Muffaletta Salad
Whenever we find ourselves staying in the French Quarter in New Orleans, my husband and I have found a morning routine: cafe’ au lait and an order of beignets at Cafe Du Monde, a walk down to Central Grocery and grab a half muffaletta togo and take it to Molly’s at the Market for a Frozen Irish Coffee. After a NOLA night it’s a perfect storm to get you back into the party spirit.
In case you’re not familiar the muffaletta, it’s said to have been invented at Central Grocery in 1906 which was owned by a Sicilian man who brought the muffaletta bread recipe from Italy. It’s a marinated sandwich with italian meats (salami, ham mortadella), swiss and provolone cheeses and an olive-veggie salad heavily marinated in olive oil. Yet I rarely order a muffaletta in California because no one does the bread right. A full muffaletta is served on an entire round of soft sesame kissed bread. So when I said above that we get 1/2 it’s also 1/2 a loaf of bread!
So when the craving arose the other day I thought screw it, let’s make it into a salad. The oil in the olive salad lends itself perfectly to dressing the lettuce and I recently got those sesame sticks that give the flavor of the toasted sesame bread that really hit the profile of the original sando. And bonus, it’s low carb too. Full disclosure I would’ve added some carrot for both color and flavor but the kids had eaten them all. Next time for sure.
Muffaletta Salad
Prep time: 10 minutes Servings: 1 or 2 people
5 slices salami
2 slices ham
1 slice provolone or swiss cheese
2 tablespoons olive tapanade*
handful of pine nuts
handful of sesame sticks ~ don’t have these? sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 tablespoon of vinaigrette ~ optional
*mixing in some cooked cauliflower florets and thinly sliced carrots will make the olive salad more authentic and flavorful
Chop head of romaine in half and slice from top to bottom throwing away the tough core at the end. Wash and place in bowl.
Roll slices of salami and chop into strips. Cut ham and cheese into small squares. Arrange on salad with pine nuts and sesame sticks. Add olive salad and mix. Add vinaigrette as needed. Enjoy!
