- Hey guys, today I'm gonna show you
how to make three terrific spring salad ideas,
that would be perfect for Easter Sunday,
they're quick, they're fresh and so delicious too
and I'll also give you some ideas of what to pair with them
from recipes from my channel.
Okay, let me show you how to put 'em together.
First up, let's tackle
the Cucumber, Radish and Sugar Pea Salad,
I love this combination,
because it is so springy and so fresh,
it's also a super simple salad to put together
and has just a few key ingredients.
So we're first gonna be working
with three English cucumbers,
so we wanna slice our cucumbers into thin discs
and I find the easiest way to do that is with a mandolin,
but you can also use a sharp knife too,
now most mandolins come with a hand guard,
which I highly recommend using,
but because the cucumbers are so long,
what I recommend doing is cut them in thirds,
slice them just a little bit and then put the hand guard on
and you'll see you'll have beautiful cucumber slices,
that are all uniform in size, that's why I love the mandolin
and then you're gonna do the same thing with the radish,
so you just wanna cut the tops off the radish
and give yourself a flat side
and then working with the hand guard, slice your radishes
and we're gonna be using four of those.
Then you're gonna transfer your cucumbers
and your radishes into a large mixing bowl,
you're going to add two cups of sugar snap peas,
a quarter cup of light, sour cream,
now if you can't find sour cream where you live,
you could also use plain, Greek yogurt
and then add some salt and pepper to taste.
So for this salad I really like to use
a finishing salt like a fleur de sel,
just because you'll get really nice,
sort of crunchy flakes of salt,
which works really well with the cucumber
and then you're also gonna add a tablespoon
of freshly chopped dill
and then just gently toss the salad,
so that you don't break up the cucumbers or the radishes
and then once everything is coated with the sour cream,
you can transfer to your serving platter
and then this time of year,
you can find lots of edible flowers
in the supermarket in the produce aisle,
typically where they sell the packaged herbs
and I love to use just the nasturtiums from my garden
and if you've never tried a nasturtium before,
they're a wonderful, edible flower,
that have a bit of a peppery taste to them,
I like to drop them into salads
or they also look really pretty in a cocktail,
but you also could use edible pansies or marigolds,
just if you're doing this, make sure that you're buying it
from a grocery store or you're growing them yourself,
I wouldn't go into a neighbor's yard
(laughs) and start picking the flowers,
because you don't know what they're putting on them,
you wanna make sure they're safe to eat.
Okay, so there you have it, salad number one down
and this is a salad that I think pairs beautifully
with my Barbecued Lemon Chicken recipe,
so I'll leave you the link to that video in the description.
Next up, let me show you how to make
my Charred Asparagus Salad with a Thyme Shallot Vinaigrette,
it's a super simple recipe to put together
and it pairs beautifully with things like chicken or salmon,
I really love to serve this recipe
with my Lobster Thermidor, which is another elegant meal,
if you're looking for something to serve on Easter Sunday.
So the first thing you wanna do is trim your asparagus,
so you just wanna trim off the ends,
that sort of really coarse, fibrous area
at the end of the asparagus spear
and I also think it's a good thing to do
to trim according to the size of your skillet
and you wanna make sure that they all lay down in there flat
and then we're gonna drizzle
a little bit of olive oil in our skillet
and then we're gonna char the asparagus in batches
and you just wanna lay the asparagus down
on a single layer, because they'll char easier that way.
The trick with this technique
is you don't wanna overcook the asparagus,
because then they're gonna lose their crispness
and get kind of limp on you,
so just do it long enough for the asparagus to char,
you'll see it'll start to turn kind of golden brown
and blistered and then you can take them off,
you could even do this the day before,
because this is a salad that's meant to be served cold.
Then for our dressing, we're going to take
a teaspoon and a half of Dijon mustard,
a teaspoon and a half of white balsamic vinegar,
I love the white balsamic,
because it has a really nice sweetness to it,
which is going to pair really well with the shallot
and you can mix that up, until combined
and then we're slowly going to whisk in
about three to four tablespoons of grapeseed oil
or any kind of non-flavored oil, now I say three to four,
because you can start with three,
if you like a nice tang to your vinaigrette,
that might be all you need,
if you like it a little bit more mellowed in flavor,
add another tablespoon and that will knock it down
and then we're also gonna add
a half a teaspoon of freshly minced thyme
and a tablespoon of minced shallots
and then whisk that all up
and the way I like to serve this
is to take the asparagus spears and line them,
all going the same way (laughs) on a rectangular platter
and then just drizzle the vinaigrette on top
and then for some added freshness
and to make it even extra pretty,
you can garnish with a little bit of lemon zest on top
and that'll create a really nice springy flavor
and there you have it, second salad down and ready to go.
Okay, so for our third salad, I'm gonna show you
how to make a wonderful, Chilled Couscous Salad
with Dried Fruits and Nuts and Fresh Mint.
This would be a wonderful salad
to pair with my Cinnamon Chicken recipe.
So in a large saucepan, you're gonna boil
a cup and a half of water with two tablespoons of butter
and a half a teaspoon of salt.
Once it comes up to a boil, you can then add
a cup and a half of couscous, turn off the flame,
put the lid on the pot and just let it sit there,
this is the easiest type of dish to make,
because it cooks in like five minutes,
then once it's done, you can remove your lid,
fluff it up with a fork and then transfer it
to a large mixing bowl to cool
and while that's cooling, we can toast our almonds,
so we're gonna have two types of nuts in this salad,
we're gonna do some almonds as well as some pistachios
and I really like to toast one and leave the other one raw,
(laughs) I just think it adds for some great texture
and different flavors in the couscous,
so I like to toast the almonds,
because you'll get a really nice crunch that way
and then leave the pistachios raw,
because they're kind of meaty and flavorful
and I think they're better raw.
So on a large baking sheet, you're gonna add
a half a cup of the raw, sliced almonds
and you're gonna bake those at 350
for about six to eight minutes
just until they're fragrant and golden brown,
then you can pull them out and allow them to cool
and then to your couscous, you're going to add
the toasted almonds, a half a cup of shelled pistachio nuts.
Now for those of you who live in the States,
you can get shelled pistachio nuts
by the bag at Trader Joe's, (laughs)
actually this is a really awesome Trader Joe's salad,
because you can get everything you need right there.
(laughs)
You're also gonna add a third of a cup of dried cherries,
a third of a cup of golden raisins
and then a full 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans,
that you have drained and rinsed,
this'll just add a little bit more protein to the salad.
Then you can toss this all up, until everything's combined.
Now if you're not serving this right away,
I would cover and refrigerate and then right before serving,
I would toss in a quarter cup of freshly chopped mint,
you'll get the best flavor that way,
if you chop it right before you serve it,
rather than if it sits in the fridge,
it probably won't have much flavor (laughs) the next day
and the way I like to serve this is to take a shallow bowl,
almost something that's just a step up from a plate
and then pour out the couscous,
so that it kind of mounds up
and creates almost like a little pyramid,
I think it looks really pretty that way,
it's just a simple thing to do
and there you go, another wonderful, springtime salad
that would be perfect for Easter Sunday.
I hope you guys give these salads a try
and let me know what you think,
subscribe for more quick and easy recipes
and I'll see you back here next week with another one,
until then, bye.