If you are looking for a fulfilling main-dish salad to serve up for your next seduction meal, consider the French inspired, colorful Salad Nicoise. Grilled tuna steak served over a medley of potatoes, kalamata olives, tomatoes, boiled eggs, and anchovies. For an added twist, I've topped this salad with a stream of green garlic cilantro sauce.


Salad Nicoise
1 cup of mixed greens, washed and set aside to dry
2 medium to hard-boiled eggs
6 small yukon or red potatoes, boiled
pitted Kalamata olives
hericot vert, steamed, enough for two
anchovies (optional)

Prepare all ingredients and set aside while you prepare the dressing, cilantro sauce, and tuna steaks.

Lemon Salad Dressing
I like this salad dressing from cooks.com / serves 6

1/4 c. sugar
Juice of 1 lg. lemon (3 scant tbsp.)
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp. vegetable oil

Place sugar in medium bowl. Add lemon juice and whisk until most of sugar is dissolved. Add yolk and whisk until sugar is completely dissolved. Add oil 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly until dressing is thick and creamy. Cover and refrigerate. To serve, re-whisk dressing, if necessary. Pour over salad and toss gently.

Cilantro Sauce
Go to the link above for the cilantro sauce recipe. Instead of using a garlic infused dressing, I preferred to add garlic to this delicious sauce. Also, as you will see, the original recipe prefers that sauce is blended until creamy. I preferred small garlic pieces for this version. You can reduce the recipe in half or use the left over sauce for sandwiches or dinner tomorrow night.

Seared Tuna
2 tuna steaks, the best grade you can find, about 1 inch thick
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 lemon

Add olive oil to cast iron skillet, over medium high flame. Salt and pepper each steak. Place fish in skillet; add a sqeeze of fresh lemon juice over fish. Cook 3 minutes on one side, turn over and add balsamic vinegar. Cook for 2-3 minutes on this side, or until medium-rare or desired degree of doneness. Remove tuna from the skillet and heat immediately.

Plating the Dish

Place a handful of mixed greens each plate. Arrange the string beans, tomatoes, olives, potatoes and sliced boiled eggs on the plate. Drizzle with salad dressing. The various colors of these ingredients make for a visually beautiful presentation. Top the salad with a grilled Tuna steak and a stream of the garlic cilantro sauce.  Add anchovies (optional).

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Another saporous recipe sent to SeductionMeals.com by Stefan in NYC: Fig 'n Frisee Four-Play Salad

"I know what all of you are thinking. Friggin' easy, right? Fore-play, right?  Well, it is easy, and this four-play will certainly prime your appetite for the other fore-play. Let's start out with our four-play: sweet, citric, crunchy, and crumbly. The sweetness is derived from figs and sun-dried tomatoes, both originating from the Mediterranean (birthplace of sensuality) and the Garden of Eden (we all know what the fig leaf was used for).  Lemon is next giving the salad and our taste buds subtle surprise (remember a little surprise goes a long way).  Next is texture; the crispness of the frisee and spinach (both must be fresh and chilled) along with the tender pine nuts imparts the crunchy, and the cheese and smoked fish imparts the crumbly. When the two textures, combined with sweetness and citric come together in your mouth....oh, behave!"


Fig 'n Frisee Four-Play Salad
Serves Two: Use large salad bowls

1 bunch of baby spinach leaves (1/2 bag)

1/2 head of frisee

1/4 cup of smoked peppered fish (bluefish or mackerel), coarsely flaked. If peppered can't be found, plain smoked is fine.

1/4 cup Papillon Roquefort cheese (or your favorite blue cheese), coarsely crumbled

5 figs, quartered

8 very fine julienned lemon peels

4 sun-dried tomatoes, finely julienned

2 tbsp pine nuts

8 - 12 pitted olives, green and black

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste


Salad Preperation

Coarsely tear the spinach leaves along with the frisee and soak in a salad spinner with iced water(a half dozen ice cubes should do the trick). Set aside.  Next, crumble the smoked peppered fish (skin removed) by hand keeping the pieces small bite size.  Set aside. Ditto the Roguefort cheese, keeping the pieces even smaller. Roguefort has a strong pungent taste, so you don't want to overwhelm your taste buds with pieces too large).  Set aside. 

Quarter the figs (slice length-wise once, turn keeping the fig together, and slice again); juliennethe lemon peels into very slender slivers, about 1 to 1 1/2 inch long.  Ditto the sun-dried tomatoes, thicker slivers, about the same length as the lemon peel.  Slice half the green and black olives width-wise, making nickel-size rings.  Set everything aside. 

Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, mix and set aside.

Drain the spinach and frisee making sure all ice has melted.  Spin to remove all water.  Spin again for the last drops.  At this point, I like to put the spinach and frisee and the Roguefort cheese, separate of course, in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to get it thoroughly chilled and make sure the cheese stays crumbly. 

While you're waiting, pour your guest and yourself a wonderful white wine, full bodied, and have an enchanting discussion on Mediterranean culture (skip Aristotle and gently go to olive trees and sensuality and, uh, you know what I mean!). Pour yourselves another glass of wine (next try Brigitte Bardot, "And God Created Woman", or "Zorba the Greek", Anthony Quinn, quote, "God is very understanding, but there is one thing he will never forgive!  When a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go!  This I know, because a very wise old Turk once told me.").

Plating the Dish

Remove the spinach and frisee and Roguefort cheese from the refrigerator. Use two large plates or large shallow soup bowls and arrange the greens so as not to overflow the sides. Sprinkle over the greens two tablespoons of the oil/vinegar mixture.  Next, sprinkle on top the smoked fish and Roguefort cheese, the whole green and black olives, evenly arrange the figs on top, add the sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. 

Garnish with julienned lemon peels and sliced green and black olives on top.  It should look quite mesmerizing with all the different colors and shapes popping through. Sprinkle with two more tablespoons of oil/vinegar mixture on each plate.  A little fresh cracked pepper on top and Voila!  Enjoy!

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It's time to welcome the coming of Spring with lighter fare, and this salad is a great start.   Serve this tempting arugula salad, mixed with oranges and feta, as a side dish to a simple grilled rib eye steak or grilled swordfish, or plate up a large salad bowl and served on its own. You can add kalamata olives to add another dimension of flavor.

Ingredients
2 cara cara oranges
2 blood oranges
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 cups total of mixed greens, frisee, and baby arugula, trimmed
cracked fresh pepper (use a pepper mill)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Note: The feta cheese can be salty, so taste before adding salt

preparation
Peel oranges, and carefully remove all skin and pith--the white substance between the peel of an orange and the fruit itself. Cut each orange crosswise into 6 slices.

Trim the stems from the arugula and thoroughly clean to remove sand/grit. Place in a large bowl and toss with salad dressing.

plating the dish
Add the mixed greens in a mound in the center of a plate. Arrange the orange slices nicely on top. Sprinkle with crumbled feta, and add kalamata olives if you desire.  Drizzle olive oil over the entire salad. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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For your Seduction Meal arsenal, it's a good idea to learn a few simple yet flavorful dishes that you can serve up for a refreshing "quickie" or as a side to a main dish. A simple Greek salad, this recipe is from the cookbook New Greek Cuisine from Jim Botsacos, the Chef of Molyvos Restaurant in NYC. Jim brings the vegetables from his garden to the table and prepares this dish with room temperature ingredients to maximize all flavors. Botsacos explains that in Greece greens are often not added to summer salads, except for perhaps a Romaine salad.

For a full meal, try serving this salad with Grilled Lamb Chops with roasted tomatoes, and end the night with this delightful dessert--panna cotta with balsamic flavored strawberries.


Ingredients

3 beefsteak tomatoes
1 hothouse cucumber, seeded (I like my seeds), scored and quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise 1/4 inch thick
1 small red onion
20 kalamata olives, pitted, and thinly sliced (I prefer mine left whole)
1 cup diced feta cheese
1 Tbsp well-drained capers
Red Wine Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
1 tsp dried Greek oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce  (if you like)

Red Wine Vinaigrette
makes about 3/4 cup

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
1 tsp dried Greek oregano
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste

Combine the vinegar with the garlic and the oregano in a small mixing bowl. Add the oil and using a wire whisk, beat constantly until the mixture is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.

Preparing the Salad.
Core the tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half crosswise, then cut each half into 5 pieces.Place the pieces in a mixing bowl. Add the cucumber.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise and then slice each half lengthwise into thin julienne. Add the onion to the bowl.

Add the olives, cheese and capers. Take the red wine vinaigrette and briefly whisk ingredients . Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Taste and season with oregano and salt and pepper to taste.

Plating the Dish
Place an equal portion of the lettuce (if you choose to add this ingredient) on a salad plate or bowl. Top with equal portion of the tomato salad/mixture. Sprinkle lightly with oregano and serve immediately.

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For a truly seductive, lighter pasta meal try Linguine alle vongole; an Italian dish made with fresh clams, parsley, garlic, white wine and butter. To start, serve up a simple salad like the radicchio salad with thinly sliced parmesean cheese slices.. Next serve up this great linguine dish with a bottle of chilled white wine and hot crusty bread and the night is yours.




Salad
1/4 cup extra olive oil
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Medium size head of radicchio lettuce
Fresh Parmesean cheese, long thin slices

Tear the radicchio in separate leaves. Place in a salad spinner filled with ice cold water--add some ice cubes if your water isn't ice cold. Let stand for a 5-10 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar.

Plate the Dish
Place the salad on each plate.  Using a cheese slicer to get very thin slices, carve long thin slices from the brick of cheese. Arrange slices over the lettuce. Drizzle with salad dressing, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Linguine alle Vongole
serves 4

4 Tbsp olive oil
1lb fresh minced clams
12 oz clam juice
2 dozen cockles
1 1/2 little neck clams
1 head of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1/2 stick sweet butter
1 Tbsp finely chopped red jalapeno
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 box linguine
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation
Simmer the onions and garlic in olive oil in a skillet over low heat (you do not want to brown them, only soften). When soft, add minced clams. Continue to cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add remaining liquid (wine and clam juice), turn heat up to medium, cooking until liquid just begins to boil, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.

Cook pasta as per directions being sure to remove when al dente. Strain the pasta and place in a large bowl, add 1/2 stick of butter and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.

Steam cockles and little necks  clams until shells just open. Remove from heat, set aside

Plating the dish
Heat up the minced clam juice. Place linguine in large serving bowl. Arrange littlenecks and cockles over the pasta and add minced clam mixture over the pasta and make sure its hot. Sprinkle red jalapeno (to taste), salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with the minced parsley.. Serve with your favorite wine, and toss the pasta at the table for maximum effect.

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As part of your culinary seduction quest, you will be happy to know Arugula (also known as rocket) has a long history of being referred to as an Aphrodisiac dating back to the ancient Romans and Egyptians.

Arugula has a peppery, somewhat bitter taste. It is typically sold with its roots attached and tends to have dirt/grit on the leaves so it needs a good cleaning. When buying arugula, look for bright green leaves that are not wilting. Baby arugula leaves are preferred for salads, while mature arugula leaves are larger, darker green and spicier. The thinner the leaves the better the taste.

In this salad, the arugula is enhanced by the flavors of freshly squeezed lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. This is a light, refreshing salad that is easy to prepare and can be serve with any meat, seafood or pasta dish; or simply eaten alone.

 

Arugula Salad with Lemon Coriander Dressing

1 small bunch of arugula, enough for two, leaves only.

juice of 1/2 lemon

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp coriander powder

4 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

fresh parmesan cheese, 8-10 thinly shaved slices

salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly wash and dry the arugula. Place dry leaves on serving plates. Set aside.

For the dressing: Mix together the olive oil, coriander powder, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon juice. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Stir or whisk until well blended. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to allow the sun-dried tomatoes to absorb the dressing.  Pour the dressing over the arugula salad, add the parmesan slices, salt and pepper to taste. Pour a glass of wine, get some sexy tunes going, light the candles and dig in.

I recently discovered a very cool food blog and on it this beautifully shot and wonderful recipe for Arugula Salad with Figs. The blog is called Big City Small Kitchen. Great name and very cool blog--check it out and bookmark that recipe.  

 

 

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Enjoy the sweet taste of summer with this corn, jalepeno and tomatoes salad. This delicate End of the Summer Corn salad is light dish with a little spicy kick. Try this with the Kickass BBQ Sauce over Juicy Thighs and you have a Seduction Meal in the making.

End of Summer Corn Salad for Two

3 ears of corn cut off the cob

5 tbsp virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1 ripe but firm black Haas avocado

1 large vine-ripened tomato (heirloom is best), seeded and cut into wedges

1/2 small red onion, diced

1 bunch of watercress, remove stems

Saute corn in 1 tbsp very hot olive oil for 2 minutes, stirring until kernels are crisp but tender. Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, mix well and remove pan from stove. Set aside.

Whisk together lime juice and 4 tbsp of olive oil. Add jalapeno, 3 tablespoons of cilantro. Toss in corn, onion, avocado and tomato. Add salt and pepper to taste. Plate your dish by adding a bunch of watercress to the center of each dish. Arrange the corn salad over the watercress (or you can use arugula) and top with a sprig of rosemary.

Note: You can easily add 4 seared scallops or shrimp to each plate to make this more of a main dish.

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Whenever you can--always buy FRESH. August and September are THE months to experience the true flavor of tomatoes and this salad is the perfect end-of-the summer treat. I am a big fan of Bon Appetit Magazine. A few years ago I discovered this recipe in the magazine and have been serving it up ever since--never without praise. I make it with or without the garlic toasted bread and I typically serve it with a grilled rib eye steak. (See next week's Grilled Rib Eye Recipe). You can find the original tomato salad recipe at Epicurous.com.

Tomato Blue Cheese Salad
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grape tomatoes or halved cherry or pear tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions

10 medium heirloom tomatoes of assorted colors, cored, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, sliced paper-thin
3 celery stalks, sliced thin on diagonal
1 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled blue cheese

Combine 1/3 cup oil, cherry or grape tomatoes, and green onions in medium bowl; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Overlap tomato slices in concentric circles on platter, alternating colors. Scatter onion and celery slices over tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon tomato and green onion mixture over. Sprinkle with crumbled cheese.

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