This is my "leftovers" salad, I know the actual name of it on the blog post sounds way more fancy, I assure you though, I pulled out all my leftovers and came up with this salad, which just sounds fancy! One of my very favorite things to do is to repurpose leftovers, its a great culinary challenge that requires you to get super creative, which I love! This salad was, in my opinion, one of my greatest leftover salad creations to date! I recently made turkey meatloaf with wild ramps and mashed potatoes with the ramp greens, (click the link to get the wonderful recipe). I had some leftovers from this meal, and mashed potatoes are one of my very favorite repurpose materials. I love to make mashed potato croquettes, which are traditionally deep fried and coated with breadcrumbs. My version is a bit healthier; I use a tiny bit of whole wheat flour, just to bind the potatoes and get a nice brown crust and I only shallow fry them in a small amount of olive oil. This still gives you the crunchy and delicious results with a lot less fat and carbohydrates. They are wonderful atop a fresh salad or under a creamy, yolky fried egg!
The salad I created to go with my croquettes was a combination of leftover items from my antipasto meal. I made this platter for my husband and I to eat on a Sunday afternoon while reading the paper. I just love making no cook platters full of delicious meats, cheeses, veggies and fruits. You get to nosh on a little of everything and its incredibly satisfying. This salad had the very delicious spicy chorizo Iberico from Spain that was leftover from the platter. Iberico pork comes from pigs that are allowed to roam the Spanish countryside eating native acorns, this creates a very rich, marbled meat that is just delicious. The pigs are raised humanely and naturally, allowing them to be as "wild" as possible. The salad also included some white beans that are marinated in a spicy vinaigrette, they went perfectly with the spicy chorizo. The last thing I added to the salad was some crumbles of the leftover meatloaf. I crumbled it up like sausage and sauteed it in some olive oil to get it crispy and sprinkled it over the salad, absolutely delish! I used an organic greens mix, topped it with the croquettes, drizzled it with some homemade vinaigrette, and it was one of the best salads I have ever made!
This recipe makes 2 meal size salads.
Ingredients
Croquettes
1 Cup leftover mashed potatoes, get my recipe by clicking the link or use some that you have leftover, any mashers work beautifully.
1 Tbsp organic, stone ground, whole wheat flour, I use a locally milled one made with NY wheat.
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated, any cheese you like will work.
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.
2 Tbsp Olive oil, to fry the potatoes.
Salad
3 Cups organic mixed greens, 1 1/2 cups for each salad. I used Olivia's Organics.
1/3 Cup marinated white beans, I use Divina giant white beans in vinaigrette, but any bean will work.
2oz Chorizo Iberico, I used Fermin, but any Spanish, cured chorizo will work, do not buy the Mexican or South American chorizo its a very different product.
1 Slice leftover meatloaf, get my recipe here or use your own, crumbled and sauteed till crispy.
Dressing
1/3 Cup your favorite balsamic vinegar, I used a serrano honey balsamic from Saratoga Olive Oil Company.
1/2 Cup very good quality extra virgin olive oil, I used California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil.
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp local buckwheat honey, any local honey will work.
2 Tbsp water
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.
Directions
In a salad dressing shaker, blender or dish with a tight fitting lid, place all salad dressing ingredients and shake vigorously till they are creamy and thick; if using a blender blend on low till creamy and thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
On two serving plates, split and layer the salad ingredients making sure to sprinkle the meats and beans over the greens uniformly so that every bite will get a little of each. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the potatoes, flour, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix and shape into 4 small pancakes or croquettes, I like mine flat and not round so that they fry evenly. Heat a Saute pan over medium high heat, drizzle with olive oil and fry for 5 minutes each side or until they are golden brown and heated through. Place on the top of your salad bed and drizzle with dressing. Serve immediately and enjoy!
This is the best salad I have ever eaten in my life.
-My sister :)
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