Saucy Salad Mix Tops Off Main Course

When is a salad served as a sauce? That may sound like an odd question but main courses such as grilled or sauteed meat, poultry or seafood are frequently being served with mixtures of vegetables, greens and salad dressing on top.

This newer type of main course helps to round out a serving of meat, poultry or fish, and the mixture of greens and vegetables adds wonderful color to the plate. The vinegar or lemon juice in the dressing points up the flavor of sauteed or grilled foods, and the dressing adds a minimum of fat.

Giardino means garden in Italian, and these veal scallops, topped with a mixture of peppery watercress, crunchy leaves of endive and a tomato dressing made with balsamic vinegar, have a wonderful fresh taste.

VEAL SCALLOPS GIARDINO

2 ounces Parmesan cheese, cut in 4 (1-inch) cubes

1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper

1 cup packed trimmed watercress leaves

1 medium Belgian endive, rinsed and cut in 1-inch pieces

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup olive oil

1 pound veal scallops (8 pieces), pounded thinly

Tomato Salad Dressing

Insert metal blade in dry food processor. Process cheese cubes until powdery. Add bread crumbs, nutmeg and pepper and process 10 seconds. Transfer mixture to flat dish and set aside. Toss watercress with endive in large mixing bowl and set aside in refrigerator.

Beat eggs lightly in small bowl. Combine vegetable and olive oils, then heat 3 tablespoons mixture in large skillet. Dip each veal scallop into egg, then coat both sides with bread-crumb mixture, pressing to firmly coat veal with crumbs.

Saute scallops 2 minutes per side, or until crisp and well browned. Transfer scallops to paper towels and blot well. Repeat, adding oil as needed, to saute remaining veal.

Toss watercress mixture thoroughly with Tomato Salad Dressing. Transfer veal scallops to warm dinner plates and top each portion with salad. Makes 4 servings

Tomato Salad Dressing

1 medium clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, pepper

2 medium tomatoes

Combine garlic, vinegar and oil with dash of salt and pepper in small bowl or storage jar. Let stand 20 minutes, then remove garlic. Chop tomatoes into 1/2-inch dice, stir into bowl. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 10 to 60 minutes before serving.