High Desert Table

Your everyday guide to Southwestern cooking

Marianne Sundquist

Summer Salad Nicoise

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Sometime towards the end of the 19th century, Salade Niçoise started popping up on restaurant menus along the blue coast of Nice in southern France. The core ingredients have stayed the same— tuna or anchovies, potatoes, vegetables, and a bright and herby dressing, but a host of variations have evolved over the years. This hearty salad is not only a full meal, but it also makes wonderful leftovers. I would even go so far as to say the next day might be even more delicious than the day before because even though it might not look as pretty, all of the tuna and vegetables have had the night to soak up the vinaigrette. 

This is also a salad that can easily pivot depending on the time of year. In the summer when tomatoes are at their peak, it would be a shame to leave them out. Some might argue that tomatoes should always be included, but since it’s early spring, I swapped out the tomatoes for sliced radish and never looked back. 

This recipe calls for three soft-boiled eggs. If serving six people, this would allow everyone to have one half. If you want more eggs, cook more! Also if you want to make the whole salad but are only serving two people at a time, just cook enough eggs for the number of people you are serving. The next day before enjoying leftovers, cook a couple more eggs. 

Let’s talk real quick about the vegetables.

The vegetables in this salad are meant to be tender, but you can easily find substitutions. For example, “new potatoes” are found at farmers’ markets more than many shops because their skins are thin and their sugars have not yet been converted to starch so they are extra tender and sweet. Haricot verts are younger, longer, and skinnier than regular green beans and are more tender. If you can’t find haricot verts, no worries, just blanch regular green beans and once they are cool enough to handle, cut or split them in half lengthwise. 

Crispy potatoes make the magic

Instead of boiling potatoes, I like to roast them with slices of onion, a drizzle of olive oil, and High Desert Herbs, which feels especially appropriate because this Southwest herb blend of marjoram, sage, lavender, rosemary, chile, thyme (which you can also make yourself) is completely inspired by the French herb blend Herbes de Provence which is usually comprised of thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano, and bay leaf. If you have this blend, by all means, use it. If you want to bring this salad a little closer to home, any of the herbs in the High Desert blend will be lovely. These little crispy beauties are the reason I make jammy eggs to go on top. Just dip a crispy potato in the soft custardy egg yolk and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

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Summer Salad Nicoise

Summer Salad Nicoise plated with sliced eggs
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The core ingredients of this French salad have stayed the same— tuna or anchovies, potatoes, vegetables, and a bright and herby dressing, but a host of variations have evolved over the years. This hearty salad is not only a full meal, but it also makes wonderful leftovers.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 4-6 servings
  • Category: Salads
  • Method: Mix
  • Cuisine: French

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. small or new potatoes
  • 1 medium onion (red or yellow), sliced
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 2 t. High desert herbs, or Herbes de Provence herb blend
  • ½ lb. Haricot Verts or green beans
  • 3 eggs
  • ½–1 seedless cucumber depending on size, thinly sliced
  • 1–3 Radishes, depending on size, thinly sliced
  • 1 c. pitted mixed olives, drained
  • 3, 5 oz. cans, wild harvested pole and line caught albacore tuna packed in oil

For the vinaigrette:

  • ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ c.freshly squeezed lemon juice, seeds discarded
  • 2 t. dijon mustard
  • 1 T. fresh dill, roughly chopped
  • 1 T. fresh basil, roughly chopped
  • 1 t. honey
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper

 

Instructions

Roasting the potatoes

Preheat the oven to 425 f. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper or foil and gently toss the whole potatoes, sliced onions, olive oil, dried herbs, salt, and pepper together on the sheet tray. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Reserve.

 

Blanching the beans

Fill a medium saucepan ¾ full of water and bring to a boil. Season with salt until the water tastes like the sea. Before you blanch the beans, prepare a bowl of ice water. Drop the beans in the boiling water and cook just until they are tender, around 3 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the beans to the ice water to stop the cooking. Transfer the beans to a clean kitchen towel and reserve.

 

Soft boiling the eggs

In this same pot of boiling water, gently drop the eggs into the boiling water and gently simmer for 7 minutes. Transfer the eggs to the leftover ice water bath until cooked enough to handle. Peel the eggs and reserve.

 

Make the vinaigrette

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, dill, basil, honey, shallot, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Salad Nicoise Prepping the vinaigrette ingredients

Prepare the salad for serving

On a large platter, arrange the potatoes, green beans, cucumber, radish, olives, and tuna. Spoon the vinaigrette generously over the vegetables and tuna. Slice eggs in half and arrange on top. Serve immediately.

 

Red Chile Mezcal BBQ Pulled Pork

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For years my go-to way of preparing pulled pork revolved around the idea of submerging caramelized meat in the oven with broth and aromatics (like onion, garlic, cilantro stems, and a jalapeno) over low heat for many hours, sometimes even overnight in the crock pot. I have always loved braising because eventually all of the toughness disappears, not only creating strands of tender meat but just as much because of the luscious broth that’s left behind that can be used for reheating meat, soup, stew or to freeze for a rainy day. 

Why roast it?

This recipe approaches pork shoulder in another effective way—through roasting. And even though we forfeit a few quarts of liquid gold that come from braising, we end up with melt-in-your-mouth shreds of tender meat and crispy pork skin speckled throughout, perfect for drizzling, dunking or tossing in Red Chile High Desert BBQ Sauce, a chile based sauce spiked with a generous pour of mezcal and softened with a hunk of butter. 

The butt is the shoulder

This recipe calls for Pork Shoulder (also called Picnic Shoulder or Picnic Roast), but Pork Butt (also called Boston Butt) is technically part of the front shoulder and some might even argue is a better choice so let’s talk about it: Pork Butt is not from the rear of the pig at all, but a primal cut right behind the pig head. Late in the 19th century the topsy-turvy name was coined and stuck. The shoulder on the other hand, sits right below the butt and travels down the front leg toward the hoof. Pork Butt has more fat marbling throughout the meat, which renders during cooking adding more moisture and flavor. Pork shoulder has less fat throughout the meat, but often a thicker piece of fat on top, which crisps up beautifully during the final minutes of cooking. So either way you can’t lose. 

Prep the day before

I like to make pulled pork and BBQ sauce the day before a backyard barbecue, so when I wake up the next morning all I have to do is sip on coffee and think about how all the big lifting for the day is done. The grill is also wide open, with plenty of room for grilling buttered buns, vegetables, and fruit. Aside from making delicious sandwiches, this combo of roasted pork and bbq sauce can be put to use in many ways. You could fill tortillas for tacos, sprinkle on salads, serve with rice or quinoa, eggs, etc. The Bbq Sauce stands on its own, pairing well with shrimp, white fish, veggies, chicken, or drizzled on burgers and brats.

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Red Chile Mezcal BBQ Pulled Pork

HDT BBQ Pulled Pork roasted sauced and ready to eat
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This bbq pulled pork turns your classic american backyard barbecue into a Southwest-themed party by kicking up the flavors with red chile and mezcal. This slow-cooked meat is perfect on toasted buns, tortillas, crispy taco shells, or on your favorite southwest salad.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Total Time: 5 hours
  • Yield: 10-12 servings
  • Category: BBQ
  • Method: Roast
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units

for the pork:

  • 3 t. whole coriander seed
  • 1 t. black peppercorns
  • 1 t. dried juniper berries
  • 2 T. packed brown sugar
  • 1 T. red chile powder, whatever heat you prefer
  • 1 T. high desert herbs or herbes de provence
  • 2 t. kosher salt
  • 2 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. dried culinary lavender
  • 4 lb. boneless pork shoulder

for the high desert bbq sauce:

  • 4 T. butter
  • 1 c. diced onion
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1/2 c. mezcal
  • 2 c. (1 pt.) mild Red chile puree
  • 2 t. Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 2 t. worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 t. black pepper
  • 1 1/2 t. kosher salt

Instructions

Making the spice rub

The night before, make the spice rub: In a small pan over medium heat, toast the coriander, peppercorns, and juniper berries until they are lightly toasted and you start to smell their fragrance wafts out from the pan. Transfer this to a very dry blender, along with the brown sugar, red chile powder, herbs, salt, garlic powder, and lavender. Blend until pulverized into a fine powder. Lightly score any thick areas of fat with a sharp knife. Using all the spice rub, massage the pork all over with the spice rub and refrigerate overnight in an ovenproof baking dish.

ingredients prepped on a plate including peppercorn, red chile powder, and more

Making the BBQ sauce

To make the bbq sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic and let simmer until the onions turn translucent, around 10-15 minutes. Add the mezcal and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the chile puree, apple cider vinegar, dijon, brown sugar, Worcestershire, black pepper, and salt. Let this mixture simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.

Roasting the pork shoulder

The next day when you’re ready to roast the pork shoulder, pull the pork from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for a half hour. Preheat the oven to 275 F. Roast pork in the oven, uncovered for around 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature reads 190 F. on a thermometer. Turn the heat up to 500 F. and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the skin is a deep golden brown and crispy. Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes.

HDT BBQ Pulled Pork roasted sauced and ready to eat

Pull apart the meat and crispy skin into strips and serve warm with bbq sauce on the side.

Pistachio Panna Cotta

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Panna Cotta, a popular Italian dessert with origins from the Piedmont region, literally translates to “cooked cream”. This sweet treat of sweetened cream set with gelatin has been spotted across the globe in various forms and names, dating back to the 13th century when an almost identical version, Moos Hwit, was discovered in a Danish cookbook. 

The beauty of panna cotta lies in its simplicity. It could be easily made with only three ingredients: cream, gelatin, and sugar. But being that New Mexico is one of the three states that grow pistachios in the country, I thought it would be fun to combine my love of both pistachios and panna cotta. 

To begin, we peel the pistachios to make a bright green pistachio paste. This step is truly optional and really only affects the color of the panna cotta. If you don’t mind a more neutral color to the panna cotta, you don’t have to peel them.

In this recipe, I like to use cream and half and half to lighten it up. And it always amazes me how little sugar is needed for this perfectly sweetened treat.  I love how panna cotta has low-key, almost minimal vibes, and yet it’s loaded with a luscious mouth feel and decadent flavor. While I usually love to lean into this and serve it on its own, if you wanted to doll it up a bit, you could always garnish the top with fresh raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, pistachios, caramel sauce, a spoon of whipped cream or a crispy cookie on the side.

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Pistachio Panna Cotta

Pistachio Panna Cotta cooled set and ready to enjoy
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Panna Cotta, a popular Italian dessert with origins from the Piedmont region, literally translates to “cooked cream”. But being that New Mexico is one of the three states that grow pistachios in the country, I thought it would be fun to combine my love of both in this pistachio panna cotta.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 3.5 hours
  • Total Time: 4 hours
  • Yield: 6 servings
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Gelatin
  • Cuisine: Italian inspired

Ingredients

Units
  • 1 c. raw pistachios, room temperature
  • 4 T. cold water
  • 1 1/2 t. powdered unflavored gelatin
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 1 c. half and half
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 2 t. vanilla bean paste or extract

Instructions

Pistachio Panna Cotta - pistachios peeled and resting in a white bowl

Prepping the pistachios

The first thing we want to do is peel the pistachios: If you don’t care about the color being green, you can skip this step. Bring a medium saucepan with around four cups of water to a boil. Put in the pistachios, turn off the heat, and let them soak for a couple of minutes before draining. Transfer the pistachios to the sheet tray lined with a clean dish towel. Rub the pistachios with the towel and then your hands to remove the skin. Make sure they are completely dry.

Blooming the gelatin

In a small bowl add the 4 T. of water and sprinkle in the gelatin powder and reserve.

making the pistachio paste

Making the pistachio paste

To make the pistachio paste, place the pistachios in the bowl of a food processor and pulse them into a crumbly powder. Slowly drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil and puree until it resembles a smooth paste. Transfer this mixture to a saucepan with the heavy cream, half and half, sugar, and vanilla bean paste. Bring this mixture to a boil, whisking as needed. Turn off the heat. Whisk in the bloomed gelatin until it’s fully dissolved and strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Divide between 6 ramekins or small glass cups. Transfer to the refrigerator until the panna cotta is set, around 3-4 hours.

panna cotta cups ready to set in the fridge

Citrus Salad with Crispy Prosciutto

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All week I have been excited to share this recipe with you. It’s a recipe that celebrates where we are now, the tail end of winter with spring right around the corner. There’s no doubt the growing season will bring all sorts of incredible fruits to enjoy, but amid all this fruit and vegetable anticipation, sometimes it’s easy to forget that the winter gives us gifts too, the bright delights of citrus. 

This salad is easy to make but doesn’t taste like it. When I worked in restaurants, this is the exact kind of salad I would put on a menu. At the end of the day, we are all chefs of our home kitchens. All that’s needed is trust in ingredients and trust in ourselves. The rest follows with tasting and practice. 

Many Chefs I know say the same thing, the longer they cook in restaurants and the more they travel and explore the furthest horizons of creativity, eventually they find their way back (often after many years), to a simpler approach to cooking. Not out of lack of inspiration or drive, but in pursuit of flavor. This is one of those recipes. Where simplicity and ease intersect with flavor and every ingredient has a role to play— the romaine is clean and crunchy, arugula adds a hint of pepper, the sharp bite of radicchio plays against the bright acidity of the orange and grapefruit, crispy prosciutto adds texture and a perfect hit of salt, while the parmesan and shallot act as very good friends, keeping the salad grounded and sensible. Did you know a salad could do all that? Well, it can. And now you can make it and delight in the perfection of simple cooking, hopefully with as much confidence as any Chef.

Although I should offer a warning. If you make this as a side salad (which you totally can do!), just be prepared for folks at the table to not want anything else. This salad pairs beautifully with avocado, grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, or even seared scallops.

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Citrus Salad with Crispy Prosciutto

HDT Citrus Salad with Crispy Prosciutto plated and ready for the table
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This citrus salad is easy to make but doesn’t taste like it. The romaine is clean and crunchy, arugula adds a hint of pepper, the sharp bite of radicchio plays against the bright acidity of the orange and grapefruit, crispy prosciutto adds texture and a perfect hit of salt, while the parmesan and shallot act as very good friends, keeping the salad grounded and sensible.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Chop
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units

For the prosciutto chips:

  • 4 oz. Prosciutto slices, torn into pieces
  • 1 t. olive oil

For the vinaigrette:

  • 1 Orange
  • 1 pink Grapefruit
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1/4 c. Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt, black pepper, and red chile flakes to taste

For the salad:

  • 1/2 head of radicchio, sliced
  • 1 bunch of romaine, sliced
  • 3 c. arugula
  • Small handful of fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
  • parmesan cheese shaved with a vegetable peeler into curls

 

Instructions

Making the prosciutto

Make the prosciutto chips: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the prosciutto in a single layer. Rub the olive oil over top and bake until they are bubbling and crispy, around 15 minutes. Transfer the prosciutto to a bowl and reserve.

Citrus Salad with the Prosciutto prepped on a baking sheet

Making the vinaigrette

To make the vinaigrette the first thing we need to do is cut the orange and grapefruit into segments. With a sharp knife, trim both ends of each piece of fruit. Set a flat side of the orange on the cutting board. Remove the peel by cutting around the orange, following the shape of the sphere. Discard the peels and now you’re ready to slice segments: Set the fruit on its side in a shallow bowl. Cut toward the center, along a membrane. Then slice along the adjacent membrane until the cuts meet, releasing the segment. Transfer the segment to a bowl. Repeat until all segments are in the bowl. Squeeze the juice out of the remaining orange membranes, picking out any seeds as you go. Reserve juice and fruit for serving. Repeat this for the grapefruit. By the end, you will have a bowl of orange and grapefruit segments and juice. Add the shallot, extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, black pepper, and red chile flakes to taste. Reserve.

Citrus Salad fruit segmented and ready for thebowl

Making the salad

To make the salad: Gently toss the vinaigrette with the radicchio, romaine, arugula, and basil. Take a taste and add more salt, pepper, or red chile flakes if needed. Garnish the top with crispy prosciutto and parmesan curls.

Citrus Salad with Prosciutto greens chopped in a bowl

Hatch Green Chile Picnic Chicken Salad

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When warm weather arrives, my family can’t wait to get outside. We take more walks, go adventuring around town and look for any and all excuses to light up the grill. This Picnic Chicken Salad is made for days like these. It’s easy to make ahead, easy to make into sandwiches, and versatile enough to bring along on a hike or stash in your picnic basket for tailgating at the opera.

Make it happen

This recipe brings back a lot of memories because it reminded me this week of a lobster salad I used to make way back when I was working as a chef de partie at Avenues in the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago under the helm of Chef Graham Elliot. The kitchen was small and only had room for four of us aside from Chef. Even though we were serving anywhere from three to 20+ course spontaneous tasting menus, somehow night after night we got it done with enough juice left in the tank to wake up and do it again the next day. I think having a handful of so-simple-how-can-it-taste-this-amazing kind of recipes up our sleeves was how we pulled it off with such a small team. That, and the phrase that became a kind of daily mantra “make it happen” which when said to each other was annoying and motivational in equal measure. And somehow at the end of the night, even when we were faced with a seemingly impossible prep list or a stack of tickets from the dining room, by some miracle we actually had made it happen. I would like to publicly apologize to my husband and kids who sometimes hear me accidentally say “make it happen” to them. What can I say? It’s a habit that has worked for me for a long time, so now as a mom maybe it can work its magic at home too, or so I can dream.

Creme Fraiche is the way

You’ll notice that I steer clear of mayo or even sour cream and use creme fraiche instead. Creme Fraiche is the French, fattier and creamier cousin to sour cream. Thinned with a little lemon we get a decadent, bright, and creamy dressing that doesn’t get weighed down with the oily mouthfeel found in mayo. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good garlic mayo on too many things to count, but here I wanted to keep it light and flavor-forward in every possible way.

The meat

You can make this salad as it is here with pulled roasted chicken, or you can use steamed or roasted chicken breasts, roasted or smoked salmon, shrimp, or cooked lobster meat. If you want to leave out meat altogether, just substitute roasted baby or new potatoes, and viola! One of my favorite potato salads of all time. 

Common misconceptions

There is a common misconception that when picnic salads go bad, it is because of the creamy dressing. This is false. A lot of times, a dressing will actually protect the salad a bit because they usually contain some preservatives like sugar or acid, but the bigger dangers are dirty hands or utensils when preparing it and all cut vegetables and fruits because they contain more surface area for bacteria to grow. When you head out into the field with any kind of prepared food, keep it on ice in a cooler or be sure to consume it within 2 hours, or 1 hour if it’s extra hot out. Happy trails!

Picnic chicken salad ingredients fresh from the market
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Hatch Green Chile Picnic Chicken Salad

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This Picnic Chicken Salad is made for warm-weather picnics or backyard barbeques. It’s easy to make ahead, easy to make into sandwiches, and versatile enough to bring along on a hike or stash in your picnic basket for tailgating.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 0 mins
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 2 quarts
  • Category: Summer
  • Method: chop
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units
  • 2 fire-roasted hatch green chiles, peeled, seeded, and diced
  • 8 oz. creme fraiche
  • 1 Lemon, juiced and zested (around 2 T. Juice)
  • 1 large apple, finely diced
  • 1/2 c. finely diced red onion
  • 1/4 c. Minced chives
  • 1 c. Celery and leaves
  • 4 c. pulled roasted Chicken,
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a blender, blend the green chiles, creme fraiche, lemon juice, and zest until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and add the apple, red onion, chives, celery leaves, and roasted chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Picninc chicken salad ingredients chopped, prepped, and ready to go