Moroccan Salad with Crispy Jerusalem Artickokes and Sesame Yogurt

One of my favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities, La Belle vie serves up a wonderful Moroccan Salad with Crispy Artichokes and Sesame Yogurt.  I have ordered it the last 3 times I have been there I love it so much!  They spoon a bit of creamy sesame cumin laced yogurt onto the plate, top it off with mache, kalamata olives and artichokes so crispy they are almost like a chip!  The plate is dusted with Moroccan spices that give just the right amount of seasoning to the salad.  Since I can't go to La Belle Vie every weekend, or every time I am craving this salad, I thought this would be the perfect weekend to try and recreate it!  I put my own spin on it however, and not wanting to deal with frying artichokes, or cleaning one of them (since it is quite the process), I opted for some crispy roasted jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) instead!    I wasn't able to get my hands on any mache, so I used baby arugula, wartercress and a bit of spinach for my greens, and dressed it lightly in a lemon juice vinaigrette.  I am not exactly sure what all goes into the sesame yogurt at La Belle Vie, but it is so creamy that I guessed it was a Greek yogurt and that is what I used.  I whisked in tahini to make it even more creamy, a bit of cumin, garlic, and lemon juice for flavor, and it was the same delicious flavor as theirs!  My salad also contained kalamata olives, and i decided that smoked Spanish paprika would be perfect for dusting the plate!  My salad was just as wonderful as theirs, and now I am happy that I can recreate it at home for a lot cheaper.  That said, I still think the food at La Belle Vie is amazing and I am sure I will still order their verison of the salad as long as it is on the menu.  If you would like to try my version of this delicious salad for yourself, here is the recipe!

Moroccan Salad with Crispy Jerusalem Artickokes and Sesame Yogurt
Serves 2

4 large jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) thinly sliced on the diagonal
oilve oil
sea salt

yogurt:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 Tbsp sesame tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin seed
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Greens:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large bunch of baby arugula (about 1.5 oz)

1 large bunch of watercress or baby spinach (about 1.5 oz)

To plate:

smoked spanish paprika

toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and line a sheet pan with foil, spray with non-stick spray.  Toss artichokes with enough olive oil to coat and spread out on sheet pan.  Roast until crispy and starting to brown at edges.  Remove from oven and let cool.  To make yogurt, whisk together yogurt, tahini, cumin, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic and set aside.  In a large bowl, place 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Add greens and roasted artickokes toss well to coat.  To plate salads, dallop a large spoonfull of the yogurt onto each plate, and smooth out with a spoon.  Sprinkle the yogurt and the plate with a little spanish paprika, then top with the dressed greens and artichokes.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and top with kalamata olives.

Pumpkin Spice Martini

All things pumpkin make me happy this time of year, and that means everything...no limitations of pumpkin only being included in desserts and entrees...drinks should be included as well!  I wanted to create a cocktail that was like a slice of really good pumpkin pie in a glass, and yet not have it be too overly sweet.  No pumpkin liquers here, just some real pumpkin puree to give the drink a little bit of richness.  And richness it added...a silky texture on my tongue as it went down, as if cream had been added.  I wanted this drink to be lightly spiced and have a delicate flavor, so I included vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, all things I consider essential to a pumpkin pie!  Maple syrup was my sweetener of choice, but not too much...just sweet enough.  For my liquor I chose bourbon and vodka, because bourbon is fallish and pairs well with pumpkin and spices, and vodka because it is a martini afterall!  It was fabulous!  The perfect fall drink and a great celebration of all things pumpkin!  So mix yourself a drink!  You know you love pumpkin!

Pumpkin Spice Martini
Serves 1

Spiced sugar:

2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg

1 Tbsp agave nectar or honey

4-6 large ice cubes
1 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a large pinch of ginger
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 oz Prairie Organic Vodka
1 1/2 oz bourbon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
To make cinnamon nutmeg sugar, combine sugar cinnamon and nutmeg and blend well. Spread out on a small plate. Coat the rim of the martini glass with the agave syrup by dipping it into it on a plate, then dip the agave coated rim into the sugar and set aside. In a martini shaker add the ice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vodka, bourbon, vanilla, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree, and place top on shaker. Shake until well blended. Pour through a strainer into a chilled martini glass, and serve!

5 Spice Honeycrisp Appletini

I am in love with all things honeycrisp right now...and although my favorite way to eat them is to simply take a big bite, I find uses for them in almost every sort of dish.  This includes beverages!  Today when I was at work, and just feeling tired and wanting it to be 4 o'clock so I could go home, I was thinking a cocktail might be fabulous this afternoon.  I am usually just a classic dirty martini girl, not going for the sweet drinks, but an idea popped into my head to make a Honeycrisp appletini!  Probably because I was also imagining how nice it would be to enjoy a nice honeycrisp apple, as I was also hungry at the time.  I am really not a fan of most appletinis people order in bars...they are way too sweet containing lots of artificial apple flavorings and lots of sugar.  What I like however is when bartenders make their own drink creations using fruit purees...so I thought I could create a honeycrisp appletini this way featuring the popular Minnesota  grown fruit!  I had a bag of small honeycrisps, about the size of large golf ball, and I thought one would be the perfect size to puree for a martini!  I added some Asian 5 spice because it is so wonderful with apples, some local Prairie Organic Vodka, because it is my favorite, and some Domaine De Canton ginger liqueur to spice it up a bit.  It was a wonderful refreshing drink...the essence of Honeycrisp apple!  All you Honeycrisp apple lovers out there, you must try this! It is 100x better than any normal appletini...

5 Spice Honeycrisp Appletini

Serves 1

Spiced sugar:

2 Tbsp maple sugar

3/4 tsp asian 5 spice powder

1 Tbsp agave nectar or honey

4-6 large ice cubes

1 tsp asian 5 spice powder

2 oz Prairie Organic Vodka

1 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

3 Tbsp fresh honeycrisp apple puree

2 thin slices honeycrisp apple

To make cardamom sugar, combine sugar cinnamon and nutmeg and blend well. Spread out on a small plate. Coat the rim of the martini glass with the agave syrup by dipping it into it on a plate, then dip the agave coated rim into the sugar and set aside. In a martini shaker add the ice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vodka, ginger liquer, and apple puree, and place top on shaker.  Shake until well blended. Pour through a strainer into a chilled martini glass, adding the apple slice to your glass to garnish, and serve!