Columbia 1905 Salad

[PizzaManNoMore]

Those of you from the FL west coast, especially Tampa to Sarasota, probably know about the Columbia Restaurant that started in Ybor City. Their 1905 salad is famous, great and right up Atkins Alley. Here is the recipe courteous of the restaurant itself.

For 4 servings:
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 ripe tomatoes, cut in eighths
2 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, julienne strips
1/2 cup ham, julienne strips
1/4 cup Spanish olives
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste
2 teaspoons grated Romano cheese

In large bowl, mix together lettuce, cut tomatoes, celery, Swiss cheese, ham and olives.

Dressing: Mix garlic, oregano and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Beat with a wire whisk until smooth. Add olive oil, gradually beating to form an emulsion. Stir in vinegar and lemon juice. Season with salt/pepper. Add dressing to salad and toss well. Add Romano cheese and toss again.

[ghelen]

Sounds delicious! I'm always up for a new way to do salad


Thanks!

[Miss Phode]

OMG, I love Columbia. My hubby took me there for my bday.

[ValidRouge]

The Columbia is a great restaurant. Pizzaman, do you, by chance, have their Paella recipe? perhaps we could low-carb it by making cauliflower rice with saffron instead of regular rice???

[stickin2it]

I have always loved their salads...make my sister take me there everytime I visit!!! Now I can make it when she comes here Thanks a bunch!

[PizzaManNoMore]

ValidRouge, you can go to columbiarestaurant.com and click on past featured recipes and they have the Paella A la Valenciana recipe posted. The ingredient list is long so I won't post it here. I looked it over and for he most part, with a little adjustment (and lose the rice), it too fits in with Atkins. Now, if I could make a lo-carb Cuban sandwich to go with the salad (lettuce wraps instead of grilled bread just wouldn't do for this).

Miss Phode, maybe you went to the one I went to quite a bit on St. Armand's. I lived in FL for 30 years, in Englewood and Nokomis area until this past year before moving.

I'll see what else I can dig up. I also liked Spanish Park Restaurant in Ybor City, but don't know if it is still there. They had the flamenco dancers perform during dinner.

[Miss Phode]

Originally Posted by PizzaManNoMore

Miss Phode, maybe you went to the one I went to quite a bit on St. Armand's. I lived in FL for 30 years, in Englewood and Nokomis area until this past year before moving.

I'll see what else I can dig up. I also liked Spanish Park Restaurant in Ybor City, but don't know if it is still there. They had the flamenco dancers perform during dinner.

I've been to the one on St. Armands, but they've been closed for remodeling. I think they're re-opening later this month. We went to Ybor last weekend.

30 years in this area, huh? I bet you've seen it change tremendously. Is that why you moved away? I've only been here 2 years. We like it, usually. I don't know how long we'll stay. I think living in Florida is for now, and not forever for me and hubby. So what other good restaurants do you like around here?

[PizzaManNoMore]

The changes didn't drive me away as much as just tired of hot and flat and needing a change of scenery. Although it was nice around the first of April when we were finally able to go to any restaurant (even the bad ones) and not have to wait an hour. In yet another one of those "If I knew then what I know now" revelations, not too many years ago you could buy a nice almost acre Gulf front lot on Manasota Key for around $30,000 and some smaller lots with a house on it for under $60,000. People thought you were crazy if you wanted on the Key. Oh well...

As far as favorite restaurants, I love Farley's On The Water in Englewood, Francesco's in Sarasota for that forbidden pizza, Mel's Diner in Venice for a good, big, Atkins-friendly Cobb salad, Geneva's Wildflower Cafe in Englewood has good German. I know I'm leaving out several that I just can't think of right now.

[Miss Phode]

I've been to Farley's, and it's awesome. I've never been to Francescos. Last night we went to Mel's for dinner. I had a pretty decent Ribeye there for 11.99. I've also never been to Geneva's Wildflower Cafe...where is that? I'll have to tell hubby. He loves German Food.

Some of the places we like are Mi Pueblo in Venice, Bogey's, Angelo's Italian Market. We love Pacific Rim in Sarasota, Two Senoritas, Michael's on East, to name a few.

[higgies]

Oh man, you had to say Cuban Sandwich...

That's one of the things I allow myself (since I'm in maintenance) every once in a great while. There's a place in DC that makes the best Cuban I've ever had outside Miami.