Main Dish Pastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad and the Best Pastrami in the World

by Dorothy Reinhold on July 9, 2014


Print This Post Print This Post Pastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad | ShockinglyDelicious.com

What if I took the idea for a pastrami-Swiss cheese sandwich and sort of saladified it?

The idea popped into my head while I was tasting what I now consider to be the world’s best pastrami. It’s created by Fork in the Road, and is sustainably-raised beef uncured pastrami, humanely raised on a family farm with no antibiotics or added hormones, with no nitrate or nitrite preservatives added.

All that adds up to deeply flavored but not overly salted (thank you!) tender meat, which my husband has declared the best sandwich meat he has ever tasted. This is a man who takes a sandwich for lunch every day, for the past 30 years. That’s a lot of sandwich meat by which to make a comparison.

We did make sandwiches out of it, then we each sneaked into the kitchen and ate some straight out of the container while standing in front of the refrigerator (don’t judge; you would do the same), and I can’t believe I even gave a few precious slices to a friend who saw my Instagram feed and wanted to know what all the fuss was about this new pastrami.

Fork in the Road Uncured Pastrami on ShockinglyDelicious.comThis pastrami is really all that and a bag of chips! You can find it at Whole Foods, or use their store locator to help pinpoint where you can get it. And you may either blame me or thank me if you never eat another dry turkey sandwich again.

But back to my sandwich-that-really-wanted-to-be-a-salad. The meat called out for its best friend Swiss cheese, and something a bit spicy (watermelon radishes to the rescue!), and some other vegetables that jumped into the bowl (cukes and carrots). Then, of course, it needed some sweet summer plum to balance it out, and the tiniest drop of olive oil and lemon zest to bring everything together. Vinegar would be too overpowering for this.

Pastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad | ShockinglyDelicious.comChop chop, gently stir, and put it on your dinner plate. Ahhhhh…summer evenings on the patio!

Recipe: Pastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad

Pastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad | ShockinglyDelicious.comSummary: Pastrami and Swiss cheese chunks join vegetables and fruit for a sprightly main-dish salad.

Ingredients

  • 4-5 ounces Fork in the Road Pastrami, diced small (1 cup small dice)
  • 3 ounces Kerrygold Swiss cheese, diced small
  • 1/3 cup watermelon radish, diced small
  • ½ cup carrots, diced small
  • 2/3 cup diced cucumber (seed it and mostly peel it before chopping)
  • 2 plums, pitted and diced small
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Zest of 1 lemon (1-2 teaspoons)

InstructionsPastrami-Swiss Summer Vegetable Salad | ShockinglyDelicious.com

  1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir gently so as not to break up the plums too much.
  2. Serves. Serves 2-3 for a main dish.

Recipe source

Dorothy Reinhold | Shockingly Delicious

Other ways to use this pastrami

  1. Half Indian Cook’s Pastrami Roll-Ups
  2. My sandwich with pastrami and Kerrygold Dubliner, panini-ed to perfection!Fork in the Road Pastrami with Kerrygold Dubliner Sandwich on ShockinglyDelicious.com

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Diet tags: High protein
Number of servings (yield): 3
Culinary tradition: USA (Nouveau)
My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 


Disclosure: Fork in the Road sent the pastrami, Melissa’s Produce sent the plums and radish, and Kerrygold sent the cheese for recipe development. 

{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

Lauren Hall July 31, 2017 at 6:26 am

This salad would be perfect for a little picnic

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Cathy @ Lemon Tree Dwelling July 31, 2017 at 6:09 am

What a unique & delicious salad!

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Krista July 30, 2017 at 9:59 pm

I must make this soon! I love everything that is in there!

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Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet July 29, 2017 at 8:48 pm

I love salads like this! Reminds me a bit of German Wurstsalat, yum!

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Dorothy Reinhold July 29, 2017 at 11:13 pm

Kimberly,
I am part German…I wonder if my genes are expressing themselves? I am going to look up Wurstsalat now!

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Erin @ The Speckled Palate July 29, 2017 at 1:56 pm

I am SO into saladifying a pastrami-Swiss cheese sandwich. And YUM, I want a bowl of this salad immediately!

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Nutmeg Nanny July 29, 2017 at 8:26 am

Looks delicious and just perfect for summer!

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Catalina @ Peas & Peonies July 29, 2017 at 4:52 am

Pastrami and vegetable salad is a great idea!

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Jennifer July 28, 2017 at 3:32 pm

What a great idea! Perfect for summer!!

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Sandi July 27, 2017 at 8:53 pm

I love the word saladified…you totally deconstructed the sandwich into something yummy!

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Dee July 27, 2017 at 7:39 pm

This is a brilliant idea, especially when it’s warm out. Even my salad-hating husband would go for this one! 😉

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Amanda July 27, 2017 at 5:53 pm

This is one of the most interesting salads ever!

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Jen July 27, 2017 at 4:32 pm

I’m pretty sure this is a salad that even my husband would enjoy! He loves pastrami and we have a WF right by our house, thanks!

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Nina August 21, 2014 at 10:00 am

Hi Dorothy! Looks delicious. I want to make it, but what is the green ingredient? Cucumber? Am I missing it in the ingredients list? Reread you intro. Yes, cucumbers! : ) Thank you!

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Dorothy Reinhold August 22, 2014 at 6:00 am

Nina,
Thank you for asking! Yep, I did inadvertently leave out the cuke in the list of ingredients. I fixed it now. I appreciate you mentioning it!

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Valentina July 20, 2014 at 11:13 pm

I love a deconstructed sandwich. This salad is so pretty!

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Dorothy Reinhold July 21, 2014 at 11:24 am

Valentina,
Thank you so much! And you must try that pastrami.

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Bill July 9, 2014 at 10:08 am

Looks like the perfect summer salad. I always avoid pastrami because of the nitrites, etc. This one sounds like one I would love. Great post, Dorothy!

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Dorothy Reinhold July 9, 2014 at 11:51 pm

Thanks Bill! You’re right…this pastrami has a very clean and pure taste.

Reply

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