Perfecting the Taste of Garbage

Chicago's Hugo's Restaurant giving inspiration to recreate the perfect garbage salad!

So I love to travel and my trip to Chicago really reinforced my love for interesting cityscapes! It also brings out the foodie in me. I can't stand the thought of a boring meal while travelling and it was my mission to talk to locals and make sure I sourced out the best locations to eat. But first a boat tour. This city has numerous canals within the heart of the city and boasts a beautiful view and a relaxing way to spend an afternoon and fill up your phones photo storage with shots of impressive architecture!

Next to the Hancock building to enjoy a glass of wine and one of the finest views in all of Chicago. Ladies if you ever go, you need to hit the ladies washroom.. the floor to ceiling window in there is incredible and I witnessed many selfies taking place! The view became more inpressive as the sun went down as well!

But on to the food hunt.....

There were several great restaurants with amazing food and a great warm vibe! But the topper was Hugo's Frog Bar in the "Viagra Triangle!" I didn't make that up, it came straight from a local!! I guess this is where the older gents go to hip bars to pick up the young ladies! I didn't see anything but I was with my handsome husband so......

Full disclosure we went to Hugo's twice.... We ordered the Garbage salad to share as an appy the first night and it was ridiculous (that's a good thing). So we waited a day and went back again... Purpose? There was a Tomahawk steak on the menu with king crab legs that we regretted not sharing the first night...

…. and to re-taste test the garbage salad.... I hope you've caught on to a theme here with my posts... I keep eating food until I can recreate it perfectly... I will try and try again until I perfect it... but I did not have this luxury in Chicago, since I live in Canada... so I cheated and asked what some of the dressing ingredients were! I owe this perfection entirely to #hugosfrogbar

So once we returned home, I ventured to make this salad for my sister in law. I decided to pair the garbage salad with pork back ribs... To start the contents of the actual "salad" is really up to you. I think that's the purpose of the name garbage salad... like... clean out your fridge salad or... everything but the kitchen sink salad... but honestly... when I started this post with "perfecting the taste of garbage" I got your attention... right? Clearly we need a lettuce of some form as the base. I love my Organic Romaine from #superstore from there a coleslaw blend of cabbage (red and green and carrots) works nicely as an addition. You can add peppers, cilantro and cucumbers as well. But here is what makes it special... artichokes and heart of palm. These aren't regular veggies are they? but wow so good.... if you haven't tried them please do!

You can get organic artichoke hearts but the jars are small and expensive. I would be shocked if someone found organic palm hearts but if you ever do please let me know!

Throw in some peperoni and salami ... this salad is like a meal....we almost didn't need the tomahawk the second night in Chicago... oh but we did, and we ate it... don't judge, I walked a lot while there lol!

So here is the salad in all of its glory....

The dressing is what truly makes it special!

The Dressing:

1 cup of a high quality oil (I use Avocado oil) do not use coconut oil.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar (you can adjust depending on the level of tartness you like)

1/2 a red onion or a shallot emulsified in a blender. You can do this in some or all of the oil.

2 tablespoons of grainy Dijon mustard (definately use the grainy version rather than regular dijon, but regular will do in a pinch)

1 tsp garlic powder (or emulsify 1 clove of garlic with the onion if you like a garlicy dressing)

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste.

Now I recommend you try it like this first.. but if its too strong you can add a sweetener like coconut sugar to it in small sprinklings until the bite of the vinegar is gone. I have dabled in adding lemon juice to it too, but if you do I would start with less red wine vinegar.

Enjoy!!!