Cooking (not) by the Book - 03/11/10

I have to hand it to Proctor, they’ve done a pretty great job recently with their stir-fries. I was impressed with chicken and broccoli, and while I’m not a tempeh aficionado, my friends were raving about it at dinner the other night. Furthermore, what’s not to love about days with pretty much perfectly sliced grilled chicken for lunch? What I’m trying to get at is that though this column is based around the idea of creativity in the dining hall, it’s hard to be successfully creative without a good raw product.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself being less and less outlandish in my creations, simply because what the dining hall has created for me has been really good. Instead of going big, I’ve been focusing on embellishments: a salad here and a sauce there that help spice up a balanced, delicious main dish. So in today’s column, I’d like to share some of the smaller tips I’ve developed over the semester that help make already delicious dishes that much better. Because I like alliteration, let’s title it “Salads and Sauces.”

The Staple Salad (only better)

I’ve noticed a pattern around the lunch table: despite the fact that the Proctor salad bar is seriously well stocked, most people (myself included) tend to eat the same salad every lunch or dinner. To jazz your salad up, try one of these simple tips:

1. “Wilt” your spinach.

I’m a big fan of spinach over mixed greens, and “wilting” it in the microwave has produced some seriously desirable results. Using a ceramic bowl (plastic does badly in the microwave), just add spinach and drizzle some olive oil over the top. I’d say lightly cover the leaves, but don’t drown them — you don’t want it to get soggy. Pop the bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds, and you’ll be all set! I’d also recommend adding some feta — it’s a great complement to the warm spinach, and soaks up some of the olive oil!

2. Marinate your tomatoes.

Another easy step that goes a long way: before you start assembling the rest of your salad, grab one of the tiny bowls from the dessert table and fill it with balsamic vinegar. Grab some cherry tomatoes from the salad bar and slice them in half, and then put your tomato halves in the bowl. Let them soak up the vinegar while you make the rest of your meal, then dump the tomatoes and vinegar on to your salad with the dressing. The tiny tomato bites will be packed with flavor… a taste explosion, if you will.

Get Saucy

1. Peanut-Sesame Sauce

This Thai-inspired sauce has saved many a boring chicken panini for me, and it’s really easy to make! Grab a tiny bowl from the dessert table and fill it up halfway with sesame oil. Add in a spoonful of Dijon mustard from the sandwich bar, and mix in some regular (not natural) peanut butter. The ratio of ingredients is up to you: if the sauce is going into a Panini, you might want to up your peanut butter quantity, but if you’re going for sesame noodles, you’ll want to go lighter on the peanut butter so the sauce is a little less thick. But, as always, it’s to your taste!

2. Pesto-Balsamic Dressing

For those of you hoping for something a little more inspired than the usual balsamic vinegar-olive oil salad dressing, here’s a quick tip to add some flavor: in a bowl, mix balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pesto sauce and Dijon mustard. Whisk it together and pour immediately (so your oil and vinegar don’t separate) over your salad. Voila!

Sometimes, it’s important just to make the little things count. A well-placed sauce or slightly jazzed-up salad can make all the difference in a mundane meal, so try it out! Don’t get stuck in the salad bar rut. And props to you, Proctor, for giving me such a satisfied meal week that most of my creativity came “on the side.”