The Ultimate Salad
The Ultimate Salad
(serves four)
6 fresh beets
6 smallish waxy potatoes
1 large artichoke
4 eggs
dozen strips streaky bacon
1 tbsp unsalted butter
8 sea scallops
16 fresh anchovies, filleted
large handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
4‑inch log goat’s cheese
green-olive-anchovy dressing to taste (perhaps 1/4 cup)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
fresh black pepper
This recipe will require about 90 minutes’ notice, as you’ll need to roast the beets. So wrap them in foil and pop them in a hot oven and then get to work on the rest of the method.
Boil the potatoes until piercable with a sharp knife, and set aside to cool. Cook the artichoke in an inch or so of water, covered, until the leaves are easily pulled from the artichoke. Remove to a cutting board to cool. When it’s cool, pull off the lower leaves until you’ve revealed the whole bottom. Cut the bottom off, scoop out the choke, and slice the bottom thinly. Set the slices aside in a bowl of lemony water until needed. Save the leaves to eat another time.
Boil the eggs until nearly hard-cooked, then soak in cold water until needed.
Fry or bake the bacon until crisp, then drain on paper towel.
When the beets are cooked, peel them and cut in bite-sized pieces. Arrange on a large platter. Cut the potatoes in bite-sized chunks and add to the platter. Scatter the artichoke slices over the platter. Peel the eggs and cut in quarters, and add to the platter. Crumble the bacon and scatter it over the other ingredients.
When you are ready to eat, heat the butter in a stick-proof frying pan. When it stops bubbling and subsides into foam, fry the scallops, about 1 minute on each side or until JUST cooked and opaque. Put them on a cutting board to cool, and cook the anchovy fillets very briefly in the same butter, just until the brown fish turn a lighter color all through. Remove to a plate to cool.
Scatter the parsley over the ingredients on the platter. Cut the goat’s cheese into bite-sized pieces and scatter over everything else. When the scallops are cool, cut them in quarters and place on the salad. Arrange the anchovy fillets over everything and sprinkle with fresh pepper. Mix the dressing and the mayonnaise until emulsified and drizzle it over the whole salad. Tuck in!
