I have gone palm
crazy. No, that is not a misprint. I
haven’t gone plumb crazy (despite what you may have heard), though when the season hits, I just may! No, I have gone palm crazy, i.e. absolutely crazy for hearts of palm. I hosted a small dinner over the weekend, and
lacking enough ingredients to put into a satisfying side salad, went out on a limb (there
were some picky eaters on hand), opened up a jar of Melissa’s Hearts of Palm,
rinsed them and sliced coins directly into the salad. Getting such a positive response, I decided
to hunt for a recipe or two, or three…now FIVE that I
wanted to try using this delicious ingredient.
The name alone brings to mind exotic locales, island breezes, and palm fronds
swaying beneath a setting sun, so why not use them in as many dishes as possible?
Last night’s choice
was a simple salad that I sprung on the mister to see what sort of a reaction I’d get. He loved it! Success!
Hearts of Palm Salad
1 14.8-ounce jar
Melissa’s Hearts of Palm, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato (as
it happens, from my garden!), seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove,
finely diced
1 scallion, white
and green parts, sliced on an angle into ¼” slices
2 tablespoons fresh
basil leaves, julienned
1-2 tablespoons
Light Italian Dressing (I use Kraft Light Zesty Italian)
4 leaves of green
leaf lettuce
Fresh Parmesan cheese,
widely grated
Salt
Freshly Ground Black
Pepper
Slice the hearts of
palm into ½” wide slices, and place in a medium bowl. Add the tomato, garlic, scallion, basil, and
dressing, and toss lightly until well coated. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow flavors to blend. Arrange leaf lettuce on four salad plates,
top with salad mixture, and garnish with fresh shavings of Parmesan cheese and
a sprig of fresh basil.
For more great salad
ideas, I recommend this book:
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5 comments:
I love hearts of palm. When I was in Brazil, we went through many palm forests, bemoaning the fact that these little palm trees would be cut down in their prime... luckily for us there are so many more.... and tasty...
i love hearts of palm. We use it to stuff spring rolls. I wonder if it is available here in STL. I will be teaching a class in Whole Foods about rolls and one of the recipes I am going to teach needs hearts of palms. At least now I know it's available in cans. A good substitute though would be ruttabaga or turnips but nothing beats hearts of palm.
I'm glad to "meet" you online. Happy Wednesday!
Malou
Palm crazy, plum crazy, your salad looks crazy good Pattie. I don't know why I don't think to "palm" more salads. Will need to remember to pick some up next shopping day.
Thanks for sharing...
P.S. Harvesting tomatoes already? You lucky girl!!!
HI pattie, this looks good. I have no idea how the heart of palm looks like though. Does it comes canned or fresh?
Sounds so good, and looks it too! I think that I have had them, but not really sure. I guess I'll find out when I try out this recipe! So glad you shared your creative inspiration with Sunday's Best!
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