Sweet and sour pepper dressing, mustard greens, and blackeye peas. This salad oozes with cliche’ southern ingredients… then I added fried green tomatoes, butternut squash, and roasted corn. My wife sort of ate silently and said she didn’t know what to think until she tasted it, and then she couldn’t stop eating it. She did leave half of a fried green tomato for me! This is really the ultimate composed salad. I wanted to make a dressing that would go great with raw mustard greens and I settled on a Pennsylvania Dutch pepper slaw dressing which I transformed into Sweet and Sour Pepper Dressing. Then I culled through my refrigerator for ingredients that would pair well together, with the summit being fried green tomatoes with goat cheese. I don’t like to brag, but I will in this instance, because the flavors are unbelievable. The salad is fresh and crisp and the dressing is vibrant. I will admit that the dressing has more sugar than I like to use, but in this case I think there was no way around it. Besides, the nutrition benefits of the raw mustard greens and blackeye peas and butternut squash probably make up for that.
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Sweet and Sour Mustard Greens Salad
All ingredients
For the dressing
For the salad
Instructions
To prepare dressing
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Squeeze lemon into 1/2 cup measure. Add enough white vinegar to measure 1/2 cup of lemon juice and vinegar combined.
Add lemon vinegar, sugar and water to 1 quart sauce pan. Add turmeric, mustard seed, garlic, onion, bell peppers and the lemon rind.
Bring to a simmer, reduce to low heat and allow mixture to cook for about 15 minutes.
Remove lemon rind and allow mixture to cool.
Cooled mixture in immersion blender canister and add 4 ounces of salad oil.
Pulse/puree quickly until oil is emulsified. Chill.
To prepare salad ingredients
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Toss butternut squash with 1 tablespoon of canola oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 350 degree oven until tender. Cool
Roast corn in 350 degree oven until lightly browned on all sides, cut from cob.
Drain fully cooked blackeye peas.
Combine corn, squash, and blackeye peas in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add 6 ounces of Sweet and Sour Pepper Dressing, combine well and set aside.
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Trim and core green tomatoes and slice into 8 equal slices.
Combine cornmeal with salt and cayenne.
Heat a small saute' pan on medium heat. Add canola oil.
Dredge tomato slices in corn meal mixture and brown on each side, placing on parchment line sheet pan.
Spread 1 ounce of goat cheese on each tomato slice.
Place tomato slices in 350 degree oven and roast until cheese is warmed and faintly browned.
Remove from oven and set aside.
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Place mustard greens in mixing bowl with squash and blackeye pea mixture.
Toss together to soften greens slightly.
Divide salad equally onto 4 plates, and top each with two fried green tomato slices. Drizzle with 1 ounce of dressing.
Serve immediately.
