Salad Composée!

I wanted to make a special 'Welcome Home' dinner for Jody last night so I asked Rob what I should make.  Rob listed a few things and then it hit me, I had to make a Salad Composée.

I found this description for Salad Composée at CookThink.com and I think it sums it up nicely:

"A successful composed salad should have a balance of colours, flavours and textures, and may contain crudités such as tomatoes, greens or carrots; cold chicken, tuna, anchovies or eggs; a bit of cheese; and potatoes, pasta, rice or beans with an olive oil-based vinaigrette.  The possibilities are really endless."

I make this salad as a main dinner salad and whenever I make it, we enjoy it very much.  Whenever I made it and Jody was eating dinner with us, Rob and Jody argued over every bite :)  When I was a kid this was one of my favorite meals.  I make it with a lot of different things but it is always really, really tasty.

Here is the one I made last night:

I used:

-carrots

-cucumber

-celery

-lettuce

-red pepper

-red cabbage

-radishes

-brie cheese

-turkey

-salami

I served it with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, a dish of lemon hummus and a loaf of sourdough bread.  So so so tasty!  And if you go easy on the cheese, meat and bread (we ate many more veggies than meat and cheese) it is healthy.  If tomatoes were not so expensive and tasted so badly at this time of the year I would have used them too; I basically use as many fresh veggies as I can find.  Sometimes I steam green beans to go with it and often use olives as well.

I have made this salad with leftover steak, chicken and all sorts of cold cuts; I have also used fresh mozzarella and other cheeses.  Whatever the combo, it is a hit.  The key is really to use a lot of colours and textures and to serve it with a tasty vinaigrette.  Make this one night, you will be surprised at how popular this is as a main dinner!

-E