A bit of simmered Polish sausage, some nice Kalamata olives, a jar of diced pimiento, and a wicked tasty garlic and Dijon vinaigrette come together to make for a surprisingly tasty salad.
Tho’, the whole thing started out as an appetizer…
We’d spent a week in Nags Head with my family, and I had picked up a cook book of Outerbanks recipes from some shoppe or another, when I came across this recipe.
It was good, and it made for a truly fine munchie, but when our friend Mira grabbed the Romaine spears I’d added as a last minute garnish and declared it a ‘SALAD’ – everything snapped together as tho’ it was meant to be.
And thus has it been ever since; and, let me tell you, it is better.
INGREDIENTS
Salad:
•3-1/2 lb Polish sausage
•1 (4 oz) jar chopped pimientos, drained
•1 (6 oz) can pitted black olives, sliced and drained (Kalamatas from your market’s olive bar are better)
•1 bunch scallions, sliced
•1 cup chopped fresh parsley
•1-1/2 cup vinaigrette
•Freshly chopped Romaine leaves
Vinaigrette:
•4 cloves garlic
•2 tbsp coarse ground Dijon mustard
•1 tbsp Dijon mustard
•1/2 cup red wine vinegar
•1/4 cup white wine garlic vinegar
•2 cups veggie oil
•1/2 cup olive oil
•1/2 tsp dried basil
•1/2 tsp dried parsley
•1/2 tsp dried oregano
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/2 tsp Tellicherry pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/2 tsp seasoned salt
•1/2 tsp sugar
Make the vinaigrette by tossing the garlic together with the mustard, vinegars, and seasonings together in a blender jar and pulse until the garlic is nicely chopped and the rest nicely blended.
Combine the veggie and olive oil together* and, with the blender running, slowly stream the oil into the blender jar until the vinaigrette looks creamy, and has thickened.
Transfer the vinaigrette to a jar and stash in the fridge.
Arrange the Polish sausage in a large pot with just enough water (or beer; beer could be good here) to cover.
Bring the water (or beer) to a boil over high heat and cook for ten minutes.
Remove from the heat, set aside to cool, then cut into half-inch slices.
Place the sliced, cooled sausage in a large bowl along with the olives, pimiento, scallions, and parlsely, then add the vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Stash in the fridge for a couple of hours (or, always more better, overnight) to allow the flavors to blend, then pull the sausage mixture out about an hour before you plan to serve.
Arrange freshly chopped Romaine in a bowl or on a platter, spoon the now nicely marinated sausage mixture over and toss well.
Serve.
Nice munchie; great salad.
As a side note, the garlic and Dijon vinaigrette is also pretty frikkin’ fantastic, so feel free to keep the leftovers for any other salad needs that may come your way.
*Feel free to use all olive oil in the vinaigrette, but then be prepared for it to turn solid when stashed in the fridge. More better to blend, I think.