Autumn Roasted Carrot and Apple Farro Salad

Yesterday at work, a customer asked me how to prepare farro, as she was trying to incorporate more whole grains into her diet.  Luckilly, I knew how to cook it and was able to help!  One of my favorite parts of working in the deli at a health food store is being able to help people like her.  It makes me happy to be able to give good advice on food, and help people eat healthier in turn.  After the little tutorial on farro, I started to think about how good it would be in a salad for dinner.  A leafy salad just wouldn't cut it as I was hungry, but a grain salad would be perfect!  Not wanting to spend money I decided that I would make it with things I already had on hand.  A carrot, a cipollini onion, and an apple.  Perfect!  I decided to roast them to bring out the flavor, then combine them with cooked farro, some fresh thyme and toasted walnuts in a cider vinaigrette.  It was delicious! 

All too often I forget about how tasty grains other than the usual rice and quinoa are.  Thank goodness that lady asked me about the farro and gave me the idea to make it venturing out of the same old rut!  Funny how that worked, I helped her, but she also helped me.  Here is the recipe I made if you would like to enjoy it!

Autumn Roasted Carrot and Apple Farro Salad

Serves 2

2 cups water
3/4 cup farro
1 medium cipollini onion, cut into wedges
1 large carrot, sliced
1 medium tart apple cut into large dice
olive oil
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp walnut oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp dijon
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the water and farro in a medium saucepan. Add 1 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the farro is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well, and then transfer to a large bowl to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475 degrees, and line a large sheet pan with foil.  Toss carrots and onions with just enough olive oil to coat and spread out on one side of sheet pan.  Scatter apples on the other side and roast for about 10 minutes until the apples are starting to soften.  Remove apples from pan, and add to bowl with the farro.  Return carrots and onions to the oven and continue to roast until starting to brown at edges and carrots are tender.  Let cool slightly then add to the bowl.  Add walnnuts and thyme, then whisk together vinegar, oils, syrup, mustard and sea salt and pepper to taste and add to the bowl.  Toss to coat, and serve at room temperature. 

Roasted Red Cabbage and Apple Pizzas with Carmelized Shallots, Walnuts, and Gruyere

There are some days when you just feel like you need a pizza for dinner...maybe a hard day at work perhaps?  Or just some comfort food in the form of a crispy crust with gooey cheese... today was one of those days for me.  I had some red cabbage and apples on hand, and since they pair so well together as a simple side dish, I thought they might be delicious on a pizza!  I like to try different toppings, and although I have probably tried hundreds of different combinations of fruits and veggies over the years, this one had escaped me.  But what to pair it with?  Some carmelized shallots sounded fabulous, and some nutty melty flavorful buttery gruyere was what I ended up chosing.  Toasted walnuts were a last addition for a textural contrast to all of the soft veggies.  When I pulled the pizza from the oven I knew it would be good...my mouth was watering from the aroma of the melted gruyere and roasted veggies!  The pizza was beautiful with the red cabbage, and it tasted even better!  Like the classic side dish of red cabbage and apples it was tangy, but it had saltiness and richness from the cheese, and with the crunchy walnuts and savory onions, it was heavenly!  Red cabbage and apples are easy to find this time of year, so if you enjoy venturing out of the realm of cheese and meat toppings on a pizza you should try this!

Roasted Red Cabbage and Apple Pizzas with Carmelized Shallots, Walnuts, and Gruyere

Makes 2 10 inch pizzas

1/2 red cabbage, thinly sliced
2 small tart sweet apples, sliced
extra virgin olive oil
6 small shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
balsamic vinegar
2 whole wheat pizza crusts store bought or home-made*
1 tsp dried thyme
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
4 oz shredded Gruyere cheese

A good quality pizza stone is essential to a crispy crust. Place the stone on the highest rack in the oven, then crank up the heat as high as possible at least an hour before baking the pizza (but if you don't have a stone, still use the top rack, but you will need to leave the pizza on a sheet pan to bake). Line 2 sheet pans with foil, and spray with non-stick spray. Toss red cabbage with just enough oil to coat and spread out on one pan, and roast until softened, and starting to brown at edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and set aside. Spread out apples on other sheet and roast until just softened, about 5 minutes, and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a medium non-stick skillet, heat a little olive oil, on medium heat and add shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes until browned, softened and caramelly. Add garlic and cook for a minute more, until fragrant, and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat. To assemble pizzas, place one piece of the dough on a piece of parchment paper, spray rolling pin with non-stick spray and roll out as thin as possible (about 10 inches is best) Repeat with other piece of dough using another sheet of parchment. Sprinkle salt and pepper over crust, then thyme, then veggies, walnuts, mozzarella and gruyere. Using a pizza peel, or an upside down sheet pan, carefully slide the dough (keeping it on the parchment) into the oven. Bake for about 3-5 minutes, or until crust is starting to brown and cheese is bubbling. Carefully slide the parchment onto a sheet pan or pizza peel to remove from oven. Let cool a few minutes and serve!

*Amy's Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Makes 8 10 inch crusts

Crust:

4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp Salt

2 Pkgs rapid-rise yeast

2 cups warm water

To make the dough, in a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center, pour in the water and then dissolve the yeast in the water. Gradually stir the flour into the water mixture, until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface, then knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Oil a large bowl with olive oil, then place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm area, such as near the oven, and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. When dough has risen, punch down and divide into 8 pieces. You can either freeze the dough in individual portions (just place in ziplock bags and take out the night before you want to use it, then it will be ready to use the next day), or set aside to use right away. If making the recipe above, you will need two crusts.

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!

Mushroom Lentil Wild Rice Soup and Honeycrisp Apple Salad

There are many variations of creamy wild rice soup, especially here in Minnesota where it seems to be a standard item on many restaurant's menus.  It is funny how every store or restaurant claims that theirs is the best...which lead me to thinking I should create my own vegetarian version!  I decided that mushrooms were a must in my soup, because they love wild rice being that they are both so earthy.  I also included onions, carrots and garlic, but no celery, because I am really not a fan of it.  I believe that main dish soups need a protein source, and although chicken style seitan would have been delicious in this soup, I decided to go with lentils instead.  Nothing fancy, just what I had on hand the humble brown lentil.  Many wild rice soups are gut bustingly creamy...which is why many people love them, but I did not want mine to be.  Just rich enough to be satisfying, but still leave me feeling good after enjoying it.  So instead of the usual large amounts of butter and cream with white flour roux, I used olive oil with whole wheat pastry flour and a mixture of stock and soymilk instead.   It was still rich tasting and satisfying, and you wouldn't have known it was healthy.  The soup was wonderful...so much better than it's gut busting cousins!  Wonderfully earthy and silky...a wonderful marriage of flavors, a bowl of warming comforting goodness perfect for a fall evening! 

But of course, soup alone is not a full meal for me...so I made a light salad to go along with it!  And what better to feature in a salad this time of year than Honeycrisp apples?  They go wonderfully with bitter greens and shallots, so I included those as well.  Some roasted figs found their way into the mix, as well as some sweet and salty walnuts for crunch.  I dressed it all in a riesling vinaigrette, which happens to be my favorite because it is wonderfully sweet but has a nice tartness without being too acidic.  My last addition to the salad was a sprinkling of a locally produced cheese, Northern Lights Blue, which is actually made at the U of MN!  It is like a roquefort...sweet and salty.  It goes wonderfully with apples, especially Honeycrisp, and I often eat the two together for dessert if I want something light.  This salad is a mosaic of textures and flavors, and it has them all...tart apples, sweet figs, crunchy toasty nuts, bitter greens, and salty cheese...I don't know if I can call a salad heavenly, but this one is in my opinion!  Together this soup and salad made the perfect meal for a fallish night!  I have included both the recipes below if you are interested!

Mushroom Lentil Wild Rice Soup

Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour

2 cups stock
2 cups soy milk
12 mushrooms, sliced

1 can lentils, drained and rinsed

2 tsp thyme

1 tsp sea salt or as needed

freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups cooked wild rice

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add the onions and carrots and saute until starting to soften.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add flour, and cook for another minute, or until starting to toast, and lightly brown.  Add stock and soymilk slowly, stirring constantly to prevent any lumps from forming.  Add mushrooms, lentils, thyme, sea salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer, and let cook until mushrooms have softened, soup has thickened, and flavors have melded, about 20 minutes.  Add wild rice, allow to heat through, taste for seasoning, add more salt if needed, and serve!

Honeycrisp Apple and Northern Lights Blue Cheese Salad with Walnuts

Serves 3

Walnuts:

1/2 cup walnuts

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp maple sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground chipotle powder

10 mission figs, halved
olive oil

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp riesling vinegar

1 tsp honey dijon

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp dried thyme

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

5 cups mixed flavorful greens such as arugula, mizuna and dandilion

1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots

2 small honeycrisp apples, sliced
2 oz roquefort or a local roquefort style blue cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil, and spray with nonstick spray. Toss walnuts with agave, maple sugar, sea salt , and chipotle and spread out on one of the sheets. Roast in the oven until fragrant and starting to brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Increase the oven temp to 475, and place rack in the top position. Toss figs with a just enough oil to coat and spred out on other baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes until softened but not mushy. When done roasting, remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Combine greens, shallots, figs, and apples in a large bowl, pour dressing over, and toss with hands to coat. Divide salad between 3 plates and top with toasted nuts and cheese.