sides and salads Archive

blood orange, escarole & hazelnut salad

Oftentimes I find that the best dishes aren’t the ones that are carefully planned out. Rather, the perfect dishes are haphazardly thrown together at the last minute. This is one of those dishes.

A few nights ago, Nich and I decided we were going to stay in, make a fabulous dinner, and watch a movie. We knew that we wanted to make risotto for dinner (more on that in my next post), but I wasn’t sure what to make alongside it. Risotto is so rich and delicious, so I wanted to pair it with something fresh and vibrant.

So, as we meandered about Pastaworks gathering supplies for our dinner, I decided to let the produce do the talking. I was thrilled to see that they had a good selection blood oranges onhand. I happen to looooooove blood oranges. So much so, that I might go out on a limb and say that they are the sexiest of all fruits (and they are in season!). In addition to the blood oranges, I picked up a head of escarole (a bitter green in the endive/frisee family) and knew that I had the beginnings of a killer salad.

With such fabulous base ingredients, I didn’t need to add much to make this salad sing. I decided to toss the escarole and blood orange segments with toasted hazelnuts and fresh grated parmesean, along with a blood orange vinaigrette. It was perfect (if I do say so myself). Each ingredient stood out on its own, while complimenting the salad as a whole. And, if you’ll excuse me while I pat myself on the back a bit more – I was also really pleased with the blood orange vinaigrette that I “invented”. Since I got all fancy and segmented the blood oranges, I was left with the peel and ‘innards’. I was struck by the gorgeous blood red color, and decided to do something about it. I soaked the orange peel and innards in olive oil for awhile, then macerated the orange bits and strained out the oil. What I was left with was essentially a blood orange infused olive oil – and it was every bit as tasty as it was pretty! I then made a relatively standard vinaigrette (with garlic, vinegar, s&p…) using the infused olive oil. It was magical.

I will now sign off and simply urge you to make this simple and seasonal salad. Come on now, try the magic out for yourself. ;)

BLOOD ORANGE, ESCAROLE & HAZELNUT SALAD

Salad:
1 head of escarole, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces. (Frisee or any other bitter salad greens would work just as well)
2 small blood oranges, peeled & segmented (*if you want to be fancy like me and make proper “suprêmes”, The Kitchn has a handy little tutorial.)
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Blood orange vinaigrette:
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
Rinds & trimmings from the segmented blood oranges
1 small shallot, finely minced
1-2 tsps pomegranate or red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Soak the blood orange rind and peel in 1/2 cup (or more) of good quality olive oil. Let stand for 30+ minutes. After the mixture has had time to sit, macerate the orange (with the end of a wooden spoon, a mojito muddler, a potato masher – whatever you can find to beat up the orange bits and get them to release flavor!). Strain out the oil, using cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve.

Combine oil with minced shallot, vinegar, and salt and pepper (to taste). (Hint: The longer you let the vinaigrette sit before you use it, the better it will taste!)

Toss escarole, hazelnuts, and blood orange segments together with the vinaigrette. Grate fresh parmesan over the salad and gently toss. Serve immediately (and of course, enjoy!).

Raw kale & apple salad

This salad doesn’t need much in the way of an introduction (it speaks for itself!), so I’ll just say a couple quick things.

First off, I am going to declare that this is the perfect fall salad. Apple season is in full swing, and it seems that every apple I bring home from the farmer’s market tastes better than the last. This salad is such a nice way to highlight apples, as the flavor of the apple works so nicely alongside the earthy kale and the salty fontina cheese. The flavors are so simple, and yet so elegant.

Secondly, for those of you who are doubtful about eating raw kale: do not be afraid! Raw kale is surprisingly delicious. It has a very unique and earthy flavor that I just adore. I am not sure why so many people insist on cooking kale prior to eating it! (Of course, cooked kale is also delicious, I’m just saying that it also is wonderful in its raw form.). That being said, I love that this salad highlights how special raw kale really is.

And, lastly, I must praise this salad simply because I always feel so great after I’ve eaten it. In addition to being a wonderfully light and simple salad, it is also full of vitamins and nutrients. This really is simple, local food at its best. So, celebrate the apple season with a big bowl full of this goodness.

Raw Kale & Apple Salad with Fontina and Lemon Vinaigrette

1 bunch of Lacinato Kale (also known as Dinosaur Kale, it has flatter leaves than your typical curly kale)
1 – 2 crisp apples (I used 1.5 apples, and just ate the extra half!)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup finely grated fontina cheese
The juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Slice the kale very thinly (i.e. chiffonade), as if for a coleslaw. Core the apples and slice thinly. Toss the sliced apples with the raw kale.

Mix together the lemon juice, cider vinegar, olive oil. Add in salt, pepper, and chili flakes.

Toss the raw kale and apple with the dressing – be sure to start light on the dressing and take care not to ‘overdress’ the salad. Toss in the fontina cheese. Adjust seasonings if needed (I found it needed a little extra salt, pepper, and chili flakes).

And that’s all! Can be enjoyed immediately.

*I thought about mincing up a clove or two of garlic to stir in with the dressing, but I decided to hold off on the garlic this time. I wanted clean, simple flavors. However, I think that the kale can handle a bit stronger flavor and so next time I’ll add garlic and see if I like it!

cabbage slaw with fennel, apple and jalapeno

I don’t know if it’s the same in every family, but growing up my family had a habit of making up strange names for common foods. For example, “bagels and cream cheese” somehow morphed into “beagles and clam cheese”. I don’t know if one of us kids said it this way once and the terminology just stuck – or if my parents made it up just to mess with us. Whatever the case, there were just certain things we said. It was the Strannigan way.

But, now I am a grown adult and most of the strange terms from childhood have faded away. But there are the few that linger. Specifically, the term cold slop. In my family, coleslaw was known as cold slop. To my young brain, it made complete sense. I mean, think about it. Coleslaw isn’t usually very attractive: its made of limp, sad bits of shredded cabbage that are doused in some sort of soupy mayo-based dressing. It generally resembled slop. (To be fair, I am not insulting my mother’s cooking. Quite the contrary, I am referring to church potlucks and styrofoam bowls of KFC coleslaw.)

All that to say: it’s time that I put my childish views of coleslaw (ahem…cold slop) behind me. This summer, I decided to make an awesome coleslaw.

I have to thank Grant Butler for this recipe. He writes a column in The Oregonian’s Food Day called “Going Vegan” and did a feature on vegan slaws a few months back, and I loved it. While he dreamed up many slaw recipes, the one that got my attention was this – Endive, Fennell, and Apple slaw. What is not to like about that?

So I tried it (and loved it). I’ve been making versions of his Endive, Fennel, and Apple slaw all summer. I will say, that I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit and have made it my own. While I love endive, it can be expensive and I found that it didn’t quite have the crunch of cabbage. And, for girl’s night this week we had pulled pork sandwiches – and I felt that a cabbage slaw would hold up better with the pork. Feel free to make the original version of the slaw – the recipe can be found here.

Or, if you’re feeling sassy, you can make my version, which is below.

Cabbage Slaw with Fennel, Apple, and Jalapeno

For the slaw:
1 small head of purple cabbage
1 pink lady apple
1 medium to large fennel bulb (reserve some fennel fronds for the dressing)
1 jalapeno

For the dressing:
1 small shallot, diced
2-3 Tbl apple cider vinegar
1 – 2 Tsp of chopped fennel fronds (from the top of your bulb)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
**Optional ingredient: 1/3 cup Vegenaise or Mayo (I happen to like my coleslaw a little creamy so I use a little Vegenaise. If you make the slaw without mayo, just up the amount of olive oil and cider vinegar)

Using a food processor (with a slicing blade), a mandolin, or a sharp knife, cut the cabbage, apple, and fennel into thin strips. (I find that a food processor is the fastest, but it also makes for an uglier slaw. I like to use a knife because I cut things thin & pretty!)

Dice the jalapeno (include seeds and membrane at your risk/desired heat level). Add 1/2 the jalapeno to the slaw now, and once you’ve dressed the slaw taste and see if it needs more spice. If so, add the rest of the pepper.

Mix the dressing ingredients (shallot, fennel fronds, vinegar, oil, s&p and mayo if using). Pour gently over the cabbage mixture. Use enough dressing to just coat the cabbage, you don’t want a soggy slaw.

Potato Salad with Yogurt, Arugula and Dill.

How on earth is it Labor Day weekend already? No, seriously. Can someone explain this to me?

I am simply not ready to admit that summer is nearly over, as it feels like it never really began. Between moving into a new house, getting my wisdom teeth out, a business trip to Atlanta, and the very early birth of my niece – my summer was ridiculously busy.

That being said, Nich and I are disappearing to Prineville for the weekend to visit his parents. My in-laws are such lovely people, who live a quiet life in the country. They have a few horses, a crazy dog, and an amazing garden (my mother-in-law’s gardening abilities are unbelievable). I look forward to sleeping in, drinking giant mugs of french press coffee, doing crossword puzzles, and enjoying long talks with my in-laws.

Whatever your plans may be, I do hope that you all have a lovely Labor Day weekend. If you are heading to a BBQ, picnic, or party, I highly recommend this potato salad. I’ve been making it for various gatherings all summer, and it never disappoints. I would call this a modern version of the classic potato salad. It still has the nostalgic taste of potato salad, but yet it tastes new and fresh. There aren’t many ingredients that go into the salad, but each individual ingredient works so nicely with the rest. This is one of those ‘summer in a bowl’ recipes. I love it.

Note: I got the original recipe from The Kitchn, but I made a few changes and/or improvements. Feel free to use my version or theirs! Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Potato Salad with Yogurt, Arugula, and Herbs
serves 4
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cleaned (skins on)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise (or vegenaise)
2 small shallots (or 1 large shallot), peeled and diced
1 small bunch arugula leaves, finely chopped
1 small bunch fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 of an english cucumber, diced (*I also chopped up a few of my homemade dill pickles and threw them in…it was a great decision)

Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water. Salt generously with at least 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and add the potatoes. Bring back to a simmer and then turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.

Use a fork to pull a hot potato out of the pot, and slice it into 1/2 inch cubes . Repeat with the rest of the potatoes, adding them to a large bowl as you cut them up. Let cool.

Whisk together the yogurt and mayonnaise. Once the potatoes are cool, toss the potatoes with this dressing, then toss with the shallots, arugula, cucumbers (and pickles, if using) and dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

creamy pesto pasta salad

For as long as I can remember, pasta salad has been one of my favorite summertime meals. First, there isn’t much actual cooking that happens with a pasta salad. This is key. When it is 90 degrees outside, I simply cannot stomach the thought of turning on my oven.

Secondly, there is so much creative liscence one can take with a cold pasta salad. The possibilities are endless! You can use any type of noodle for the base and then go nuts adding add in cheese(s), veggies, fruits, oils, vinegars, proteins, nuts, etc. I usually use pasta salad as an excuse to use up whatever random veggies I have in the fridge.

This particular pasta salad is one I’ve been dreaming up for awhile. I do read a lot of other food blogs (because I am a nerd), and have noticed a lot of pea & pesto combinations recently. I suppose it is the season for basil and peas, so the influx of pea/pesto recipes is not surprising. That being said, I just like the look of little green peas in a pasta salad. Especially when coupled with the rich green of a fresh basil pesto, there is just something so nice looking about a pesto and pea pasta. The other day I realized that I had a bunch of pine nuts on hand, fresh basil (growing in my kitchen window), and had a bag of frozen peas. It was time to make a delicious pea & pesto inspired pasta salad.

Nich & I trotted over to Pasta Works, to pick up some fresh pasta and pecorino romano cheese. I threw together the pesto, using the organic purple garlic I had on hand and noticed right away that this pesto was SPICY. I only used two cloves (and a dash of red chili flakes) of the purple garlic, but they really packed a punch. Granted, I love the flavor of garlic, but I didn’t want the basil to be overpowered So, I added in some extra basil, a few mint sprigs, fresh lemon juice and some greek yogurt to mellow it out. The yogurt really elevated the pesto to a whole new level. To be clear – this is not a traditional pesto. The addition of the yogurt makes it more of a ‘creamy pesto sauce’. Whatever you want to call it – it was awesome. And really great for pasta salad. (Plus, Nich says its the best pesto he’s ever had. I think he really meant it, as he ate on this pasta salad for 3 days, with no complaints.)

I based the pesto on Mark Bittman’s recipe (from How to Cook Everything), but did a lot of tweaking/additions.

Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad (with Peas!)

1 lb bag of pasta (bowtie, penne, fusili, etc)
2 cups of basil leaves, big stems discarded, rinsed and dried
Salt to taste
½ to 2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used organic purple garlic. spicy & delicious!)
2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesean or other hard cheese
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
The leaves from 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint
The juice of 1/2 of a lemon
A dash of red chili flakes
1 bag of frozen green peas (thawed, rinsed, & patted dry)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside for later.

Combine the basil, mint, salt, garlic, chili flakes, pine nuts, lemon juice and about half the oil in a food processor or blender.

Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container occasionally, and adding the rest of the oil gradually. Add additional oil if you prefer a thinner mixture. Stir in the parmesan & greek yogurt by hand just before serving.

Toss the (thawed) peas, cooked pasta, and creamy pesto mixture together. Chill before serving, and garnish with pine nuts or finely chopped basil/mint (if you so desire).

As a warning, this makes a lot of pasta salad…Nich & I ate on this for 3 days!

lamb legs, egg salad, & the windy city.

A wise woman by the name of Alanis Morisette once said the words “And life has a funny, funny way, of sneaking up on you.”

Its true, Alanis. Life has this funny way of sneaking up on you and before you know it, the entire month of April has magically disappeared.

That being said, I’m off to Chicago tomorrow for a business trip, and I haven’t had much time to cook or post in recent weeks. Since I can’t imagine that any of you will be roasting a leg of lamb any time soon, I will spare you my cheeky observations and simply link you to the amazing recipe I used for our Easter feast. I cannot get over how good the lamb was! And I will admit, the recipe is a bit of work (i.e. probably not the best for a quick weeknight meal) but would be perfect for any holiday, family gathering, dinner party, etc. The only change that Nich and I made to the recipe was that we pulled the lamb out of the oven a little bit early and then finished the lamb on the grill for a few minutes, which worked out rather nicely.

Here’s my darling husband and my adorable mom (with the delicious leg of lamb, of course):

I’m still waiting on pictures from Taylor & Brittany for our second cook-off challenge (HINT HINT), but I did whip up a delightful egg salad last week that I will share with you all. I was inspired by all the post-Easter egg salad recipes that were floating about the blog world and decided to create my own from ingredients I had on hand. It was everything I was hoping for: mustardy, herby, eggy goodness.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m a sucker for a good egg salad. And this, my friends, was a good egg salad.

Garden-inspired egg salad (and/or “things I had in my fridge/garden/pantry egg salad”)

12 eggs
3-4 tbs of Mayo (I used Veganaise, which is what I had on hand and I think tastes better than real mayo anyway).
1 tbl spicy dijon mustard
1 tbl yellow mustard
A splash of white vinegar
1 tbl chopped cilantro
1 tbl chopped fresh dill
1/2 of a shallot, finely diced
A pinch of sugar
Salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.

While there are many theories on how to perfectly hard boil an egg, I used this method and it worked out pretty nicely (my only complaint is that my eggs didn’t peel as nicely as I would have liked, but since these were just being chopped up to go into egg salad it doesn’t really matter): Put all your eggs into a large pot. Cover with cold water, no more than one inch above the eggs. Put the pot on the stove and bring the water just to a boil. Remove from heat, and cover with a lid. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15-17 minutes. After this time, rinse the eggs with cold water to stop the cooking process. For the egg salad, peel and dice the eggs.

Mix the diced eggs with all the above ingredients (I guessed on the measurements, the most important thing is to make it taste how you want it to taste!) and serve on toasted bread with your choice of fixins. I ate mine with whole wheat sourdough, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and organic leafy greens from my garden!

(vegan) caesar salad

Lets just get this out on the table first and foremost: yes, I know. Vegan caesar salad seems redundant, to say the very least.

Needless to say, I did not seek out a recipe for a vegan version of Caesar salad. I would rather eat things that taste good and happen to be vegan – rather than try to force a non-vegan dish to be vegan. However, while poking around for good recipes I stumbled across this Caesar salad recipe on (yet again) 101 Cookbooks. Normally, I would have passed over this recipe – because, lets be honest – vegan Caesar doesn’t necessarily sound all that appetizing. But, in glancing at the recipe the ingredients in the dressing immediately stood out: garlic, almonds, lemon, and capers. I decided that I didn’t care if this salad tasted like Caesar salad or not, I just wanted a dressing made from that combination of ingredients.

I don’t expect many (or any?) of you to make this recipe. I assume that when you want homemade Caesar salad, you’ll make the normal version. But, if raw egg and anchovies freak you out a little (I’ll admit it…they scare me a little too), this recipe is a great (and tasty) alternative to the traditional Caesar. The key ingredient in this recipe is the capers (and the caper brine) as they give the dressing that delicious briny flavor (i.e. the anchovy flavor) you’re looking for in a Caesar salad. Overall, I was extremely pleased with the vegan caesar. And, it tasted surprisingly like real caesar salad (you definitely walk away from this salad with insane garlicky-caesar breath)! I asked Nich if this is a recipe that we should continue to make post-Lent and he gave a hearty YES. So, there you have it, folks. My husband would eat vegan Caesar salad even after Lent is over. I think that means this recipe a winner.

(vegan) caesar salad

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks (who adapted it from Veganomicon)

Caesar dressing:
1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds (I used almond meal, as I had some on hand. Almond meal is just finely ground almonds, and for this recipe you’ll be processing almonds in the food processor, so this does the work for you!)
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3/4 cup silken tofu (or the softest tofu you can find. I used Silken brand ‘soft’ tofu and it worked perfect and cost $1.50)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tablespoon capers
4 teaspoons caper brine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (I didn’t have any powdered on hand so I used about 1 Tbl of Dijon Mustard)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Garlic Rosemary Croutons:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
5-6 pieces French or Italian bread, stale and torn or sliced into bite-sized pieces (I used Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Sourdough that had gone stale)
Salt & Pepper
2 Tsp Finely Chopped Rosemary

Salad:
1 large head romaing lettuce, chopped
Freshly cracked black pepper
Handful or two of spinach and/or arugula, torn into bite-sized pieces (*optional, but I think the addition of spinach and arugula makes the salad much more interesting)

For the dressing: Pulse the sliced almonds in a food processor or blender until crumbly (Or use almond meal and skip this step!) Place the ground almonds/almond meal into an airtight container that you’ll be using to store the finished dressing. Blend the garlic, silken tofu, and oil in the food processor or blender until creamy. Add the lemon juice, capers, caper brine, sugar, and mustard, and pulse until blended. Adjust the salt and lemon juice to taste. Put into the container with the ground almonds and whisk to combine. Cover and allow the dressing to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes, optimally 1-1.5 hours.

While the dressing is chilling, prepare the croutons: Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the olive oil, garlic, and rosemary in a large bowl. Add the torn bread and toss to coat each piece with the oil mixture. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown (be careful not to burn!). Toss the croutons once or twice during the baking process.

To assemble the salad, place in a large bowl 2 to 3 cups of lettuce/greens per individual serving (amount depending on whether it’s a side or an entree). Ladle on 1/3 cup of the dressing (or more or less to taste), and use kitchen tongs to toss the greens and coat them with dressing. Add the warm croutons and toss again. Sprinkle with a little freshly cracked pepper. ** Note: I just eyeballed the proportions of dressing to lettuce. Start by tossing a little dressing over the amount of salad mix you want to use and add more until it is to your liking. Also, I tossed a few extra capers and slivered almonds onto the finished salad for extra texture and flavor – delish!