Saturday, July 09, 2016

Mansour Gorji: Canary's Wedge Salad with Grilled Jalapeños


There's a tiny restaurant near me that has maybe 10 tables in the whole place.  The chef randomly walks out among the customers and checks on everyone's dinner.  And the food is fantastic.  This little place is called Canary, and I still remember when I got to eat there for New Year's dinner about four years ago now.  I remember being most surprised by the salad that we were served.  I'm not normally a salad person, as you can probably tell by the limited number that I've posted, but this one was special.  It was a wedge salad, but it was topped with this fantastic prosciutto and grilled jalapeños.  Yes, I said grilled jalapeños.  It was like upscale-steak-place-meets-Texas-chile-pepper.  And it was amazing.  I always wondered how the salad was made, and as luck would have it, the chef released a small cookbook of some of his most requested recipes.  Until I'm able to go back for another dinner, I'll have to make do with this.

Canary's Wedge Salad with Grilled Jalapeños
From Zing! by Mansour Gorji

2 cups Greek yogurt
4 ounces blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola, in small pieces
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
4 jalapeño peppers
Olive oil
Sea salt
1 head iceberg lettuce
4 prosciutto slices, preferably San Daniele

In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, blue cheese, balsamic vinegar, and pepper.  Cover and let set in refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.

Wash and pat dry the jalapeños; cut and discard the ends of the peppers.  Hollow out the interiors, removing seeds and ribs.  Cut diagonally and brush with olive oil and salt only.

Discard the outer leaves of the lettuce.  Cut 1 inch from each end, allowing the slices to lay flat.  Then cut the iceberg head into 4 slices and plate.  Spread the dressing over the slices and lay the prosciutto on top.

Grill jalapeños for about 1 minute on each side (can also be placed under a broiler).  Place grilled jalapeños on top of prosciutto and serve.

Makes 4 servings

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