Raising the Bar...the Salad Bar:Salad Combinations and Now Serving Organic Baby Kale

Warmer weather is here..... One of the things we wanted to accomplish with our digital menu was to allow our customers to create their own salad combinations without driving our cooks nutty. What we did was offer between 4 and 6 different salad "bases" with the ability to customize them as many ways as possible. We also have 9 different toppings and 2 sizes of each salad. There are 108 different combinations... which is why the page is headed "Thoughtful Salads." You have to think about what and how you are going to put them together. This does not count the 4 or 5 "Thoughtless" salads we have on our menu. (The ones that we have thought out for you.)

Another thing we were hoping to do was "mix" it up a little and not have just the same old boring salad greens. We will always have our house specialty spinach salad, but everything else is fair game. We are "tossing" around any seasonal greens we come across.

Just this week, we have had 2 additions to these combos. As a topping, we are adding a crab cake.  But what I like even more is our new base, baby kale. We serve it with Salemville blue cheese chunks, egg, grape tomato, and a delicious stone ground mustard vinaigrette. Better yet it is organic.

Kale is a member of the cabbage family and a cousin to broccoli, collards and Brussels sprouts, to name a few. It’s delicious and nutritious. The leaves are harvested before they mature to ensure they're tender and sweet.
Mature kale is bold and peppery with a chewy texture, so it’s rarely served raw. Baby kale, on the other hand, is very mild with a flavor profile similar to baby arugula (with a little less bite). Its leaves are sturdier than those of many other baby lettuces, so baby kale salads can stand up to a wide array of ingredients and bolder flavors without being overwhelmed.

Here is a list of our make your own salads:

Salad Bases
House Special Spinach Salad

pine nuts, bacon, egg, with our house dressing honey raspberry vinaigrette

Organic Baby Kale

Salemville blue cheese, egg and stone ground mustard vinaigrette

Caeser Salad

sundried tomato, asiago cheese, focaccia croutons and our house made caeser dressing

Mesculin Spring Mix

gorgonzola cheese, spring mix, dried figs, sugared walnuts

Wedged Iceberg

gorgonzola cheese, red onion, and creamy gorgonzola dressing

Lots of Leaf

mixed lettuces, bacon bits, focaccia croutons

Toppings
Grilled Portobello Mushroom
Crab Cakes
Salmon Burger
Seared Tuna
Grilled Herb Infused Chicken
Black Bean Veggie Burger
White Anchovies
Crispy Applewood Bacon Chunks
Fried Chicken Breast

My favorite combination is the baby kale with a salmon burger on top.  What's yours?

Thoughtfully Yours,

Ray