While locally grown summer greens and heirloom tomatoes are perfectly paired, salads are also good company in the colder months. But I don’t mean the “all you can eat” salad bars with their over-the-top portions. Making a similar salad at home is easy. Heck, some grocery stores have their own salad bars you can take home with you.
No, a great salad is a well-composed plate of textures and flavors dressed in the barest of vinaigrettes.
One of my favorite salads, and a winter one at that, is the Braised Cabbage Salad created by chef and owner Adam Reed at Sante in Matthews. This salad boasts of braised cabbage seeded with bits of apple wood smoked bacon, toasted pecans, garlic, spinach, crumbled goat cheese and the sheerest dressing of balsamic vinaigrette ($7.95). Even though this is a winter salad, Reed said he’s tried to replace it during the summer, but customers request it year round. Now this salad has a permanent spot on the menu.Sante, 165 North Trade Street in downtown Matthews. 704-845-1899.
One of the most enduring salad favorites is at Frank ManZetti’s. Their Broiled Chicken Salad ($8.95) is a large (almost too large) plate of sliced marinated chicken breast over mixed greens, dotted with heart of palm, white mushrooms, scallions, and chopped tomatoes. My preference for dressing is the blue cheese, but order on the side.Frank ManZetti’s Bar & Grill, 6401 Morrison Boulevard, Specialty Shops on the Park. 704-364-9334.
Another salad to warm the winter heart is at Bella Trio. There you’ll find the Caramelized Pear Salad with flecks of gorgonzola, resting on a cache of baby greens and toasted pecans with a lively hit of mango fennel dressing.Bella Trio, 7731 Colony Road. 704-341-4100.
Typically, I find too many Caesar salads around town broken under the weight of a heavy-handed pantry chef. However, two of my favorite Caesars are the sensational Caesar with the heady hit of anchovies at Salute Ristorante and the perfectly dressed Caesar with sourdough croutons and aged parmesan shavings at Dressler’s Restaurant.Salute Ristorante, 613 Providence Road. 704-342-9767.
Dressler’s Restaurant, 8630-1A Lindholm Drive, Birkdale Village, Huntersville. 704-987-1779.
Iceberg lettuce is a much-maligned plant. We love it on tacos and tuna salad and as a wrap for some Chinese and Thai dishes, yet don’t quite get the Japanese restaurant preference for using this variety in their salads. Yet the wedge salad at Sullivan’s Steak House transforms the lowly iceberg into a crisp foil for their meaty entrees. Their house salad is a mountainous wedge of spry iceberg lettuce crowned with a cap of house-made blue cheese buttermilk dressing. One taste reveals a perfect point, counter point: fresh, clean iceberg lettuce in contrast with creamy aromatic bits of blue cheese. A palatable delight. Sullivan’s serves their famed salad on chilled plates with even colder forks.Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 1928 South Boulevard. 704-335-8228.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2005.
