“Salad Jam” – Perfect Use for the Last Sad Bite of Greens
I hate to sound melodramatic, but lettuce and me are enemies. It’s not that I don’t like salad – I do – it’s that I never eat a salad fast enough until my salad gets “weird”, as in “technically inedible, but a little sluggish and not as fresh by the look”. It makes me feel like a failure, and I hate failure. Luckily, Jenn Louie has a recipe specially designed for salad that doesn’t quite suit salad, and it’s called “salad jam.”
Salad jam is technically not a “jam” – it has no sugar and is not boiled – but I’m not going to mind that. He takes imperfect leaves and combines them with tasty things like mustard, capers, shallots and gherkins to create a paste that’s perfect for spreading on sandwiches, spreading on grilled meats, or using as a sauce.
This is also pretty easy to do. Just cook the salad for 3-4 minutes until it looks like this:
Then sauté the shallots and cool everything on a plate until the vegetables are completely cool. While it’s in the fridge, combine a few gherkins, some good mustard, and some capers (I’m out of capers, so I used olives and that’s fine for me).
Mix everything together in a food processor until smooth, then spread. The great thing about salad jam is – like the tofu in front of it – it looks a lot like what you put in it, so there’s plenty of room to customize. No Dijon mustard? Use honey mustard, stone ground, or a combination of both. Would you like to add some garlic in there? I think you need. The salad provides bulk and body and also makes you feel confident when you make your choice. Everything seems a little more delicious when smothered with lettuce.
Salad Jam | Food52