Golden Beet Salad

As we come to March we enter the time between seasons, still enjoying winter's sturdy and hearty foods while beginning to want the lighter food of spring, along with their zing. This salad fits that transition with the delicious golden beets of winter and the mixed greens and citrus dressing for the whispy part. Walnuts add crunch and remind me of fall while the orange segments lean towards spring. Most of all it's delicious!

We start by roasting the beets, then letting them cool before peeling them and cutting them into wedges. While the oven is hot, it's easy to toast the walnuts which brings out their flavor. Next comes the citrus and walnut oil dressing. Some mustard and finely chopped Italian parsley add savory elements that provide counterpoint to the sweetness of the roasted beets and the oranges. 

If you like, this salad would also be good with the addition of some salty feta cheese or some pungent blue cheese.

Once you dress the greens, I doubt that this salad would keep well, but we didn't find out...Sweetie had a second helping and finished it off!

This is my own recipe, but you can probably find similar ones on the internet. For the dressing I used Penzey's Spices dried orange and lemon peel, but it would probably be even better with fresh zest of oranges and lemons. Do use fresh lemon juice for the dressing. I have some Meyer lemons from my lemon bush and they were great, but lemons from the market work well, too. If you don't have walnut oil, a good olive oil will work well, too. Fresh orange segments instead of canned would be even better, but canned was what I had on hand and they were fine.

Golden Beet Salad with Toasted Walnuts

3-4 golden beets (1 bunch), tops removed for another use
spray olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts...pieces are OK
1 small shallot, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon each lemon and orange zest (I used equivalent dried peel)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt or garlic salt and pepper to taste...I used about 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped leaves of Italian parsley; discard stems
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, seeds removed
1/3 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup mandarin orange segments, fresh or canned/drained
6-8 cups fresh, washed and dried, spring mix lettuce or arugula

Wash the beets to remove any soil, then cut in half (or quarters if large) and place on foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil. Roast in preheated 425 degree F oven for 25-45 minutes, until a skewer easily goes into center of pieces. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove skin and discard. Slice the beets into wedges. Set aside.

While the oven is still hot, toast the walnuts for 5-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until toasted. You will smell walnuts when toasted. Remove from oven, cool, chop roughly and set aside.

While beets are cooling, make the dressing. Combine the shallot, citrus zests, mustard, salt or garlic salt and pepper, Italian parsley, lemon juice, and walnut oil in a jar. Close lid tightly and shake until all ingredients are well blended and dressing thickens slightly. Set aside to allow flavors to meld. Right before dressing the greens, shake again and taste. Adjust by adding zest, salt, pepper and/or lemon juice as needed. It should be tangy.

When ready to serve the salad, place the spring mix in a large bowl. Add about 2/3 of the dressing; reserve any left for another salad or another use. Toss with salad fork and spoon or tongs to completely but lightly coat the leaves of the greens. If needed add more dressing, but less is best. Pile the dressed greens on a serving platter.

Add the beet wedges to the bowl that held the greens. Toss to coat with the dressing in the bowl. This is just to add a bit of shine to the beets...they don't need to be coated with dressing. Scatter the beets over the greens, then scatter over the mandarin orange segments. Top everything with the toasted chopped walnuts and serve at once.

A Different Salad

Sweetie and I were telling one of the owners of our favorite cafe...Redwood Cafe in Cotati...about a recipe in the food section about making 'noodles' out of zucchini, daikon radish, carrots, cucumber, and other veggies. He brightened up and said to wait for him, then took off for the kitchen. He returned with a large bag of white, crisp, noodles and said they were made out of kohlrabi and that a vendor had given him some to try. He gave us the bag and I promised that I would make a dish that made good use of them and then post it here. Moose, here is your Kohlrabi Salad!

These swirly noodles, created by spiralizing raw kohlrabi, are almost tasteless, which means that you can pair them with all sorts of flavors. Moose had suggested heating them briefly so that they were similar to pasta and then saucing as I would pasta. Will probably do that soon with the rest of the bag, but tonight I made this salad for dinner. The crisp noodles are just nicely crunchy, but very easy to bite through. Next time I might chop the strands a bit smaller so that they are more graceful to eat.

I combined freshly minced ginger, rice vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and a tiny bit of honey for a dressing. The idea was to have a dressing that was flavorful but light tasting.

I julienned orange, white, and purple baby carrots, some Persian cucumber, and some red bell pepper for the veggies, then decided to include a mellow, ripe avocado, too.

A topping of chopped peanuts added another flavor note and more crunch, but it could be left off, too.

This mixture would be amazing on a fish taco, but it also went well with the chicken thighs that Sweetie grilled. I finished my salad first, it was so good. Sweetie had a second helping and cleaned out the serving bowl. Clearly I need to make this again!

Thank you Mustafa for your generosity in sharing this new kind of 'noodle' and I hope you can make use of this recipe, since I created it from scratch.

Kohlrabi Salad for Moose
Serves 2-4

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
juice of one lime, about 3 tablespoons
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, unseasoned
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup each julienned baby carrots, red pepper and cucumber (Persian or English are best for this). These matchstick pieces should be about 1/4 to 1/8th-inch thick and about 1 to 1 1/2-inches long.
1 avocado, seed removed, peeled and cut into chunks
4-6 cups kohlrabi 'noodles', basically spiral cut kohlrabi, chilled
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts (optional)

In a small jar with tight-fitting lid, combine the ginger, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, olive oil and honey. With lid securely in place, shake the jar until all ingredients are well combined. Taste and add salt or pepper if desired. Set aside.

In a large bowl place the baby carrots, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and kohlrabi noodles. Drizzle most of the dressing over the contents of the bowl. Use tongs to toss the ingredients together, allowing all to be at the bottom of the bowl with the dressing and then to move to other parts of the bowl. (If desired, you can roughly chop the kohlrabi noodles before putting them into the bowl. This will make tossing and serving...and eating!...easier.)

Using the tongs, transfer salad to salad bowls or plates and top, if desired, with a pinch of the peanuts.

Serve at once.

A Different Green Salad

Recently I was looking at a lot of restaurant menus online, trying to find a good place for Sweetie and I to have an anniversary dinner out. One of the things I noticed is that if you love kale you can always find a salad on contemporary menus. Arugula is also popular, and so are beets. The standard, at least around here, for salad greens seems to be field greens or spring mix. While I love all of those salad ingredients, they are all off the list of things that I can eat, along with spinach, Swiss chard and the like.

While I know that having salads more interesting than chopped iceberg with shredded carrots and maybe a few coins of radish is a good thing, I do know that there are lots of other kinds of salads that could be on the menus and maybe they will be once we all get tired of kale.

Years ago in Berkeley I came across a salad in a deli case that has been a favorite ever since. It's a pretty simple one, so it didn't take much effort to figure out how to make it at home. It is green, has some very healthy ingredients, goes together fairly quickly and uses an ingredient that seems to be available almost year round these days...broccoli.

Now I know there are folks who don't care for broccoli. To those folks I say...give it a chance! In this salad it gets dressed up in a nice creamy dressing, is complemented by sweet red bell pepper, salty feta cheese and nutty pecans.

The florets of the broccoli are cut into bite sized pieces. If you are frugal, and if you like the stems, include some of them, sliced. Put them in a microwave safe steamer, or in a steamer basket in a pot with a little water in the bottom. Before you start cooking them, dump a couple cups of ice cubes into a large bowl and add a few cups of water. That way the water will get icy while you deal with steaming the broccoli.

Steam the broccoli only long enough for it to become tender enough to bite in two. For my microwave that's 2 minutes on high. The color will be a fairly bright green. Immediately drain off any hot water and dump all the broccoli into the bowl with the ice water. Stir it around with a spoon or your clean fingers. The idea is to cool down the broccoli quickly. Then drain the broccoli completely.

While the broccoli drains, slice a half the fleshy part of a sweet red bell pepper in strips and cut the strips into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

In a small jar place 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, the juice and zest of one small or 1/2 large lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, some garlic powder or minced garlic (amount varies depending on how much you like garlic). Put a lid on the jar and shake briskly for a minute. Take off the lid, add 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, put the lid back on and shake again. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. You now have a creamy dressing.

Now you're ready to put together the salad. Place the broccoli, red pepper strips, a couple tablespoons crumbled feta cheese, and 2 tablespoons toasted, chopped pecans. Gently mix these ingredients together. Add the dressing and gently mix to coat the ingredients with the dressing. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.

It's a good idea to serve this salad with a slotted spoon to keep your plate from having a pool of dressing, but if you forget, it's really delicious dressing. The salad is even better and has lots of vitamins and minerals and fiber and all those 'healthy' things, but mostly it's a nice green salad that is absolutely delicious...and different than kale.

Plenty of Cherry Tomatoes

With foggy mornings and sunny afternoons being the norm, my cherry tomato plants are producing like crazy. Every day there are more dots of color among the branches, just waiting to be picked. The most prolific has been the sun gold type, but I'm also getting red ones and yellow ones and orange ones. Yesterday I had enough to give a heaping basket to the firemen at the fire station, another basket for Grandma L and plenty for our dinner salad.

Usually I don't post salads or soups because in my world those are not really recipes. I throw in whatever I have on hand in the amounts that look right, usually directly from the cutting board to the bowl or pot, so there are rarely measurements taken.

Last night's dinner salad was a perfect example. First into the bowl was a small head of romaine lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces. Next in were chunks of green patty pan squash, red and yellow small cherry tomatoes, cut in half, followed by some avocado chunks and a sprinkle of raisins. The amounts were, roughly, 1/3 cup of the squash, 1 cup of the tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, and 3 tablespoons raisins. It was a great mixture, mostly crunchy but with the occasional bit of soft avocado and almost soft raisin.

When you have plenty of cherry tomatoes, what do you make?

Cherry Tomato Is One Of Five Ingredients

Some days it is so wonderful to have something easy to serve for dinner. After a good portion of a day spent installing flashing and siding, Sweetie and I were certainly hungry, but not full of energy. As the sun set behind the trees

it was time to create a fast feast. I started with tomatoes, already picked. So far the only tomatoes I've gotten from the many I planted are the cherry type. The most numerous are orange, a few are red, and a few are yellow.

 I based this recipe on one in the latest Bon Appetit magazine (August 2013) because I had the tomatoes and olive oil and sea salt and last time I was at the appropriate store, I had made sure to purchase the burrata and fresh basil once I saw the recipe, knowing that I would make it pretty soon.

This is one of those recipes that you won't make often if you value your health since the cheese is very rich, but it is the perfect indulgence when the tomatoes finally ripen. It also goes together fast and is impressive, so keep it in mind for your next dinner party or on a day when the kids have worn you out. You can use mozzarella di bufala (made with buffalo milk I think) instead of the burrata...Bon Appetit did. You can also add a few chunks of seedless watermelon for some crunch and another flavor and have six ingredients. Don't be tempted to use dried basil...fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, good quality olive oil and sea salt, plus a lovely, rich, runny cheese are important components.

It looks pretty, too. Since we eat with our eyes first, that counts!

Five Ingredient Cherry Tomato Salad

1 ball of mozzarella di bufala or burrata
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
about 2 tablespoons fresh basil, in chiffonade or chopped
2-3 tablespoons best quality olive oil
a sprinkle of sea salt to taste

Shred or spread the cheese on a serving plate. Top with the tomatoes, basil, olive oil and salt. Let sit 10 minutes so the flavors can mingle. Serve. It's that easy!
Serves 4 - 6.

The Gifts of Spring

Spring shows her face in different ways around the world. In the Northern hemisphere it can be cold, windy, rainy, snowy, warm, foggy, or even hot. We started out this spring with duck weather; a good half inch fell today and is greatly appreciated since our weather since January has been drier than normal. I love it that I can go out tomorrow and have an easier time weeding. Since I keep talking about it you probably think that I've weeded acres by now, but the truth is I can only do about an hour of weeding a day (still getting my strength back) so it is ongoing.

One of the gifts of spring is asparagus. We have been eating it almost daily now that the price is reasonable. Usually we just steam it or put the spears on the grill for quick cooking. Today I used two other gifts of spring to make a stunning composed salad. Our across-the-street neighbors gifted us with fresh, pale blue shelled chicken eggs from their own chicken coop. Sweetie could tell you a tale about herding chickens for them and low hanging eaves in the coop, but since he survived to tell the tale, you'll have to ask him what happened. The same neighbors gave us a bag of freshly picked mixed salad greens. All of these combined to make a lovely salad.

A couple of years ago I read a recipe by our excellent local food writer, Michele Anna Jordan, where she used softly cooked eggs to top lightly dressed salad greens. She also combined asparagus and scrambled eggs. I sort of took those and mixed them together and cooked the eggs as over-easy ones. You still get the runny yolks like the soft cooked eggs, but now it is running over both the greens and the cooked and warm asparagus. I threw in some roasted golden beets that were waiting in the fridge and made a very simple vinaigrette. I kept the shaved Parmesan and really liked the interplay of soft with crunchy, warm with cold and the variety of flavors, too. I plated the salad into big, red soup bowls and it make quite an impressive presentation.

I think the trick to making this recipe work is timing...and excellent ingredients. If possible, use farm fresh eggs, high quality salad greens, and fresh asparagus that still have tightly closed tips. Have the asparagus ready to steam or microwave, the salad greens washed and dried, the chunk of Parmesan ready to shave, and the beet slices and dressing ready to go. Have the pan, butter, and eggs ready at the stove. It all goes together quickly after that, so have everyone ready to sit down to this dish as soon as possible after it is plated. I only made two servings. I think one could make four and still get it all plated quickly. Beyond that things that should be warm might get cold.

Spring Salad with Asparagus, Beets and Fried Egg
serves 2

6-8 spears asparagus, ends trimmed
3-4 cups fresh mixed salad greens, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
one beet, roasted until tender, skin removed, sliced into at least 6 slices and chilled
2 eggs, farm fresh if possible
a chunk of Parmesan cheese to shave about 1 tablespoon from
vinaigrette - recipe below

Place prepared asparagus in a steamer or microwave steamer. Set aside.

In a medium bowl toss the mixed greens with 2/3 of the vinaigrette to lightly coat. Add the beet slices and toss to coat them with the vinaigrette. Portion half of the dressed greens in each of two large salad plates or bowls. Top with the dressed beet slices, at least 3 per portion.

Fry the two eggs in a skillet or cast iron frying pan, using a bit of melted butter to keep them from sticking. While the eggs are cooking, steam the asparagus until barely tender.

Flip the eggs to cook the tops of the yolk briefly. Place the steamed asparagus on top of the dressed greens in the middle of the plate or bowl, dividing them between the servings. Top the asparagus with the eggs, one egg per serving. Use the tip of the spatula to break the yolk so it runs over the asparagus. Shave some Parmesan over each salad (about 1/2 tablespoon each). Serve at once.

Simple Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon type mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake to emulsify and combine completely. Taste and adjust to your taste (you might want more lemon juice for instance, or more pepper).

Forbidden

There is a sense of mystery about something forbidden...and a challenge, too. I felt that way upon discovering black forbidden rice, a gorgeous black rice with a nutty flavor similar to wild rice. The mystery is how to use this lovely grain to best advantage...and that was the challenge, too.

A salad or room temperature dish seemed like a good idea so I trolled the Internet and found something close to what I wanted with a Black Forbidden Rice with Sugar Snap Peas and Nectarine dish by Giada De Laurentiis. It can be served warm or at room temperature, it has a slightly Asian feeling with fresh ginger and soy sauce and the combination of fruits and vegetables is interesting, too. As usual I had some ideas on how to change the recipe to make it my own.

My version keeps the ginger and the soy sauce, but I add a strong orange note with both orange zest and juice in the dressing. I find that citrus adds a sparkle to both rice and bean dishes. I was out of nectarines, but had just purchased fresh red cherries so I used them.

Cherries and oranges are also a great combination. For a bit of crunch I added celery and some green onions for their fresh green taste.

I had thought that such a good dose of fresh ginger would leave a strong ginger taste in the rice but during the cooking process the ginger is muted and the flavor of the rice shines with just a hint of ginger in the background. I didn't use any hot sauce or other additional heat but after tasting this rice dish I think that you could add a little fresh minced ginger to the dressing or a dash of cayenne if you like your food a bit spicier than I do and it would be a great addition.

By the time I served this dish, the rice was lukewarm. The warm cherry mixture was perfect with the slightly cooler rice and the dressing added just the right mixture of salty and sweet. Sweetie took two helping, so I suspect that this will be a hit with your family, too. If you wish to dress this beautiful rice dish up, you could sprinkle some toasted sliced almonds over it when you are ready to serve it.
Black Forbidden Rice with Cherries

based on a recipe of Giada De Laurentiis'

Serves 4-6

Rice:
3 1/2 cups water
2 cups black forbidden rice
1 (1 1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 green onion, sliced, white part only
6 oz fresh cherries, pitted and halved

Dressing:
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions:
For the rice: In a medium saucepan, bring the water, rice, ginger, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook until the rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and place in a large serving bowl.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the celery and green onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add the cherry halves and sauté for 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the serving bowl with the cooked rice.

For the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, oil, honey, orange juice, soy sauce and orange zest until smooth.

Pour the dressing over the rice and cherry mixture and toss gently to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

An Early Spring Salad

Right now is the transition time between winter salads and spring salads. There are certainly asparagus which can be blanched or steamed and added to your salad and avocados are plentiful, too. In general, though if you are going seasonal, there will be a wait for local tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and beans to liven the salad bowl.

One of the great additions to salads right now are beets. One of our local farms have them from thumb sized to super large. The local market had organic Chiogga beets on sale so I bought some, took them home, cleaned them well with a brush and water, trimmed off some of the roots, oiled them lightly, wrapped them in foil and baked them in the toaster oven at 350 until they were tender when pierced with a knife (about 25 minutes). Since I didn't need them for the salad until the next day, I just kept them in the foil packet and put that right in the fridge. I peeled and sliced them when it was time to make the salad.

The dressing for this salad also uses a seasonal ingredient...fresh orange juice and zest. I'm not sure why but oranges and beets go really well together. The greens are mixed organic baby greens and I tossed them with the dressing, piled them on salad plates, then coated the peeled, sliced beets and some peeled, separated mandarin orange slices in the dressing. Arrange the dressed fruit and beets over the dressed salad greens, then scatter some candied pecans over it all and serve.

The tender Chiogga beets are really pretty with the rings of color, plus they don't 'bleed' while you are preparing them like red beets do. Their flavor is a bit more mellow, too. Do try this easy salad while you are waiting for future bounty from the garden. You may not even miss vine ripened tomatoes (too much).

Here's some spring flowers to get you in the mood.

Citrus Vinaigrette

Juice from one large orange (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons orange zest, colored part only
1/2 teaspoon Dijon type mustard
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients into a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Fasten the lid and shake until the dressing emulsifies. Remove the lid, taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Keep chilled until you use it and chill any left over.

Beef Salad to Mashed Potatoes

It's amazing how much I take for granted, like being able to chew my food with enjoyment. A few days ago I had a wonderful salad for lunch which included lots of field greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and slices of some left over grilled beef...I think it was boneless short ribs but Sweetie cooked them before I saw the packaging. I used a tablespoon of blue cheese dressing to dress the leaves and veggies, then topped the dressed plated salad with the beef slices. Very tasty indeed.

But what does that have to do with mashed potatoes you may ask? Well, the salad was chewy and, because I can always find something else to do than go to the dentist, some bits of the greens seem to hide out at the back of my jaw, but the truth is that I did the right thing and had a procedure at the dentist yesterday that will help solve that little problem and keep me healthy yadayadayada. Bottom line? today for breakfast I had mashed potatoes with a little sharp cheese melted in because all that being healthy also led to a sore set of gums and sore jaw...and no interest in chewing anything. Tea and coffee and water seem fine, but no orange juice...too acid according to the dentist... and I just decided that today I'll keep my choices to soft ones. It was packaged mashed potatoes, too, because they are truly soft...no lumps. I had them on hand for adding to bread doughs. Lunch will be soup and dinner might just be custard. Good nutrition can start tomorrow.

Hope your days are pain free and include lots of enjoyable chewing.

Beef Salad
Per person:

2 cups field greens
1 small or 1/2 of large tomato
1 small or 1/2 of large cucumber
1 small or 1/2 of large carrot
prepared blue cheese dressing to taste
slices of grilled beef that has been seasoned with salt and pepper - to taste

Wash and dry the field greens, wrap in a towel and chill to crisp.

While greens are crisping, cut the tomato into wedges, cut the cucumber into dice after removing the seeds. I used Persian cucumber, so left the peel on. If you are using cucumbers with waxed or tough peel, then peel it before dicing. Also cut the carrot into coins or 1/2 coins.

Remove the crisp greens from the 'fridge and place into a large plastic bag. (I save the bags I bring produce home from the stores in.) Add the dressing and close the bag. Toss the greens until the leaves are coated, then pour from the bag onto your plate. Add the tomato, cucumber and carrot. Arrange slices of the beef over all and serve. This salad goes well with chilled mandarin oranges on the side.

Ideas for YOUR Feast

The most common complaint, or at least comment, that I hear after Thanksgiving or other food related family gatherings is "I'm so full I can't eat another thing", and then we bring out the dessert and everyone finds rooms for just a little more. Why do we do this? Well the essence of hospitality in many cultures is to provide far more than enough food when you entertain.

Now that we have clearly entered the time of year when the groaning board is expected, anticipated with delight, and set up proudly by hosts and hostesses, here are some ideas from past posts to help you exceed expectations and create an even more festive holiday meal.

Some of these are simple but satisfying, like the pear-cranberry crisp. Some are quite traditional, like the Stuffing recipe from my Family Food cookbook. Some are over the top like the Pumpkin Pie Spectacular...your family and friends will be very impressed...and grateful...if you make it.

No matter what you serve, here's wishing you and yours very happy holidays!
XO Elle

Holiday Recipes from Soup to Nuts:

Soups -Butternut Squash Soup http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2006/11/soup-shared-with-friends.html - Very seasonal, smooth and delicious!- Pumpkin Spinach and Rice Soup http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2010/10/frost-is-on-pumpkin.html - Simple to make and very warming, plus the flavor combination is great!

Salad - This one is perfect for this time of year - Paula's Winter Salad has greens and oranges and raisins and it's a composed salad so you can make it ahead.

http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/01/orange-you-glad-you-heard-about-this.html

I'm not going to do a roast turkey recipe because Butter Ball does such a great job with that. I will, however, give you my favorite STUFFING recipe! Click HERE.

Side Dishes - The all time favorite, and one which is requested often, is a savory combination of wild and brown rice with the tang of cranberries. It goes REALLY well with roast turkey, but is great with pork roast, roasted chicken and roasted duck. Click HERE for a great seasonal side dish.

Still in the cranberry frame of mind? Try Cranberry Pear Sauce with your meal. It uses fresh cranberries which are plentiful most places this time of year. It's a bit like a chutney since it has some vinegar to offset the brown sugar.

It makes a great condiment with left over turkey, too. Click HERE for the recipe.

Looking for a healthy veggie side dish? Try Chard and Spinach with Onions, Currants and Lemon Zest. The flavors are clean and lively which is a nice counterpoint to the richness of other dishes on the groaning board. Find the recipe by clicking HERE.

Now it's time for my favorite part of the meal...dessert!

Desserts:

If you really want to WOW everyone, make Pumpkin Pie Spectacular with Gingersnap Crust. It takes pumpkin pie to the next level and really isn't too much more difficult than regular pumpkin pie. Click HERE to find the recipe.

Maybe you want to go with something seasonal but a little less rich? Try Pear Cranberry Crisp, maybe with a scoop of frozen yogurt added to each bowl when served. The crisp recipe is HERE.

With pomegranates all the rage, you might want to try a tart that uses pomegranate juice to make a fruit curd for the filling and is also used to poach pears for the topping. It's unusual and delicious. Click HERE for the Pomegranate Lemon Tart with Poached Pears.


Last, but not least, HERE is a recipe for a Mosaic Nut Tart (see, nuts came at the end as promised and the photo is at the top of the post) that is similar to pecan pie, but just a little different. Dollop on some whipped cream and enjoy a sweet slice...maybe as you watch the last Bowl game of the day?

If you enjoy any of these recipes and have the time, come back and let me know, OK? Always fun to share and rewarding to know that others liked 'em.

Roasted Beets Rev Up a Salad

Start with freshly washed, crisp mixed salad greens.

Don't they look wonderful?

Make a dressing with the juice of 1 lemon, a teaspoon lemon zest, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, about /34 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk it all together. The blue cheese gets crumbled on top...about 1/4 cup.

The beets were washed well, the root and top removed, put in heavy foil with a little olive oil, then roasted at 400 degrees F until tender, about 1/2 hour. Then I peeled them...a messy job. Next time will probably peel them first. Chill the beets (unless you like cool salad and warm beets), then slice in thin slices.
Toss the chilled greens in the dressing, place on plates. Top with the blue cheese, the beet slices, and toss on a few candied or plain walnuts if you have them. Voila'...beet salad.

The dressing will dress enough greens to serve 2 - 4. The other ingredients are to taste. Extra salt and pepper should be available, too, for those who like more.

Spring Strawberries

Although the plants in my garden haven't yet produced ripe strawberries, only little green ones, the strawberries from Watsonville, just south of San Francisco, have started to arrive in the stores. It's time for strawberry delights.

Over the weekend I was in L.A. for the annual P.E.O. Conference. I attended as a delegate last year when it was in San Jose and was again a delegate. I won't take up time on the conference itself, but do want to show you the dessert from Saturday night, which was the main banquet.

It's a white chocolate box, topped with a glazed strawberry and plated over a swirl of strawberry syrup. Inside the little box are four thin layers of vanilla sponge cake, each layer separated by lemon buttercream, and the layers had a brush of strawberry syrup before the buttercream was applied. The cake was delicious, but the white chocolate box was difficult to eat, although very pretty.

Now that I'm home again, it's time to eat some spring greens, too. Today for lunch I had a salad of fresh mixed greens, sliced fresh strawberries, grilled chicken slices, and a sprinkle of candied walnuts. The dressing was a raspberry vinaigrette made with walnut oil. Light and tasty.

Strawberry and Chicken Salad

Serves 2

2 large handfuls of fresh mixed greens, washed and dried

6 medium to large fresh ripe strawberries, washed and hulled

1 chicken breast

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup candied walnuts

Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette (recipe below)

DIRECTIONS
Place one large handful of fresh greens on each person's plate.

Slice the strawberries. If large, cut through the slices to make smaller pieces. Place half of the strawberry slices on each plate, scattering evenly over the lettuce. Set aside

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium-hot heat. (if you prefer, use a non-stick skillet and less or no oil). Add the grapeseed oil and allow it to heat. While oil is heating, butterfly the chicken breast so that the pieces are more even in thickness. Sprinkle with the garlic salt.

Place chicken breast in hot oil and cook until just opaque and lightly browned on one side, about 3-5 minutes depending on size of the chicken breast.

Remove from the pan to a cutting board and slice into bite sized slices. Place half of the chicken slices on each salad. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the nuts on each salad and dress with the Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette to taste.

Serve while chicken is still warm.

Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

6 medium to large fresh ripe strawberries

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup walnut oil (or olive oil if unavailable)

salt and pepper to taste

Dice the berries, then mash them with a fork in a small bowl. Rub through a food mill or fine mesh strainer, retaining the juices and discarding the seeds.

In a bowl large enought to whisk in, place the strawberry juice and vinegar. Whisk in the oil until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Keep any remaining in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator.

Everything Old is New Again - with Verjus

Somehow in the confusion of the family gathering the day after Christmas, a gift was left under the tree, with no tag, and never opened that day. I found it a few days later and was thrilled to find, after opening it, that we were now in possession of a lovely bottle of Verjus. Thank you whomever gave us this lovely condiment!

Sweetie wasn't as thrilled initially...wondering what the heck verjus was, mostly. A quick spin on Google gave us the information needed, plus some really great recipes using verjus. So here is why something old is new again:

Verjus, literally green juice, has been made since Medieval times, perhaps even earlier. One source of the grapes for this vinegar was the green, unripe grapes that were culled from the vines of wine grapes to allow for better ripening of those grapes left on the vine. Since good fruit was not to be wasted, a acidulated condiment was made called verjus. It adds fruity flavor and a nice sourness to sauces. It has been popular for centuries in classic French cooking, but only recently has been commercially available in the U.S. from what I can tell. Now it is seen as a very exciting new ingredient, especially valuable since it combines well with wine and doesn't clash, something that regular vinegars have trouble doing.

Our slender, elegant bottle comes from Terra Sonoma, a local company, located in Geyserville. Their website is also where I found the recipe for the salad. I almost made it as wirtten, although I couldn't find my dried apricots, so I substituted dried cherries. The aroma of the verjus is fruity, almost pear like, and mild. Combined with the walnut oil it was the perfect salad for winter. A nice addition would have been the thinly sliced ripe pear, as the recipe suggests, or tart apple, but I was all out. Next time I'll make sure to add one or the other.

Apricot & Walnut Fresh Green Salad with VerJus Vinaigrette

Ingredients
Bowl of mixed greens
1/2 cup of Dried Apricot
1/2 cup Walnuts (fresh & cracked) (toasted is nice, too)
1/4 Nashi Pear (or what you have locally)

Vinaigrette
3/4 cup Terra Sonoma VerJus
1/4 cup Walnut Oil

Chop the dried apricots into thin slices. Coarsely chop the walnuts. Remove the skin from the Nashi pears and slice into thin pieces. Blend the fresh greens, apricots, walnuts, and pears in a bowl. Add the dressing just before serving. Toss to coat.

Serves 4.

Bacon Lovers' Salad

A favorite destination on Date Night is Borders Books. Recently Sweetie and I sat in a couple of their comfortable chairs and browsed our way through favorite magazines. I also picked up a copy of Southern Living's Our Best Recipes, Vol 4.

For starters, the cover had a delicious sweet roll recipe that can be baked in a cast iron skillet. It looked prefect for Christmas breakfast - brunch. We have a tradition of eating on sweet breads on Christmas morning. Since our daughter will be home for Christmas this year, I'm beginning to think about what to bake.

I ended up buying the book because it had so many great sounding recipes. (I also remind myself that it isn't the library, so they need us to purchase books and magazines to stay in business.)

The one I wanted to try first is sure to be a hit with bacon lovers (Y'all know who you are).
It combines roasted chunks of sweet potato (I actually used Garnet yams) and onion, crumbles of crisp bacon, fresh baby spinach, and a warm dressing using bacon drippings, red wine vinegar, orange juice and a little honey which wilts the spinach a bit. I made it tonight and it's a winner.

The vinegar, honey, and orange juice cuts the richness and fat of the bacon while the spinach adds it's distinctive flavor and the roasted yams and onions have a sweet note, too. I added some orange zest which brightened up the whole dish beautifully.

This would be a great salad for Thanksgiving. If you added some dried cranberries it would also work well for Christmas. We had it tonight with a pork loin roast, sliced tomatoes, & steamed broccoli.




Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Serves 6-8


1 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes (or yams)
1 large red onion or 1-2 large yellow onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil (or, even better, use grapeseed oil)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (6 oz.) bag fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed, then dried
Warm Bacon Dressing (recipe follows)
3-4 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (from the dressing recipe)



Peel the sweet potatoes / yams, and cut into 1 inch cubes. Cut onions into quarters, and cut each quarter in half.

Toss together sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, and oil (I put it into a plastic bag, seal, then shake well to coat the vegetables witht he oil and garlic). Place on a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined 15 x 10 inch pan. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine the baby spinach, the roasted veggies and the warm dressing. Toss well to coat the spinach leaves with the dressing. Garnish with the crumbled bacon. Serve at once.


Warm Bacon Dressing

4 bacon slices
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
the zest from one orange
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 teaspoon pepper


Cook bacon slices in a large skillet, over medium-high heat 8 - 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet. Crumble bacona nd set aside for garnish.

Stir red wine vinegar and remaining ingredients into hot drippings in skillet; cook over medium heat,stirring occasionally, 1-3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Immediately pour over the salad.

Fall At Its Finest - Blog Friends Lunch in Sonoma

Yesterday was the first nice day we have had in about a week. The sun came out, the trees were wearing the myriad shades of red and gold of autumn, and I met for lunch with Anna of Anna's Cool Finds. Anna writes the best restaurant reviews of lots of places in Marin County, so it is always a little daunting to write a review of a place where we have lunched together. She is also looking really good...due in part, no doubt, to her adherence to the South Beach Diet. Way to go Anna! No photos yet since she is getting better and better looking each time I see her, so the best is surely yet to come. She is also a super nice person and good conversationalist. I'll admit that we talked about a lot of things besides the food.

We met just off the square in the quaint town of Sonoma, the site of the Bear Flag Revolt that led to California becoming a state. It is in the county of Sonoma, so it's Sonoma, Sonoma, CA. To get there we both had nice drives through the vineyards that blanket the area. The vines have mostly been relieved of their grapes and the leaves have changed to fall colors so there is row after row of vines in shades of gold or burgundy.

The restaurant for October is The Red Grape, which is known far and wide as the place with the New Haven Style Pizza. My nephew was with us last night and as soon as I told him the name of the restaurant, he said that he had been told that it had the only decent pizza in the Bay area...of course he is from New Haven, Connecticut, so there might be a bias.

Despite the lure of the pizza, I was drawn to the soup and salad combo. I had the Tomato Basil Soup, a perfect choice since tomatoes are in season and quite delicious right now, plus their Gorgonzola Salad. (Note to Peabody: Yes, this was the Soup of Death, but still pretty looking.)

Anna had the same soup and salad combo, but she chose a savory herbed clam chowder to go with her salad. They had other salads to choose from but, as you can see from the photo, this one was really a great choice. The dressing was light, the cheese pungent, the grapes very seasonal, and those nuts were just a little spicy and nicely crunchy.

As I had suspected, the tomato soup had a full, deep tomato flavor, plus a nice complexity from basil and garlic. The texture was velvety and light, but not watery. On top there was a chiffonade of basil which added a good basil punch, and a few herbed croutons that added a nice crunch.

Although they had a nice array of dessert offerings, we both found that the salad and soup were enough for lunch. The service was good and the restaurant itself was airy and bright, if a bit noisy from the nearby large group which were giving sports team awards to some delightful kids.

If you find yourself in Sonoma, CA, the town, do try the Red Grape Restaurant, just off the square. Next time I'm going to try the pizza...I'll let you know how it is.

The Red Grape Restaurant
529 First Street West
Sonoma, CA 95476
707-996-4103

Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:30 am