Entrée salads offer diners wholesome choices while helping you maintain a healthy bottom line.
According to the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, Canadian foodservice operators are facing the most challenging business environment in over a decade. But the restaurant industry remains a cornerstone of the economy. Consumers still need to eat, and many rely on professional foodservice for their meals. Menu distinction has never been more important. Interpreting today's trends in exciting yet approachable ways makes good business sense.
This issue, we focus on entrée salads. Our team of chefs has developed recipes that offer value, on-trend flavour profiles and menu distinction. Each recipe focuses on flavour first, but also considers textural play and colour. "We eat with our eyes first," says Freeman Moser III, senior executive chef for the Kraft Culinary Centre. "Nowhere is this more important than in a salad."
Behind the Recipes
Greek-Style Skirt Steak with Grilled Romaine
Mintel Menu Insights, a leading market-research company, names Mediterranean among its top five food trends for 2009. This entrée salad captures the best of the Mediterranean: kalamata olives, sun-dried tomato, and feta cheese. For the protein component, our chefs marinated skirt steak in Kraft Greek Feta & Oregano Vinaigrette, adding a Mediterranean profile to this inexpensive cut of beef. This salad offers both perceived value and on-trend composition to diners. For a textural contrast, it's served with grilled romaine drizzled with the vinaigrette.
Sautéed Scallops with Mixed Bean & Fennel Salad
Again turning to the Mediterranean for inspiration, this salad features the fresh, clean flavours of fennel, tomato, yellow beans, green beans and carrots. Perfect on a menu at a polished-casual restaurant, the salad comes together with the bright flavours of Kraft Signature Sundried Tomato & Oregano Dressing. For a taste of the ocean, sautéed sea scallops match well with this colourful salad.
Baby Spinach Salad with Grilled Tuna
Here, our chefs turn their sights toward the Middle East. Israeli couscous, which is toasted pearls of pasta, brings a pleasing chewy texture and buttery flavour to this entrée salad. Kraft Golden Italian Dressing, with its flecks of red pepper and spices, adds a nice sheen to the grilled tuna.
Red Snapper and Udon Noodle Salad
This entrée salad responds to the twin mega trends of Pan Asian and seafood with a wonderful flavour combination. While familiar ingredients such as cucumber, celery and spinach keep the dish approachable, green onion, cilantro, mint, edamame, Kraft Signature Oriental Sesame Dressing and udon noodles give it that fantastic Asian profile.
Sautéed Shrimp Salad with Endive & Asparagus
This salad is a symphony of fresh ingredients bursting with wholesomeness and good flavour. Apples, pears, strawberries and oranges mingle with endive, frisée, mint and lemon juice. For protein with contrasting textures and complementing flavours, our chefs added crumbled goat cheese, glazed walnuts and succulent shrimp. Balance between sweet and tart is achieved with Kraft Signature Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.
Duck Breast Salad with Herb Dressing
This recipe delivers rustic fare with a European sensibility. Sautéed mushrooms and leeks, fingerling potatoes and lentils share space with baby spinach, red onion, roasted red pepper and carrots, and make a bed for crispy slices of duck breast. Our chefs wanted a rustic dressing to match the ingredients in the salad, so they made a vinaigrette with Kraft Signature Classic Herb Dressing. The dressing stands up beautifully to the heartier ingredients found in the salad.
Mini Chocolate Eclair Tarts
Mini desserts are a hot trend that shows no sign of cooling off. They work beautifully as a sweet punctuation to wholesome entrée salads. Diners still want to indulge, and the smaller portion allows room for dessert. Simplicity meets decadence in this tart with the marriage of Jell-O Vanilla Pudding & Pie Filling, chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.
Chef Moser's Tips:
Entrée salads offer solutions in the cross-utilization of proteins. If you're heavy on shrimp from a dinner special, add shrimp to an entrée salad as a lunch special the next day.
Freeman Moser III
Senior Executive Chef
Kraft Culinary Centre