Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Hélène´s All-White Salad”.
This is a recipe for a true winter salad with humble ingredients such as celery ribbons, tart Granny Smith apple slices, white mushrooms and shredded Napa cabbage.
This salad recipe was created by one of Dorie Greenspan´s friends, Hélène Samuel, who used to own a Café in Paris, France.
The dressing for this salad is a yogurt vinaigrette, essentially a mayonnaise, it consists of an egg yolk, Greek yogurt, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and good-quality olive oil. The finishing touch on the salad is a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Since I like the white-on-white effect of this recipe and to stay true with the color theme, next time I prepare a white winter salad, it would be interesting to use lovely fresh endives instead of the shredded Napa cabbage or maybe shaved kohlrabi instead of the apple. The yogurt dressing would be nice with those vegetables as well, it seems substantial enough to stand up to all kinds of healthy winter fare. A bit of shaved Pecorino Romano would also add a nice boost of flavor to this salad.
As it is Valentine´s Day today, I baked some heart-shaped soft pretzels to go with the salad. Happy Valentine´s Day to all of you!
To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.
If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Hélène´s All-White Salad” on pages 108-109.
This salad sounds quite delicious. I adore your heart-shaped pretzel! You amaze me, Andrea! Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteCathleen, a nice idea foe a true winter salad but next time I will sub fresh endives for the Nappa cabbage - the taste testers are not so much into raw cabbage. The heart-shaped soft pretzels were meant for a separate post (with the recipe and bi-lingual) but I didi not get around to finishing it on time. Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!
DeleteI'm totally using endives next time too!
ReplyDeleteMardi, we much prefer to eat endives to raw Nappa cabbage in our salads and besides I appreciate any excuse I can get to pay a visit to a fabulous local endive grower and stock up on delicious winter endives.
DeleteEndives were a delicious substitute for the celery. I also bought some fennel and then ended up forgetting about it until the next day. Lots of options here for an all white salad.
ReplyDeleteRose, glad that you enjoyed your salad so much - fennel is one of my favorites veg of all times but I prefer it cooked and caramelized the Yotam Ottolenghi way rather than adding it to my salad and our kids absolutely adore cooked fennel which brings out the natural sweetness of that lovely vegetable.
DeleteCheese would go well with this one, wouldn't it? I love the soft pretzels you made - they look so pretty and delicious.
ReplyDeleteTeresa, some nice Italian shaved Pecorino Roman is what I had in mind to boost the flavor of this winter salad...those pretzels are quite nice with some butter and preferably enjoyed while still warm. They won the hearts of my taste testers! - No pun intended...
DeleteI love the way you think , my dear. What a beautiful plate. I'll make this tonight.
ReplyDeleteNever had kohlrabi, very curious. Since you like it, I'm wiling to give it a go.
Hope you had a sweet Valentine's. It's so wonderful to have you back!! Wishing you a lazy w/end . xo
Colette, kohlrabi is my childhood favorite veg - I could never get enough of it - I still enjoy eating raw kohlrabi and its mild sweetness really appeals to the kids as well. Valentine´s Day was very busy, a lot of delicious food and lots of hungry peolple around the table. Thank you for your nice comment! I guess Europeans "celebrate" V-Day a bit differently.
DeleteIt is lovely to see you back, Andrea. The dressing for the salad sounds divine and I'm liking the all-white ingredients - this is perfect for my husband who, if presented with red food, tends to drop it down his shirt. Hope you are enjoying the weekend.
ReplyDeleteHester, this is funny - the husband and the red food. Personally what I liked most about the recipe was also the all-white-effect - not so much the Nana cabbage. But endives will be substituted next time I make this recipe. Thank you for the kind comment!
DeleteI don't know why I didn't think of the endive, I love that in salads. I love your heart shaped rolls, and I looked at those onion
ReplyDeletebialys from your Tuesday post, they look gorgeous. Hubby and both love Bialys, being from New York originally, and we can't seem to
find them here near Philadelphia. I guess I will have to try to make some. Have a great weekend.
Nana, endives are so widely available here at this time of year that for some reason they were the first veg that came to my mind when I read about an all white salad - I went with the Napa cabbage the first time but will definitely go for the endives next time - I like the white theme too much in order not to make this salad again - with minor changes. As far as the Onoion Bialys are concerned, they were a first for us and were devoured - that recipe is definitely a keeper and the kids already asked that I make the "Onion Bagels" again. Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!
DeleteGorgeous photo of white salad & heart shaped roll.
ReplyDeletePrettily presented! Xx
Kim, thank you so much - white winter salad seems to be quite photogenic - I believe that´s what I liked most about this week´s recipe.
DeleteI heart your heart shaped pretzels! What a stunning styling of the menu - very striking and elegant. I think your thoughts on all white additions would be smashing.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's to you and your family!
Christy, thank you so much - hope you and your family spent a nice Valentine´s Day as well. Who would have thought that humble ingredients make for such a nice and elegant salad?!
DeleteWell, your heart shaped carbs are a revelation and you certainly make this one LOOK good but since I know what it tastes like (albeit not with endive) I will take a pass. Really, thought, your presentation here is stunning.
ReplyDeleteTrevor, thank you so much for your lovely comment - I really appreciate it! I know that this salad was not quite a revelation to you and I have to agree that it needs a bit of inspired interpretation such as the addition of some delicious fresh cheese or different white veg - but there is absolutely no arguing the photogenic qualities of an all-white winter salad!
DeleteI have this cookbook and it is one of my favorites. Been looking at this recipe. Your pics are beautiful. Will have to make this.
ReplyDeleteCheri, how nice that you like "Around my French Table" as well - it is a fabulous cookbook - if you get a chance to make this recipe, let me know what you think about it! Thank you for the comment!
DeleteI'm not sure I would go straight endives..might be too bitter. But I think the flavor would be a nice addition.
ReplyDeleteEndives are not bitter at all if you remember to remove the core and buy fresh endives - we are lucky as we have access to freshly harvested local endives. In fact, endive salad is one of my family´s favorite fresh fall and winter salads.
DeleteAbsolutely beautiful! so light and delicious and unusual:)
ReplyDeleteMary x
Mary, isn´t the color theme of this salad wonderful?! I will be working on other winter-white dishes as we all loved the idea behing this recipe.
DeleteI so agree with all your suggestion on making this salad even better! I liked it quite a lot and I really loved the monochromatic theme! Have a great weekend!!
ReplyDeleteMaria, lovely idea for a seasonal saladthat still leaves some room for inspire interpretations - thank you for the comment!
DeleteLove the idea of endive and those heart shaped pretzels have me drooling. And of course, you have captured it all with your stunning photos. Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteTricia, so glad that you like the pictures - it was fun trying to capature the idea behind this recipe. What a nice recipe to work with. Thank you for the nice words!
DeleteThe colors and ingredients of the salad so lent themselves to a pretty winter salad. The flavors just didn't work for me. Disappointing. I adore your heart-shaped pretzels. They are so cute. Hope you and your family had a lovely Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteBetsy, you are right about the flavors - we do not enjoy raw Nappa cabbage in our salads but will go for endives or kohlrabi or other lovely white ingredients that are available. Hope you and Howard spent a lovely Valentine´s Dayas well1
DeleteJust stunning, Andrea! I love how beautiful your celery curls are :) I think some cheese would have been a nice addition.
ReplyDeletePS...thanks for your kind wishes. xo
Liz, thank you - glad that you enjoy the pictures - cheese was my on my mind too when I tasted the salad - I kept thinking Pecorino Romano but I could also imagine some fresh cheese on this.
DeleteHope all will go well on Wenesday and the days after - wishing you and Bill all the very best for a speedy recovery!
Beautiful Andrea! Is everything you do as beautiful as what appears on your blog? I suspect it is! We very much enjoyed this salad too. So nice having you back!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Guyla - what a lovely comment - I am not so sure that everything I do is beautiful...but I certainly have a certain obsession with making food look as appealing as possible!
DeleteA stunning salad - and I love the Valentine-themed pretzels!
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth - these heart-shaped pretzel were a welcome change from all that chocolate on Valentine´s Day.
DeleteI like your ideas, Andrea! Adding kohlrabi would be brilliant. I also think white asparagus slivers would be nice, although you might need to wait a bit to get them I season. Your photos are truly works of art, dear friend. I love them - and, as we all know, we eat with our eyes! Wishing you a lovely afternoon from my chaise in the garden on this sunny, warm Tucson afternoon! Hugs, David
ReplyDeleteDear David, as you know we are quite the white asparagus lovers in this country - not available locally until March/April though and you know me - I will only buy that fabulous veg when it is in season locally - so we shall wait patiently and in the menatime work with other winter white veg on that color-themed salad. Glad you like the pictures - I always enjoy comments about them as they always mean a lot to me! Thank you for your kind words, dear friend!
DeleteAll white salad - sitting here in all white Frederick :-) der ganze Garten liegt nun schon seit Wochen unter einer dicken weissen Schneedecke, und trotzdem klingt der Salat verlockend. Natuerlich tragen dazu auch die unglaublich schönen Aufnahmen bei. Der Hit ist die Brezel!!! Perfekt in <3 Form und Farbe. Danke! Danke!
ReplyDeleteLiebe Wally, wir haben so viel über den Schnee und die Kälte bei euch gehört und gesehen - hier hat es bis jetzt nicht ein einziges Mal geschneit, die Blumen und die Kräuter blühen teilweise schon - das Wetter ist wirklich seltsam dieses Jahr. Ich hoffe, dass es bald bei euch grünt! Was für ein wunderbarer Kommentar - das freut mich aber, dass dir der Blogpost mit dem weißen Wintersalat und der herzigen Bretzel gefällt!
DeleteGanz liebe Grüße - stay safe and warm!
You can't go wrong with a good salad and a pretzel, can you? Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe, my friend! I hope you have a happy start to your week! Hugs and love to you and the girls.
ReplyDeleteMonet, a fresh salad and soft and salty pretzels are hard to beat indeed - thank you for the kind comment!
DeleteHey, This winter salad post is looking so good and Amazing! A very well made post with beautiful pictures. I've bookmarked this special recipe of yours and would love to give it a shot soon. Thanks for sharing your well prepared and presented posts. Shall look forward to your next post.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week ahead. Take care.
Thanks & Regards, Sonia!!!
Sonia, so nice to hear from you again - thank you for your very lovely comment! Glad to hear that you continue to enjoy the blog!
DeleteWhat a elegant looking salad and the heart shaped pretzel go perfect for valentines day… Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much - glad that you enjoy the look of this winter white salad! We very much enjoyed the the color theme of this recipe.
DeleteSuch a beautiful meal Andrea...so elegant, and so cute the heart shaped pretzel...
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week my dear :D
Juliana, so nice of you - thank you - the heart-shaped pretzels were a must it seems since I stayed away from chocolate posts on Valentine´s Day.
DeleteI would love to try this with kohlrabi - trying this with different components would be nice.
ReplyDeleteYour heart shaped pretzels are too cute :-) So glad you're back!
Cher, thinly sliced kohlrabi is such a nice veg to use in winter time - widely available and the kids love it too - which is always an added bonus.
DeleteYour heart pretzel bread was a beautiful accompaniment to your salad as was your table setting. I agree with you about replacing the cabbage with endive. I make a winter white salad that I haven't posted yet with fennel, endive and shaved parmesan cheese that we like.
ReplyDeleteKaren, thank you for the nice comment - winter white salads need not be boring I thought - a few substitutions according to what is seasonal cannot hurt and the color theme is easy to keep up with endives and other lovely veg.
DeleteI adore your heart-shaped pretzels - perfect for V-Day.
ReplyDeleteGaye, thank you very much!
DeleteAs always Andrea, your photos and presentation are stunning! And your salad looks wonderfully delicious! Love your heart pretzel…a perfect compliment to your salad!
ReplyDeleteKathy, thank you very much - how nice of you to comment on the presentation - it seemed extra important that day since I enjoyed the color theme so much.
DeleteThis is a beautiful salad Andrea and beautifully photographed! I always forget about making winter salads, as it doesn't get that cold here we are never without lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers I tend to forget about making salads from the more interesting vegetables. I love the first photograph of the cutlery - very creative!
ReplyDeleteKaren, thank you so mcuh - I love comments on the photography and on my "props" - the cuterly is from the Netherlands - I found it at one of my favorite stores there and it just seemed perfect with the winter white salad theme! Winter does offer many different veg - but we do not always have the time or patience to try them - I often forget about all the possibilities for preparing a creative salad myself as the main course usually takes center stage in meal planning.
DeleteI liked your heart-shaped pretzels better than I did the all-white salad. I was so excited to make the dressing but it just didn't work for me. I actually enjoyed the Napa cabbage. I enjoyed the entire salad, just not the dressing. Yours looks so pretty.
ReplyDeleteMary, so many possibilities with this salad it seems - Napa cabbage in its raw state is jus not the favorite salad of my home crowd - they prefer endives, so this salad was received well but the pretzels won, hands down!
Delete