Celebrity chefs chill with these summer salads

Whether potato, pasta or chopped, salads are essential summer eating when the temperatures soar and the desire to cook a hot meal wanes.

Summer also is prime time for seasonal, fresh ingredients that make salads sing.

To celebrate the delicious diversity of salads, we asked several celebrity chefs and authors to suggest their own takes on the classic dish.

Lourdes Castro embraces the iceberg (lettuce)

Lourdes Castro is open-minded about salads, with one caveat:

"My only requirement of a salad is that it be refreshing," Castro, author of the recent cookbook, "Latin Grilling," said in an email interview. "It can be hearty or light, but there needs to be a nice balance of acidity to brighten it up. I truly love all types of salads, and they don't really need to include greens, although I prefer that they do."

And Castro doesn't hesitate to embrace an often loathed salad ingredient — at least among culinary trendsetters.

"This may be a bit controversial, but I love a crisp wedge of iceberg. Specifically the one served at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach drizzled with their house vinaigrette," she said.

"The dressing is tangy, salty and sweet all at the same time and matches perfectly well with the lettuce," she said. "You can have them chop up the wedge for you, but I prefer to have the large wedge make an appearance in front of me. Crunchy and refreshing, it's truly the perfect way to whet your appetite!"

Castro makes a similarly crunchy salad — with a bit of char. This simple salad of grilled romaine lettuce is as beautiful as it is delicious.

Grilled Salad

Citrus fruits have natural sugars that caramelize when heated, intensifying the bright flavors of the fruit. You can prepare the tomato packets a few hours before you plan on grilling them. The rest of this recipe should be prepared immediately before serving.

Servings: 10

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

Olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

1 lemon, halved

1 lime, halved

3 hearts of romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise

Heat a covered grill on high.

Cut two sections of foil about 14 inches in length. Place half of the tomatoes in the center of each piece of foil, then drizzle each with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Seal the packets by bringing the long sides of the foil up toward the center and folding the edges over a couple of times. Bring the ends up toward the center and crimp the foil shut.

Reduce the grill to medium-high, then place the tomato packets on the grill. Place the lemon and lime halves cut side down on the grill. Close the lid and cook for five minutes.

Drizzle olive oil over the cut sides of the romaine hearts, then season with salt and pepper. Open the grill lid and use a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel held with a pair of tongs to coat the grill grates. Place the romaine halves, cut side down, on the grill. Cook with the lid open for about three minutes, or until the lettuce develops grill marks.

Remove the tomato packets from the grill and open carefully (they will release steam). Place the romaine hearts on a platter and pour the tomatoes over them. Squeeze the lemon and lime halves over everything and serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from "Latin Grilling" by Lourdes Castro

Pete Evans: The right potatoes are key

It may sound a bit obvious, but for Pete Evans, the key to a great potato salad is using the right potatoes.

"I love to use a small waxy variety for salad," said Evans, an Australian chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. "Baby new potatoes in red or white, or fingerlings will work great, too. You do need to choose the right potato for the job."

Of course, what you do with the potatoes matters, too. The only way to cook the potatoes is whole, Evans said. And be careful how you dress them.

"I like the earthy flavor of the potato skin to come through my salad," he said in an email interview. "For me that's what can make an ordinary salad taste extraordinary. Skin on! Then don't make the mistake of drowning the potatoes in a heavy mayonnaise. Vinaigrettes or just herbs and olive oil (particularly dill), salt and pepper are all you need for a quick and easy dressing."

Evans' recipe for potato salad with smoked trout and watercress comes from his latest book, "My Grill: Outdoor Cooking Australian Style."

"The potato salad I have chosen uses smoked trout, which is a perfect match with the creamy potatoes and crunchy green apple. Texture is as important as flavor when developing recipes, and this one nails both of those elements. It will work with smoked salmon or any kind of smoked fish if trout is not available."

Potato Salad with Smoked Trout and Watercress

Makes 6 servings

2 pounds fingerling potatoes

Salt

4-ounce bag watercress

16 ounces smoked trout

8-ounce container (1 cup) creme fraiche or sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Ground black pepper

12 fresh chives, chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Place the potatoes in a large pot. Add enough cool water to cover by 1 inch, then salt the water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then rinse under cool water. Arrange the potatoes on a kitchen towel to cool and dry completely.

Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with ice water. Add the watercress and set aside to crisp.

Remove any skin and bones from the trout, then flake the flesh into chunks. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the creme fraiche and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes have cooled and dried, slice them into 1/2-inch pieces. Add the potatoes to the creme fraiche mixture, gently stirring to coat.

Drain and dry the watercress, then in a large bowl combine it, the flaked trout, chives, apple slices, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Toss well.

To serve, arrange a quarter of the potatoes on each serving plate, then top with the watercress-trout mixture. Drizzle each serving with a bit of the final tablespoon of olive oil.

Source: "My Grill: Outdoor Cooking Australian Style," by Pete Evans

Symon says, "salads"

For Michael Symon, great salads go far beyond a pile of greens. And they need to earn their keep.

"For me, a great salad is much more than just greens. It should be something that really highlights the season and the vegetables that are at their peak at that time," Symon, an award-winning restaurateur and Food Network Iron Chef, said in an email interview.

Just don't include iceberg lettuce.

"I can't stand iceberg," he said. "It has no flavor or personality. It's like eating chopped green ice."

Symon, who also favors sharply acidic dressings like his mom used on her tomato salads, relies on salads to play a specific role in his cooking:

"Since I tend to cook with a lot of fattier proteins, I like to serve them topped with or accompanied by a salad, as opposed to a heavier starch," he said. "It keeps things crisp and fresh and helps cut through the richness of the protein."

Symon makes a simple summer salad inspired by what grows in his home garden and dressed with a spicy jalapeno-yogurt blend.

"I know I'm going to be grilling out a lot, so I want to create a salad that goes great with a big piece of grilled meat," he said. "I love serving this either with a grilled half of a chicken, grilled lamb chops or a rib eye."

Michael Symon's Summer Salad

Makes 6 servings

For the dressing:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced (remove the seeds first for less heat)

1 tablespoon plain Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

For the salad:

2 cups arugula

1 pound assorted heirloom tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

1 cup diced cucumber

4 scallions, grilled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped

2 cups of cooked faro (a grain sold alongside the rice and couscous)

To make the dressing, in a small bowl combine the garlic, jalapeno, yogurt and vinegar. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, then stir in the mint and parsley. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the arugula, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, almonds and faro. Drizzle with the dressing, tossing gently to coat evenly.

Jacques Pepin keeps it simple

Want to build a better salad? Lose the chill, ditch some of the fruit and get the proportions of the vinaigrette right.

That's the advice of Jacques Pepin, one of the nation's premier culinary voices, star of a new public television series "Essential Pepin" that will air in the fall.

Pepin says a great salad can be simple, so long as the ingredients are fresh and the proportions are right. Too many berries or other fruit produces a salad that is too sweet. Likewise, most salads taste best when served cool, but not cold.

"Also important is the use of great quality oils and vinegars," he said in an email interview. "And these should be mixed in the proper ratios: one part vinegar to three parts oil, or one part vinegar to four parts oil."

Getting it right is worth the trouble. Pepin believes a memorable salad has the power to live long after the meal.

"The first time I had a Caesar salad, it was served to me by my wife. It had tiny whole romaine leaves, fresh lemon juice, raw egg yolks, olive oil, croutons, etc.," he said. "This was a new combination of tastes for me, and I have enjoyed it ever since."

Pepin suggests a warm salad of bacon or pancetta tossed with white beans. It is a hearty salad, but still feels fresh thanks to a generous use of vinegar and chopped fresh parsley.

"I love beans, and particularly white beans," he said. "When they are combined with pancetta and seasoned with vinegar, garlic and olive oil, the result is a salad that is almost like a stew."

Pepin's recipe calls for small white navy beans, but you can substitute any similar variety. He prefers lean slab bacon or pancetta cut into thick slices, then sliced into small cubes, but regular bacon is fine.

Warm Bean and Bacon Salad

Makes 6 servings

8 ounces slab bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

6 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

Two 15-1/2-ounce can navy or other small white beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place the bacon or pancetta in a medium saucepan over low heat. Sauté, covered, for about eight minutes, or until the meat has rendered much of its fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for about five seconds. Transfer the contents of the saucepan, fat and all, to large bowl.

Add the beans, salt, parsley, vinegar, oil and pepper. Mix well, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Recipe adapted from Jacques Pepin's "Essential Pepin," Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Oct. 2011

Ripert: "Salad is an opening for a meal."

For Eric Ripert, a salad can be an anything goes experience... So long as it's small.

"I don't generally eat a salad as my only course," Ripert, chef and owner of the famed three-Michelin-star Le Bernardin restaurant in New York, said in an email interview. "Therefore a salad, for me, is part of a meal. A salad is for me the opening of a meal."

Salads even can open the eyes of a young boy.

"Salad nicoise made with canned tuna in olive oil – basically, the real deal -- reminds me of my childhood in Nice," he said. "I also remember eating at about age 13 a baby spinach salad covered with thin slices of foie gras, which was out of this world."

Ripert created the following recipe while visiting Vietnam. It blends crunchy, tart green papaya with shrimp and calamari, then dresses everything with fresh mint and cilantro and a splash of lime juice and pungent fish sauce.

Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp and Calamari

Servings: 4

1/2 cup lime juice

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large green papaya, peeled, seeded and julienned (unripe mango can be substituted)

1 small carrot, peeled and julienned

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeded and thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh mint, julienned

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, julienned

4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

Fine sea salt and ground black pepper

10 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

10 ounces small calamari tubes, cleaned and sliced into rings

In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and olive oil. Add the green papaya, carrot, scallions, jalapeno, mint, cilantro, then toss to coat evenly. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Let the salad sit and marinate for at least five minutes.

While the salad marinates, in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat two tablespoons of the canola oil. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet and sear the shrimp for one to two minutes per side. Transfer the shrimp to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Add the remaining two tablespoons of canola oil to the skillet and return it to the heat. When the oil is very hot, add the calamari. Season with salt and pepper, then quickly toss to cook the calamari until they are just barely opaque, about two minutes.

Add the shrimp and calamari to the salad and gently toss to coat. Divide the salad between four plates and serve immediately.