients for dressing. Toss with spinach and sliced strawberries. Serve immediately.

[Cynthia2005]

Radish roses?

[pocahontas]

What about Romaine Sweet Hearts? Super easy, no crazy prep work and they look gorgeous.



3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 cup chopped hearts of palm
1/2 avocado, chopped
Salt
1/2 pomegranate (go easy on these if you want to keep the carb count down)
4 leaves romaine lettuce from the heart

Directions:In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mint and lemon juice. Add the artichoke hearts, hearts of palm and avocado and toss to combine. Season with salt.

In a bowl of water, peel the pomegranate to release the seeds; drain. Spoon the tossed salad onto the lettuce leaves and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top.

[ravenrose]

I agree a salad like Charski's endive salad would be tops. I always find when I am trying to make everything special in a meal it gets too high carb, even when each dish is ok... I would make it baby lettuce, perhaps with something bitter like endive in it too, dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette and strewn with walnuts and blue cheese bits only lightly as garnish.

The dressing can be sugar free rasp syrup with vinegar, oil, salt.

[NGJ26]

Pochohantas- WOW.. I can't wait to try this!

[dartstar1]

I love a spinach salad with lots of crumbled bacon and hard boiled egg I will try and find my dressin recipe
A Chef gave me it back in the 73 and and it is the ratio of vinager to the bacon fat (oil base for dressing
this is close to it

loose cups of spinach
1-2 hardboild eggs chopped
1-2 slices of onion diced
3-4 sliced mushrooms keep cold in serving bowls
then
5-6 slices bacon, crumbled
1 tbl sugar so use sweetner equivalant
3 tbsp. L C ketchup
3 tbsp. chopped onion
2 Tb. red wine vinegar or adjust to taste
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Cook bacon until crisp and remove from pan . Add the sweetner, ketchup, onion, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to bacon grease in the pan. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly. Add bacon; pour over prepared salad and serve at once.

You can add more vinager and sweetner to taste I like it with more like a hot german potatoe salad dressing

[SCOTTSDALEJULIE]

1/2 cup of pickled beets is only 4.9 carbs. Julie

[daisyHair]

Originally Posted by Charski

I think she means from a carby standpoint....

You know what else would be pretty, if you want to do the hearts theme, is to cut out the heart shapes from roasted red bell peppers and then something white, like jicama, or fresh Mozzarella, something like that, and then overlap them in a circle around each salad plate - put a little dressed greens in the middle. PURTY!

GREAT idea!
I have a small 3/4" heart cutter also. I will do different sizes.

[daisyHair]

Originally Posted by pocahontas

What about Romaine Sweet Hearts? Super easy, no crazy prep work and they look gorgeous.



3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 cup chopped hearts of palm
1/2 avocado, chopped
Salt
1/2 pomegranate (go easy on these if you want to keep the carb count down)
4 leaves romaine lettuce from the heart

Directions:In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mint and lemon juice. Add the artichoke hearts, hearts of palm and avocado and toss to combine. Season with salt.

In a bowl of water, peel the pomegranate to release the seeds; drain. Spoon the tossed salad onto the lettuce leaves and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top.

Ohhh those are beautiful! I bet it would be good on the endive also!

I LOVE the endive salad idea.

[daisyHair]

No beets for me. I would rather have the carbs in the berries but thank you.

[pocahontas]

Originally Posted by daisyHair

Ohhh those are beautiful! I bet it would be good on the endive also!

I LOVE the endive salad idea.

Absolutely! I made it on endives for Christmas. They were smaller and made great appetizers! You really just need a few pomegranate seeds to color it up and make it look pretty. They have so much flavor that a little goes a long way.

[HerBoudoir]

Nuts & Berries salad (hugely popular around here):

Mixed baby greens
Crumbled blue cheese
Fresh strawberries (sliced) and blackberries (halved)
Pecans (toasted or "splenda'ed" as opposed to sugared)

Toss with a slightly sharp vinaigrette of choice (original uses a balsamic vinaigrette, but your choice)

It's a very sweet n savory salad - sweetness from the berries and the pecans, crunch from the pecans, and savory from the blue cheese and the vinaigrette. Very nice balance.

[MariaMaria]

I once read a recipe called "Two Hearts Salad" -- the usual salad-y stuff, topped with artichoke hearts and hearts of palm.

If I find any decent strawberries next week, I'll slice one lengthwise (top to bottom) -- it makes a heart-shaped slice. I'll use it as a garnish for dessert, but you could also top a salad with it.

[daisyHair]

Originally Posted by MariaMaria

I once read a recipe called "Two Hearts Salad" -- the usual salad-y stuff, topped with artichoke hearts and hearts of palm.

If I find any decent strawberries next week, I'll slice one lengthwise (top to bottom) -- it makes a heart-shaped slice. I'll use it as a garnish for dessert, but you could also top a salad with it.

This is a nice idea with the Strawberry hearts.
I might use some of them on the salad plate as garnish.
I have to be careful with the berries though because I LOVE them and I am also doing a few DK Chocolate dipped ones with dessert.

Thanks everyone!
I am so excited about our dinner.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by pocahontas

What about Romaine Sweet Hearts? Super easy, no crazy prep work and they look gorgeous.

What a thing of beauty!! I am SO making this!! Thanks so sharing this lovely recipe.