ISLAND PANTRY
True salad has body and can be savored

By Kaui Philpotts

"It isn't a salad if it doesn't have at least five ingredients" says a friend of mine.

I have always agreed. A bit of green with some oil and vinegar passes as a salad, but a REAL one has body. It has something to savor and chew. A real salad has texture and crunch, sweet and sour.

I dug into my file of big-time salads and came up with these three that make the point.

The first is Asian Cole Slaw — shredded vegetables topped with a mayonnaise-ginger-sesame oil dressing. If you like crunchy cole slaw, don't toss it together until an hour before the meal. Otherwise, the salad can be put together a couple of hours in advance.

Be creative. I usually begin with mayonnaise, sesame oil and mirin or sushi vinegar then add garlic and ginger finely chopped. You could also put in furikake, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame seeds (black or white), chili sauce, lime juice.

Get creative with your cabbages too. Head cabbage is a good start, but you can add won bok, red cabbage or mustard cabbage. If you have watercress, add it; also thawed green peas. Carrots are good, also slivered bell pepper and daikon. Fresh chopped mint also adds a nice Southeast Asian touch.

Asian Cole Slaw

For the salad:

• 1/2 head won bok cabbage (napa), thinly shredded
• 1/2 head of red cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 daikon, peeled and grated (use food processor or box grater)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• 2 cups watercress, washed and chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1/2 cup cilantro (Chinese parsley)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons mirin or rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce

Chopped fresh chilies to taste, or 1/4 cup chili sauce

Chop all the salad ingredients and mix in a large salad bowl. In a bowl, mix together all the dressing ingredients. Set aside. About one to two hours prior to serving, mix the dressing and salad and hold in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can keep the salad refrigerated for up to four days. Serves 8.

Every seaside resort and country club has a version of this traditional "meal in a bowl," Cobb Salad — mounds of crumbled bacon, blue cheese, chopped egg, tomato, avocado and chicken, all neatly wedged over chopped iceberg lettuce.

I like my Cobb pre-tossed because it's impossible to do it at the table without leaving most of it outside the salad bowl. The classic Cobb dressing is just a little vinegar, salt and pepper that has been whisked with oil until it emulsifies. However, if you really want to be bad, try an old-fashioned Green Goddess dressing and ignore the calories.

Classic Cobb Salad

• 1 bunch watercress, rinsed and chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped fine (about 5 cups)
• 1 small head romaine lettuce. chopped fine (about 5 cups)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup or more olive oil
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
• 6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 1 cup crumbled roquefort cheese
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 5 tomatoes, chopped
• 6 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

In a large salad bowl, combine the watercress, iceberg and romaine lettuces. Cover, chill. Take 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and blend. Then toss the diced chicken with the dressing and set aside. Toss the chopped avocado with the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice and salt to taste. Set aside.

In a bowl, toss the chopped eggs with the roquefort. In another bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar with 1/2 cup of the remaining oil in a stream until it is emulsified. Drizzle the remaining one quarter cup oil over the greens and toss until everything is coated.

Arrange the chicken, avocado, egg mixture, tomatoes and bacon decoratively on the greens. To serve, whisk the dressing again and pour it over the salad. Toss the salad and serve on individual plates. Serves 8 to 10.

This Vietnamese Grilled Beef Salad was inspired by one made by cookbook author Mai Pham in "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table." If it's mango season and you are lucky enough to have some green or half-ripe ones, julienne them for the salad. Otherwise, green Granny Smith apples work well.

In place of this marinade, you can use any teriyaki or kalbi sauce with thin strips of butter yaki-cut beef instead of flank steak.

Vietnamese Grilled Beef Salad

• 1 pound flank steak, or butter yaki strips

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup minced fresh lemongrass (outer leaves discarded)
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Salad:

• 4 Granny Smith apples or half-ripe mangoes, julienned
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped salted, dry-roasted peanuts

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 of a whole lime
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 4 to 1 whole fresh serrano chile, including seeds

Marinate the beef in the lemongrass, shallots, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar mixture. Set aside for at least 20 minutes. Prepare the salad and toss the apples or mangoes, basil, cilantro and peanuts. Prepare the dressing in a blender, and toss with the salad greens. Place the salad on individual plates. Grill the meat, or quickly sear in a nonstick skillet, about 1 minute a side. Place the warm beef on top of the greens and drizzle with remaining dressing. Serves 4.