salad sauce

Green Sauce ~ Three Saucy Babes ~ Part 3

Sabrina Pflug | Peach and the WillowLeave a comment

Green Sauce

Awwww…Green Sauce, you beautiful babe you!  You’re pretty, smart and voted most likely to succeed!  Dinner parties are more interesting when you’re invited as you simply light up the table!   Vegetables are more vibrant when you’re around.  Even the humble grilled cheese breathes a breath of fresh air when you come to call.

Green Sauce is relatively new to my kitchen but has quickly sprung to the top of my “must have” list.  Although this saucy babe shares similar ingredients with Salsa Verde, Chimichurri or Pesto (all of which I greatly enjoy), I find Green Sauce to be something quite different and delicious in its own right.  The parsley and basil swim around beautifully in the most perfectly salty/citrusy bath, lending a freshness to almost anything with which its is paired.   My “go-to” for a quick dinner party is Seared Steak with Green Sauce.  It’s fancy without being snobby,  never takes itself too seriously but always completely consumed to the great delight of my guests.

Grilled Steak, Roasted Carrots, Purple Sweet Potatoes, Corn and Green Sauce
Pan Seared Steak with Roasted Carrots and Purple Sweet Potatoes finished with Green Sauce.  Green Sauce pairs as beautifully with the vegetables as it does the steak!

I’m a big believer that sauce should enhance the food…not smother the food. It should be a compliment to the dish…not overwhelming to it. I find this sauce always delivers!

I recently dined at a fantastic New Orleans restaurant, Peche Seafood Grille, on Magazine Street.  One of the dishes we ordered that evening was whole Red Fish, the quintessential fish of choice for locals. Upon arrival to the table I was delighted to find that the entire top of the fish was covered with their version of Green Sauce!  What a compliment to this beautifully prepared dish!  I have also recently noted that one of Nashville’s acclaimed restaurants, Husk, also serves their version of Green Sauce with beef dishes.

Husk
Photo courtesy of HuskNashville.com
Grilled Provolone Cheese with Green Sauce
A break from blogging for a quick lunch.  Green Sauce and Provolone Grilled Cheese!  Hello versatile sauce!!!  Taste-y sammy!

GREEN SAUCE

  1.  Two cups packed flat leafed parsley leaves
  2. One cup packed Basil leaves
  3. One garlic clove
  4. 2 tsp. capers
  5. 2 anchovy fillets
  6. pinch red pepper flakes
  7. 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
  8. Juice of one lemon
  9. Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients except olive oil in food processor or blender (blender will produce a Green Sauce Eclipsesmoother sauce and this is what I prefer) and pulse until leaves are broken down.  Stream in the olive oil, more for a loose sauce, less for one that is more dense.  Do not over puree’ but, instead, keep it a bit course in nature.

Serve atop meat or vegetables on a large platter or in a bowl for passing.

Recipe compliments:  Food 52  (my favorite food blog!)

Try your own variations with all three of these versatile sauces and share your results in the comments!   I just love hearing from you guys!!!  Cheers!!!

Three Saucy Babes
Three Saucy Babes; Salad Sauce, Good Gookamookee Sauce and Green Sauce

 

Three Saucy Babes You Can’t Live Without ~ Part One

Sabrina Pflug | Peach and the WillowLeave a comment
Three Saucy Babes
Portrait of Three Saucy Babes

Sound like rock stars, don’t they?  That’s because these Three Saucy Babes are culinary rock stars!!!  And with not a single “walk of shame” between them!  They bring the kind of giddy “sauciness” to my cooking life that I simply can’t live without in my kitchen!  Spiciness, sweetness, piquantness, freshness…each one adding their own fascinating and lively taste to the food I serve.  And with such great variation!  Are you in love yet?  You ready to turn them up to 11 and rip off the knob???  (Ha!…my attempt at humor has me cracking myself up.)

Introducing Three Saucy Babes:

  1.  Salad Sauce (aka, my go-to salad dressing)
  2. Good Goo-ka-moo-kee Sauce (aka, my favorite BBQ sauce that also doubles as a marinade)
  3. Green Sauce (aka, “Holy Moly that’s awesome sauce”…not to be confused with Chimichurri Sauce)

PART ONE (of a 3 Part Mini Series)

SALAD SAUCE – The “salad sauce” is really a beautiful vinaigrette especially designed for a Greek Salad.  I first became obsessed with it after seeing the recipe on the “How Sweet Eats” blog (her post is here) and have made it a staple in my fridge ever since!  Hear me loud and clear when I say this is EVERYONE’s favorite salad sauce in my circle of friends and family!  I’m always asked about it…by children, adults, parakeets…all walking and talking things really.  So make it tonight…and “I told you so!”

There are nine very humbling, very beautiful ingredients in this salad sauce (aka, dressing) that will elevate ANY salad you make from here until eternity.  Sure…you’ll wander off and flirt with the Green Goddess Buttermilk Dressing or dance with the Caesar Dressing…but you’ll never make those dressings your “go-to” salad sauce…your main squeeze…and this one, you will…

Dressing Ingredients
Salad Sauce Ingredients

 

Salad Sauce Ingredients:

  1.  1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  2. Juice of one large lemon
  3. 3 tbsp. good honey
  4. 4 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
  5. 1 tsp fresh dill weed (it’s ok to use dry dill if you don’t have fresh)
  6. 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  7. 1/2 tsp salt
  8. 1/2 tsp pepper
  9. 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except olive oil.  Continue to whisk while streaming in the olive oil at the end.  I have also been known to pop the ingredients in a bottle and simply shake them up.  The salad sauce will be good to go sealed, in the fridge, for a week or so.

Salad Sauce
Salad Sauce will separate…but no worries!  Just stir it or shake it before serving.

Use it with any salad combination your heart desires.  I love the simplicity of this one made up of butter lettuce, radishes and shaved white carrots.  This salad literally “sings” when combined with my salad sauce!  Fresh, crisp, light and full of flavor!!!  Think about it?  Lemons, garlic, honey, a little vinegar and good oil and spices are the perfect summer playmates for your favorite bouquet of garden greens  and veggies.  Not to mention how quick and easy it is!

Simple Green Salad
Beautiful and Simple Salad – Undressed

You may recall that I declared this dressing as a staple or “go-to” for me?  You might even call it a building block in my kitchen.  Almost every salad variation I make like my Orzo Salad (my niece, Cally’s, favorite) or my Shrimp Salad, uses this dressing as its “sauce”.   What about grilled veggies mixed with crisp greens and crumbled candied bacon?  Marinate the cut grilling vegetables like onions, squash and red peppers in some of the salad sauce before putting them on the hot grill; after grilling, toss them in more sauce and add to the crisp greens and bacon!  I do this all summer long!!!!  Don’t worry, I’ll share some of these salads recipes, as well as others, in upcoming blog posts…

Up next?…Saucy Babe #2!  Good Goo-Ka-Moo-kee Sauce!  Your barbecue will never be the same!!!!!  This sauce will make sure of that!!!Three Saucy Babes

Cheers everyone!

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