Tag

salad

Baby Kale Salad with Bitter Blood Orange Vinaigrette

written by Ali

Did I promise no more blood orange recipes? I hope not – though I really do think this baby kale salad with bitter blood orange vinaigrette is my absolute last recipe with blood oranges until next year. Maybe.

Regardless, if you happen to have blood oranges on hand that need a purpose, one of the easiest things to do with them is to salt preserve them. Blood oranges impart the salt brine with a lovely rose hue. The salted blood oranges themselves are more subtle than a lemon and infuse a salty-citrus flavor to a dish. Just a quick salted citrus tutorial: take your blood orange (or lemon or other citrus) and make cuts to quarter the orange. Don’t cut all the way through – you’ll want to leave the orange attached at the bottom. Fan your orange out and add salt. Gather the orange up around the salt. In a pint jar, layer about 1/2 inch of salt at the bottom. Add your salted orange and push down with the end of a wooden spoon. Add another layer of salt and then do the same with another orange. Add another layer of salt and another orange if you can. Layer with salt at the top. If you don’t have quite enough salt/juice to cover the top blood orange, you can add a bit of filtered water to top off. Let the salted blood oranges hang out in the fridge for about a month, shaking occasionally to distribute the salt.

Isn’t it pretty? Once you have your salted citrus, you can make baby kale salad with bitter blood orange vinaigrette. The bitter part comes from the use of bitters. If you happen to have even more blood oranges on hand and have about two weeks to wait, Kelly Bakes has a beautiful recipe for bitter orange bitters. I used some of the blood oranges from the windfall at the start of January to make these bitters – they aren’t fully infused yet, but I used just a bit of them for baby kale salad with bitter blood orange vinaigrette and it was heavenly! The vinaigrette is both salty and tangy – a perfect counterpoint for baby kale. You can most definitely use store bought orange bitters to achieve the same effect.

Yum

Baby Kale Salad with Bitter Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped salt preserved blood orange
1 teaspoon orange or blood orange bitters
1 package baby kale

Instructions

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, salt preserved blood orange, and bitters in a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Tighten the lid and shake vigorously to combine.
Dress the baby kale with the vinaigrette and enjoy!
Serves four - six

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February 1, 2017 0 comment

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Salad Vegetarian

Blood Orange, Walnut, and Bitter Greens Salad

written by Ali

The first week back to work after a long break feels like the perfect time for a blood orange, walnut, and bitter greens salad. I think about food a lot (no surprise from a food blogger). I thought about food a lot before I started blogging. One of the things that I’m always curious about is the first time a human being thought to eat something. This always comes to mind for me, for example, when I eat an artichoke or some other food that seems otherwise inedible until it is transformed into something we eat. I also think a lot about food trends and how some foods aren’t regularly eaten anymore.

One of those foods features prominently in my blood orange, walnut, and bitter greens salad. The bitter greens category includes arugula, chard, and endive, but also includes dandelion greens. When I was growing up, dandelions were a weed. My grandparents, my mother, neighbors all spent a lot of gardening time trying to eradicate dandelions from the lawn and the garden. I did the same with my first house, digging them up and tossing them into the trash. At some point along the way, however, I learned that dandelions are edible. I would occasionally cultivate a few plants in my garden, harvesting the greens and sautéing them to toss over pasta. As it turns out, all the parts of a dandelion are edible, but that’s a story for another blog post.

Knowing that dandelions are edible and were, in fact, first brought to the US as a food and that dandelions evolved 30 million years ago (Wikipedia), makes me sad to think that we have relegated them to the status of a noxious weed in our gardens. Dandelion greens can be eaten raw in salads. The taste is a bit bitter, but also has a hint of taste that reminds me of the smell of a dandelion flower in the sun. The greens evoke some pretty serious nostalgia for me of lying in the grass as a kid in the summer. That memory makes this a perfect salad for a frigidly cold January day here in the PNW. It raises my hope level that spring really is right around the corner.

For now, dandelion greens feature prominently in this blood orange, walnut, and bitter greens salad. I found my dandelion greens at Whole Foods. Many natural grocers carry these greens in the winter. You can also substitute other bitter greens for this salad – finely chopped chard would be lovely, as would arugula. I also threw in a few strips of preserved lemon to brighten the salad and to add a bit of salt to cut the bitterness.

I prepared my salads for the week ahead of time. Instead of drizzling the dressing over the whole salad, I put a couple of tablespoons at the bottom of each jar and then added the salad on top. All I have to do is pour the salad out into a bowl once I’m at work.

Yum

Blood Orange, Walnut, and Bitter Greens Salad

Ingredients

3 peeled and segmented blood oranges
1 bunch bitter greens (dandelion greens, kale, or arugula or some combination of some or all)
1/3 cup walnuts
10 thin slices of preserved lemon

Blood Orange Dressing

Juice of one blood orange
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch salt
pinch ground black pepper

Instructions

Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl and toss gently. Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a small jar and close tightly. Shake to combine. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and enjoy!

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This post is linked up to No Croutons Required. Check out the hosts’ pages at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen.

And is also linked to Kahakai Kitchen: Souper Sunday. Check out all the great soups, sandwiches and salads!

January 4, 2017 22 comments

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Salad

Green Salad with Asian Pears and Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

written by Ali

There’s nothing quite so satisfying as a good green salad, especially when you add ingredients like Asian pears and preserved lemons. Asian pears are one of my favorite winter fruits: they are about the size of a very small apple, but have a brown-yellow skin and a pale white flesh. They are quite tasty while still a bit firm and can be eaten skin and all. They lend a lovely crunch to a salad and pair really well with nuts. If I could figure out where I put the hazelnuts from last year, as well as find the nutcracker, I would definitely have used hazelnuts on this salad. As it was, I do know where the walnuts are, so that’s what I went with.

I’ve been waiting weeks to start eating my preserved lemons. Preserved lemons are amazingly easy to make – all it takes is salt and lemons, though you can add in various spices, like peppercorns or bay leaves. This year, I made my preserved lemons with both peppercorns and bay leaves, but also added in the few juniper berries I had left over from pickling last summer. The lemons are perfectly salty and tart and ideal for adding to vinaigrette. I’m sure I’ll be posting more recipes with preserved lemons soon. If you are looking for a recipe, check out the preserved lemon recipe I posted last year. You can use regular lemons or Meyer lemons – both are fantastic. They do take a little bit of time, as the lemons have to cure in the refrigerator for at least a month. Use only the rind – the pulp is discarded. You can also find preserved lemons in various specialty food stores, though I have to say that these are super easy and quick to make and well worth the time to make a batch of your own.

As we move into the calorie laden holidays, I definitely will be eating salads with my lunches. This green salad with Asian pears and preserved lemon vinaigrette is a bright spot this time of year. Enjoy!

Yum

Green Salad with Asian Pears and Preserved Lemon Vinaigerette

Ingredients

4 cups salad greens
2 Asian pears, sliced and cored
1/4 cup walnuts
Preserved lemon vinaigrette (below)

Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine the salad greens, Asian pears, and walnuts in a salad bowl.
In a small jar with a lid, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, preserved lemon and pepper. Shake to combine.
Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and enjoy!

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December 13, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Salad Vegetarian

Spinach Pear Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

written by Ali

Spinach pear salad with Meyer lemon vinaigrette is a festive and easy salad to chase away the rainy day blues. I’ll admit that even though I really love rain, there are some days when I miss the sun just a little bit. Meyer lemons always cheer me up – there is something about their sunny color and floral smell that promises that summer is just around the corner.

I love salads. I try to eat them with my lunch every day when I can, especially in the winter time when I just find myself craving greens, whether its lettuce or spinach or kale. I think some of my near obsessiveness with vegetables comes from the two years I lived in Majuro in the Marshall Islands when I was in my late twenties. I was there to teach at the College of the Marshall Islands, and while I loved the experience, sometimes finding local fresh food could be incredibly challenging. The Marshalls are coral reef islands, and as such, there is limited top soil, which makes it tough to grow things like lettuce. Most of the food to Majuro is shipped in in great big container ships that would only dock every other week. To get things like salad greens or onions, you had to be at the store at just the right time, or otherwise crews from the purse seiners (large fishing boats) would buy out the entire stock of vegetables and fruits. In my second year there, there was an increased focus on local foods – local tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, and so on, but even then, quantities were limited. As you can imagine, I ate a lot of fish while I lived there and while it was abundant and tasty, I often longed for just a large green salad. I remember, particularly, one time that a friend of a friend brought raspberries with her from another island (the island had a significant American military presence and she was able to get the raspberries from a source there). Those raspberries were the most precious dessert I’ve ever eaten.

So, salads with all sorts of various ingredients, locally sourced, make me tremendously happy. Since I’ve moved to the PNW, I’ve gotten much more adventurous about pairing salad greens with fruits. This particular salad is a simple combination of spinach, pears, and walnuts, topped off with a tangy Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Since this is Meyer lemon season, now’s the time to add Meyer lemons to everything that you can.

Yum

Spinach Pear Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette

1 teaspoon finely chopped shallots
Juice from 1/2 Meyer lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fennel fronds or parsley
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper

For the salad

4 cups spinach
1 ripe pear
1/2 cup walnuts

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the Meyer lemon vinaigrette in a small jar. Tighten the lid and shake vigorously.
Combine the spinach, pears and walnuts. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. Enjoy!
Serves 4

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December 6, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Salad Vegetarian

Kale Persimmon Salad with Black Garlic Dressing

written by Ali

After days of indulging in holiday foods for Thanksgiving, it’s time for me to get back to salads for lunch, like this Kale Persimmon Salad with Black Garlic Dressing. One of the many great things about living in this part of the PNW is that the climate is mild enough a winter garden is possible. This year, we have a small pot of winter lettuce, some spinach, a few cauliflower, and some lacinato kale growing. I have to say though, I much prefer lacinato kale’s alternative name: dinosaur kale. I can completely see this leafy green with its bumpy foliage being munched on by dinosaurs in prehistoric times.

Here’s what mine is looking like right now:

I’ll admit that the winter garden veggies don’t grow as fast as their summer counterparts, but there’s still something lovely about going out this close to December and harvesting greens for a salad, which is exactly what I did to make this kale persimmon salad with black garlic dressing.

I’m also still mildly obsessed with black garlic, so couldn’t resist seeing how it would pair with some balsamic vinegar in a dressing. The combination is absolutely yummy, especially with the sweet counterpart of the persimmon and the crunch of the chopped almonds.

Yum

Kale Persimmon Salad with Black Garlic Dressing

Ingredients

For the Salad

1 bunch lacinato kale
2 fuyu persimmons
1/4 cup chopped almonds

For the Dressing

1 large black garlic clove (or 3 small ones)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Smash the black garlic into a paste. Add the black garlic paste, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper into a jar and close with a lid. Shake until combined.
Tear or cut the kale into ribbons. Dress with two to three tablespoons of the dressing and work the dressing into the kale with your hands. This softens up the kale considerably. Chop the persimmon into a small dice and add to the kale/dressing mixture. Top with the almonds and enjoy!

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November 29, 2016 0 comment

Appetizers Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Snacks Vegetarian

Mini Baked “Fried” Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce

written by Ali

My new fall motto is when the garden leaves you with hundreds of green cherry tomatoes at the end of the season, make them into something wonderful: Mini Baked “Fried” Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce. Somewhere around the end of June last year, Clay and I were at the Vancouver Farmer’s Market and I was looking for one more tomato (I’d already planted three) and preferably an heirloom variety. We found a plant that was looking a bit beat up, but it was an heirloom cherry tomato and I decided I’d chance it and see how it would do. It was a champion grower, rapidly taking over the space vacated by the cucumber plant the dog pulled up, smothering the lemon thyme that was on the cucumber plant pot and then tangling itself up with the chard in the pot on the other side. It developed hundreds (no exaggeration here) of cherry tomatoes and then it felt like the tomato decided to just be done. The green tomatoes just sat there…and sat there…and sat there, staying quite green for months. Toward the end of August, the tomato sort of woke up and a few of those green tomatoes turned a lovely bronzy shade of red. By that time, I had been assaulted by the hundreds and hundreds of cherry tomatoes from the Sweet 100 vine and I was kind of over tomatoes. We harvested a few more though and dutifully ate them on salads and on sandwiches.

Meanwhile, there were still many, many green cherry tomatoes on that vine. I’d look at them and say “soon – I’ll get to you soon.” September was a busy month and started the glut of winter squash. October came and I cleaned out all the other tomato plants, but left the behemoth plant where it was. Finally, yesterday, at the very end of October, I got around to harvesting both a few ripe cherry tomatoes from that plant and a whole bowl-full of green cherry tomatoes. There are still more out there, but I think I’ve given up. (I type that and then start fantasizing about all the other things I could do with green tomatoes, so maybe I’ll harvest the rest this weekend after all.)

From late August on, I’d been creating a recipe in my mind – mini baked “fried” green tomatoes. My resolve to try this out was strengthened by my trips to the South this year – I had some really amazing fried green tomatoes in both New Orleans and Atlanta. I’d originally had in mind that I would make these baked “fried” green tomatoes to go on a salad, so the remoulade was conceived more as a salad dressing than as a dipping sauce. However, while I did create the salad, I also decided to use my leftover tomatoes for a po boy, and the remoulade was thick enough to use for the sandwich. I could also just as easily sit and eat these as a snack and dip them in the remoulade and not feel guilty about it, as the remoulade has a base of Greek yogurt rather than mayonnaise.

On the left: mini baked “fried” green tomatoes on a salad (which was lunch on Monday)
On the right: mini baked “fried” green tomatoes on a Po Boy

If your garden is over for the season and you don’t have any late hanger-on green tomatoes, pin this recipe for next year. It’s worth it.

Mini Baked “Fried” Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce
Serves 4 – 8 (depending on use)

Baked “Fried” Green Tomatoes
20 green cherry tomatoes, sliced into thirds
½ cup flour
2 eggs
¾ cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Siracha or hot sauce
½ teaspoon salt
Black pepper, freshly ground to taste
Olive oil to grease baking sheet

Remoulade Sauce
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Siracha or hot sauce (or to taste)

For the baked “fried” tomatoes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.

Sprinkle the salt and a bit of freshly ground pepper over the cut tomatoes. Put the flour, eggs and bread crumbs in three separate shallow dishes. Add Siracha or hot sauce to the eggs and beat them until they are fluffy. Dredge tomato slices in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Do this with all the tomato slices (these are so small, I found it easier to do this to five or six tomato slices at a time). Place the coated tomato slices on the baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the tomatoes about half-way through the baking time.

For the Remoulade
Combine all ingredients for the remoulade in a jar. Close tightly and shake vigorously (or use a whisk and stir until all ingredients are combined).

Enjoy!

November 1, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Salad Uncategorized Vegetarian

Fall Root Vegetable Salad

written by Ali

I’d be the first to admit that I’ve become a little obsessed with fall root vegetables this season. Easy access to various types of late summer radishes has been so much fun. This week felt like a soup and salad kind of week, so I decided to do a fall root vegetable salad to enjoy radishes and beets. I threw in some lettuce as the base. If I ever get an avocado to ripen up, I might also toss one into this salad later this week.

Root vegetables can be very tasty raw, especially when sliced paper-thin. I don’t have a mandolin, so just slice very, very carefully. Radishes lend themselves to a dressing with rice-wine vinegar, so I combined this with sesame oil and soy sauce. I found myself checking the time every hour on Monday to see if we were any where close to lunch time.

This roasted root vegetable salad complements the roasted cauliflower soup from Monday. This would also pair well with a simple vegetarian sandwich or wrap.

Fall Root Vegetable Salad
Serves 4

Sesame Oil Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a jar and cover securely. Shake to combine

Fall Root Vegetable Salad
1 watermelon radish
2 black radishes
3 small beets
1 head lettuce
Sesame Oil Dressing
Fresh black pepper to taste

Slice each of the root vegetables into paper-thin slices. Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces. Toss root vegetables slices and lettuce to combine. Dress with Sesame Oil Dressing and grind a little fresh pepper over the top. Enjoy!

September 13, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Salad

Fig and Prosciutto Salad with Creamy Parmesan Dressing

written by Ali

I decided to play with some sweet and salty this week in this fig and prosciutto salad with creamy parmesan dressing. We had three outrageously hot days here in the PNW followed by two very cool days. All of these ups and downs in the weather are screaming fall is coming – break out the pumpkin spice! Even my recipes this week are starting to move into fall flavors (just a little). Figs are a late summer fruit here in the PNW and I would buy them by the pounds if it were economically reasonable – I’m that much of a fig fan. Fortunately, I found a reasonably priced tray of figs at Trader Joe’s, so bought them, of course. The figs that weren’t immediately devoured as a late in the day snack went into this salad.

One of my fondest memories of living in Tularosa, New Mexico was the fig trees. We had two on the property we were renting – one small fig tree that produced large purple figs and one larger tree that produced an abundance of small green figs. I would delight in laying in the hammock under the four giant pecan trees in the backyard and occasionally picking a fig. When we finally land again someplace where we have a yard that’s our own, fig trees will be one of the first things I plant. There is something just luscious about the firm skin of the fig and the bright pink interior with its little crunchy seeds.

Fig and Prosciutto Salad with Creamy Parmesan Dressing
Serves 4

Creamy Parmesan Dressing
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a jar and place a lid on tightly. Shake vigorously until all the ingredients are combined.

Fig and Prosciutto Salad
One head of romaine lettuce, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
16 – 20 figs, each split in half.
4 slices of prosciutto
Creamy Parmesan Dressing

Divide the lettuce, figs, and prosciutto amongst four bowls or plates. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of dressing over each.

Enjoy!

August 23, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Salad Vegetarian

Cucumber and Nasturtium Salad

written by Ali

If you read my Pesto, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pasta Salad post, you may have noticed my beginnings of an inventory of my urban container garden. In addition to the tomatoes and basil, I’ve also planted a White Wonder cucumber. I was attracted to this one because it grows well in a pot. I’ve been very impressed by how abundant it’s produced cucumbers. The only casualty so far has been a very early stage cucumber that the dog ran over – the cucumber has climbed down the side of the pot and is sidling its way toward the grass, so this wasn’t much of a surprise, as it’s in the dog’s traffic pattern for playing fetch.

I also planted a zucchini and an eggplant, neither of which seem particularly enthusiastic about producing anything. I also planted some fennel, though they are taking their time to produce fennel bulbs as well. For now, my harvest has been cucumbers, three cherry tomatoes, basil, and some fennel fronds. I can live with that.

I also planted a few edible flowers this year – scented geraniums, marigolds, chives, and nasturtiums. The nasturtiums looked so pathetic for so long, I almost thought I was going to have to give up on them. Then, one day in late June, they started blooming and I now have a pot of riotous dark red nasturtiums that are overwhelming the lavender plant I shoved in for good measure. For some reason, our dog, Daisy, likes to nibble on the nasturtiums and the chives. I guess she knows her edible flowers.

I gathered a handful of cucumbers last night and a few nasturtiums. They blended together perfectly for this cucumber and nasturtium salad. I had fennel salt on hand from last weekend: my fennel is producing fronds, at the very least. The only part of this recipe that takes a little bit of time is the fennel salt – but most of that is very hands off.

Cucumber and Nasturtium Salad with Fennel Salt
Serves 4

5 or 6 small to medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced.
8-10 nasturtium flowers, gently washed and patted dry.
3 or 4 tablespoons pine nuts
Fennel salt (link to recipe here) to taste
Olive oil to taste

Place the cucumbers in a bowl. Separate the nasturtium petals and toss over the cucumbers. Add the pine nuts and gently combine. Sprinkle with fennel salt and drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy!

July 15, 2016 0 comment

Main Dishes

Chipotle Chicken

written by Ali

Post 4th of July holiday (read: post ribs, corn with butter, and rootbeer floats), I am ready for a light and quick meal. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with baking chicken breasts that have been spiced up and marinated for at least an hour. They are quick and easy, in that prep time takes about ten minutes, I can wander off and read for an hour and drink a glass of wine, and then can throw the chicken breast (marinade and all) in the oven for another half hour and dinner is then served. This latest variation, chipotle chicken breasts, can be sliced up and added to a salad or tossed into a tortilla with cheese to make an easy quesadilla.

I’ve also become slightly obsessed with ground chipotle chili as a spice. I found it at Whole Foods in a cute little spice box and have been adding it to the marinade for these chicken breasts, as well as in barbecue sauce, as a rub for meat, and in eggs. It’s smokier than regular chili powder and brightens up everything.

Chipotle Chicken
Serves 2, but could easily be doubled

2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 shallot, minced
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all the ingredients from the smoked paprika to the olive oil in an oven safe baking dish. Add the chicken and coat with the marinade. Cover and let marinade in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When the chicken breasts are marinated, place in the oven and bake for twenty minutes (to 170 degrees on a meat thermometer).

July 6, 2016 0 comment

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