curried smoked turkey salad

Turkey

Curried Smoked Turkey Salad

Cafe enjoyment is often about strategy—where you sit, how to coax the barista into making your coffee just so, making sure you get there before your beloved cinnamon roll is snapped up by someone else. Recently, my husband Tad and I figured out that if we wanted to be able to get a table for four on the weekends at our favorite local spot—Iris Cafe—we needed to arrive just before 9 am. We've managed to do it but it's not pretty. One of our kids usually leaves the house half pajama'd, and we end up sprint-walking -- no stopping to indulge one's curiosity in a sidewalk crack! -- there. But it's worth it so we can sit, each in our own seat, and stare at each other, half awake, as we gulp coffee and eat soft-boiled eggs with mashed avocado on toast.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon patak's garlic relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 pound smoked turkey breast, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup flame or golden raisins (dried cranberries wouldn't be bad, either!)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 handfuls mixed greens (be generous)
1 splash olive oil, for sprinkling
1 splash balsamic vinegar, for sprinkling
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
4 slices cranberry (or raisin) pecan bread, toasted and buttered

Directions

Make the mayonnaise: mix the garlic relish and mayonnaise, and adjust to taste, adding more garlic relish for more curry flavor.
Combine the turkey, onion, celery, raisins and black pepper, and then, little by little, add in the mayo, folding it together with a spoon. The salad should just come together, but not be too wet. Only season with salt if necessary (smoked turkey is usually salted).
To serve: sprinkle a bowl of greens with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar (the curry mayo also acts as additional dressing so use oil and vinegar sparingly!). Serve a generous scoop of the turkey salad on top of greens, top with a handful of the chopped walnuts, and a little more black pepper. At Iris Cafe, they serve this salad with a piece of toasted cranberry pecan bread from Pain d'Avignon, in the Essex Street Market.