Two salads

My SO and I tried out some new salad recipes for Christmas dinner, based on an article in the most recent edition of Fine Cooking. The salads were very flavorful, and contrasted with each other nicely, so I'll include them both in this week's end-of-the-week recipe blogging post. For both salads we got the ingredients ready and then brought them all to the table, allowing us to add as much of each as we desired.

Salad 1: Kalamata olives, tomatoes, onions, and feta with an olive vinaigrette dressing
Salad 2: Apples, toasted pecans, and feta with a feta vinaigrette dressing

Salad 1: Olives ahoy!

Salad ingredients
Whole, pitted, kalamata olives (or whatever kind you prefer)
Fresh tomato, sliced
Sweet onion, sliced
Feta cheese, crumbled
Mix of greens (we used spinach, romaine, and a mix of other greens)
Olive vinaigrette

Olive vinaigrette (from Fine Cooking)
3 anchovy filets, rinsed, dried, and chopped (we used ~1 tablespoon anchovy paste)
2 teaspoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced or pressed with a garlic press
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
ground pepper (to taste, we used a bit less than 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

To make the dressing
1. Mix the anchovy filets, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, and pepper. Let rest for ~10 minutes.
2. Add the chopped olives and parsley, mix.
3. Slowly add the olive oil while mixing.
4. Let the dressing sit overnight in the fridge, or at room temperature for a few hours, before using. Let warm to room temperature, if you have time, and whisk the oil back in before serving.

To make the salad
1. Mix the salad ingredients together, add as much dressing as you prefer, and serve.

Salad 2: Apples and pecans!

Salad ingredients
Apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into ~2 cm^3 chunks
Shelled pecans
Feta cheese, crumbled
Mix of greens (we used spinach, romaine, and a mix of other greens)
Feta vinaigrette

Feta vinaigrette (modified from Fine Cooking)
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 teaspoons whole-seed mustard (or Dijon mustard)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Ground black pepper (a few grinds)
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled

To make the dressing
1. Mix the shallots, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper together and let sit for ~10 minutes.
2. Add the olive oil and whisk together, then mix in the feta cheese.
3. Let the dressing sit overnight in the fridge, or at room temperature for a few hours, before using. Let warm to room temperature, if you have time, and whisk the oil back in before serving.

To make the salad
1. Toast the pecans by putting them in a dry frying pan over medium high heat. Shake or stir them frequently until they smell fragrant / toasty and begin to brown.
2. Peel and chop the apples just before using.
3. Mix the apples, pecans, feta, and greens together, add dressing, and serve.

My SO substituted peeled, sliced fresh oranges after we ran out of apples, and the salad was just as good.

Reference
Sinskey, M.H. 2005. Creating Elegant Winter Salads. Fine Cooking 69: 52-56.

[Updated December 2007 to add a link to our homemade mustard.]