Pancetta Popcorn Arugula Salad

A while back, I had an excellent salad at The Tasting Room.  Baby greens were tossed with popcorn,  pancetta, radishes and a crumbled soft cheese (goat?).  The texture of the popcorn, crisp pancetta and the spicy, peppery radish were an excellent combination.  The salad wasn't perfectly executed in my opinion, as the large, whole radishes and large dollops of cheese could have been more thoughtfully  integrated.  But the idea behind the salad was a great one worth exploring at home.

I've riffed off of these flavor combinations a few times now.  In this version, I took the peppery bite of the radish and replaced it with arugula. The popcorn is very roughly chopped, as the whole kernels seemed a bit too large in a single bite for my tastes.  For the creamy element, I tossed in a crumbly goat cheese that was reminiscent in texture to a ricotta salata.   In fact, I've also used ricotta salata in this dish with nice results.

A standard lemon, EV olive oil dressing would be great for the salad.  On this given night, I gave myself the challenge of featuring booze in every course I made.   I had a Thai chili infused martini at Koca Lounge that I enjoyed, so I pureed chili into vodka in a food processor, brought the mixture to a boil, cooled and strained it, then seasoned with EV olive oil, salt, pepper and a bit of lemon juice.  The spicy notes made the dressing a welcomed addition to the salad, but as you'd expect, the vodka lent little flavor on its own.   But with all of these flavors going on at once, that wasn't such a bad thing.

Comments

[Chris]

YUM! I love the idea of this salad. And, I will have to tell my mom about the Tasting Room - She's always looking for new places to eat in the city. Thanks!

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