(peppy salsa music) - [Sara] Sara's Weeknight Meals is made possible by Sunsweet and-- (fast paced classical music) - Cooking is the first kind of love you know, it all started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta.

And now, I transmit it to all the guests.

It's something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceanic Cruises, proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(twangy country music) - Nothing tastes better than greens fresh from the earth.

When you add meat to make a hearty salad, well, that's a meal!

And it's my mission today.

The husband thinks that any salad is just rabbit food, why?

I came up with a salad that is so manly even he couldn't resist, my warm steakhouse salad with blue cheese dressing.

And you get to do this.

At the end of a bad day at the office, (grunting) Grill queen, Elizabeth Karmel, comes to cook.

- We're making one of my favorite, favorite meals.

It's chicken paillard over a Greek farmer salad with tzatziki sauce.

- Oh, perfect for summer.

- [Elizabeth] So refreshing, and so delicious.

- [Sara] And so healthy, really.

Then we visit Wholesome Way, a unique program that pairs food stamps and farmer's markets.

- Thank you.

- And, I'm gonna take one of my favorite appetizers, which is melon and prosciutto, and blow it up into a entree salad, and everybody's gonna get their own personal mason jar salad.

Oo, that's so pretty.

Hearty salads today on Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(music drops) Hi, I'm Sara Moulton.

Welcome to Sara's Weeknight Meals.

I have my buddy here, Elizabeth Karmel, and she is the expert on grilling, and specifically, grilling for women.

- Well, thank you.

Thank you.

- Because you are the executive chef at Hill Country Barbecue, and you've written so many books on the subject.

Okay, so what are we making today, we are grilling.

- Okay, I have to tell you we're making one of my favorite, favorite meals.

It's chicken paillard over a Greek farmer salad with tzatziki sauce.

- Oh, perfect for summer.

- It's so refreshing, and so delicious.

- And so healthy, really.

- Yeah.

And, you know what, there are layers, and layers and layers of flavor.

If you could do me a favor and pound those chicken breasts.

- I'm going to.

- I have a little technique that I love doing is I put a little bit of oil in the bag.

- Isn't that interesting, I put a little bit of water in the bag!

- Well.

- But, hey, oil makes sense, too.

- You know what?

This is a case where oil and water is gonna mix.

(chuckling) - There you go, okay.

So a little bit of oil so it doesn't tear when we're pounding it.

- Exactly, exactly.

- Okay.

- So, I'm gonna make the wet rub, I love this.

I'm gonna put a little garlic, a little lemon zest.

- My teacher, my grilling guru has always told me to start my pre-heating the grill.

- You're right, so that's the first step is to always pre-heat the grill.

- Okay, I'll start whacking away, okay.

- I'll do that right now.

(pounding chicken) (utensils rattling) - [Sara] This is a great thing to do when you're in a bad mood.

(country music returns) Just sort of gets it all out.

- You know, well, cooking is very therapeutic, right?

- It is!

- And there's nothing more therapeutic than pounding chicken.

You know, a lot of people I know tend to buy garlic that's already minced, because they don't want to mince it.

- Oh, it tastes so awful, don't you think?

- It's tastes so awful, so I say, "Don't do that."

But instead of having to worry about mincing it with a knife, if you use a little rasp like this, you get perfectly grated and minced garlic.

And I'm gonna zest a couple of lemons, and I want to make sure I don't get any of the bitter white pith while I'm doing it.

- Yes.

(pounding continues) I've just about got it, that looks good, doesn't it?

- That looks perfect.

- Okay, I'll just-- - That looks great.

- I'll just let them slither on in here.

- Okay, and now I'm gonna actually remove the garlic and the lemon.

I like to use a really coarse sea salt, and then just a dab, literally a dab, a quarter teaspoon of water.

- Of water.

- And this is almost as therapeutic as you pounding.

- As the whacking away-- - I love this.

- [Sara] With the rolling pin, yes.

(mortar and pestle clinking) - And the salt really helps extract a lot of flavor from the lemon zest and the garlic.

- You want me to measure the oregano here?

- Yes, we need one teaspoon.

- Why are we using dry?

- You know what?

In any kind of rub for grilled food, it's much better to use dried herbs.

This is a little bit of a wet rub.

Because the dried herbs, first of all they're more powerful, so you need less of them.

(mortar and pestle clinking) And then secondly, we want to get a nice crust on the food, and the wetter it is, the longer it takes to get that crust on the food.

So, we're also gonna put about a quarter teaspoon of black pepper, and you know what?

We might just put a tiny bit more oil on there, 'cause you know what I always say, oil the food, not the grate.

- Not the grill, not the grate not the grill.

- Okay, so you can see here that we just have a little bit more than a tablespoon, but it's extremely flavorful, and so, it really packs a real punch.

So, I'm just gonna divide that in four.

(country music returns) - Brush it.

- Let's just brush it so that they're no clumps.

- So how long do we marinate this for?

- We're gonna let this marinate for 30 minutes, and it's really important to let it marinate for 30 minutes because that way, the first quarter inch of the chicken will really absorb all those flavors.

- And I noticed, because we've got salt in there, it's almost like we're kind of brining it a little.

- You're exactly right.

So, I'm just gonna put a little bit more oil on just to make sure that the chicken doesn't stick, and that it stays really juicy on the inside.

Uh, this is gonna be so good, I can't wait!

- This is a gas grill, we could use charcoal, we could use a grill pan, but since we're using a gas grill, we pre-heated it to what?

- We pre-heated it with all the burners on high until it got over 500 degrees, and then I reduced the heat to a medium heat of about 400.

And we're gonna cook this over direct heat using-- - Oh, we start with those.

- Using my favorite red tongs, 'cause red means raw.

- Okay.

- Stop, raw food touched these and then after I turn them, and they're ready to come off the grill, we're gonna use the green tongs, 'cause green means go, cooked food touched these.

- And if you didn't have the snappy little tongs, you could just put a strip of red or a strip of green on two separate tongs to keep them straight.

- Exactly.

So, remember Sara, you want to oil the food, not the grate, this is so important.

When people realize this, it changes their grilling life.

- Change their life.

- It changes their grilling life, at least.

Okay, so if you oil the grates, which a lot of people do, what happens is you've pre-heated the grill, right?

And so, that is a torch ready to happen, right?

You've got an oily paper towel, and you go against the grates, and that could easily ignite, so it's a fire hazard, that's number one.

But number two, oil burns really, really quickly, and then it becomes really tacky.

You know how you've felt the bottom of a saute pan that hasn't been washed well-- - Yes.

- And it's sticky?

So, that's what happens to the cooking grates, and then it's like, gluing your food to the cooking grates.

- Wow, okay, if nothing, that's more compelling than anything I've every heard before.

- But then, the real food reason is is if you oil the food, all the juices stay inside the food, promotes caramelization, and you know how important those roasty, toasty grill marks are.

And, it also prevents stickage.

- Okay, well there you go.

- So, there you go.

That's why you always should oil the food, not the grates.

- What if you want to make those cool crosshatches?

How do you do it?

- Oh, I love crosshatches, let's do it, I'll show you.

(music returns) Luckily, I put all of the chicken straight on the grates.

So, basically, all you want to do is you want to pick it up and turn it 25 percent.

(chicken sizzling) - [Sara] Okay.

- And then, you'll get those great crosshatch marks.

So now, I'm just turning it at an angle.

- Mm hm.

- And I'll get them.

- Okay.

- Look how beautiful that looks.

- So, three minutes on that side?

- Three minutes on this side.

- Total?

- Three to four, so it's been there about two, we'll leave it another two, and then we'll flip it over.

- Do you want me to chop parsley, or something, while we're waiting?

- Yes, that would be great.

Why don't you do that?

And I will actually cut some lemons.

(music volume increases) (music drops) - We should turn them, right?

- We should, yes.

- Okay, so now, do we switch to our green tongs?

No.

- No, we're gonna turn them first, and then we're gonna switch.

So, look at those gorgeous grill marks.

- I love it, they're beautiful.

- Aren't they beautiful?

- And I'm gonna, meanwhile, get our salad here.

And this is our Greek salad, so we've just got tomatoes, and cucumber, and onion, and olives, and tzatziki, right?

Which is-- - Right, right.

And I love this salad.

This is my favorite, favorite salad.

There's no lettuce to it, it's just all the yumminess of a salad.

(clapping) - Do you think we're ready yet?

- Let's look.

Already, now we're gonna use the green tongs.

- Okay, and how are you gonna know when it's done?

- You know what?

I'm gonna know by touching it, and also by looking to see if the meat had shrunk up.

The great thing about meat though, too, is as you let it rest, it also continues to cook a little bit, so this will probably continue to cook about four or five degrees.

So, I think that's perfect.

Beautiful crosshatch marks.

- Yay!

- Yay!

- Is this something that needs to rest after we take it off?

- Yes, all meat needs to rest, because that allows the juices to reabsorb, and it's especially important for chicken, especially boneless, skinless chicken which has a tendency to be, sort of, tough, and dry.

- Tough, and dry, yeah.

- And letting it rest will really make a big difference.

(music returns) - Wow.

- I can't wait to eat this!

Look how beautiful it looks.

- So gorgeous, and it does give off some juice.

Here, I'll hold it for you.

- Okay.

- There.

- While it's still hot-- - You just squeeze?

- Squirt some lemon on top so that it really gets another nice burst of lemon.

- Oh, I love this.

- And we're gonna put a little lemon zest, so you put the parsley, and I'll put a little lemon zest.

- Oh, what a nice idea!

What a great thing to make, I mean this is a weeknight meal for the family, but this would be great for entertaining, too.

Well, thank you so much for our grilled chicken paillard with country Greek salad.

- Yes.

- Yay!

We got to try this.

- I know, I can't wait!

- I'm gonna get some forks.

(music fades) (relaxing piano music) (crickets chirping) - My name is Christine Bassette.

My husband and I run Killam & Bassette Farmstead in South Glastonbury, Connecticut, and we, with our five children, and our 84 year old partner, Henry Killam, run this farm stand, and support our families on it.

- My name is Jessie Steel, I'm a hairdresser.

My son, Caden, is a year and a half, and I think it's very important for his physical growth to consume fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

Thank you.

- [Sara] Christine and Jessie, two mothers, live radically different lives in totally different communities, but they were brought together by this man.

Michel Nischan founded an organization, Wholesome Way, that makes healthy food more affordable, and what they found was that in poor neighborhoods, it isn't just a lack of grocery stores that keep people from eating fruits and vegetables.

- There once were grocery stores in these communities.

And when the economic climate changed, and most of the people living here didn't have money to shop the entire grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables, the grocery stores left.

So, we really felt that affordability was the key.

(guitar strumming) (background chatter) - [Sara] So they used private money for a pilot program that essentially doubled the value of food stamps spent on fruits and vegetables.

- Use my card for $10, please.

- Alright, so we're gonna swipe your card for $10, and then we're gonna give you 20 tokens.

- Excellent, thank you.

- [Sara] Jessie is a customer, part of an assistance program for low income women with children.

- When I use my card, say I spent $10, they will give you $10 in tokens, so you get like, a free $10 to spend on whatever you'd like within the market.

(plastic bag crinkling) - $8.50.

- It's a win-win.

(laughing) - Okey-doke.

- Thank you very much.

By interacting with the farmers, you get to know them on a personal level, how their food is grown, you know there's no pesticides, no chemicals, I don't have to worry about what's in it.

(peppy pop music) - That's where Chris comes in.

Her farm used to sell their produce wholesale at a third of the price they got at the farmer's market.

Now, it's even better.

- Our sales at the farmer's markets have doubled since we've started taking the coupons.

We found that certain ethnic people wanted collard greens, bok choy, so we decided that we would add that to what we were growing, and it makes a huge impact on what we grow.

(background guitar strumming) - [Sara] The program has been so successful, that a farm bill last year provided $100 million to double food stamps when spent of fruits and vegetables.

It was the rare bill with bipartisan support.

- So, we had Democratic support, because we were proving that underserved consumers want to feed their families better, and on the right side of the aisle, the farmers hire more people, they put land in production, they make infrastructural investments.

That's classic American small business support.

- I think we'll take some peaches.

- [Sara] So on this day two others, Christine and Jessie, meet at Bridgeport, Connecticut's farmer's market.

- Apple.

(bag rustling) - [Sara] Not because it's trendy or fun, but because for them, it's a vital part of being a mom.

- Thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- Have a great day.

- 'Cause my son, Caden, he's smart, he's very intelligent for his age, and I really think that, bottom line, it's from being fed healthy foods.

(mellow country music) - Farming life for us, the best part about it, is being able to spend time with my five children and my husband.

Every part of what we grow or produce has our heart and soul in it, because it's our pride.

(music fades) (mid tempo country music) - It's looks like a rose, I mean, it does look like a rose.

(car passing) (trunk closing) - You know, the husband thinks that any salad is just rabbit food, he won't touch it.

But, I tricked him, I came up with a salad that is so manly, even he couldn't resist.

We're gonna start here with the potato pancake, let me just get this last bit of peel off, and the potato that we're using is a baking potato, generally called a russet.

My favorite way to grate, period, anything, potatoes, vegetables, is on the grating disk of a food processor, 'cause it just goes so quickly.

Besides which, at the end of a bad day at the office, (grunting) (blades whirring) is sort of fun, you know?

(upbeat country rock music) (knife chopping) Here we go.

(blades whirring) Okay, olive oil, you can use either a nonstick pan, or I have here a stick-resistant pan, just a little bit of olive oil in the bottom.

And then all these go in there at once, I'm gonna smush 'em down.

(potatoes sizzling) You want about a medium heat, medium to medium high.

And then, just give it a smush.

So, while that's cooking away, you've got to be patient, just walk away, we're gonna get our steak on.

Now, this is just a good ol' New York Strip sirloin steak.

It's pretty thick, so it's gonna take, I think about five minutes a side.

You know, for this, because it is a manly salad we're probably going with about six ounces per person.

But, generally with protein, I try to keep it at more like four ounces per person.

(paper crinkling) Okay, so we're gonna get this in here.

(steak sizzling) Yeah, that's the sound you want to hear when you add your steak to the pan.

If you don't hear that sizzle, the pan just wasn't hot enough.

So, I'm just gonna slice an onion here.

(chopping on board) (music picks up) Now, you noticed I didn't season this side of the steak.

I don't season side two until right before I flip it, 'cause if I seasoned it now and it sat there for five minutes, this side would be all wet, and then when I turned it over, the steak wouldn't sear.

(chopping onion) (sizzling foods) Alright, dressing time.

So, I'm making a creamy blue cheese dressing, because again, this is my steakhouse salad.

And we're gonna start with a little garlic, so just a couple of garlic cloves, this guy's really tiny.

(banging on counter) Okay, we need about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice here.

Don't ever use that bottle stuff, it just doesn't have the same flavor, and we're gonna squeeze that right in there.

And then we have some sherry vinegar.

Now sherry vinegar is one of my favorite vinegars, I tend to reach for it a lot, because it doesn't just have the acid, it really has sort of a nice smokey taste from the sherry, so two tablespoons of this.

I'm gonna add a tiny pinch of salt.

And then some mustard, two teaspoons of dijon mustard, and what's a steakhouse without worcestershire sauce?

We need two teaspoons of this, there we go.

(blender whirring) And then slowly add our oil.

And now, we're gonna add some sour cream, and this is what makes it creamy, about a third of a cup.

And then, some blue cheese.

Okay, and that's about a third of a cup, also.

(blender whirring) I need to get my steak flipped over, so let me do this first.

(steak sizzling) I'm gonna season it now that I'm gonna turn it.

Oh, wow!

What a beautiful sear.

Okay, we're gonna give that about another four or five minutes.

Let's me check our potato here.

Okay, here we go, so I can see one part's gonna stick, but I'm just gonna make this work, there we go.

Now, I'm gonna season this side, and I bet you my steak is done, let me just touch it.

Now, the way you can tell with a steak of a piece of meat if it's done, is the more it cooks, the more well done it gets, the firmer it gets.

So, when you touch it, yeah, you can see there's a little bit of give, which means that it's probably rare to medium rare.

I'm gonna put it on a plate and let it rest.

It's very important when you're cooking meat or any kind of protein to let it rest, because what's happens is the juices go back in and redistribute so that it's completely evenly juicy inside.

If I slice this right now, all the juices would come streaming out, and we'd have a dry steak.

I mean, who wants a dry steak?

(upbeat jazz music) Now, I'm gonna add my onions, and we're gonna make these nice and brown.

(onions sizzling) I can clean up a little bit while I'm waiting.

So, you see how nicely it comes together after 10 to 12 minutes each side?

You just keep smushing it and eventually, you end up with one big potato pancake.

So, we gonna take this out (spatula scraping the pan) and we're gonna cut in in fours.

Everybody gets their own quarter of it.

It's the crunchy part at the bottom of the plate.

(crunching potatoes) and meanwhile, my steak has been resting, and it's given off a fair amount of juice which is what happens whenever you left protein rest.

And you don't want to waste that juice, it's delicious stuff, so we're gonna add it right to our onions, create a little bit of a sort of sauce there.

(onions sizzling) and get our steak down here to slice.

We're gonna get rid of the fat, which we cooked on it, just to give it a little bit of flavor from the fat.

There we go, oh yeah, that's very rare.

And now, we're gonna just do some cross cut slices.

(country rock returns) I'd say that's about enough.

I've got my spinach in the fridge, I washed and spun it dry.

We're gonna start with the potato on the bottom.

We'll top it off with some beautiful steak slices.

Wow, that's gorgeous, isn't it?

Put some onion on top, with all that yummy steak juice in there.

Just put a little bit of spinach on either side, and finally, a drizzle of blue cheese sauce.

Now, could you really call this a salad?

I don't think so, this is just way too hearty to be called a salad, and I know the husband would be very, very happy with it.

That's it, my warm steakhouse salad with blue cheese dressing.

(twangy country music) I'm gonna take one of my favorite appetizers, which is melon and prosciutto, and blow it up into an entree salad, which you can pack up easily and take on a picnic.

So, let's start with the watermelon.

How do you know a watermelon is ripe?

First of all, melons have to have been picked ripe, there's nothing you can do to ripen them after they have been picked.

But what yours looking for is this little yellow spot.

What that means is that it spent time, actually, that yellow spot would've been down, it spent enough time ripening that it got, sort of, that blonde spot and the bottom, 'cause that blonde spot never saw any sun.

And as for cantaloupe, smell the stem end, and it should smell like cantaloupe.

Of course, if it's over ripe, it will also smell like cantaloupe, but there nothing you can do about it at that point.

Okay, so, I've already cubed up some cantaloupe, and now I'm gonna cube up some watermelon.

We've got these little guys, which are very easy to work with, and their seeds are pretty soft, so you don't have to worry about, you know, really removing them.

(upbeat country music) Okay, I'm gonna add something to it also that's not usually in there, which is fresh mint.

I just think what a nice addition.

So, why don't I finish up with the mint?

I'm just gonna take some leaves off, and rip them a little bit.

Okay.

(leaves tearing) There we go, now, I'm gonna get my prosciutto ready.

(paper crinkling) And we got some prosciutto, we got it sliced at the store, and we just asked for it to be sliced a little thicker.

I'm gonna shred it rather than chop it.

So, there is our prosciutto.

Now on to the feta.

You can have all sorts of textures, from very soft to rather hard and crumbly.

The feta I'm working with today is in the rather soft category.

This has been packed in brine, like a lot of good fetas are.

For a feta like this, I've got a secret trick, don't be grossed out.

I learned this about cutting cheesecake or goats cheese and it works very well for feta, which is, you know, floss.

(music returns) Okay, so here's what we're gonna do with the floss.

It's sort of fun, too, really, you feel very powerful.

I could do this all day long, this magic trick.

So, here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna start with the lighter colored melon, we're gonna do a stripe of each, and everybody's gonna get their own personal mason jar salad.

So, first the cantaloupe.

(glass clinking) and then a sprinkling of mint.

This is all gonna become one when you eat it.

Very pretty presentation.

Okay, now our watermelon.

(jar clinking) Oop, then the feta cheese, I just love it's salty, tangy, you know, sharp taste, and this particular creamy kind of feta, I'm wild about.

And finally, the prosciutto.

So, now we're layered, oo, that's so pretty!

I am gonna make the dressing, it's not really a dressing, it's a drizzle.

We're gonna start with some fresh lime.

(mellow blues music) We want a tablespoon and a half.

And a hefty pinch of salt, and my paprika, half teaspoon.

I need five tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, this ourselves one of those times, reach for the good stuff, because you will taste it and appreciate it.

I'm just gonna whisk it, (whisking rapidly) and I'm gonna take a tiny taste to make sure I've got enough.

You don't really need a lot of salt, 'cause as we know, we've got a lot of salty ingredients in there.

(spoon tapping glass) Mm, wonderfully smokey!

Okay, now before we go on our picnic, we just drizzle a little bit down there, and it will work it's way down.

As you stick your fork in, you're gonna sort of push the ingredients down, and they will mix themselves up.

(mid tempo country music) So, there you go, (jar lids rattling) my two melon, feta, and prosciutto salad, (jar lids spinning) perfect for your next outing.

For recipes and videos, go to our website, saramoulton.com.

(peppy salsa music) Sara's Weeknight Meals is made possible by Sunsweet and-- (fast paced classical music) - Cooking is the first kind of love you know, it all started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta.

And now, I transmit it to all the guests.

It's something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceanic Cruises, proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(melodic piano and strings) (uplifting piano and strings) (tonal string music)