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 Chanterelle and Leek Salad with Pears and Pecans

While I was visiting Montréal last week, I visited a restaurant called DNA.  The atmosphere was wonderful and the service excellent!  They had the most beautiful orange decor, but more importantly the food was delicious! 

I ordered some delicious pappardelle pasta scattered with local mushrooms including chanterelles.  It was delicious and earthy due to the flavorful mushrooms. 

I had every ambition to try and recreate the $30 plate when I arrived home, and I even found some locally grown chanterelles at the market, but my day had other plans.  Instead of putzing with home made pappardelle today I visited a local winery, St. Croix Vineyards for some wine tasting.  Of course I ended up buying wine there, as well as some late harvest riesling vinegar. Being that it was a warm day, and that I was feeling a bit lazy in the dinner department, I decided that the chanterelles would be lovely in a salad also using some of that vinegar that I had bought.  So I roasted some chanterelles (as well as a bit of crimini mushrooms which are more affordable) and some leeks and tossed them with some ripe d'anjou pears and toasted pecans for a delicious salad! 

I dressed it with a riesling maple walnut dressing with a bit of thyme and voila!  Deliciousness!  It wasn't a good day for pasta anyhow, and the salad paired perfectly with some dry riesling I had also picked up today.  Maybe I will make pappardelle when the weather chills out a bit, but for now this salad did the trick to showcase the chanterelles!  If you have access to them you should try making it yourself!

Roasted Chanterelle and Leek Salad with Pears and Pecans

Serves 2

1 large leek, sliced

10 chanterelle mushrooms, halved if large
10 crimini mushrooms, halved
olive oil
1 large D'anjou pear, sliced
1/2 cup toasted pecans

1 large head leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite sized pieces

Dressing:
2 Tbsp walnut oil
2 Tbsp riesling vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp honey dijon mustard

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.  Toss mushrooms and leeks with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on baking sheet.  Roast in the oven until tender and starting to brown at edges, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature, then add to a large bowl along with the pear, pecans and leaf lettuce.  Whisk dressing ingredients together, then pour over salad and toss well.  Serve!

Blueberry Basil Quinoa Tabouli Salad

Today was one of those days where I felt like I needed a break from too much rich food.  Too many sweets and indulgence on Saturday was the problem, but luckilly I had lots of fresh produce in my fridge.  Nothing but fresh, cool vegetables or fruit was sounding good to me for dinner.  I had a large container of blueberries from Wisconsin that were some of the best I have tasted in years, plus a large pile of cucumbers from my Grandpa's garden so I decided that those two things needed to be included in whatever I decided to make.  For some reason quinoa tabouli came to mind.  It is a favorite of mine in the summer, classic, or a twist changing up the veggies and dressing.  Although I had some tomatoes from my Grandpa's garden as well, I decided swap them out for blueberries to be a little different and not make classic tabouli this time! 

I threw in basil and toasted almonds, and it was delicious!  It was a little like original tabouli in that it contained mint, cucumbers, lemon and garlic, but it was something a little different as well!  I had used a mixture of black and white quinoa because I enjoy both, but it made the salad a little more appealing to the eyes as well as the taste buds.  It was fresh, and like something you would enjoy at a spa, or a light dinner to leave you feeling healthy.  The berries provided welcome little tart sweet pops of flavor among the savory ingredients! So much for feeling yuck from over indulgence.  Here is the recipe if you would like to try it!

Blueberry Basil Quinoa Tabouli Salad

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa, rinsed (I used a mixture of black and white)

1 cup fresh organic blueberries

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded and diced small

2 scallions, sliced

1/2 cup fresh organic basil leaves, minced

1/4 cup fresh organic mint, minced

3/4 cup toasted almonds

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 large garlic clove, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed about 15 minutes, or when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated. Drain, and let cool. When quinoa is cool, combine with the berries, cucumber, basil, scallions, and almonds. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toss dressing with salad, and chill.

Mid-Summer Slaw with Roquefort

One salad that is often seen on a picnic buffet in the summer is coleslaw.  I can see why so many people love it due to its creamy dressing and cooling effect on the body.  However, when I was younger I didn't have a taste for it.  Even now as an adult, it has to be really good coleslaw in order for me to eat it, or at least the creamy homestyle kind.  I am all about the ones made with light Asian dressing.  It is the heavyness of the loads of mayonnaise in most classic recipes I don't care for.  Which is exactly why when my Mom said I should make some classic coleslaw for her, and I agreed, I tweaked the recipe quite a bit. 

First off, I figured if it was going to have richness it wasn't going to come from the mayonnaise so I added some local roquefort style cheese to it.  I love how it adds so much flavor without having to add a large amount.  Second, I made a vegannaise based dressing and laced it with lemon nstead of the usual vinegar to keep it summery and added some honey for sweetness instead of the large amount of sugar in most recipes.  Fresh herbs were a must as well, so I picked some basil and chervil from my patio and added them for freshness.  I thought it was delicious, the best creamy slaw I have ever tasted!  The roquefort giving it that something special that other slaws do not have.  The big test however was if my Mom would approve...and she did!  She told me that I would need to make this a few more times before summer is over.  I have included the recipe if you would like to try my version of creamy coleslaw.

Mid-Summer Slaw with Roquefort

Serves 4-6

Slaw:

1/2 1 small red cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 1 small green cabbage, thinly sliced
 3 medium carrots, cut julienne
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh chervil, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled roquefort cheese

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegannaise
juice of one lemon
1 Tbsp honey
1 garlic clove, minced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine cabbage, carrots, shallot, basil, chervil, and roquefort.  In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients until smooth, then pour over the slaw and toss well to coat.  Serve chilled.

Moroccan Potato Salad

I went the entire 4th of July weekend without eating potato salad.  Pasta salad I did enjoy, but potato salad was something I failed to make.  It may sound like a sin to some to not eat it on the day of the summer when it seems the most common.  I bet it is the most common summer picnic salad because have been selling so much of it at my work in the deli lately it is crazy!   So yesterday after not having it on the 4th I was hungry for it, so I decided to make myself some.  It is the peak of potato salad season afterall.  No classic potato  salad for me however, I decided I needed something a little exotic.  So I decided to use a Greek yogurt based dressing and add some moroccan elements to it.  I laced the dressing with tahini and lemon with a bit of cumin and garlic, and sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds and smoked paprika.  For veggies I roasted some garlic scapes and asparagus I had in my fridge and added it to the potatoes along with some kalamata olives.  It was delicious!  I think I might even like this version better than the classic!  So...who cares if I didn't eat potato salad 4th of July weekend.  This more than made up for it! 

 

Moroccan Potato Salad

Serves 2

Dressing:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp tahini
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

2 cups asparagus cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup garlic scapes cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cups baby potatoes, halved, or quartered
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup halved kalamata olives
1/4 cup fresh mint, cut into chiffonade
4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
mixed greens of your choice (such as arugula, mizuno, dandilion, spinach, watercress)
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
smoked Spanish paprika

Whisk dressing ingredients together until smooth, and place in the fridge.  Preheat the oven to 475 and line a sheet pan with foil.  Toss asparagus and scapes with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on pan.  Roast for about 15-20 minutes until tender then remove from oven and let cool.  In a medium pot, cover potatoes with water and add about 1 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes.  Drain and let cool.  In a large bowl, combine roasted veggies, potatoes, shallot, olives, mint, and eggs in a bowl, and toss with dressing until well combined.  Place greens on a plate, and top with salad, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little smokey paprika. 

Edamame Pasta Salad with Arugula Mint Pesto

It is pesto season.  The part of the year when our gardens and refridgerators are all filled with lots of greens and herbs just begging to be blended to perfection with nuts, garlic and oils.  I love that the possibilities are endless when it comes to pesto ingredients.  Afterall, there are no rules.  Although the classic basil always gets made a lot at my house, all sorts of greens find their way into my pesto.  Tonight when I decided that pesto pasta sounded delicious, I grabbed a bunch of arugula and a bunch of mint and got to work. 

I had never combined these two ingredients before in a pesto, but an experiment was in order.  I combined them with pepitas that I had in my fridge as well, because at the moment I was out of walnuts and pine nuts.  The rest of the ingredients I added to the pesto were ones I would use in a classic pesto,   but it had such a different vibrant flavor than any other pesto I have made due to the peppery arugula and fresh strong mint.  I kept it vegan this time and skipped adding any cheese since the pepitas and the olive oil had already contributed plenty of richness.  I decided that this salad needed to have lots of veggies as well in addition to the pasta, so I added edamame for protein, and radishes and carrots for color as well as crunch.  It was all quite a delicious combination!  If you are in pesto making mode as well, here is the recipe if you would like to try some for yourself! 

Edamame Pasta Salad with Arugula Mint Pesto

Serves 4

Pesto:

1/2 cup mint

1 cup arugula

1 cup pepitas

2 lemons
4 garlic
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

8 oz penne pasta
10 radishes, thinly sliced
3 medium carrots, cut julienne
1/2 cup pepitas
1 12 oz bag frozen edamame, thawed

Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Set aside.  Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse with water, drain and let cool.  In a large bowl, combine pasta, radishes, carrots, pepitas, and edamame.  Add pesto and toss to coat.  Serve at room temperature.

Cherry Pistachio Salad with Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette and Fresh Mint

Often times in life simple is best.  I went on a walk last night along the Mississippi river with someone special after dinner, and although it was just a walk it was so much more than that.  It It was one of the most enjoyable walks, not to mention moments I have had in quite a long time filled with lots of good conversation.  It was a beautiful night, with a light breeze and lots of people watching of course with an awesome view of the river. Although I have to admit the company was more of the enjoyment than the act of walking itself.  I guess it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do it in good company.  It was so much better than any movie we could have gone to, or something costing lots of money to do.  I have always appriciated the simple, especially when it comes to spending time with those you care about.  Afterall, without all the distractions you can just focus on each other, and that is always best!  The same goes for food sometimes as far as simplicity goes.  Tonight I made a wonderful salad with a few fresh seasonal ingredients, cherries, mint, and local greens topped off with some toasted pistachios.  It was delightful!  So simple and quick to make, and yet so good!  The perfect accompaniment to a light tofu dish I had also made.  I have included a recipe if you would like to try some!  Take some time to enjoy the simple things in life, all too often we get lost in the details. 

Cherry Pistachio Salad with Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette and Fresh Mint

Serves 2

Dressing:

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp agave nectar

sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salad:
1 cup pitted halved fresh cherries
2 Tbsp fresh mint, cut in chiffonade
1 large bunch of arugula or greens of your choice
1/2 cup shelled roasted salted pistachios

Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine cherries, mint, and greens.  Pour over dressing and toss to coat.  Divide salad between 2 plates, and scatter pistachios over each. 

Rhubarb BBQ Tofu with Roasted Asparagus and Green Garlic Quinoa

Tis the season for BBQ!  Just because I am a vegetarian doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it as much as the people slathering it on chicken, pork and beef!  I love BBQ tofu, especially of the fruit based variety, so when I had a large amount of tofu last weekend, I knew what to do with it...make BBQ sauce for some tofu!  The rhubarb contriubuted a nice tangyness that doesn't come from other fruit or veggies I normally inculde in sauce. 

I decided to serve the BBQ tofu with roasted asparagus quinoa since I had bought some delicious tender locally grown asparagus.  I laced the salad with green garlic, and lots of lemon for a pop of flavor.  It was a nice accompaniment to the sweet and tangy tofu!  As a whole it screamed SPRING without being a salad.  I suppose it is nearly summer and the rhubarb and asparagus are nearly gone, so might as well enjoy them while they are available!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try some for yourself!

Tofu in Rhubarb BBQ Sauce

Serves 2

1 10 oz block firm tofu, diced

peanut oil

1 Tbsp peanut oil

2 cups organic rhubarb, diced

1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp tamari
2 tsp mustard of your choice
2 Tbsp mirin
sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil, and toss tofu with just enough peanut oil to coat.  Place on baking sheet, and bake until starting to brown at edges.  Remove from oven.  Meanwhile, Add 1 Tbsp peanut oil to a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add shallots, and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add rhubarb and garlic, and saute until fragrant, 1 minute, then add orange juice, agave nectar, tamari, mustard, and mirin, along with sea salt to taste and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and starting to break up.  Remove from heat and puree until smooth.  Serve sauce over tofu! 

Roasted Asparagus and Green Garlic Quinoa

Serves 2

1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 cup asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 Tbsp lemon zest
juice of 2 lemons
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 Tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 green garlic, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed about 15 minutes, or when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated. Drain, and let cool. Preheat oven to 475.  Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss asparagus with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on sheet.  Roast until starting to brown and tender, about 10-15 min.  Let cool to room temp.  When quinoa is cool, combine with asparagus, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, rosemary, thyme, green garlic, and sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Spring Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Dressing, Poached egg, and Crispy Sesame Panko

I was extremely excited yesterday when I got my hands on local asparagus, radishes, snow peas and sunchokes!  I have been waiting for what seems like far too long to buy these veggies, as I didn't want to buy some shipped from another part of the country. 

So I thought for tonight what better than to create a salad showcasing them?  I decided to roast the asparagus and sunchokes to bring out the flavor but leave the radishes and peas raw and crunchy!  I was in the mood for something with a little middle eastern flavor, so a tahini dressing was to accompany them, as well as some toasted sesame seeds.  I am a bit textural person when it comes to food, so I thought the crunch of some nice garlicy panko breadcrumbs would be perfect with the veggies and silky dressing!  Lastly, wanting this to be a complete meal, a poached egg topped off the lovely pile of veg! 

It was satisfying and delicious, plus quick to throw together!  Here is the recipe if you wish to try it for yourself! 

Spring Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Dressing, Poached egg, and Crispy Sesame Panko

Serves 2

Dressing:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
a pinch cayenne
1 garlic clove, minced

Sesame panko:
1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt
 a large pinch red pepper flakes

Veggies:
Olive oil
2 cups sliced sunchokes
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces

Poached eggs:
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 cups water
2 organic eggs

1 cup snow peas
1 cup radishes

In a small bowl, whisk dressing together, and set aside.  For sesame panko, in a small nonstick skillet, combine breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, garlic clove, olive oil, about 1/4 tsp sea salt, and red pepper flakes.  Saute until crumbs, seeds and garlic are toasted.  Remove from heat and set aside.  To prepare veggies, preheat oven to 475 degrees, line a sheet pan with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss asparagus and artichokes with just enough olive oil to coat and spread out on pan.  Roast until browned at the edges and crispy, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, and let cool to room temperature. 
To poach eggs, heat water to a simmer in a medium saucepan with the vinegar and salt. Crack an egg into a ramakin. Stir water with a spoon to swirl, and carefully pour egg into it. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or preferred doneness, and remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with other egg.  To plate between 2 plates, scatter roasted veggies, snow peas, and radishes about the plate, drizzle with dressing, top each with a poached egg and the toasted sesame panko.  Serve!

Spring Beet and Potato Salad

Potato salad is something that people start craving this time of the year.  My Grandma always made it for our family when I was young, and it was always the same, bright yellow, topped with the hardboiled eggs, and red paprika!  It was tasty, but full of mayonnaise in large amounts of course, so not the most healthy.  We make a similar version at the deli I work in, and we always top it with hardboiled eggs as well...one of my cowoerkers Gabrielle lovingly refers to it as the "many eyed beast", and the customers love it!  I have to admit I do love classic potato salad, there is a comforting element to it.  But what I don't love is the unhealthy dressing that comes with it.  So the other day when I was enjoying some Greek yogurt and its creaminess, I thought it would be perfect for a healthy potato salad dressing!  So I created my own potato salad featuring spring ingredients.  Beets, ramps, and radishes were a must!  Maybe Grandma would have thought my shocking pink potato salad odd looking, but it was damn delicious!  It was the perfect meal, filling but light with a tangy dressing just as good as the classic, but kind to the waistline.  I loved the beets in there, they give it a nice sweetness that you don't get from just potatoes.  I think if my Grandma tasted it she would approve of course!  Here is the recipe if you would wish to try it! 

Spring Beet and Potato Salad

Serves 2

Dressing:
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp dried dill
2 tsp dried chervil
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

2 cups cooked beets, diced large
2 cups baby potatoes, halved, or quartered
4 radishes, thinly sliced
2 ramps, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
mixed greens of your choice (such as arugula, mizuno, dandilion, spinach, watercress)

Whisk dressing ingredients together until smooth.  Combine beets, potatoes, radishes, ramps, shallot, eggs in a bowl, and toss with dressing until well combined.  Place greens on a plate, and top with salad. 

Miso Dressed Spring Radish and Carrot Salad with Toasted Almonds

I was recently at a Japanese fusion restaurant, and I had a salad with the most delicious miso dressing.  I had no idea what it was composed of besides the miso, but it was the perfect balance of salty and sweet lightly and coated the greens perfectly.  It was so good that I have been wanting to recreate it ever since then, and finally decided to do so.   I am a big miso lover, I use it in everything from the obvious, such as soups, and marinades, to the not so obvious such as in desserts, to which it gives a lovely salted caramel like flavor.  It is one ingredient that I always have to have on hand.  Although there are many varieties of it, I prefer the white miso.  It was no wonder that dressing at the restaurant was delicious, miso makes everything more tasty!  When I tried to recreate the dressing, I kept with the Asian theme and added some peanut oil, because I love its nutty quality, some rice wine vinegar for acidity, and agave nectar for a bit of sweetness.  Tamari was needed for a bit of salt in addition to the saltiness of the miso, so no sea salt was needed in this dressing.  Lastly, garlic was important, I  love its flavor in salads, especially Asian ones.  What to pair with this delicious miso dressing?  Well I thought the veggies of spring would be appropriate, so the radishes, carrots and ramps in addition to the greens I had on hand were perfect!  Lastly I topped it off with almonds for crunch!  It was very simple, but so good!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try some for yourself!

Miso Dressed Spring Radish and Carrot Salad with Toasted Almonds
Serves 2

Dressing:
1 Tbsp white miso
1 Tbsp peanut oil
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar
1 clove garlic
2 tsp tamari

4 cups mixed greens, such as arugula, spinach, dandelion, mizuna
1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
6 radishes, thinly sliced
4 ramps, thinly sliced
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together.  In a large bowl, combine greens, carrots, radishes, and ramps.  Pour dressing over and toss well to coat.  Place mixture on a serving plate, and top with toasted almonds. 

Roasted Potato and Celeriac Salad with White Truffle Oil

Celeriac is like the ugly stepsister of the veggies...it looks like a tangled mess of roots and I have to admit the first time I came across it I had no idea what it was and was rather intimidated.  I now know that it is delicious when peeled and thinly sliced to go raw into a salad or roasted and pureed eaten like mashed potatoes. 

It was funny, the other week I was picking some up, and a cute guy who happened to be standing next to me in the produce department picking up some beets said to me, "What the heck is THAT?"  I explained to him what it was but he still seemed skeptical about how tasty it could be.  However he still asked for my advice on how best to prepare the beets, as he was buying them for the first time.  I should have gotten his number...oh well.  Back to the celeriac, I thought it would be wonderful roasted with some potatoes in a warm salad along with some leeks.  I figured all of the earthy flavors  would be friendly  and delicious with one another. 

 

The veggies would have been delicious simply roasted with olive oil and seasoned with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper, but I tossed them in a truffle oil vinaigrette, further adding to the earthiness, and deliciousness of the salad.  I still thought it needed something to finish it off so I shaved some pecorino romano over the top and sprinkled a few toasted pine nuts.  It was amazing!  The crisp on the outside tender on the inside veggies were full of flavor, and the truffle oil set them off.  The salty pecorino romano was a perfect match for the earthy vegetables, and the pine nuts added a nice toasty crunch!  So much for the celeriac being an ugly stepsister, it is awefully delicious!  Here is the salad recipe if you would like to try some!

Roasted Potato and Celeriac Salad with White Truffle Oil
Serves 4

1 large celeriac, cut into large cubes
3 cups baby potatoes, cut into 3rds
2 large leeks, thickly sliced
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 Tbsp fresh
1 Tbsp white truffle oil
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 oz shaved pecorino romano cheese

Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil.  Toss celeriac, potatoes, and leeks with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on sheet.  Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and browned at the edges.  Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.  In a small bowl, whisk together thyme, truffle oil, 1 Tbsp olive oil,  lemon juice, garlic, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Place veggies in a large bowl, pour dressing over, and toss to coat.  Place on a serving plate, and sprinkle with pine nuts and pecorino romano. 

Spring Fiesta Salad

It is above 60 degrees today in Minnesota and I am loving it!  It is nice to be able to get out for my post work stress relief walks and enjoy the sun again!  The fact that it is so nice calls for a celebration!  Well, celebration in the form of a pretty salad at least.  So, I raided my fridge to find the most colorful veggies I could and got to work composing one!  What I found was a golden beet, some red (purple) cabbage, and some orange carrots.  But let's not forget the green, I added a bit of cilantro as well.  With the cilantro the salad was taking on a southwestern or mexican theme so I decided to go with it and give it an agave lime vinaigrette laced with garlic, cumin and chipotle. 

The salad looked like a fiesta, as if someone had tossed a bunch of ribbons and confetti in different colors together.  But it needed something to finish it off.  So I added some golden raisins for sweetness as well as some sweet and spicy pepitas I had on hand and then it was perfect!  Incredibly refreshing and delicious and the perfect accompaniment to some bbq tofu I had also made.  Here is the recipe if you would like to enjoy some for yourself!

Spring Fiesta Salad
(Beet, Carrot, and Cabbage Salad with Sweet and Spicy Pepitas and Golden Raisins)
Serves 1-2

 Nuts:
1/2 cup pepitas
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp maple sugar
1/4 tsp ground chipotle powder
1 tsp sea salt

Dressing:
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/8 tsp ground chipotle, or to taste
1 garlic clove, minced

Salad:
1 cup golden beets, very thinly sliced (paper thin)
1 cup carrots, very thinly sliced (paper thin)
1 cup red cabbage, very thinly sliced
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
1/4 cup golden raisins

To make pepitas, preheat oven to 375 degrees line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss pepitas together with agave, sugar, chipotle and sea salt, then spread out on the baking sheet and toast until nuts are starting to lightly brown and are fragrant, about 10-15 min.  Remove from oven and let cool.  In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.  In a large bowl, combine veggies and cilatro and pour over dressing.  Toss well to coat.  Place salad on a serving plate, and sprinkle  with pepitas and golden raisins. 

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.

Vanilla and Beets

Whenever I encounter the lovely scent of vanilla it makes me happy.  This is why I often dab on a bit of vanilla essential oil in the morning so I can enjoy the scent throughout the day!  Afterall vanilla is the base of many delicioius things such as sugar cookies, cakes, or ice cream.  But it is actually quite good in savory applications as well!  Such as in a vanilla squash risotto, or in pureed rutabaga with a little coconut oil, or with beets in a salad!  I had a few beets last night and I decided to combine them with something vanilla laced. 

I roasted up some beets and rutabegas, and combined them with some dried tart cherries and salty sweet pecans in a salad, then whisked together a vanilla citrus vinaigrette and tossed it all together.  It was wonderful!  The vanilla gave the dressing a wonderful light scent and flavor to the salad without overwhelming it.  I suppose it was a little dessert like, but savory as well, and so delicious for the little amount of time it took to prepare!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try vanilla in a little different way than the usual! 

Roasted  Beet and Rutabaga Salad with Toasted Pecans and Dried Cherries with Vanilla Citrus Dressing

Serves 3

3 medium beets, thinly sliced

3 small rutabagas, thinly sliced on the diagonal
olive oil

sea salt

Pecans:

1/2 cup pecans
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp maple sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp ground chipotle powder

Dressing:
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp riesling vinegar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
seeds of one vanilla bean

1 Tbsp agave nectar

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
1/2 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line three baking sheets with foil, and spray with nonstick spray. Toss beets and rutabagas with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on sheet pans.  Roast until starting to brown at edges and tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with sea salt, and let cool to room temp. Decrease the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Toss pecans with agave nectar, maple sugar and sea salt 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. Meanwhile, whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Combine greens, shallots, and roasted veggies, in a large bowl, pour dressing over, and toss with hands to coat. Divide salad between 3 plates and top with toasted nuts and cherries.

Walnut Apricot Wheatberry Salad

When I hear the word "wheatberry" it conjures up thoughts of health food...not in a good way unfortunately. Flavorless healthy food that you would have to force yourself to eat and remind yoursef that it is good for you and that is why you are eating it. This is most likely because when I first became a vegetarian, about 8 years ago, I had been in a health food store and decided to buy some, figuring I would cook them up and serve them like rice.  I wasn't the greatest cook at that point, and I undercooked them.  They were too chewy and flavorless, and being that I wasn't very experienced with grains at that point, I did not know how to fix them and make them tasty.  So I have pretty much avoided them ever since, which is unfortunate and immature of me.  When I was in the bulk department of the store the other day (where I work in the deli), there they sat in front of me in a bin...almost like they were calling to me.  All the bad memories I had of them were overridden by my compulsion to buy them and try making them into something delicious.  It might be a challenge, but I was up for it!  This time I soaked them to speed the cooking process.  Once they were cooked off, properly this time of course so the texture was to my liking, I decided that they wiould make a wonderful grain salad.  I combined them with toasted walnuts and sweet apricots and tossed them with a light citrusy dressing laced with curry powder.  It was delcious and flavorful!  Very hearty for a salad, and the leftovers made for a perfect lunch the next day!  I am happy to report I have since forgotten about my grudge with wheatberries, and I will have to experiment with them some more!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try it! 

Walnut Apricot Wheatberry Salad

Serves 2

3/4 cup wheatberries, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 cup baby spinach
1 small shallot, minced

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh orange juice, and 1 Tbsp zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp zest
1 Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp mild curry powder
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a medium stockpot, cover wheatberries with water until it covers them by at least 2 inches.  Bring to a boil, and lower to a simmer.  Cook about 45 minutes, or until tender.  Drain, and let cool.  Place in a bowl, and add walnuts, apricots, spinach, and shallot.  Whisk dressing ingredients together, and toss with salad to coat.  Serve!