This afternoon, driving downtown with Alan & the kids, I mentioned that I might make a salad for dinner with a caper vinaigrette. Alan wrinkled his nose and said, "Capers? No thanks."
I didn't let his reaction take the wind out of my sails. I went home and prepared a delicious salad, complete with the caper vinaigrette. He tucked right into that salad and, until he reads this, has no idea that he thoroughly enjoyed the dreaded caper vinaigrette! Don't get me wrong; I am not in the habit of tricking unsuspecting diners. I would never tell a vegetarian that they were eating something vegetarian that actually had chicken stock in it (I am sure this happens more than you think). However, I have been known to trick my Dad, a man suspicious of most ground meats). It is just so much fun to see his face when confronted with the truth: what he thought was ground beef in his tacos was actually ground turkey ("how did you enjoy your turkey tacos, Dad?!"). With all of this said, I promise I will not pull the wool over your eyes, on the blog or in my kitchen!
This recipe came from "The Flexitarian Table" by Peter Berley. I am still LOVING this cookbook! His recipe is called "Salade Nicoise with Many Possibilities". While eating this salad, I was reminded of making a special salad while living in France. It was the middle of summer and we had a beautiful veggie garden, from which I could pick fresh lettuces, and other vegetables. A garlicky vinaigrette paired well with lamb's lettuce, red & green leaf lettuce, crisp little pieces of bacon, and soft poached eggs. What a summer meal! For our salad tonight, I used romaine lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, broiled salmon, Yukon gold mini potatoes, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and pickled red onions.
I made the red onions not long before serving the salad was ready, as the recipe says to let them sit anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 month. For the pickled red onions, thinly slice a medium red onion and place in a jar or container that will hold them. I used a 1 litre container with a lid. To the onions, add 1 T. sugar and 1 T. Kosher salt, 2 T. white vinegar, and 1 c. water. Put the lid on and shake to mix all of the ingredients. A half hour later, enjoy the slightly sweet onions on your salad. At the same time, I popped the piece of salmon (which was probably only about 8 oz. or so for the four of us) in the oven for about 15 minutes, maybe less. I topped it with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt & pepper.
Next, I made the vinaigrette. I used my Braun hand blender in the 2-cup measuring cup that it came with. The recipe makes about one cup of vinaigrette and we didn't use it all. After the potatoes were finished boiling but still warm, I mixed in a couple tablespoons of the vinaigrette for them to soak in, and a sprinkling of green onions. When it came time to serve the dinner, I mixed the romaine with some vinaigrette, placed a serving of the lettuce on each plate, and composed the rest of the salad on top of the lettuce. A small piece of salmon for everyone, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, crumbled feta cheese, eggs, a little extra vinaigrette on top, and voila!
I think there is a lesson here regarding the capers. Even if you would never eat a caper straight out of the jar, once a caper is incorporated into a recipe, chances are you won't even realize that the capers are the ones adding that little something extra to your dish. Two recipes containing capers that I can think of right off the top are, "My Favourite Tartar Sauce" (June '07) and the smoked trout dip (Dec. '07). I wouldn't dream of leaving capers out of either of these recipes, and I am sure there have been a number of people who weren't keen on capers, but have enjoyed both of those recipes.
Caper Vinaigrette
3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
2 T. Dijon mustard
3 or 4 t. capers, rinsed and drained
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth.
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