Simple Spanish Food

Green Salad with Fatty Tuna (Tuna Belly): ensalada con ventresca de atún o bonito

This is very easy and elegant. If you've never had ventresca, it's like premium tuna fish, but buttery and tender--one of my favorites.  La Tienda sells ventresca bonito del norte, fatty albacore, which in Spain is considered to be the best. You can sometimes find tins of ventresca de atún claro, regular fatty tuna, at gourmet food stores, such as at World Market. Both types are fantastic. 

Ingredients

Salad greens of your choice, carefully washed and dried

good olive oil

a tin of ventresca bonito del norte, or ventresca de atún packed in olive oil

salt

Toss the greens with a little good olive oil until just coated.  Add a pinch of salt and toss again.  Place the strips of ventresca over the greens and drizzle the olive oil from the tin over the salad.

Check out my post on ventresca with tomatoes, piquillo peppers, and thyme.

 

 

A Canary Island Style Salad (ensalada canaria)

While in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, we had a beautiful salad at the traditional restaurant El Padrino in the mountains overlooking the city.  This salad is easy to make, pretty, and a meal in itself. One thing I like about it is that it is not "tossed": the many ingredients are arranged separately over the bed lettuce so that you can appreciate each one.

We had this with crunchy anise-scented Canary style bread.

Ingredients:

romaine lettuce

sliced tomatoes

sliced sweet onions

sliced red bell peppers

sliced radishes

half an avocado, sliced

florets of steamed cauliflower, tossed with a good olive oil

a good banana (small "apple bananas"  make a good substitute for Canary-style bananas)

sprigs of watercress

grated carrot

a tin of good tuna packed in olive oil

halved boiled eggs

steamed corn

sliced cucumber

tinned white asparagus spears

a good olive oil

salt

Wash and dry the lettuce. Make a large bed of lettuce on a platter, and arrange each of the ingredients separately on top. Place a bottle of good olive oil, vinegar, and salt on the table.  Guests can pick what they like from the salad, and dress it as they like.

Like to try another neat Canary Island salad? Check out my post on a Canary Island salad of avocado and tangerines.

 

 

 

 

A Simple Salad of Roasted Peppers, Onions, and Olives: ensalada de pimientos, cebolla, y aceitunas

This is a salad my father-in-law, Andrés, used to throw together while we were waiting for the main meal, la comida.  We usually ate it as an informal, at-home tapa.

The main ingredient is fire-roasted peppers, so it is important to start with good ones. (I find most supermarket pimentos and deli  roasted peppers here in the U.S. to be disappointing.)  It's easy to fire-roast bell peppers and other types of sweet peppers at home (see my post on flame roasting peppers) and they work very well for this salad. Or use piquillo peppers from Spain, which are fabulous and easy.

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients:

Strips of fire-roasted peppers

thin slices of onion

good olives

good olive oil

a good wine vinegar 

Arrange the slices of fire-roasted pepper on a plate. Decorate them with onion slices and olives. Drizzle a good olive oil over it, and, if you like, some vinegar. (Andrés always liked this salad with vinegar, as does Ana, but Esperanza and I always take ours with just olive oil).

Of course you could add capers (as we did for this post) or anchovies

Serve it with bread, a fino, or even a beer.

An Elegant (and Simple) Watercress Salad: ensalada de berros

Like canónigos, watercress (berros)  is a gourmet salad green in Spain.  There are many ways of using it. This is probably the simplest.  This salad has three ingredients: olive oil (see my posts on Spanish olive oils), a dash of salt, and watercress. 

Of course it's important to start with good, fresh watercress.  If your market doesn't carry it, grow some. Nothing could be easier. Just fill a pot with potting soil, sprinkle some watercress seeds on the surface and pat them down (don't bury them).  Keep the pot's saucer filled with water, and in a couple of months you'll have watercress. 

Now for the salad.

Wash and dry the watercress. (Pat them with a clean towel or use a salad spinner: you want the leaves as dry as possible).

Remove the coarse stems.  Toss the leaves with just enough olive oil to coat them. (An hojiblanca would be perfect). Sprinkle the salad with a little salt, and there you have it: ensalada de berros.

 

Baby Salad Greens with Dried Fruits, Nuts, and Pedro Ximénez Dressing

When Ana and I were in Granada a couple of years ago we had an interesting salad at the restaurant Taberna Salinas.  It was basically a variety of local dried fruits and nuts simmered in sweet Pedro Ximénez sherry--in short, a compote--served over young salad greens.

To tell you the truth, the salad at Taberna Salinas was a bit overwhelming. Pedro Ximénez sherry is thick and sweet as it is, and when simmered and reduced in the compote it became too syrupy for our tastes. But I liked the idea and played around with it until I came up with the following recipe.  It's still a sweet dressing, but it pairs well with slightly bitter, cool-season salad greens like escarole and a touch of salt. Actually for this post I used baby spinach, and it was good too.

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients:

One cup (or more) of my easy compote of dried fruits, nuts, and Pedro Ximénez sherry

Virgin olive oil

kosher salt

salad greens of your choice

 

Make the compote ahead of time. You can keep it covered in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days. It will only improve. 

Wash and dry your salad greens. Toss them with just enough virgin olive oil to coat the leaves.  Sprinkle with a little kosher salt, and toss again.

Make a bed of greens on individual plates, or a large platter if you like. Spoon the compote on top of the greens, and there you have it.

 

Salpicón de Mariscos: a Spanish Seafood Salad

In my last post, Esperanza Cooks Bogavante, I wrote about the Spanish way to boil lobster. Today I'll focus on salpicón, a salad-like mixture that's great combined with boiled lobster, as well as many other types of fish and shellfish.  

Once again, this recipe is from my mother-in-law, Esperanza.  Her salpicón is a mixture of chopped boiled egg, parsley, onion, olives, and pimentos, dressed with olive oil and vinegar.  It is then combined in various ways with the lobster, or whatever type of fish or shellfish is being served:  salpicón is also great with crab (nécoras o cangrejo), poached hake (merluza), or even just boiled potatoes.

Here's Esperanza's recipe for salpicón:

Ingredients:

2 flame roasted red peppers, cut in small slivers  (piquillos are wonderful, or see my post on flame roasting peppers)

one small onion, chopped

pitted olives, quartered

3 chopped boiled eggs

a small bunch of Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 cup (or more) virgin olive oil

white wine vinegar to taste

a dash of water if the mixture is too thick

salt to taste (the olives are often salt enough)

Toss the above ingredients together.

Serve the salpicón with boiled lobster or other seafood.

Presentation varies. If the lobsters or other shellfish are served in the shell, then use the salpicón as a side dish, or better yet just pass around the bowl.  The guests can combine their lobster and salpicón as they like.

If you are serving the lobster shelled, you can spoon the salpicón on top as you would a sauce or a garnish, or you can mix it all together to make a salad, salpicón de mariscos.  

Salpicón and lobster on toast makes a fantastic tapa.

 

Spanish-style Grilled Vegetables, verduras a la parrilla, o verduras a la brasa

While in Granada, Ana and I had a wonderful appetizer of grilled vegetables at the restaurant and bar, Taberna Salinas. Ever since I've been grilling lots of vegetables at home in the same style. Nothing could be simpler. You need only good olive oil, salt, and the best vegetables you can find.   I usually grill the vegetables over a slow fire of lump charcoal, but you can also cook them griddle-style on a heavy cast iron skillet or grill pan.

Eggplant, zucchini, onions, scallions, leeks, mushroom (fresh oyster and shiitake are especially good), red and green peppers, tomatoes,  asparagus, artichoke hearts are all authentic and  great for this dish.

Here's how to do it

Slice an eggplant into 3/8 inch thick rounds

Cut a zucchini longways into 1/4 inch thick  slices

Slice an onion into 3/8 inch thick  rounds

If using smaller mushrooms, put them on a skewer.

If you're using peppers, prepare them first according to my recipe for flame roasted peppers. If you're grilling asparagus, prepare them according to my recipe for grilled asparagus. Green onions and leeks can be grilled in the same way as asparagus.

Fire up the grill (or heat a large iron skillet on medium).  You don't want a very hot fire.  350  degrees or even 325 is perfect.

While the coals are burning down (or the skillet is heating up),  rub down the vegetables with  olive oil. When working with the eggplant and mushrooms, be careful:  these vegetables soak up oil like sponges. Apply a light coat evenly and quickly.

Sprinkle all of the vegetables with coarse salt.

Grill the vegetables slowly, 6 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the temperature of your fire, until tender. If you're grilling lots of vegetables, work in batches.

It's as simple as that.

To me the best possible dressing for grilled vegetables is a light drizzle of buttery hojiblanca olive oil. 

Another good dressing is a Spanish-style herbed vinaigrette:  5 parts olive oil, one part vinegar,  a pinch of thyme, and fresh crushed garlic, salt and black pepper to taste.

A classic Catalan sauce (or dip) for grilled vegetables is romesco, which seems to be very much in fashion these days. This will be the subject of an upcoming post.

 

 

 

An Elegant Spanish Salad: tomato, piquillo peppers, and tuna belly, drizzled with olive oil and thyme (ensalada de tomate, piquillos, y ventresca, con aceite de oliva y tomillo)

Ana and I discovered this elegant salad at a neighborhood bar during out last trip to Madrid, and now I've begun making it at home.  Nothing could be simpler.  You can throw this together in minutes. All you need are piquillo peppers, ventresca (tuna belly fillets), and a quality virgin olive oil (all available at La Tienda), along with a good tomato and a little thyme.  Serve it with good bread (see my recipes for easy no-knead Spanish style breads).

Ventresca has a flavor similar to regular bonito del norte (albacore tuna tinned in olive oil) but it's richer and has a different texture. If you've never tried it, you're in for a treat. 

 

Piquillo peppers are similar to other mild, red,  fire-roasted peppers (see my post on flame roasting peppers), but even better.  They have thinner walls than bells or regular pimentos,  yet a firmer texture, even when tinned. They are not as sweet as most red peppers. They are more complex in flavor. They have a hint of spice, but they're not piquant. There's really nothing quite like them.   

By the way, piquillo peppers and other products from Navarra are on sale at La Tienda until the end of June.

Here's how to make the salad:

Ingredients

1 small tin or jar of ventresca

1 piquillo pepper, sliced

1 large tomato of the best quality you can find (or several smaller ones)

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

a pinch of dried thyme

kosher salt to taste

Stir the thyme into the olive oil.

Wash and slice the tomato. Sprinkle the slices with a little salt.  Arrange them on a plate with the piquillo pepper slivers. Top with fillets of ventresca.

Drizzle the thyme and olive oil mixture over the salad and serve.

 

 

 

Easy Spanish Stir-Fried Peppers (pimientos fritos)

When pimientos de Padrón aren't in season, Esperanza, my mother-in-law, will often quickly saute Italian-style frying peppers  in a little olive oil. It's a super easy side-dish. What's more, you can use these peppers in all the ways you would flame-roasted peppers: in empanadas, or as a garnish for paellas and other Spanish rice dishes. Toss them with a little fresh minced garlic,  parsley, virgin olive oil, and a dash of vinegar, and you have a pepper salad, or use them to make all sorts of tapas.

Here in the U.S. I use cubanelle and other sweet peppers (except green bells) in the same way. I've even used poblanos, chilacas, and other Mexican peppers with good (if sometimes spicier) results.  Whenever you have really good peppers, this is a great way to take advantage of them.

Here's how to do it 

Ingredients:

a pound of sweet peppers, the "frying" types--cubanelles, corno di toro, et cetera--are best for this

olive oil

kosher salt

Wash the peppers. Remove the stems, seeds, and ribs. Slice them longways into strips. Esperanza usually slices her peppers 1 inch wide. I usually slice them thinner, at a quarter-inch.

Heat up a large skillet or wok. Add a good dash (a quarter cup or so) of olive oil. When it shimmers, add the peppers. Stir-fry them over medium-high to high heat until they are soft and slightly charred at the edges. Sprinkle with kosher salt, toss, and serve.

 

A Classic Spanish Country Salad with Garlic, Cumin, and Wild Rocket--ensalada rústica con ajo, comino, rúcula, et cetera

Rustic country salads in Spain, especially in the south, are robust,  often flavored with garlic and wild greens.  In the Spanish classic Fortunata y Jacinta--one of the great novels of the 19th century, sadly little-known in the English-speaking world--several characters treat themselves to a "comfort salad" of escarole (escarola) dressed with lots of garlic, cumin, and, of course, olive oil.  Andrés, my father-in-law, loved simple salads made of escarole too. 

You could use all sorts of wild or wildish salad greens with this--old-fashioned leaf lettuces, baby mustards, watercress, lamb's lettuce or mâche (see my post on canónigos). For this post I just combined regular romaine with  a handful of wild rocket (rúcula) which re-seeds itself in our garden year after year. In any case, you want to include salad greens with some body and even pungency, to stand up to the flavors of the dressing. This is not the time for delicate Bibb or Boston lettuce.

Here's how to do it.

Ingredients

salad greens of your choice, including some full-flavored greens like escarole

4 tablespoons  virgin olive oil

1 large fresh garlic clove

1 teaspoon of toasted cumin seeds (whole)

1 tablespoon of wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Toast the cumin seeds in a pan over medium heat. Don't add any oil. Just give them a shake or stir now and then and make sure they don't burn. They should soon be fragrant.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the greens with a salad spinner or towels. 

Crush the  garlic clove with some salt. Add the olive oil, cumin seeds,  vinegar, and salt to taste.   Toss the salad with enough dressing so that the leaves are well-coated.

Serve this with a good, rustic Spanish-style bread, a white bean soup (alubias estofadas) or a lentil soup (sopa de lentejas), and a simple (even a coarse) Spanish red wine.