Recipes: Tender Greens salad, French vinaigrette

TENDER GREENS

Serves 4

Serve this salad with chili or another dish featuring tomato.

1 firm-fleshed apple, such as Granny Smith

Cold water

Juice of half a lemon

2 ripe avocados, peeled and cubed

Green sauce:

2 tablespoons avocado oil

2 tablespoons organic sunflower oil

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Pinch of salt

Beet sprouts, or another kind of sprout

Pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds

Julienne the apple with a knife or julienne peeler. Place the little apple sticks in a bowl of water into which the fresh lemon juice has been added. In a blender or food processor, process the ingredients for the sauce until smooth and creamy.

Drain the julienned apple and place it in a large bowl. Add the avocado cubes and the green sauce. Mix gently. Divide the salad among four plates. Add the sprouts and pumpkin or hemp seeds. Serve.

FRENCH VINAIGRETTE

This recipe is from David Lebovitz, an American chef, blogger (davidlebovitz.com) and cookbook author who now lives in Paris. It belongs to his partner, Roman, who is French, and it makes about ¼ cup, enough for one large green salad.

Use freshly ground black pepper, which is best added when tossing the salad with the dressing. Try different herbs — basil or parsley or chives or cilantro, for instance — based on what you like best. Try lemon in place of vinegar — or do what you will to make the dressing your own.

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar

1/2 small shallot, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Fresh herbs, if desired

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, vinegar and shallot. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Mix in the Dijon mustard, then add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir well, then taste. If it’s too sharp, add the additional olive oil and more salt, if necessary. Add more mustard if necessary.

If you wish to add fresh herbs, it’s best to chop and mix them in shortly before serving so they retain their flavour.

This dressing will keep for about eight hours at room temperature. If you want to make it farther in advance, wait to add the shallots until closer to serving time, so that “they don’t lose their verve,” as Lebovitz writes.

GREEN FRUITS SALAD

Serves 4

This salad would go well with a dish flavoured with Indian spices. Green tomatoes are available in summer at outdoor markets. If you can’t find them, use yellow ones, cantaloupe in place of honeydew and ripe mango, and rename the salad a Yellow/Orange Salad, suggests Côté.

Shiso is an aromatic herb usually found in Asian grocery stores. If you can’t find it, replace it with a mix of basil, mint and lime zest.

4 small green tomatoes

1 green mango or half a green papaya, or a mix of the two

1 avocado

1 1/2 cups honeydew melon balls

20 to 30 shiso leaves, in a chiffonade

Sunflower seeds

Hemp seeds

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup almond oil

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and set aside. Dice or slice the tomatoes. Peel the mango and/or papaya. Make a fine julienne, using a julienne peeler or a knife. Cut the avocado into small dice. In a salad bowl, mix together the melon balls, the tomato and the mango and/or papaya. Add as much dressing as you like and sprinkle the shiso over top. Mix. Add the avocado and mix some more, gently. Divide the salad among four plates. Sprinkle with the sunflower and hemp seeds and serve.

GREEN & GREEN

Serves 4

This salad features quickly cooked green vegetables as well as raw green vegetables: good and also good for you. Goes well with quinoa or couscous.

1 1/2 cups green beans, tipped and tailed

1 cup sugar snap peas, in pods

1 cup snow pea pods

2 pinches sea salt

1 litre boiling water

1 fistful mint leaves

1/4 cup pistachio oil or avocado oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup mesclun

Black sesame seeds

Wash and dry the beans and peas. Remove the thin string that runs along one or both sides of the pea pods. Cut the vegetables into pieces or, if they’re not too large, leave them whole. Place beans and peas in a large bowl and salt them. Pour the boiling water over the vegetables and leave for two minutes. Drain and run the vegetables under cold water until they cool down. Pat dry with a dish towel or paper towelling. Place vegetables in a serving bowl. Tear the mint leaves over the vegetables. Pour the oil over the salad and mix. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve over mesclun and garnish with black sesame seeds.

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Recipes: Tender Greens salad, French vinaigrette