Put sunshine on your plate with tips, tricks, and recipes from local experts.
Springtime in the Reno-Tahoe area is marked by sunshine, warm weather, and seasonal goodies. With delicious local recipes as well as insider tips from local salad-making experts, you can turn your springtime salad game into salad fame.
Spring Stars for Your Salad
Full Belly Deli, in Reno and Truckee, is known for its innovative menu of signature sandwiches, subs, wraps, and salads. Inspiration for seasonal salad assortments comes from Tom Marrin, co-owner and salad guru of Full Belly Deli. Starting from the ground up, Marrin suggests a few in-season ingredients for spring salads.
“Normally, red radishes and some watermelon radishes grow through the spring,” he says. “Fennel also is great to use, as well as fresh herbs like scallions and dill — and basil if you’re lucky.”
In addition to fresh vegetables, pickling, he says, is a surefire way to enhance both seasonal and year-round ingredients.
“If you wanted to pickle a year-round red onion or a spring radish or even mushrooms, you could use spring spices like coriander, cilantro, fennel seed, or cumin seed,” Marrin explains. “Steep the whole seeds and spices in a warm vinegar and then add in your vegetables.”
One of Marrin’s favorite spring stars, however, is the humble green onion. While an obvious accent in the salad world, the green onion can shine in a dressing.
“Green onions are a veggie that a lot of people don’t usually use beyond a garnish. For example, you can char them to really emphasize the onion flavor, and then blend them for a simple warm vinaigrette with bacon fat. It’d go great over a bed of heartier spring greens like kale, spinach, or arugula.”
To experience local vendors and seasonal excitement, explore Full Belly Deli’s spring salad (recipe provided below). For even more flavor, try swapping the miso-apple cider vinaigrette for a charred green onion-bacon dressing!
Sweet and Savory
With locations in Midtown Reno and the University of Nevada, Reno campus, as well as in Oregon, where it was founded, Laughing Planet offers delicious, nutritious, and expeditious food, including salads that highlight springtime ingredients.
“Finely chopped, bagged salads aren’t cool,” says manager and brand ambassador Tim Healion. “The key to any spring salad, in my book, is local, fresh veggies and larger-cut leafy greens. In Reno and our watershed, winters tend to last a little longer, so a lot is grown in greenhouses. Certain lettuces and spinach come up early, and kale is one of those greens that grows all the time.”
In addition to a bed of local greens, balancing sweet with savory enhances seasonal flavors and wows taste buds.
“Another thing that helps any salad is to add a hint of sweetness, whether it be in the dressing or a garnish,” Healion notes. “For instance, we put dried cranberries and apples on top of our sumac salad, which ties a lot of the flavors together.”
With lovely local greens and feisty flavors, Laughing Planet’s infamous sumac salad can be recreated right in your own kitchen.
This spring, break out of your iceberg-lettuce-and-tomato rut and try some lesser-used, in-season ingredients to spice up your salads.
Full Belly Deli Spring Salad
(courtesy of Tom Marrin, co-owner, Full Belly Deli in Reno and Truckee. Serves 3)
Miso-apple vinaigrette (recipe below)
8 cups fresh spinach (Sierra Valley Farms recommended)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (Prema Farms recommended)
1 cup carrots, shredded (Prema Farms recommended)
1 cup radishes, thinly sliced (Sierra Valley Farms recommended)
1 cup pickled mushrooms (Mountain Mushrooms recommended)
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (Hole-In-One Ranch recommended)
Seasonal fresh herbs and toppings, such as green onions or dill
Prepare vinaigrette dressing and set aside.
In a large salad bowl, combine spinach, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, mushrooms, and bacon. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad and gently toss to coat all ingredients evenly. Serve salad on individual plates, ensuring each portion has a good mix of ingredients.
Garnish with additional bacon bits, radish slices, and a sprinkle of fresh herbs, including green onions.
For miso-apple cider vinaigrette
⅓ cup white miso paste
⅓ cup Terroir Herbals Fruit & Fire Cider
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons raw wildflower honey (The Radish Hotel preferred)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
In small bowl, whisk together miso paste, vinegar, mustard, and honey until well combined. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking, creating an emulsion. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper, to taste. Adjust sweetness and acidity according to your preference.
Sumac Salad
(courtesy of Tim Healion, manager/brand ambassador, Laughing Planet in Reno. Serves 3)
Curry-roasted chickpeas (recipe below)
1 head roasted cauliflower (recipe below)
10 cups spring spinach and kale mix
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 apples, diced
1 cup dried cranberries
Roasted red pepper sumac dressing (recipe below)
1 cup queso fresco
Prepare and cook curry-roasted chickpeas and roasted cauliflower together, then set both aside. Prepare dressing and set aside.
In salad bowl, combine greens, chickpeas, cauliflower, quinoa, apples, and cranberries until well mixed. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad evenly. Serve on individual plates, then top with queso fresco crumbles.
For curry-roasted chickpeas
¾ cup safflower oil
1 can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and dried
2½ tablespoons salt
½ tablespoons curry powder
1½ tablespoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne powder
For roasted cauliflower
⅛ cup safflower oil
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon coriander
Mixing well, combine all chickpea ingredients on one sheet pan and all cauliflower ingredients on another sheet pan. Roast both pans at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes or until chickpeas and cauliflower are lightly browned but still crisp.
For roasted red pepper sumac vinaigrette
3 red peppers, halved and seeded
3 cloves garlic
1 cup safflower oil
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sumac spice
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon lemon juice
Put peppers and garlic cloves on sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until nicely charred but not burned.
Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in blender with roasted peppers and garlic, then blend until smooth. Do not over-emulsify.
RESOURCES
Full Belly Deli
Eatfullbellydeli.com
Laughing Planet
Laughingplanet.com
