This is all they called it on the menu, but it wasn't your average shrimp salad with those little bay shrimp. The half dozen shrimp I got were plump, and the salad itself was Thai style. It had shaved carrot, red onion slices, lettuce, zucchini slices, tomato slices, finely chopped green onion, and fresh cilantro for garnish. The dressing was sweet, spicy, and sour. I noticed some fish sauce and possibly some soy sauce in it, and there were red pepper flakes for heat. I asked for my salad to be spicy, and they definitely delivered, but it wasn't over the top. It was a very colorful, refreshing, and enjoyable meal.
Location: Zen, 1231 Ramsey Street, Banning, California. Date: May 11, 2024.
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Just a Small Town Grill took over the building that used to be Pauline's Fruit Market, and this salad is a tribute to her. It contains romaine lettuce, fresh blueberries, mandarin orange segments, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and sweet and salty cashew, almond, and pumpkin seed mix. It's served with lemon honey poppyseed vinaigrette on the side. There was crunch and sweetness from the nut clusters, chewy sweet and tart from the dried cranberries, juiciness from the large blueberries and the mandarin segments, all balanced by raw red onion and the feta cheese. This salad was juicy with crunch, and I paired it with Desert Citrus wheat ale, flavored with tangerine, from Coachella Valley Brewing (my favorite local brewing company).
Location: Just a Small Town Grill, 49643 29 Palms Hwy, Morongo Valley, California. Date: April 27, 2024. When you're going to eat a salad, it's probably not a bad idea to have panko crusted fried goat cheese in it. That's what I got along with a good amount of sweet and chewy dried fig pieces, refreshing grapefruit supremes, and some beet and sweet potato, all served on a bed of red and green lettuce with some arugula, I believe. The crunchy goat cheese that was meltingly soft in the middle was the star, but the fig really brought this salad together. The owners used to meet under the clock at Grand Central station in New York, and when they moved out West they wanted just a small restaurant, but they found this historic larger place in Palm Springs that had a clock, and they couldn't resist.
Location: Grand Central, 160 La Plaza, Palm Springs, California. Date: March 9, 2024. This salad was composed with red and green lettuce, candied walnuts, cranberries, dates, gorgonzola cheese, sliced red onion, and sliced green apple. I chose citrus dressing as both dates and citrus are part of our valley harvest. There was crunch and sweetness from the candied walnuts and the green apple, crunch and some punch from the red onion, creaminess and umami from the gorgonzola, sweetness and chewiness from the date pieces and the cranberries, and the citrus dressing was creamy, tangy, and sweet. The dressing was served on the side, but I used it all.
Location: Capri Restaurant, 10325 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs, California. Date: February 17, 2024. Apart from the quinoa, this salad had black beans, tomato, sweet corn, avocado, shaved red onion, pickled fresno chiles, cilantro, crumbled queso fresco, and a roasted tomato vinaigrette dressing. There was sweetness and some chew from the corn, spice and acid from the fresnos, tang from cherry tomatoes, creaminess from the avocado, and protein from the quinoa and beans. The salad was on a bed of green and red lettuce, and it was garnished with pretty watermelon radish slices. There was some crunch from the onion, and the vinaigrette was tangy but not over-powering so I could taste all the good ingredients.
Location: Saguaro, 1800 E Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 30, 2024. Apart from the grilled romaine, there was avocado, tomato, red onion, and grilled sweet potato with a raspberry dressing. There was some nice char flavor from the grilled romaine, some acid from the tomato, crunch from the red onion slices, a touch of sweetness from the sweet potato, and creaminess from the avocado. The raspberry dressing was muted, but the ingredients in the salad were exceptional. The char on the lettuce and the pop of the cherry tomato halves made this dish noteworthy. I have now blogged all three salads at Low Desert.
Location: Low Desert, Smoke Tree Village, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 26, 2024. I've blogged almost everything I've eaten at Low Desert and this salad is no exception. It consisted of spinach leaves, thinly sliced fennel, shredded beets, grilled sweet potato pieces, black lentils, avocado, grated carrot, pomegranate seeds, and a dressing of cilantro vinaigrette. There was crunch, sweetness, and a little sour from the pomegranate and some creaminess from the avocado. The sweet potato was slightly crunchy but seasoned nicely, there was protein from the lentils, and everything else was very fresh. There wasn't a whole lot of flavor from the vinaigrette, but this salad really didn't need it. The ingredients were arranged to eat a bit of this and some of that or you could toss it all together (which I didn't do). This salad was composed of nice ingredients presented well.
Location: Low Desert, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 405, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 23, 2024. As promised, here is the peach salad from the La Quinta Brewing Company, and this one is really good. The peach slices were fresh, though a little under ripe, and it came with mixed greens, candied walnuts, and manchego cheese tossed in a peach vinaigrette and garnished with both black and white sesame seeds. The peach was a little sweet and a bit crispy, there was crunch from the candied walnuts, and just enough manchego to boost flavor and give a hint of creaminess. Flavor wise, peach was definitely the star.
Location: La Quinta Brewing Company, Old Town La Quinta, California. Date: September 2, 2023. This was chopped romaine and arugula with crumbled feta cheese, candied pears, and candied walnuts. The dressing was champagne vinaigrette. It had sweetness from the pear and sweetness and crunch from the nuts. I wish there had been more feta cheese for more creaminess, but it was an excellent salad. The pear was the key, and I found out that another location of this brewery offers this salad with peach. I'll have to try it.
Location: La Quinta Brewing Co, 74-714 Technology Drive, Palm Desert, California. Date: August 12, 2023 This vegetarian ceviche was made with chopped mango, cucumber, tomato, and onion. It was sweet and sour and very much like ceviche due to the lime juice dressing. It was garnished with avocado slices and lime halves, but it's the mango that pulls it all together. It was an interesting find and very delicious.
Location: Taqueria San Miguel #2, 72450 Ramon Road, Ste 101, Thousand Palms, California. Date: August 11, 2023. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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