PERSPECTIVES/ THE CONSULTING GROUP, LLC
  • Home
    • Who We Serve
    • How We Work
    • Services >
      • Concept Development
      • Strategic Planning
      • Brand Development
      • Operations
      • HACCP / Food Safety
      • Menu / Product Development
      • Marketing / Research
      • Design
      • Market Planning / Site Analysis
  • Why Perspectives?
    • About Us
    • Principals
    • Mission Statement
    • Code of Ethics
  • Clients
    • Testimonials
    • Client List
  • Contact Us
    • Phone, Address & Contact
  • Covid-19 Survival Guide

Cooking Lesson #213: Barcelona Barbacoa Salad

1/26/2021

0 Comments

 

… from the California Kitchen

Barcelona Barbacoa Salad
How you doin’? This is one of my favorite composed salads. What’s a composed salad, you ask? A composed salad is simply a salad arranged on a plate rather than tossed in a bowl. The name is derived from the French “salade composée.” A composed salad can be a simple as a scoop of tuna salad on a bed of greens with a few olives arranged around it or can be more complex like my Barcelona Barbacoa Salad with lots of ingredients—both hot and cold.
 
When planning to make a composed salad you must pay attention to complementary flavors and colors. Mixed greens may be part of such a salad, but they can be made with most any ingredients if they are harmonious. The Salad Niçoise, made with potatoes, tuna, green beans, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs and Niçoise olives is an example of a composed salad. Cobb Salad, although sometimes tossed together, is often served as a composed salad like the original from the Brown Derby Cobb (see Recipe #16). These salads can be a meal in themselves, or served as a salad course, a lunch, etc.  Although a composed salad might be comprised of many different ingredients this does not mean that your salad is elevated because you claim to have “composed” it, as many chefs seem to think. Flavor comes before presentation.
 
Many plate presentations—salads or not—are arranged or composed. There are a few types of compositions… bedded is the most common. A bedded salad starts with a “bed” of salad greens used in so many restaurants for so many things, including egg, chicken or tuna salad, or almost anything else, on a big lettuce leaf. Often the salad greens at the base of such a salad are a simple salad in themselves, with their own dressing, and the other ingredients arranged on top.
 
In restaurant kitchens is a lot easier to compose a salad because you have so many ingredients to choose from at hand. We try to make use of as many of them as possible. Our rule of thumb is, if a single ingredient does not account for at least 5% of sales or isn’t used in at least 5 menu items, there’s probably no good reason to have that ingredient in the inventory.
 
The Barcelona Barbacoa Salad has a lot of ingredients—both hot and cold. It is challenging, not because it is so difficult to make, but because of the number of separate ingredients. That is considered a lot of work by many, but that doesn’t detract from the absolute perfection in taste, texture and temperature that is experienced when you eat this salad. I have called out several store-bought ingredients to make it easier to “compose” without detracting from the overall eating experience.
 
Prep time:  30 minutes
Yield:  1 serving
 
Ingredients
2 cups mixed lettuce blend (I use a bagged Mediterranean lettuce mix)
2 tablespoons 1/4-inch diced avocado
2 tablespoons 1/4-inch sliced cucumber rounds
2 tablespoons chopped jicama
1/2 cup warm beef chili (good quality store-bought canned chili)
3 quarter-cut tomato wedges
2 tablespoons grilled corn-off-the-cob niblets
1 tablespoon shredded cotija cheese
2 tablespoons pico de gallo (store-bought)
1/2 teaspoon green onion circles
1 sprig cilantro leaves
1/2 cup fried corn tortilla chips (store-bought)
2 quarters fresh lime wedges
1/4 cup south-of-the-border ranch dressing (3 tablespoons ranch dressing + 1 tablespoon pico de gallo mixed well)
 
Directions
  1. Put the lettuce mix into a serving bowl.
  2. Layer the following items in a circle over the greens; avocado, cucumber and jicama. Keep the center clear.
  3. Place a tomato wedge at 12 o’clock, 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock.
  4. Sprinkle the corn niblets over the avocado, cucumber and jicama and tomatoes.
  5. Place the chili in the center of bowl.
  6. Top the chili with pico de gallo and sprinkle the cheese over top of chili.
  7. Sprinkle green onion over salad.
  8. Garnish with cilantro sprig.
  9. Place dressing in a separate ramekin at the 6 o’clock position in the bowl.
  10. Place corn tortilla inside compartment or in a separate bowl.
  11. Squeeze the lime over salad and chips.
  12. Serve immediately.

ChefSecret:  It’s not cheating to use store-bought ingredients—a can of chili, a pre-made pico de gallo and prewashed, cut and bagged lettuce blends make meal preparation so much easier.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Chocolate is vital for our survival. Dinosaurs didn’t have any chocolate and look what happened to them.”
-------------------------------------------
Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Salad #Barbacoa #Barcelona #BeefChili #Jicama #Corn #ComposedSalad #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                          ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    For over 4 decades collaboration and vision have been the cornerstones of our approach to developing innovative solutions. We fuel innovation, uncover opportunities, discover trends and embrace sustainability, turning imaginative ideas into profitable realities.

    We are expert in the following areas: Strategic Planning, Concept and Brand Development, Market Research, Operations Systems Planning, Operations Programming, Menu Planning & Inventory Optimization, Product Development, Training Programs, HACCP / Sanitation / Food Safety, Co-Packer Evaluation & Coordination, Food Processing & Facility Plant Design.

    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Baking
    Beef
    B'Fast/Brunch
    Chicken
    Cocktails
    Dessert
    Dinner
    Entrees
    Gluten Free
    Gluten-Free
    Happy Hour
    Health & Beauty
    Healthy Recipes
    Holiday Recipes
    Instant Pot
    Instant-pot
    Keto
    Kids
    Lunch
    Lunch/Brunch
    Pets
    Pork
    Salads
    Sauces
    Seafood
    Sides
    Snacks
    Soups
    Sous Vide
    Special Edition
    Turkey
    Veal
    Vegetarian

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020

www.perspectives-la.com
Copyright © 2021 Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC  | Henderson, NV 89052 |   310-477-8877
  • Home
    • Who We Serve
    • How We Work
    • Services >
      • Concept Development
      • Strategic Planning
      • Brand Development
      • Operations
      • HACCP / Food Safety
      • Menu / Product Development
      • Marketing / Research
      • Design
      • Market Planning / Site Analysis
  • Why Perspectives?
    • About Us
    • Principals
    • Mission Statement
    • Code of Ethics
  • Clients
    • Testimonials
    • Client List
  • Contact Us
    • Phone, Address & Contact
  • Covid-19 Survival Guide