Iceberg Ahead
I became one year older last Saturday. Ah yes, the fabled 34th birthday of the single urban female; I guaranteed my ovaries one last year of fun before they go stale.
It wasn’t as depressing as I let on; I was too exhausted after my string of extreme labor to think much about it. I packed my dog in the car and headed south for a weekend on the Virginia Shore.
Most important part of the trip: road food. I found an actual non-chain restaurant midway through Delaware and the parking lot was full so I gave it a go. It was a beautiful day but the restaurant's windows were blackened and the place was dark; primarily to make sure that all attention went to the choo-choo riding along the perimeter of the restaurant. It was local, it was depressing, and it was my birthday.
I ordered a Bloody Mary and looked at the menu. It was like navigating a minefield; I wanted something cooked (to ensure safety) and was trying to avoid anything superfatty or fried. I ordered a burger; and spoke the toppings to the waitress as if they were poetry. And I made the very clear request for medium rare. Which was met with the following response: “We only cook burgers well done in Delaware.”
Um, what? Isn’t this my meal, my bacteria roulette, my GODDAMN BIRTHDAY!? A curse on the whole of this state. But according to my food safety class, recently it’s the same rule in New York UNLESS the diner requests something different. Which we always do, especially when prompted with a “And you want that medium rare, right?” by an attitude-rich NY waitress.
I ordered a turkey club and called it a day.
On my way back, I also stopped for local roadfood, this time at a fish place. The church crowd was enjoying the post-sermon seafood, and the place had a better vibe. I had a shrimp boil thick with Old Bay that was out of this world, and a frozen crabcake was a huge mistake, but that was okay; this meal came with hush puppies and the requisite iceberg salad.
In fact, the iceberg salad was the one constant between my two roadside feeding frenzies. And then, twice this week on the show I’ve been styling, we made salads with iceberg lettuce. I don’t know if it’s retro-chic, cost-savings, or what, but I had a whole lot of extra lettuce in the fridge this week for family meal, and I was eager to make it sing. That many icebergs just can't be avoided.
Iceberg lettuce is a forgotten pleasure. Many of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s ate it every night for dinner (those a generation older might remember serving it to us), but at some point it became verboten. Something about the “green” lacking vitamins, nutrients, and offering anything redeemable beyond it’s ability to act as a vehicle for a tasty dressing.
But like any forbidden treat, it’s fun. This week, I made my crew a few different iceberg salads, and they liked them a whole lot. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think.
Iceberg Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Serves 4 to 6
4 ounces Danish blue cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and roughly chopped
2 ounces container baby arugula (optional)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large mixing bowl, combine blue cheese, olive oil, canola, red wine vinegar, and Dijon; whisk to combine. Add iceberg and arugula; toss to combine. Taste; season as needed with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately. (The arugula will wilt considerably if held for more than 15 minutes.
Iceberg, Feta, Red Onion Salad
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 head iceberg lettuce, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced, soaked in ice water for 15 minutes, drained
1/2 cup pitted salt-cured (also called Moroccan) olives
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, feta and oregano; whisk to combine. Add lettuce, onion and olives; toss to combine. Taste; season as needed with salt and pepper.
It wasn’t as depressing as I let on; I was too exhausted after my string of extreme labor to think much about it. I packed my dog in the car and headed south for a weekend on the Virginia Shore.
Most important part of the trip: road food. I found an actual non-chain restaurant midway through Delaware and the parking lot was full so I gave it a go. It was a beautiful day but the restaurant's windows were blackened and the place was dark; primarily to make sure that all attention went to the choo-choo riding along the perimeter of the restaurant. It was local, it was depressing, and it was my birthday.
I ordered a Bloody Mary and looked at the menu. It was like navigating a minefield; I wanted something cooked (to ensure safety) and was trying to avoid anything superfatty or fried. I ordered a burger; and spoke the toppings to the waitress as if they were poetry. And I made the very clear request for medium rare. Which was met with the following response: “We only cook burgers well done in Delaware.”
Um, what? Isn’t this my meal, my bacteria roulette, my GODDAMN BIRTHDAY!? A curse on the whole of this state. But according to my food safety class, recently it’s the same rule in New York UNLESS the diner requests something different. Which we always do, especially when prompted with a “And you want that medium rare, right?” by an attitude-rich NY waitress.
I ordered a turkey club and called it a day.
On my way back, I also stopped for local roadfood, this time at a fish place. The church crowd was enjoying the post-sermon seafood, and the place had a better vibe. I had a shrimp boil thick with Old Bay that was out of this world, and a frozen crabcake was a huge mistake, but that was okay; this meal came with hush puppies and the requisite iceberg salad.
In fact, the iceberg salad was the one constant between my two roadside feeding frenzies. And then, twice this week on the show I’ve been styling, we made salads with iceberg lettuce. I don’t know if it’s retro-chic, cost-savings, or what, but I had a whole lot of extra lettuce in the fridge this week for family meal, and I was eager to make it sing. That many icebergs just can't be avoided.
Iceberg lettuce is a forgotten pleasure. Many of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s ate it every night for dinner (those a generation older might remember serving it to us), but at some point it became verboten. Something about the “green” lacking vitamins, nutrients, and offering anything redeemable beyond it’s ability to act as a vehicle for a tasty dressing.
But like any forbidden treat, it’s fun. This week, I made my crew a few different iceberg salads, and they liked them a whole lot. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think.
Iceberg Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Serves 4 to 6
4 ounces Danish blue cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and roughly chopped
2 ounces container baby arugula (optional)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large mixing bowl, combine blue cheese, olive oil, canola, red wine vinegar, and Dijon; whisk to combine. Add iceberg and arugula; toss to combine. Taste; season as needed with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately. (The arugula will wilt considerably if held for more than 15 minutes.
Iceberg, Feta, Red Onion Salad
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 head iceberg lettuce, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced, soaked in ice water for 15 minutes, drained
1/2 cup pitted salt-cured (also called Moroccan) olives
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, feta and oregano; whisk to combine. Add lettuce, onion and olives; toss to combine. Taste; season as needed with salt and pepper.
posted by Allison Fishman Task at 1:43 PM
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